Good topic Sandgroper, I like it.

Lucky for most horses they don't have to string together more than three or four top class races, because they just don't come along in sequence like that. Personally I look at the number of races a horse has in the prep to see if it could have worn out, but it's only an educated guess, rather than applied knowledge. The nag might have gone around 8 times without trying, or at least the jockey instructed to have it under a tight rein, and then BOOM! it wins the one they were aiming at.

Barkada jumps to mind as a top horse given one race too many. I had already dropped it from my stable (Equine Investor, you must have read my mind) and gone for Dash for cash. Fortune or common sense? Who knows.

Placegetter