National Treasure crosses finish line 1st at Preakness, hours after other Baffert horse euthanized

[Bayard]

26. They can race them at two,

But they have to be pretty mature for their age. Its not the smartest thing in the world, since that means they start training even earlier. I'm not crazy about 3 year old's racing, but its been the tradition here for 149 years.

All that being said, these horses live to run. TB's more than any other. Horses evolved as grass-eating prey animals. Even now, its a wonder they let us on their backs, as that's right where a mountain lion would jump on them.

Sighthounds (breeds that hunt by sight instead of smell) also live to run. I've had Greyhounds, Salukis, and Borzois. Two of my Greyhounds were retired off the track, my girl was a washout so we were able to get her when she was only a year old. When she started training, she was so fast, she would race to the front of the pack and start tripping everybody else up to play.
We used to take our Grey's coursing, with the Louisville Coursing Club. You go out on a big open field, set up a big wire course with lots of twists and turns, so the (lure--usually just a plastic grocery bag) can run on it powered by a car battery.
Its great fun, and the dogs totally LOVE it. My same little girl would be going bananas at the start of a run, even chewing at the leash to be let go. They usually run 3 dogs at a time. My girl always won, and starting accruing championship points.

I've known a number of OTT (off the track) TB's that went on to do well in other careers, like jumping, eventing, and dressage. But the urge to fly is always there.