'Bouncing' horses.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Edwin Villanueva

FROM Al Velasco of Urdaneta, Pangasinan comes this very interesting piece on horses "bouncing'' back after coming off a "monstrous'' race. Read on:

Dear Mr. Villanueva,

It is common occurrence among race horses, abroad or even here in the Philippines, that after coming from a monstrous race or performance, a horse 'bounces' or performs poorly in its next race/s against good company. A monstrous performance is where a horse performs at an abnormally higher level than it is usually capable of, posting clockings a few seconds faster than normal.

The phenomenon is probably due to the down-trend in the horses' biorhythm charts after peaking at the same time, or is simply due to over-exertion from which the horses need a relatively long break.

Although, admittedly, hindsight is always '20-20,' indulge me when I cite at least four instances that happened in the local tracks in the last month or so.