Racing With Bruno had an email/post on 05/17/25 regarding the amount of
heart in a horse. Some just seem to get there in spite of their numbers.

I haven't fount a good factor to measure it. Have you??


re Rubbish
Writer: Bruno@Racingwithbruno

"Ah, yes... statistics. Such a marvelously manipulative device, aren't they?

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how the world—particularly in racing, but truly in any arena where the stakes are high and the egos are higher—gravitates toward numbers when they want to substantiate a belief. Not when the truth needs clarity, mind you, but when their agenda demands validation. A carefully plucked percentage here, a curated lap time there—suddenly, mediocrity becomes greatness, and greatness, well... is conveniently forgotten.

You see, people don't want truth. They want reinforcement. A number that sounds authoritative. A metric that aligns with the myth they've already decided to believe. Common sense? Pfft. Common sense doesn't make headlines. It doesn’t trend. But "fastest sector on softs in Q2 during a tailwind"? Oh, now that—that becomes gospel.

I once knew a horse in California. Brilliant. She was constantly knocked, because they said the numbers showed she wasn't fast enough, figure-wise, as if you'd judged her by the stopwatch alone and the mathematics behind the figure makers, yet they would have missed the poetry in the cornering, the elegance in her restraint, or how she finished like a whisper in a cathedral. But there were no stats for heart, just a 1 at the finish line, told you all.

So yes, when the narrative needs shaping, statistics become the scalpel. But the truth... the real truth? It often bleeds out quietly, unnoticed in the background, while everyone applauds the figures."


I've thought about claiming a horse or 2 and what I would look for. Heart is the factor I wanted most, but never could find a way to see it in numbers. They said that if you looked into the eyes of
Sea Biscuit, you could see the fire burning within him. How do you find that in others??