I remember a friend of mine telling me a few years back that he only expected horses to truly 'bounce' under two circumstances:

1. A horse that runs very hard in a competitive race to the line after a layoff of more than 90 days and then returns in less than three weeks. It's reasonable to assume horses like this will return muscle sore and require quite a bit of time to regain their form, if they ever do.

2. A first-time-starter who shows lots of speed, but ends up weakening to finish 2nd/3rd. Racing for the first time can be a frightening and unnerving experience for young horses and many of them are simply running scared in their debuts. The race starts, the jocks start screaming and the horse just runs as fast as it can for as far as it can. Horses like this invariably are overbet in their second trip to the post based on potential improvement. In reality, however, they are a bit wiser and may not try as hard. Or, they may have discovered that they hate the racing experience entirely, sulk and not run a lick.

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Ta me go maith