Michael O'Callaghan - an up and coming Irish Trainer with a plan

Words - Daragh Ó Conchúir

More melodious than cacophonous, the chirp from the lush foliage enveloping the drive into Crotanstown Stud on a spring morning is louder than anything emanating from the yard itself.

The horses, though fed, are shaking off the influence of Morpheus as first lot is tacked up, dreams of carrots and zoomies, crystallised while immersed in deep beds of Willie Fennin’s winter barley straw, still lingering.

Michael O’Callaghan emerges to proffer a greeting. The canines, Samhain and three-legged Liath bound over to add their greetings. Samhain is everybody’s friend and has no problem with Twilight Jet having a friendly nibble on his ear. 

The pace is brisk but at the same time unhurried; relaxed O’Callaghan won’t be 34 until September, but despite growing up in a housing estate in Tralee without any exposure to equines until the Damascene conversion that occurred when he first sat on a pony as a 12-year-old, he has been involved in the industry long enough to experience plenty of slings and arrows.

He knows what he wants though, in horse and human. The latter is a key element of any successful operation—his wife Siobhain setting the tone with her level of graft and care for the horses. In a time when staffing is a huge problem throughout the industry, from office to rider to yardmen, he has a team he is very happy with. He knows the truth in the old proverb, If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

“Everyone that’s in the yard now is an asset,” O’Callaghan notes.

Success attracted significant owners very quickly and among those, past and present to link up with the Curragh-based Kerryman include Michael Iavarone, Qatar Racing, Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez and Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum. Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing has lived up to its name by providing significant ammunition this term—Malex and Crispy Cat winning early maidens. One of Joorabchian’s famous clients, the Aston Villa and former Barcelona and Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho, is a part owner of Olivia Maralda.

Twilight Jet—or TJ as he is known in the yard—is the apple of the Crotanstown eye. Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup-winning owner, Iavarone bought half of the Twilight Son colt prior to his Breeders’ Cup run last year, while O’Callaghan and his partners, who include his father of the same name, retain the other half.

A £210,000 purchase at Goffs UK Breeze-Up in April 2021—an outlay that would a fair bit north of O’Callaghan’s average outlay—TJ ran a remarkable 11 times in his juvenile campaign from five furlongs to seven, winning twice at the shortest trip, including a Gp. 3 and finishing third twice more at group level.

Despite not being anywhere near peak fitness, he pulverised the field in the Gp. 3 Lacken Stakes at Naas on his seasonal reappearance over six furlongs last month; and Leigh Roche had to be at his strongest, not to win, but to pull his charge up. Jet has a season of Gp. 1 targets now. That Jet isn’t the only Crotanstown resident for which this may be the case is a testament to the genius of the man who has selected the vast majority of the 40 horses in the yard—and trains them. 

The string leaves on the dot of 7.30am, riders hi-vis jacketed though it is a clear, bright morning. They must cross at least two, sometimes three, main roads however, depending on what gallops O’Callaghan chooses to use on the vast training grounds. This morning, it’s the Old Vic.

“The first thing I do is I’m watching them as they’re jogging over, to make sure they’re not lame or not abnormally so. Some of them have their own way or take a little while to warm up. And this is a very good warm-up. None of them were on a walker beforehand as they jog a mile to the gallop.” 

Anyone from the outside world looking for one magic secret to training racehorses is on a fool’s errand because obviously, there is a conglomeration of factors. What is certain is that while you may have a system, dependent on the facilities available to you, a one-fits-all approach can never work. As far as O’Callaghan himself is concerned, observation is one watchword. Having people that understand horses and their individuality is another integral element.

“Good horsemen, I think, would make good psychologists... [because] what you’re trying to do is think the way horses think. That’s why I say to young people who ask what would make good horse people, ‘Start thinking the way the horses think.’ 

“They might say, ‘How [do] you do that?’ Quite simple. Put yourself in its head space. Why is he after jumping there or acting the fool? Then you learn very quickly and you become a better horse person for it, instead of just fighting them all the time. You can’t rule with an iron fist.”

It must be difficult though, and frustrating, when the horse cannot talk to you or you to it.

“But no animal can talk, and yet they can understand each other. So maybe the talking complicates things. Some people talk for the sake of talking.”

An articulate communicator, he prefers to look and listen. Interestingly, as he gathers information, he doesn’t take notes, even at the end of the day, for the purposes of refreshing the mind when attempting to solve a puzzle.

“Everything’s in my head. If I wrote it down, I’d forget it straight away. If you want to remember it, you’ll remember it, I think. They say if you said something to Michael Stoute after work, and commented that the horse gave two coughs, he’d write it on his hand with his finger.

“Two coughs,” he verbalises, as he traces the words on the palm of his hand, reconstructing how he imagines the most famous non-cricketing Barbadian doing it.

First lot is headed by Twilight Jet and the returning Steel Bull. Also included are three two-year-olds and an unraced three-year-old. We pause as they cross the bridge to the gallop.

“It’s a simple routine. They ride out six days a week and walk on a Sunday. If they’re running next week or need it, they’ll ride out on a Sunday. They do their regular two seven-furlong canters every day—nice pace. And then they work twice a week. Some horses work three times a week, some only once a week. And some fillies, you might only work them every second week.”

He breaks off to draw your attention to his main man.

“Look at Jet. Some boy, isn’t he? Well behaved. Stands there. On the way back now, he will power walk. You wanna see him. He’s power-walking and the others are jogging just to keep up. He’s just so happy with himself, he knows he’s good. And you see him there heading over now, he’s so laid back, with a bed head still on him.”

We move ahead of the string, to be at the top of the rising track. Willie McCreery is ahead of us. 

“You’re looking that they’re going the pace you want them to go so you’re bringing them forward,” says O’Callaghan, when asked what he wants to see. “Ultimately, you’re building, trying to get them fitter from the last day to the next day.”

The horses approach and gallop past—nostrils flaring, hooves rhythmically pounding. The next lot comprises O’Callaghan’s four acquisitions from the previous week’s Tattersalls Goresbridge breeze-up. 

“It’s the first time I watched them stretch their legs. And they weren’t hanging around.”

The feedback is positive, too. Potential starting points are discussed. There are some tracks he likes to kick off on more than others, including Cork (“The new straight course in Cork is the closest thing you’ll get to a perfect flat track.”), Navan, Leopardstown and of course, the home turf at HQ; but wherever you go, the opposition will be fierce.

“It’s mad when you think about it. We were disappointed when Crispy Cat was beaten by Blackbeard, but then he wins a Gp. 3 by six lengths and becomes [the] favourite for the Coventry. I would say the standard of two-year-olds this year in Ireland is red hot. With Ger Lyons and Jessie Harrington having so many well-bred horses; and then you have obviously Aidan and Joseph and Donnacha (O’Brien)—it has never been as competitive.

“There’s no hiding place in Ireland. None whatsoever.”

That makes winning difficult, but it is upon the resultant demand and market for Irish racehorses that can show promise in such an environment that the trainer’s business model is rooted.

The love of racing came first from picking up the Evening Echo newspaper for his granddad, also Michael, to select a few bets on a Saturday, and then waiting for the results to come up on Teletext.

Once he joined a friend at the nearby riding school, he was hooked. Gradually, he dragged his parents, and particularly his father—another Michael but with no clue about horses—into the web. Junior got a holiday job working for Tom Cooper. His dad, who after retiring from ESB set up a utility infrastructural development company (TLI Group) with his partner Thomas Fitzmaurice that was now booming, decided to buy a mare and some land so he could dabble a bit in breeding and share the journey of a new interest.

He is still doing it now, long since sold on his son’s gift. It is in Michael Sr’s now very recognisable silks of dark blue jacket with red epaulettes and red cap with dark blue star that most of the horses run in. 

O’Callaghan prepped yearlings and worked with stallions at Kilsheelan and Castlehyde Studs, where Paul Shanahan was a valued mentor. 

When his father sold a Galileo foal for €200,000, a plan was hatched to embark on a pinhooking enterprise together. He took the Irish National Stud management course in 2008, which is where he met Siobhain, and rented Millgrove Stud in Rathangan as a 20-year-old, when determining that he needed to be more central to continue his trading operation.

“It was a little bit stupid maybe, but for someone that comes from a background that’s not in horse racing, that hasn’t got a yard to walk into when the father retires, or a farm, or any of that crack, you have to kick on.”

O’Callaghan took out a restricted licence in 2012 and Bogini, bought out of Tracey Collins’ yard to breed from, won in Bath, Sandown and Leopardstown. She produced three winners, including Twitter sensation Caribbean Spring, or Bean, as he is known to his near 7,000 followers.

Bogini sadly died as a nine-year-old, but she sent O’Callaghan on his way. When five of the colts he sold at the breeze-ups the following season won on debut, it dawned on him that he could just move a step further down the line, use his breeze-up knowledge to buy at the sales and increase his profits by trading horses with form. For the most part, it has been a phenomenal success.

He began renting Crotanstown in 2013; and Blue De Vega, Now Or Never and Letters Of Note were early stakes winners, having been bought cheaply—the first two bought by Qatar Racing. More recently, Steel Bull won a maiden three weeks after being bought and the Gp. 3 Molecomb Stakes seven days after that. Twilight Jet is the latest to shine a light on O’Callaghan’s talents.

“I don’t look at the catalogue before I go to the sale,” O’Callaghan reveals. “I can’t let the catalogue taint what I’m seeing. You can’t train a piece of paper… when you can’t afford the pedigree, what comes first is a physical.

“I generally don’t look at a horse before I see them breeze. I watch them all breeze first, pick out by eye what I like the look of by the way they breeze. Generally the times aren’t out in time, so I head down the yard and look at 50 horses that I liked the look of breezing. It’s funny how often it works out that the horses I like the look of breezing; and then you get the team sheet and most of them are there in the top. You get a few ones that are there you didn’t like the look of and a few that you liked the look of that are down further, so you just have to weigh it up.”

So, time isn’t the be-all.

“It’s a big jigsaw, and you’re trying to put all the pieces together. There’s lads trying to make it scientific, analysing strides and this and that. My thought is if you can’t see it with your eye… you have to be able to recognise it.”

Physically, he places a good deal of store in the head, the eye and the ears. It was good enough for Vincent O’Brien, after all. After that, there is a physical make-up he relishes, and his description includes geometric lines from back and front that intersect in the middle of the back. It is easier for him to recognise it, than describe it; but you get the picture. 

He deals primarily in mature, fast horses that will hopefully make into milers.

“You’ve a quicker result,” he reasons. “You’ve a quicker debt if they’re no good.”

It is a balancing act around the business model because as a sportsman, he wants to be in the parade ring on the big days, as he was with Malex in the Irish 2000 Guineas earlier this season. Blue De Vega finished third in the Classic six years ago, Now Or Never filling the same slot in the fillies’ Guineas, 24 hours later.

“The whole world recognises that Irish racing is the most competitive racing there is. You run well in any maiden in Ireland, your horse is sellable; and that’s essentially what I’m doing. Now, I’m training horses for other people as well, and you’re still trying to get the best out of everything; but for the ones we own ourselves, we’re training to trade them.

“That doesn’t mean the first day they turn up at the racecourse, it’s their Derby. They still have to progress. People don’t belong copping on if the horses don’t improve. Part of what I pride myself in is in horses going on and being good horses elsewhere, that I haven’t emptied them. You have to do the right thing by the horse because at the end of the day, if you don’t get to sell them, you still want them progressing. This quick flash is no good to anyone.

“And that doesn’t mean that you don’t go and try and win [the] first time with horses, if they’re good enough. If they’re good enough, the way you train them up to that point, they’ll still progress. 

“Look at Twilight Jet last year.”

He is quick to point out that you would not run too many two-year-olds as often as Twilight Jet bounced out, but this rare type has “an unbelievable constitution” and only failed to fire in the final engagement at Del Mar. He doesn’t believe in wrapping up good horses in cotton wool either. If they are fit, they should run.

The relationship with Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum was founded on winning maidens with three breezers O’Callaghan had obtained for the Dubai royal. He was subsequently sent eight homebreds with fantastic pages, but they weren’t up to the mark. Lesson learned.

“It was a case in point of being sent horses and not having control in buying them, and what you’re given. If José Mourinho put a pair of football boots on me, he wouldn’t turn me into a footballer. It set me back a couple of years because I wasn’t buying as many horses because I hadn’t the space. I quickly realised that you need to control your own destiny. I had to go back to doing what got me there in the first place: buying horses. 

“It takes a lot of funding—takes a lot of balls. It creates a lot of stress [and] takes a lot of support. At the end of the day, you have to make up your mind in what you’re going to do. You have to commit and believe in it. You have to put enough thought into it that it’s not a shot in the dark. 

“It seems to be working and bringing me in the direction I want to go.”

And that is to a thriving, self-sustaining operation. 

“I don’t want to just train horses for a wage. We’re building a new yard at the minute, on the far side of Gilltown Stud between Craddockstown and Dunlavin. Like anyone in business, I like making money, but it’s not all about that. There’s the competitor in me as well that wants to win races. There’s the person that wants to train these good horses and get to these big meetings. 

“What I really love is going to the breeze-ups, finding the horses and then bringing them home, getting them into our system and getting to the track. That’s where I get a lot of satisfaction from… It’s not just about money, but you need to turn them into money because they cost a lot of money; and they don’t all work out.”

A new premise means a modern, clean building made from concrete and steel, full of air, non-porous and conducive to healthy animals. One of his primary focuses is on the storage barn for feed and bedding, which he says cost as much as building another 40 boxes. He places a lot of store in that element of training horses, recalling the words of Mark Johnston: “If we feed them more, we can train them harder.” And bad bedding can wipe out an entire season.

While he will continue to use The Curragh, he is installing a five-furlong uphill gallop built on land that is already 700 feet above sea level. There will be a 10-horse walker and an indoor covered ride. In time, he would love to put in a swimming pool, having seen the benefits with Twilight Jet and especially Steel Bull recovering from getting badly jarred up.

While the emphasis will always be on breezers, there is always a bit of a spread, such as the small breeding operation. He has an eye on a new angle with Twilight Jet: the possibility of turning him into a stallion. 

“You don’t go around touting it because it’s so hard to do, but it’s another way of getting paid. They’re a very valuable asset if you make them up into that sort of a horse and hopefully, Twilight Jet will make it into a horse that will be attractive to stallion men. He’s by Twilight Son, a commercial stallion; he’s such a good-looking horse, he was so hardy as a two-year-old with so much racing. He was a sale-topping two-year-old out of an Exceed And Excel mare. He’s going to be very commercial as a stallion if we can get him to win a Gp. 1 or even be placed in a Gp. 1 because he was such a two-year-old and he’s still so fast.

“We sold 50% of him to Michael Iavarone to go to the Breeders’ Cup, but we retained [the other] 50% of him. You have to get paid when you’re getting paid.”

Around 40–60 horses is his “sweet spot” at the moment, though he doesn’t rule out expanding that in time. But while there are plenty of rewards and he has prospered, it is a stressful life.

“When it’s getting on top of you, that’s the last thing you think about at night, what you think about when you wake up in the middle of the night, and what you think about when you wake up in the morning.

“With horses, a lot of it is out of your control… you have to be able to realise that.” 

He reminds me that Henry Cecil used to go shopping as an escape. While cutting a dapper figure in his suit on race day, O’Callaghan prefers racing Formula Vee cars at Mondello Park to the high street. He learned to fly planes before that but as well as providing an adrenaline rush, racing has the added benefit of being competitive, without him ever thinking he is going to usurp Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton any day. 

What often strikes this observer is the talent O’Callaghan has for procuring horses—at what often turns out to be value and turning them into a profit, which might quite easily have never been discovered, given his background. Is what he sees innate, or can anyone learn it?

“You can learn. You have to have the head to learn, and maybe there’s an innate ability there. I don’t know. I’ve learned everything. I’ve the type of brain that if I have an interest in something, I’ll immerse myself in it and I’ll learn as much as I can about it. I’ll nearly become addicted to it. I think everybody that excels in a sphere, they have to have that.”

He has certainly immersed himself in this racing world, combining high-stakes poker with a business plan. 

“This game, the way I’m doing it, you’re all-in, every day. A bad year would wipe you out. What you’re doing is you’re trying to get a right beano of a year to put you on a footing with a bit of comfort. But look, Jim Bolger is all-in, every day, too. At this stage of his life he is probably not actually, but there was a point for a long time that he was.

“You have to back yourself.”

And deliver. So far, so good.

TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter - Karl Burke

Words - Lissa Oliver

Karl Burke took out his licence in 1991 and trains from the historic Spigot Lodge in Middleham, Yorkshire, from where the famous Derby winner The Flying Dutchman was sent out in 1849. With a team that includes wife Elaine and daughters Kelly and Lucy, the Classic winning tradition continued under Burke when Laurens landed the 2018 Prix De Diane.

His first Royal Ascot winner came with the filly Quiet Reflection in the 2016 Gr. 1 Commonwealth Cup, but it’s safe to say the 2022 meeting has been just as memorable—Burke saddling two winners, one of whom, quite remarkably, was winning on debut. 

The last horse to win on debut at Royal Ascot was Dazzle in 1996. Just to put the first time out Listed Chesham Stakes victory of Holloway Boy in context, Derby winner Masar came into the 2017 race with a win already to his name, only to finish third.

“We would have been delighted if he’d finished fifth or sixth,” Burke admits. “While his win was a nice surprise, it was not a shock, as we’ve always thought he’s a very nice type.”

Holloway Boy is owned by Nick White and Burke’s wife Elaine. “We bought him out of the Cheveley Park consignment at Tattersalls Book 2 for £60,000. I trained his full-sister Oppressive for Cheveley Park and thought a lot of her, but unfortunately she injured a tendon and retired before achieving her potential.

“When I saw him, I thought he was a better stamp of a horse than Oppressive; and I bought him on spec’. He was not one of the first to sell; he was never going to be an early one. Then Nick White rang me and said he would like to buy a horse. So we showed him a couple of the yearlings, and he bought a half-share in Holloway Boy,” Burke explains.

“Holloway Boy was always a good size and strong. I like to get them through their early education up to Christmas, then we start the early ones in February; but he was never going to be one of those. He got very strong during the spring and came to hand very nicely and was ready to run a couple of weeks before Ascot. 

“We were going to go to Musselburgh for his first race, but he tweaked a muscle. Nick White wanted an Ascot runner, and I looked at the Chesham Stakes, half-heartedly thinking we’d run Holloway Boy. After he worked well, I thought we'd let him take his chance in the race and give the owners a nice day out.”

It proved to be a very nice day out, with many more still to come. “We’ve had a lot of interest in him, but we’re not going to sell him,” Burke says. “He did his first canter this morning since Saturday (the Thursday after the meeting) and has taken the race really well. The Superlative Stakes at Newmarket will be his first option, but if we feel that’s a bit too soon for him, then it will be the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. 

“He looks all over a three-year-old already; he’s a good 500kg and stands over 16.1. There’s a little bit of speed in the pedigree, and the Two Thousand Guineas will be the target.”

Burke acknowledges he has a great team at Spigot Lodge—a young team with a nucleus of staff who has been with him since he began. They will certainly have plenty to dream of over the winter, as the One Thousand Guineas looks just as likely a target for unbeaten Dramatised, the filly Burke sent out to win the Gr. 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“We’re very lucky to have a good team of two-year-olds; we have at least half a dozen good two-year-olds still to run. Dramatised should improve on her run and will go for the Prix Morny, and then she’ll have one more run in the Cheveley Park Stakes. 

“She is a great feather in her owner Steve Parkin’s cap. She is one of the first homebreds from his Branton Court Stud, so it was a huge result for him.”

Burke now has 130 boxes at Spigot Lodge, situated perfectly between Middleham’s High and Low Moor gallops. “We have several post and rail grass paddocks for turnout during the summer and an all-year-round turnout pit. We have recently developed the centre of our 300m indoor ride, adding a new lunge pen and an Aqua Equine Treadmill. 

“The Aqua Equine Treadmill is already making a great addition to our facilities, building the power and performance of our horses. The treadmill will also prove very useful when bringing horses back into work after holidays or injury.”

Electrolyte Balance – vital to the proper functioning of a racehorse's system

Words - Dr. Cath Dunnett

Electrolytes are essential components of the racehorse’s diet as they are vital to the proper functioning of the body’s basic physiological processes, such as nerve conduction, muscle contraction, fluid balance and skeletal integrity. The major electrolytes, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium are widely distributed within the body, but can be more concentrated in particular organs and tissues. For example, the level of potassium is very high in red blood cells but quite low in plasma, and the level of calcium in blood is low, but comparatively very high in bone and in muscle cells. The body has in-built mechanisms that work to maintain the correct electrolyte balance within the tissues, fluids and cells. These modify the absorption of electrolytes in the gut, or their excretion by the kidneys. These mechanisms are not foolproof however, and electrolyte loss through sweat can be a major issue for Thoroughbreds. The sweat of the equine athlete, unlike its human counterpart, is hypertonic; meaning that horse sweat contains higher levels of electrolytes than the circulating blood plasma. Consequently, the horse loses comparatively large quantities of electrolytes through sweating.

Although the electrolyte composition of equine sweat varies between individuals, on average a litre would contain about 3.5g of sodium, 6g of chloride, 1.2g of potassium and 0.1g of calcium. From this we can see that the majority of the electrolyte lost is in the form of sodium and chloride or ‘salt’. The amount of sweat produced on a daily basis and therefore the quantity of electrolytes lost differs from horse to horse and depends on a number of factors. As sweating is primarily a cooling mechanism, how hard a horse is working, i.e. the duration and intensity of exercise and both the temperature and humidity of the environment are all significant. Horses can easily produce 10 litres of sweat per hour when working hard in hot humid conditions. Stressful situations can also cause greatly increased sweating.

For example, during transport horses can lose a significant amount of electrolyte through sweating and the opportunity for replenishing this loss through the diet may be less as feeding frequency is reduced. Use of electrolyte supplements either in the form of powders or pastes is advocated before, during and after travel, especially over long distances. A number of air freight transport companies advise trainers to use a powdered electrolyte supplement added to the feed on a regular basis given for the 3 days prior to travel. As this helps offset much of the loss normally incurred during transport and subsequently the horses arrive at their destination in better shape. Electrolyte supplementation is a valuable attribute in the ongoing battle to reduce in-flight dehydration.

Electrolytes lost from the body in sweat must be replenished through the diet. All feeds, including forages, have a natural electrolyte content and in concentrate feeds this is usually enhanced by the addition of ‘salt’, which is sodium chloride. Forages such as grass, hay, haylage or alfalfa (lucerne) naturally contain a large amount of potassium, as can be seen from the table 1 below. In fact, 5kg of hay for example, would provide in the region of 75g of potassium, which largely meets the potassium needs of a horse in training. It is therefore questionable whether an electrolyte supplement needs to routinely contain very much potassium unless forage intake is low. Calcium is another important electrolyte, but it is lost in sweat in only very small amounts and its availability in the diet tends to be very good.

Calcium is particularly abundant in alfalfa with each kilogram of the forage providing nearly 1.5g of calcium. A kilo of alfalfa alone would therefore go a long way towards replacing the likely calcium loss through sweating. In addition, the calcium found in alfalfa is very ‘available’ to the horse in comparison to other sources, such as limestone. Calcium gluconate is another very available source of calcium, however, it has a relatively low calcium content compared to limestone (9% vs. 38%) and so much more needs to be fed to achieve an equivalent calcium intake. Interestingly, there is great variation between individual horses in their ability to absorb calcium, however, scientific studies carried out at Edinburgh Vet School showed that this variability was considerably less when a natural calcium source in the form of alfalfa was fed.

By far the most important electrolytes to add to the feed are sodium and chloride or ‘salt’. The levels of sodium and chloride found in forage are quite low and due to manufacturing constraints only limited amounts of salt can be added to traditional racing feeds. A typical Racehorse Cube fed at a daily intake of 5kg (11lbs) would provide only about 20g of sodium and 30g of chloride. As can be seen from table 2 this is a fair way short of meeting the daily requirements for these particular electrolytes by a racehorse in hard work.

It is therefore very important that supplemental sodium and chloride is fed. Ordinary table salt is by far the simplest and most economical electrolyte supplement, but the downside is the issue of palatability as the addition of larger quantities of salt to the daily feed can cause problems with horses ‘eating up’. As an alternative salt could be added to the water, but only when a choice of water with and without salt is offered. Salt should not be added to the water if it puts a horse off from drinking, as dehydration will become a problem.

Inadequate water intake can also contribute to impaction colic. Saltlicks are another alternative, although intake can be very variable and we rely on the horse’s innate ability to realise its own salt requirements, which is questionable. So addition to the feed is by far the best route for adding salt or electrolyte supplements to the diet. Splitting the daily intake between two or three feeds can reduce problems with palatability.

Mixing salt and Lo Salt can make another simple DIY electrolyte supplement in the proportion of for example 500g to 250g respectively. Salt is sodium chloride (NaCl), whilst Lo Salt contains a mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride (KCl). This formulation provides 3g of sodium, 6g of chloride and 1g of potassium per 10g measure. This DIY mixture will replace these electrolytes in the approximate proportions that they are lost in sweat. What are the implications of a racehorse’s diet containing too little or too much of an electrolyte and how can we assess this? An inadequate level of certain electrolytes in the diet in some horses may simply result in reduced performance. In other individuals, it can make them more susceptible to conditions such as rhabdomyolysis (tying up), or synchronous diaphragmatic flutter (thumps), both of which are regularly seen in horses in training. Conversely, an excess electrolyte intake is efficiently dealt with by the kidneys and is ultimately removed from the body via the urine.

Therefore, the most obvious effect of an excessive electrolyte intake is increased drinking and urination. For this reason, the use of water buckets rather than automatic drinkers is preferred, as whilst the latter are far more labour efficient, the ability to assess water intake daily is lost. Excessive electrolyte intake can also be a causative factor in diarrhoea and some forms of colic. There is also some recent evidence in the scientific press that suggests that repeated electrolyte supplementation might aggravate gastric ulcers. However, these early studies used an electrolyte administration protocol typical of that seen during endurance racing, rather than simply a daily or twice daily administration, which is more commonly used in racing.

Supplements that contain forms of electrolyte that dissolve more slowly in the stomach, however, may be less aggressive to the sensitive mucosa. Unfortunately blood levels of sodium, potassium, chloride or calcium are poor indicators of whether dietary intake is sufficient or excessive unless it is very severe. This is because the body has effective systems for regulating the levels of these electrolytes in blood within very tight physiological limits. A creatinine clearance test, which measures the electrolyte content of a paired blood and urine sample is a much more useful indicator of dietary electrolyte adequacy.

There are a large number of commercial electrolyte products available, with a wide range in the breadth of ingredients that they contain. Consequently, they vary enormously in the amount of electrolyte that they deliver per recommended daily dose, as can be seen in table 3. In addition, whilst some glucose or other carbohydrate can help improve palatability, its presence should not compromise the amount of electrolyte that is contained within the supplement. In humans, it is recognised that the uptake of sodium from the gut is improved in the presence of glucose, while this effect in horses has not been firmly established. Electrolyte paste products are also often used either before and or after racing or travel.

These products are useful as they allow rapid electrolyte intake even when feed eaten may be reduced following racing. These electrolyte pastes often provide a more concentrated form of supplement and it is extremely important to ensure that the horse has access to water immediately following their use. Failure to do this may mean that the concentration of electrolytes in the gut actually draws water from the circulating blood, which can exacerbate dehydration. Another disadvantage with paste supplements is that if they are not formulated well, with an appropriate consistency, they can be difficult to dispense from a syringe and the horse may also be able to spit most of the product out after administration.

Some simple rules of thumb for choosing a good electrolyte are that salt should be one of the first ingredients listed on pack, as all ingredients are listed in descending order of inclusion. Additionally, be wary of supplements that taste sweet, as they may contain a lot of carbohydrate filler and little electrolyte. Some electrolyte supplements also contain many superfluous ingredients such as vitamins and trace minerals. The inclusion of these latter ingredients is largely unwarranted and their presence could cause issues with oversupply if the electrolyte is multi-dosed daily. Some electrolyte products specifically marketed towards racing may also contain bicarbonate.

The theory behind its inclusion is sound as ‘milk shaking’, whilst outside the rules of racing, has some scientific validity. However, the limited amount of bicarbonate contained in such electrolyte supplements is unlikely to have the positive effect on performance attributed to the former practice. Other extra ingredients such as pre-biotics may be more useful as they may improve the absorption of some electrolytes. In Summary, electrolyte supplementation in one form or another is essential within a racing diet. Ensuring that you are using a good electrolyte supplement is important and the quantities fed must be flexible and respond to changes in the level of work, degree of sweating and climate.

Juvenile Jumpers - Is there a place in Britain and Ireland for a juvenile hurdle programme?

Words - Lissa Oliver

The racing industry can often be accused of living in the past. Horsemen rely to an extent on the sharing of knowledge and experience handed down from one generation to the next, yet trainers in particular are keen to keep up with the latest trends and innovations in the hope they may improve the performance of their horses. While we thrive on tradition, we still constantly chase the next best thing.

Rooted more deeply in the past is National Hunt racing, which could be described as the more accessible side of our sport. Within the ranks of breeders, trainers and amateur jockeys are a great number of hobbyists, who like to do things themselves in the manner they have always done.

So it’s perhaps no surprise that we now delve back to 2013, a year in which we posed just about the same question we pose here: Should National Hunt store horses be broken at time of sale? It was a question then that had emerged out of borderline panic, as British and Irish-bred National Hunt horses struggled to compete against the French-breds. As with most panic attacks, we looked to the most immediate and obvious cause and set about addressing the situation with a campaign to supply ready-broken stores.

Speaking at the 2013 launch of an educational DVD on the breaking of store horses, Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association Manager Shane O’Dwyer explained, “The view in National Hunt circles is that we need to change the way we do business, in that traditionally the store horse is broken at three and four, but the French system of breaking at two years appears to be a good alternative. The sales companies are pushing for horses to be broken by the autumn of their two-year-old career and then turned away to mature.”

That was 10 years ago. While the tide in results has since turned, the ideas put in place at the time have still yet to find favour. After a decade, 2022 sees the first National Hunt sale to cater for the new Junior Hurdle programme that will commence in Britain this autumn. Goffs UK August Sale at Doncaster in early August will feature a new National Hunt two-year-old session as part of the company’s support of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s (TBA) National Hunt Junior Hurdle races.

The National Hunt two-year-old session at the sale will see all horses offered with pre-sale veterinary certificates, in the same way that stores are offered in the Doncaster Spring Sale, and the new National Hunt Junior Hurdle Races will be open exclusively to three-year-olds from October to December and four-year-olds from January to April.

However, if we look at the number of store horses offered broken over the past ten years, early breaking does not seem to have gained any popularity among breeders and consignors, despite drives by the TBA and ITBA. Nor does it have any obvious effect on sales.

Ten years ago, the three largest sales in Ireland and Britain in 2012 catalogued an average of 23% broken stores. 77.3% of the Land Rover Sale catalogue were unbroken, of which 74.4% were sold. 76.2% of horses listed as having been driven in long reins were sold; 71.4% of those listed as driven and backed were sold; and 70.3% of the broken horses found buyers.

Those 2012 figures were similar at Fairyhouse, where 77.8% of the Derby Sale catalogue were unbroken. Only 11 were listed as broken, but all 11 were sold. 79.5% of those driven and backed changed hands, and 80.3% of horses driven in long reins were sold. 83.3% of the unbroken horses found buyers.

Meanwhile, at the 2012 DBS Spring Sale, looking at the 208 stores catalogued on the final day, the picture was much the same. 62.5% were unbroken, of which 73.8% sold. 62.5% of the broken horses changed hands, 66.7% of the youngsters driven and backed were sold, and 72% of those long reined found homes.

A lot depends on the individual horse, and the sheer volume of unbroken horses limits the purchaser’s choice; but the comparative percentages show that having a horse prepared and even broken was certainly not a disadvantage, even then.

If we skip ahead to the current year, Goffs Land Rover Sale 2022 had 715 catalogued, of which only seven were broken, 0.98%. Tattersalls Derby Sale 2022 had 390 catalogued, four of which were broken, 1%. Goffs UK Spring Store Sale 2022 had six broken, from a catalogue of 313, 1.9%. That’s a total of just 1.2% of broken horses, quite a decrease from the 23% of broken stores on offer in 2012.

The French, of course, have a National Hunt programme designed to bring young horses to the track, with sales arising from racecourse performance rather than the ring. The Arqana Grand Steeple Sale 2022 had 38 catalogued, of which 19 raced over hurdles as three-year-olds (50%) and the remainder, bar four in training but unraced, ran on the Flat. 

The French system of early racing experience is popular with trainers, who are trying to satisfy the demands of impatient owners who want to go straight from the sales to the racecourse. It’s also a system that benefits its young National Hunt horses, who have a programme in place allowing them to develop and gain experience on the track. Until this year, no such development programme existed for British and Irish horses.

Junior National Hunt Hurdles in Britain are open to horses that have not previously run before 1 October of that season, nor previously started in a Flat race or more than three hurdle races. Horses will be allowed to run in a maximum of four Junior National Hunt Hurdles, with a penalty structure for wins in previous hurdle races.

There will be 10 Junior National Hunt Hurdle races in the 2022/23 season open to three-year-olds and run between mid-October and the end of December, with a similar number for four-year-olds from January to the end of the season, all run at Classes 2 to 4 under WFA terms. 

Wins by British-bred fillies nominated to the GBB (NH) scheme will generate bonuses just as they would for Novice Hurdles, which is £20,000 for GB-sired fillies winning fillies-only races and £10,000 for those winning any-sex races. Junior National Hunt Hurdle race winners will still be eligible to compete in Novice Hurdles during the following season, just as for National Hunt Flat races. It is hoped this will boost the sales of two-year-old National Hunt prospects.

“By adding these races to the programme, we’ll be able to gain a much better understanding of the impact of providing young jumping horses with the opportunity to start their careers at an earlier stage,” says Richard Wayman, Chief Operating Officer of the BHA. “Such an approach is already well established in France and to some extent as part of a vibrant Point-to-Point scene in Ireland, and we hope that owners and trainers will support the introduction of Junior National Hunt Development Hurdle Races and view them as an ideal opportunity for the right sort of jumping horse.”

Dr Bryan Mayoh, Chairman of the TBA NH Committee and co-breeder of black-type National Hunt winners, including Sizing John, told the National Trainers Federation, “This could be a long-term game changer for British Jump racing and breeding.”

He points out that “almost half of the horses gaining RPRs of 170 or more from 2009/10 onwards are French-breds” and argues the point, “top-class French-breds are far more likely to have run over obstacles at the age of three or by the middle of their four-year-old year. These horses had probably been schooled over hurdles several months earlier. The early racing of French-bred National Hunt horses, rather than any differences in pedigree, appears to be the single biggest factor generating the superior results of French-breds in recent years.”

Of course, it isn’t only the French-bred horses who benefit from early racing. Irish bred and trained horses are also now dominating the National Hunt scene, as their success at recent Cheltenham Festivals highlights. Once again, we could point to early racing as a probable reason for success, as so many Irish National Hunt horses have come from the Point-to-Point field. As trainer David Pipe tells us, “We do not get many orders for store horses, so tend to buy English or Irish Point-to-Pointers.”

Of the 30 races run at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, 15 were won by Irish-breds, nine by French-breds and four by British-bred horses. Looking only at the 20 Graded races, only two of the winners ran as three-year-olds, both in France. Thirteen of the Graded winners debuted at four, five of them in Point-to-Points. Three didn’t start until the age of five, one as a six-year-old and one had run on the Flat at two.

The picture in 10 years’ time might be very different, with the trend in National Hunt horses debuting at four changing to a bulk of three-year-old appearances. But, overall, the knee-jerk reactions to stem the tide of rival breeding nations appear neither to have been embraced nor even to have affected the turnaround in results or the turnover at sales.

There is, however, another argument to early breaking and racing. Research by Ely, Avella, Price, Smith, Wood and Verheyen, published in the April 2009 Equine Veterinary Journal, found that ex-store horses were twice as likely to suffer tendon and suspensory ligament injuries as ex-Flat horses. The data collected from 1,223 horses based in 14 different British National Hunt training yards showed the recorded fracture incidence rate varied significantly by trainer, but not by gender or age. 

The tendon and suspensory ligament incidence rate also varied significantly by trainer, as well as by age, but not by gender. The findings are clear: Early breaking and training halves the incidences of tendon and suspensory ligament problems.

It has been shown that short, controlled pieces of work at regular intervals, between recovery turnout, allow tendons and ligaments to grow and develop strength in harmony with bone growth. When a young National Hunt horse comes into training from a background of controlled exercise it is far less likely to suffer suspensory ligament problems, and its career is significantly prolonged as a consequence.

Grange Stud has been breaking its stores for the past 20 years and in terms of physical development, it makes logical sense. “It’s the same for any athlete, be they human or equine; the sooner you start skills training, the better it is for their careers,” points out bloodstock agent John O’Byrne. “Look at top professionals in any sport: they had a ball, club or racquet in their hands nearly before they could walk.”

Clean Water and horses - the importance of this often forgotten essential nutrient

Words - Alan Creighton

The Irish Equine Centre monitors the environment in over 200 racing yards across Europe. That monitoring package includes air quality, feed and fodder quality and storage, stable hygiene testing, and indoor exercise hygiene testing. A further major portion of that environmental monitoring package includes regular water sampling both at source and water directly from buckets or troughs. Water is the number-one nutrient fed to any animal, and it is often overlooked both in nutrient programmes and in the diagnosis of health issues resulting from poor performance of racehorses. We often hear the excuse that “Ah sure, horses drink from dirty puddles and ponds; and they seem fine.” That may be true and even OK for horses on farms, where horses are on a break or at pasture, but it’s OK not for high- level stressed racehorses. Anything that affects the gut flora or metabolism of a racehorse can have a negative effect on performance.

By weight, horses consume up to three times as much water as food per day. If the water contains toxins, high levels of minerals or any other environmental contamination, nutritional and performance problems can result.

Horses should consume enough water to replace what is lost through faeces, urine and importantly for racehorses, sweat particularly due to exercise. Water consumption will depend on several factors. These factors can be variable and include temperature, humidity, feed and fodder quality, type and amount of feed and fodder, exercise level, stage of fitness and health. The average daily consumption for a 500kg horse would be approximately 45 litres per day in normal, average weather conditions. The same horse, when in full training, could consume nearly three times that or up to 125 litres of water per day. When racehorses are carrying out their conditioning or fitness work following a long break, particularly in warm weather, the sweat production can increase further, which in turn increases the water and electrolyte requirements.

At this stage of conditioning, there is a fine balance between water and electrolyte concentration, which is essential for appropriate muscle contraction and also in the cooling down process of the horse. An imbalance or a depletion of electrolytes can lead to premature muscle fatigue, reduced stamina, muscle cramps, poor post exercise recovery and tying up. These facts further highlight the need to ensure an abundant, safe supply of water to racehorses. 

Contaminated water will impact the performance of both. This is something that may be overlooked in all types of horse management. High bacterial content in water can affect all animals, and in particular young stock and under-pressure racehorses. High iron content in water can cause severe gut upset in horses, which builds up over time. High levels of nitrate, nitrite and aluminium can also have a large negative impact on horses. Water quality in farm wells can fluctuate greatly and require constant monitoring.

There are three main sources of water available to racehorses: mains or municipal water, well or borehole water and finally running water in streams, if using outdoor paddocks daily. Yards in or close to towns usually draw their water from a public or municipal system that provides extensive purification and filtration services and also regularly tests its water for contaminants such as disease-causing bacteria and toxic chemicals including pesticides. The worries are less from this source but not eliminated. If there is damage to the delivery line or a problem with the plumbing on your own yard or farm, your water could still be compromised. Mains water can also be variable in the concentration of fluoride and chlorine, which means it requires regular monitoring as this may affect the palatability of water.

If your drinking water comes from a small group scheme or your own private well, then you are responsible for ensuring it is safe to drink. Many wells provide beautifully clean water, but there is also the potential for contamination. Man-made water sources are not free of issues; they require consistent maintenance.

Wells which are drilled correctly, sealed and more than 50 feet (15m) deep have less chance of becoming contaminated with bacteria. Water from an old or shallow well should be tested more frequently. Wells close together can supply water of varying quality. Even two wells side by side can draw water from separate aquifers (underground water sources) and yield very different results. Water quality from wells, both in terms of bacterial content and physical and mineral makeup, can vary greatly based on seasonal factors. Drought, heavy rainfall, local farming practices all can have a negative impact.

Trainers more and more are seeing the benefits of keeping racehorses in outdoor paddocks either for a portion of the day or permanently. If the water source is only a stream or river, then obviously a good flow is required. Ponds are usually problematic. Agricultural chemicals and other environmental contaminants can cause blue-green algae to bloom in the water. Not all algae produce harmful chemicals, but blooms are indicators of unhealthy or stagnant water.

Horse owners often forget to observe or clean water troughs in paddocks. If the water in a trough appears green or murky, it needs to be dumped and replaced. When cleaning a water trough, it is often necessary to remove algae by more vigorous means than rinsing alone. Stiff brushes and apple cider vinegar are two safe tools for removing algae and discouraging regrowth. 

Like us, however, their water intake can quickly be adversely affected if the water’s taste is unpleasant. Horses that refuse to drink from unfamiliar-tasting water sources are distressingly common. There is more and more evidence to suggest that horses are reluctant to drink low pH or acidic water. You may have a scenario where a horse is used to drinking a balanced pH water (6.5-7.5) and then travels to a racetrack were the pH may be much lower (4.5-5.5) and then refuse to drink, which would be a problem and lead to dehydration if stabled there for a number of days.

The most common problem we find in water is bacterial contamination. Testing your well’s water for bacterial contamination on a regular basis is sound practice. A total coliform test checks the water for bacteria normally found in the soil, surface water, and human and animal waste. Coliform bacteria are not, in themselves, considered harmful, but their presence in your water supply is an indication that your well or supply may be contaminated either from runoff from a manure pit, a nearby septic tank, or fertiliser or manure spread on a nearby farm. Coliform levels can vary greatly due to drought conditions or with sudden heavy rainfall. It’s also possible to have high coliform levels when the well has developed physical defects, such as a broken or missing cap that could allow debris, surface water, insects or rodents inside. Bacterial testing is a good idea whenever there is a noticeable change in the colour, odour or taste of your water, or if a group of animals become sick. 

If high coliform levels turn up in your well water, it’s possible your own manure management is the culprit. To protect your water, make sure you situate your manure pit in an elevated, well-drained location, not on the lowest spot on the property. After a rainstorm, watch the flow of water—it should go around your manure pile, not through it. Simply rerouting the flow of run-off water can improve your water quality considerably. 

The variability of bacterial levels in water supplies often results in trainers needing to install a UV filter onto the water inlet pipe, which feeds their yard. UV filters, once working correctly and maintained, are effective at reducing the bacterial load.

Blue-green algae in natural water sources can produce cyanotoxins, which are extremely dangerous for horses. Blue-green algae poisoning can cause muscle tremors, laboured breathing, bloody diarrhoea, liver damage and even convulsions and death. So it’s best to remove horses from a contaminated water source with algal blooms immediately. Algal growth is usually associated with large amounts of organic material in the water, often as a result of runoff from nearby fertilised fields.

Nitrate levels in natural or well water supplies are also a concern. Nitrate converts to the much more toxic nitrite in the rumen, which reacts with blood haemoglobin, reducing the availability of the blood to hold oxygen. Nitrites and ammonia should only be present in drinking water at very low levels. Ammonia may be present in supplies as a result of runoff from agricultural slurry, fertiliser or industrial waste. It rapidly oxidises to nitrite (which principally exists as an intermediate) and, in turn, to nitrate. Elevated levels of ammonia and nitrites are indicative of effluent contamination, and the source should be investigated and eliminated. For drinking purposes, removing nitrate is required and can be carried out by the installation of a reverse osmosis (RO) system.

When it comes to water safety, pesticides and herbicides are other worries. Though it can be expensive to test for these chemicals, it may be worth doing if you have significant concerns about the agricultural sprays being used in your area, or if you suspect solvents or other toxic chemicals have leached into your water from a nearby industrial facility. 

Until recently, the veterinary world had viewed iron toxicity in horses mainly as an acute condition and often only as a result of overdosing on iron supplements. However, research has shown that horses exposed to high iron levels in water, grass or hay over a prolonged period can accumulate the mineral in their livers, resulting in chronic iron overload. This iron overload can prevent the liver from carrying out its essential duties so vital to an exercising racehorse. High iron in water also can have a detrimental effect on the gut flora of horses, which can lead to all types of metabolic issues. Iron levels in well water vary greatly from region to region, and many hotspots have been identified over vast areas in different countries. Iron, like most minerals, can be filtered from water using filtration systems at the point of entry into the yard.

Once trainers have established a reliable clean source of water, they must then ensure that the distribution of clean water is maintained throughout the yard. That means placing covers on header tanks to prevent rodent or bird infiltration, cleaning water bowls, drinkers and buckets and finally flushing water lines to automatic drinkers on an annual basis. 

Then there’s the  question of which is better: watering using buckets or automatic drinkers? Both have positives and negatives. You can monitor the amount a horse drinks from buckets and then take buckets out of the box to clean as needed. The down side to bucketed water is that it’s labour intensive. Automatic drinkers are not labour intensive, but they do need to be checked daily to ensure they are working. They supply fresh water constantly, but you have no idea how much water a horse has drunk or not, and the systems need constant flushing and cleaning. 

Not all natural water sources are problematic, and not all artificially provided water is safe. Keeping a careful watch over the water your horses are drinking will allow you to detect contamination issues before they cause illness, dehydration or loss of performance.

Drinking water must be completely free from any microorganisms or contaminants which are considered a health risk.

The IEC provides water testing for equine, agricultural, domestic and commercial purposes. Water is tested for bacterial content including E. coli and total coliforms but also physical and equine-specific mineral profiles to an ISO 17025 standard. Water can pose a health risk for humans and animals when consumed, even though contamination may not be noticeable by taste, smell or even colour. 

Does jockey gender makes a difference to racehorse performance?

Words - Charlotte Schrurs (PGDip VetPhys, MSc)

Male jockeys have no more influence over the performance of a racehorse than female jockeys

Experts from the University of Nottingham have found that the sex of a jockey doesn’t influence any aspect of racehorse physiology and performance. 

The findings of the study, presently published as a preprint at Research Square, offer a new perspective on the possible balance of elite male and female jockeys on the start line of races.  

Studies assessing the effect of the sex of a rider on racehorse performance and physiology during training have not been reported, mostly due to the lack of available data for female participants within the sport. 

The racing of Thoroughbred horses has a tradition dating back to the 18th Century in the UK. However, it was not until the mid-late 20th Century that the first ladies’ race was held. In the present day, more than 90% of participating jockeys, in most racing nations, are men. This is likely an unconscious bias toward male jockeys being, on average, physically ‘stronger’, able to push horses harder, and thus performing better in races than female jockeys. 

In horse-racing, male and female jockeys compete against each other in the majority of races. This is because the competitive advantage is less on the physical attributes of the rider but more on skill level or ability to partner with an animal. Indeed, racing requires quick reaction time and agility from the jockey while being able to navigate the horse with dexterity across the peloton at peak speeds often exceeding 60km/h.

In the present day, more than 90% of jockeys, in most racing nations, are men. This is likely an unconscious bias toward male jockeys being, on average, physically ‘stronger’, able to push horses harder, and thus performing better in races than female jockeys.

This decade has seen a marked increase in participation of female jockeys at an elite level in the racing industry. In 2021, the Irish jockey – Rachael Blackmore – made history by winning several high-profile races. This year, she continued her remarkable rise by becoming the first female jockey ever to win the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Success stories, like this, are shaping global betting behaviours on the racetrack and challenging the public’s confidence in the ability of male or female jockeys to win big races.  

In the UK and Ireland, previous research had suggested an underestimation of the ability of female jockeys to win races, as recorded in betting behaviour. 

In racing, a competitive advantage may lie in the ability of a jockey to control the horse, and/or less weight carried by the horse (i.e. weight of jockey plus saddle). 

An average racehorse weighs ~500-600kg, an average jockey, ~49-55 kg. Yet, a few 100g extra on the back of a racehorse has been shown to influence race performance. Therefore, weight carried by the horse (jockey, plus saddle and added weights where necessary) is used to further equalise any perceived performance advantage. This allows horses of varying levels to participate in so-called “handicap” races. In such races, each horse is attributed a predetermined weight to carry (jockey plus saddle, with added weights where necessary) determined by the racing regulatory board. Horses with better racing records are allocated higher weights in order to further equalise any perceived performance advantage. Hence, jockeys are weighed in before, and weighed out after, races. 

All being equal, would a racehorse during race-pace work-outs perform any differently when ridden by either a female or male jockey? Would that racehorse be more or less likely to win a race? 

Researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, worked with Guillaume Dubois PhD Scientific Director at Arioneo Ltd – a company that developed a bespoke exercise tracking device for horses; and an Equine Sports Medicine specialist (Dr Emmanuelle van Erck-Westergren PhD; Equine Sports Medicine Practice, Belgium) to answer some of these questions. 

They monitored 530 thoroughbred racehorses, ridden by 103 different work riders, which were randomly allocated to a horse (66 male, 37 female) over a total of 3,568 work-outs (varying intensity from slow/med/hard canter to gallop) at a single racing yard (with varying tracks sand, fibre, turf) (Ciaron Maher racing) in Victoria, Australia. Variables such as speed, stride length and frequency, horses heart rate and rate of recovery were recorded with a validated fitness tracker (the ‘Equimetre’©). This tracker was specifically designed to monitor horses during their daily exercise routine with advanced data analysis services (www.arioneo.com).

The investigators found no effect of sex of the jockey on any objectively measured outcome variable, measured from slow-canter to hard, race-pace gallops. But would this lack of effect of sex of jockey in training, also translate to actual race results, where many other variables come into play?   

Analysing results from 52,464 races (combining steeplechase and flat races), female jockeys had a similar win percentage (of total race starts) as male jockeys in the UK (female, 10.7% vs. male, 11.3%). In Australia, male jockeys had a slightly higher win percentage (11.0 vs. 9.9%), but this was negated when considering a top three race finish. 

Taken together, the researchers found minimal effect of the sex of the jockey on both training and race outcomes. Some curious effects were observed. For example, recovery of racehorse heart rate after exercise appeared influenced by sex of the rider, but only when the usual training intensity on each track surface (grass or sand) was reversed. 

Male work-riders, more so than female, perhaps anticipated the ‘expected’ training-intensity (e.g. gallop on grass) and their proposed anticipation was transmitted faithfully to the horse, who responded with higher or lower heart rate. Further work is needed, however, to confirm this effect. When considered across all training sessions, then no difference in expected recovery rates of racehorses were noted between male and female jockeys.  

Ms Charlotte Schrurs (PGDip VetPhys, MSc), doctoral student and lead author with Professor David S Gardner PhD, said: “Our study is the first to objectively assess whether sex of the jockey has an influence on any aspect of racehorse physiology and performance. The data convincingly suggest the answer is no and offers a new perspective on the possible balance of elite male and female jockeys on the start line of races. Efforts to favour a more ‘inclusive environment’ would greatly contribute towards equal opportunities and the promotion of fair competition within this highly popular and fascinating sport.” 

The full study can be found here  - https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1341860/v1

The business of standing thoroughbred stallions

Words - Alysen Miller

Foals gambol in 750 acres of lush green paddocks enlaced by pristine post and rail fencing while the sun glints off the chalky New Forest hills. It’s the sort of timeless vista that could have dripped straight from the brush of George Stubbs. But the bucolic scene belies the harsh reality that the small breeder in Britain is heading towards extinction. “We’re under so much pressure here. On the bad days, sometimes it is tempting to say, ‘Sod it,’” says Ed Harper, director of Whitsbury Manor Stud. “But I have a responsibility to the staff that have been with us for a long time and to my dad, who worked 50 years for this. I don’t want him to see us raise the white flag just yet, so we’re digging our heels in.”

Pressure is, after all, something the denizens of Whitsbury Manor are accustomed to. Harper’s father purchased the farm in the 1980s, having previously managed it for his uncle—the colourful bookmaker William Hill who died of a heart attack while attending the October Sales at Newmarket in 1971. A non-horsey child (“I couldn’t even put a headcollar on”), Harper briefly entertained a career in chartered surveying before the siren call of the breeding shed proved too strong. 

Since taking over the reins from his father, Harper has had to get creative in order to keep the bank manager at bay. “I believe that there are different reasons for doing things,” he explains. “I’m very pleased if very rich people want to spend money in our sport and don’t have to make it pay. The more the merrier. But we’ve never been able to do that. My father had to borrow money to buy Whitsbury Manor, and we’ve never been out of debt since. Our choice is not whether to be ultra-commercial or to do it their way. Our choice is to be ultra-commercial or not be in business at all.” He currently stands four stallions at Whitsbury Manor. He has also partnered with the National Stud to stand Lope Y Fernandez in Newmarket. “I think it was a perfect mix of us being very familiar with how to make commercial decisions, and them having the branding and the location,” he explains. “Hopefully Lope Y Fernandez is the start of a really good relationship that can benefit breeders.” But Whitsbury Manor’s flag bearer is undoubtedly Showcasing. After an inauspicious start, “we literally covered a couple of polo ponies with him in years two and three. We were dealing down to £2,500,” Harper says. Showcasing — the son of Oasis Dream — is fast establishing himself as a formidable sire. Currently standing for £45,000, his dance card is full for the current breeding season.

Showcasing’s success has allowed Harper to keep his head above water a little longer. “I think if Showcasing hadn’t come along when he did, we might have 10 mares here and no stallions; and I’d be doing all the mucking out,” he says. But ironically, it has risked pricing out the smaller breeders on whom studs like Whitsbury Manor traditionally rely. “We were dealing regularly with people that would breed one foal every other year, and we were delighted that they were coming to us,” Harper explains. “So it’s a delicate balance.” Harper is aware that in order to survive in the long term, he needs to cater to the smaller breeders as well as those who can afford a £45,000 nomination. “Very much at the front of our minds is that we have to keep the critical mass of breeders alive and breeding,” he says. “They need to have options. When they stop getting the options, they stop.” 

Harper’s fears are borne out by the statistics. At one end of the breeding spectrum lies a handful of large operations, many of which have more than 100 broodmares. But the industry also includes around 2,500 small breeders with just one or two broodmares, who operate on a recreational rather than commercial basis. These small breeders account for around a third of the British foal crop each year and so are fundamental to both the breeding and wider racing industries. But the number of small breeders decreased by 5% between 2013 and 2017, according to a 2018 Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association report (the latest year for which figures are available). Of those remaining, 66% were operating at a loss—up from 45% in 2013. It seems certain that if the current trajectory continues, even more small- to medium-sized operators will be forced out of the industry over the coming years. Harper is clear-eyed about what that means for the prospects of operations like his: “We don’t survive unless our clients survive,” he says. “However good our stallions are, if we don’t have clients, no one will know it, and vice versa. They need the opportunities to have stallions they can afford. It goes hand in hand. One can’t do it without the other.”

Of course, nobody ever said that breeding racehorses was easy. “It’s always challenging, even at the best of times, because there are variables that you have no control over,” says Pope McLean, Jr, business manager and co-owner of Crestwood Farm. Some 3,900 miles away in Kentucky, USA, McLean echoes many of Harper’s concerns: “We’re all trying to come up with a good horse that can carry the burden of what we do,” he says. “There are operators that are much smaller than we are who are struggling,” he acknowledges. Founded by Pope McLean père in the 1970s, the McLean family has owned and operated the 1,000-acre facility ever since.

But farms like Crestwood Farm have had to come up with some clever initiatives to support their stallions and the wider breeding industry. This has included jumping on the Share the Upside bandwagon. Originated by the aptly-named Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, the simple yet innovative concept was originally designed to get more mares for Into Mischief who, in 2010, was entering his second year at stud, and another Spendthrift stallion, Notional. For an initial commitment of $13,000 over two years, breeders could obtain a lifetime breeding right in the stallion. Although met with scepticism from the market at first, both Into Mischief and the Share the Upside programme are now both firm fixtures on the American breeding landscape. “It’s something that’s tangible that can help the smaller breeder,” says McLean. “A lot of farms probably aren’t too keen on it, but I think it’s only fair. You have to have the breeders to move forward. If the stallion becomes successful and the breeders have helped you get there, that’s one way that you can reward them for helping you.”

The Share the Upside scheme has been a lifeline for smaller breeders in the states. Back in the UK, meanwhile, incentive schemes such as the Great British Bonus have started to improve return on investment for domestic breeders, although the potential upside is modest by comparison.

But it is not just a lack of flashy incentives that is driving smaller breeders out of business. The dominance of a handful of powerful owner-breeders means that only around 10% of the 4,000-odd foals born in Great Britain each year are bred primarily for sale, with the result that a dwindling number of breeders must walk an increasingly taut supply-and-demand tightrope. The polarisation between the haves and the have nots is stark. 

According to historical data from the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association report, the average filly sold at the Tattersalls Book 1 sale earned an estimated profit of £118,000. Those sold at Book 3 made an average loss of £23,500. “I suppose that’s the main difference between your market and our market,” says Sam Matthews, general manager of Swettenham Stud in Victoria, Australia. “A lot of the top-end horses—the Dubawis and Galileos of the world—might not have a huge amount of their progeny offered to the trainers and other people in the industry, whereas almost every horse that is bred [in Australia] is offered for sale in some way, shape or form whether offered as a weanling, syndicated privately or offered as a yearling. If a large farm is breeding 100 mares a year, at least 80 of them would likely be offered to the public.” This helps keep supply and demand for stallion services elastic: “It’s almost a year-by-year prospect,” says Matthews. “Certainly, if a horse becomes proven quite early on in their career, they do escalate to the increased service fees quite quickly. But on the flip side, if you don’t have much success, they do drop back quite quickly.”

The effect of a buoyant sales culture means that smaller breeders can still make a profit in an open marketplace: “From our point of view, the smaller breeders are the backbone of what we’re all doing,” explains Matthews. “If somebody can get a return off a $20,000 service fee and get $150,000 for their yearling or weanling, that’s an incredible result and that’s something that we hope to be able to help them to achieve.” It’s all about catering to the market. “There’s not much point in having a Bentley dealership in a low socio-economic area,” says Matthews.

By comparison, the UK racing and breeding industry can appear to be something of an ouroboros. Only six of this year’s Derby field had been through the sales ring at some point in their lives (including an honourable mention for the £3,000-yearling Glory Daze). Frankel and Galileo were responsible for five runners between them. Before Desert Crown’s win in this year’s Derby, you would have had to go back to 2017 to find the last winner of the Epsom Classic that was not bred by Godolphin or Coolmore or one of their affiliates. (Wings Of Eagles, bred in France but snapped up as a yearling for €220,000 by MV Magnier at the Arqana August Yearling Sale. He now stands at stud for Coolmore.) 

Back in Hampshire, Harper is clear that he does not believe that the big owner/breeders themselves are the problem: “They’re bringing investment in,” he explains. “[The big operators] want competition. They want to do well, but they also are racing enthusiasts at heart. People soon realise that three-runner races where they’ve got two out of the three runners is not good for anybody.” Like many smaller operations, Harper has adopted an ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ approach. Of Whitsbury Manor’s four stallions, two—Sergei Prokofiev and Due Diligence—are operated in partnership with Coolmore.

But the consequences of the concentration of power in the hands of a small handful of owner/breeders are not only economic, but genetic. “We’re going down a black hole, genetically,” cautions Harper. “It’s very unwise.” Harper is putting his money where his mouth is: Between Sergei Prokofiev and Due Diligence, Harper reckons he has the highest concentration of AP Indy blood in his corner of the UK. “I’m a big fan of AP Indy blood,” he explains. “That hard knocking tenacity and toughness—the pedigree purists love to throw knives at us, but what they don’t realise is that we’re keeping the bottom half alive. I think it’s important we keep refreshing the genetics in Europe. I’m chuffed that we’re bringing those genes over for people to use. It’s characteristic of breeding in every country that people cherish what’s on their doorstep more than they look over the fence. But I try and have a more global look.” And then there is the pressure to produce early developing horses that trainers can sell: “They’re our shop window, and we’ll do our best to produce what they can sell. There’s no point in producing horses that the trainers are going to struggle to sell to their clients,” says Harper. “The new client is probably shared ownership, and they want instant action. We need to be producing horses that the trainer can sell and say, ‘Hey, look, lads: if you buy this horse, we could be at Royal Ascot in a couple of months’ time.’”

So what is the solution? It is clear that, in the wake of the double whammy of Brexit and COVID-19, the economic situation is more precarious than ever. While the largest operations are probably too big to fail, a swingeing recession could force even more small- and medium-sized breeders to cease their operations for good. In such a scenario, British racing is facing the very real prospect that it will not be able to sustain its racing calendar. Around 20,000 individual runners are needed to maintain the programme, according to the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. With fewer races meeting the eight runners per race required for each way betting, the quality of the betting product will deteriorate, along with funding from the gambling industry and media rights payments; and the finances of all racing industry participants will be severely impacted.

Harper is pessimistic about his chances of being able to hand over Whitsbury Manor to the next generation. “I don’t think we will have the client base of small breeders to give our stallions a chance to compete in 25 years’ time if we keep going down this road,” he says. “Our goal is survival. And we don’t survive in this business without our clients. I’ve seen so many breeders stop breeding in this country. Not every foal we produce will make money. But if we can, we will continue to source stallions that we are able to stand at a fee that will give our small-breeding clients an opportunity. Because if we’re not solving that equation and they don’t have options, they stop breeding.”

Racing in Belgium

Words - Dr. Paull Khan

Belgium's Desert Orchid and French-trained Taupin Rochelais sail over the 'world's biggest water jump.' Credit: Photography Piet Eggermont Belgium.

The jumps track at the pristine little Flemish town of Waregem might just boast the shortest finishing straight in the world—the winning post being a matter of yards from the final bend. It is, however, the home of far and away the most valuable race in Belgium. The Grand Steeple-Chase of Flanders boasts a purse of €80,000 (€100,000 pre-COVID) and, August 30th will see the 154th renewal of this venerable 4,600-metre event.

“The race is part of the Crystal Cup,” explains course commentator Nicky de Frene, “thanks to the Gaverbeek—the largest water jump in the world at 6.5 metres—and the famous Irish Bank, which give this Steeple-Chase a little touch of a cross-country race. It’s recently attracted the attention of David Pipe and Jamie Snowden, but I fear that Brexit wasn’t a good thing for Waregem because of the extra travel costs.” 

Nowadays, the race is virtually the preserve of French connections (Although Germany can boast a couple of second places in recent years; and Kildagin did win it for Britain back in 1975). 

Nicky de Frene is in no doubt about its most remarkable winner. “In the last decade, we have seen the domination of the French trainer Patrice Quinton, who won the race 10 times in a row! That happened with five different horses, one of which was Taupin Rochelais, the near-white grey who won it four times running. At the time of his last victory, in 2018, he had to carry 76kg, (12 stone) and he beat a top-class horse from champion trainer Guillaume Macaire. That day, Waregem witnessed the highest-rated performance in its history.” 

“We’re not a racing nation…” continues de Frene, warming to his theme, “but he’s our version of Desert Orchid! I don’t know of a top handicap in the world with a winner of four successive renewals. Even Makybe Diva has just three Melbourne Cups; Red Rum, three Grand Nationals. So Taupin Rochelais deserves, in my opinion, eternal fame.”

However, the Grand Steeple Chase of Flanders is one of just four Belgian jumps races, all run on a single day at Waregem. Flat racing, by contrast, is held year-round. 

Belgian racing is, in fact, amongst the most open in the world. All of its races, including handicaps, are open to horses trained in all recognised nations. As long as an entry has a handicap mark in its home country, it will be assigned a mark in Belgium, which uses the same scale as in France.

Some 18% of last year’s runners were foreign-trained—the great majority from Germany, some from Holland and a smattering from France. Gone are the days when British trainers like Michael Jarvis made regular raids over to the seaside resort track at Ostend. This compares starkly with the number of foreign sorties made by Belgian-trained horses, which are almost as likely to run outside Belgium as within it.

Marcel De Bruyne, Belgium’s representative on the EMHF and director of the Belgian Galop Federation, explains the simple truth: “French racetracks are nearby, and the prize money at those favoured by Belgian trainers is more than double ours.”

Average prize money last year was some €4,700 per race, peaking at €12,800 for Ostend’s Grand Prix de Prince Rose, the country’s most prestigious flat race. It is named after the most celebrated Belgian-trained thoroughbred who ran third in the ‘Arc,’ went on to win the Gp. 1 Prix du President at Saint Cloud and become an important stallion—leading sire in France in 1946 and great grand-sire of Secretariat.

Neither can the pool of home-trained horses be said to be extensive, having fallen from 348 pre-COVID to just 318 last year. However, the fixture list which these horses are asked to sustain runs to just 30 meetings and 150 races; and this controlled offering certainly pays dividends as regards competitiveness. Field sizes would be the envy of many top-tier racing nations: 10.8 at Ostende, 10.6 at Waregem and 9.4 at Mons.

Let’s take a look at the country’s three racecourses:

1. Mons: Two thirds of Belgium’s races are run at Mons, on the same type of All Weather track as can be found at Chantilly and Deauville, some 50km southwest of Brussels near the French border. A left-handed track of 1,200 metres’ circumference which favours front runners, particularly in the sprints, Mons’ Hippodrome de Wallonie races fortnightly from mid-September to the end of April, with a limited menu of five distances: 950m, 1,500m, 2,100m, 2,300m and 2,850m.

2. Wellington Racecourse at Ostend: Belgium’s high-summer track, racing on turf every Monday, July through August. With a slight incline to the finish, races cover a full range of distances from 1,000m to 4,000m, either on the track’s 1,400m right-handed oval or its 1,000m straight.

3. Waregem: Not far from Ghent, Waregem now offers four turf flat meetings in May and June, including the St Leger over 2,700m, to add to its flagship jumps day.

Nearly half the horses in training in Belgium are owner-trained. There are 18 professional trainers in the country. Jockeys are also in short supply: just 14 professional riders (with a further seven gentleman riders and seven lady riders. 

The long-term sustainability of thoroughbred breeding in the country is, however, a concern for De Bruyne. The country produced just 24 foals last year. “Belgian-bred thoroughbreds are becoming an endangered species because owners prefer to buy race-ready horses; and Belgian breeders often breed in France to be eligible for French breeders’ and owners’ premiums.” 

The backdrop against which Belgian racing is attempting to thrive is one of serious under-funding. It's only betting-based income stems from the very modest sums that are wagered by racegoers at its three courses and from bets placed into the French betting operator; PMU’s pools on 100 or so qualifying flat races—the so-called ‘Premium’ races. It is therefore heavily dependent upon this latter income stream. The sport derives no benefit whatsoever from the great bulk of relevant wagering—neither from bets placed by Belgian punters off-course (either in the 3,500 retail outlets or online)—whether on Belgian races or otherwise, nor by punters in other countries betting online on Belgian races (outside the PMU system).

Baron Philippe Casier—former president of the Belgian Jockey Club and a long-time advocate of statutory funding for the sport from betting thereon—describes two recent body-blows to this ambition. “Last year, a law introduced two years earlier, which required betting operators licensed in the country to enter into a funding agreement with racecourses, and which covered betting on both foreign and domestic races, was repealed before a single Euro had been handed over. And in 2018, a tripartite agreement that the Belgian tracks had struck with the PMU and international betting operators, through which common pool betting on the French system had, for a few years, resulted in healthy income for them, also ended.”

So, despite the numerous European Commission precedents, which have established the validity of statutory funding, there seems to be no current appetite for this within the Belgian national government, of which betting is a competency. Racing therefore must look to the largesse of regional governments. The Walloon region has been persuaded of the benefits of supporting this rural industry, and grants Mons a yearly operational subsidy. Hopes in Flanders, where there is currently no such support and into which Ostend and Waregem fall, rest with a proposal to establish a similar subsidy that is funded by raising the tax rate on online bets from 11% to the 15% that already applies to other betting. Despite these impediments, optimism remains, and perhaps we should leave the last reflections to Guy Heymans, Belgium’s chair of the European Trainers Federation: “Because of the repression we had in Belgian racing, a lot of owners stopped owning racehorses. And lots of those who kept on started training their horses themselves. That’s why we have a lot of owner/trainers in Belgium and why there are only a few professional trainers left”.

Racing in Belgium is no longer on a regular basis, as it used to be—there is now a race meeting only approximately every fortnight. But Ostend and Waregem are becoming very popular with the general public, with thousands of spectators at those meetings. For an owner it’s a real pleasure to win a race at one of these meetings with such crowds and all that cheering!

“Belgium is a very interesting place to have horses in training. First of all there is the geographical location: we have easy access to a lot of French and German racetracks (e.g., Paris within only three hours’ drive). Secondly, the trainers have excellent facilities—some of them private, others based on the racetrack in Mons.

Furthermore, the cost of putting a horse in training is cheaper than in our neighbouring countries. That makes it an interesting proposition for foreign owners to put horses into pre-training with a Belgian trainer.

“Belgian racing has been evolving positively over recent years. We hope that this trend will continue in such a way that new and old owners will find their way to the sport.”

200 years of horse racing in Germany

Words - Lissa Oliver

Horseracing is the oldest organised sport in Germany and this year it celebrates a major milestone. The very first thoroughbred race in Germany took place in Doberan, on the Baltic Sea, 10 August 1822, this summer marking the 200th anniversary. Around 30 racing clubs have organised a total of 136 race days to mark the celebration.

German-bred racehorses are recognised internationally for their stamina and soundness, which is no accident and links directly to that historic day in Doberan. Breeding selection and breed improvement through tests of performance remains a mandate of the Animal Breeding Act, with the retirement of stallions to stud strictly governed. 

Organised racing in Germany was very quickly established. As early as 13 August of the same year, 1822, the Doberan Racing Club was founded, the first of the racing clubs created to oversee the contests. The Berlin Racing Club followed in 1828 and by the 1830s numerous new clubs had been formed across the country.

Today, the Düsseldorf Equestrian and Racing Club has the proud boast of being Germany’s oldest continuously existing racing club, founded in 1844, and in April Düsseldorf racecourse had the honour of hosting the first of the anniversary celebrations.

Another major milestone followed when, in 1858, the French casino owner Edouard Bénazet had the racecourse built in Iffezheim near Baden-Baden. Ten years later, Emperor Wilhelm I attended the official opening of the Hoppegarten racecourse in Berlin, 17 May 1868, which quickly developed into one of the most important racecourses in Europe. 

The oldest continuous race in Germany is the Union Race, first held in 1834. Created as a supreme test for three-year-olds it was eventually relegated by the Deutsches Derby. The Norddeutsches Derby, as it was originally known, was established at Hamburg in 1869, becoming the now-familiar Deutsches Derby in 1889. During the wars it was staged at Grunewald in 1919, Hoppegarten in 1943 and 1944, Munich in 1946 and Cologne in 1947. The great Königsstuhl, in winning the Henckel-Rennen, Deutsches Derby and St-Leger in 1979, remains the only horse to win the German Triple Crown.

The first commercial German bookmakers sprang up in the middle of the 19th century and, following the French model, a totaliser was set up in Berlin in 1875. From 1905 to 1922 bookmaker bets were banned in Germany, but since then the Tote and bookmakers have been competing with each other.

The early part of the 20th century saw racing clubs springing up as vigorously as the grass and in 1912 there were more than 100 racecourses in Germany. Obviously, world events saw that blossoming situation change drastically. The First World War represented a turning point in the fate of German racing, but it was the Second World War that had a lasting and damaging impact.

Appropriately, racing returned to West Germany after the war years on 12 August 1945 at Leipzig, but in the German Democratic Republic racing became, at best, a marginal sport. Hoppegarten was nationalised and one of only six racecourses hosting racing.

It was a brighter new start in the West and the racing season resumed in full at Munich in April 1946. A steady resurgence followed, and Cologne developed into the leading training centre, while Hamburg remained the home of the Deutsche Derby. 

As with other European racing nations there was little change in the ensuing years, but 1980 marked another significant milestone when Dortmund became the first all-weather track in Europe, for the first time making winter racing under floodlights possible.

Following the reunification of Germany, racing came more into focus with the public and Berlin’s Hoppegarten, in particular, enjoyed renewed popularity. In 2021, the Group 1 LONGINES 131st Grand Prix of Berlin received great international recognition when it was included in the top 100 of the world's best races. However, it is Baden-Baden that is regarded as the leading German racecourse, in terms of betting turnover and also from a sporting, social and international viewpoint, staging popular meetings in spring, summer and autumn.

As already mentioned, the breeding of German thoroughbreds has always been carefully regulated to ensure continuing success. The German breeding industry began around 1800, originally in Mecklenburg.  In 1842 the first Deutsche Stud Book was published. It contained 242 breeders who between them kept 779 broodmares. Less than 10% had more than 10 mares. This has hardly changed to this day; there are only a few large stud farms, but many breeders with only one or two mares. Currently, about 460 breeders have around 1,300 broodmares.

One of the great traditional studs is the Prussian State Stud in Graditz, near Leipzig, founded in 1668 and already dedicated solely to thoroughbred breeding by the first half of the 19th century. Twelve Derby winners were raised there from 1886 (Potrimpos) to 1937 (Abendfrieden) and Graditz-produced horses were esteemed to the extent that there were times when they had to carry additional weight to give their rivals a better chance. 

The oldest private stud farm is Gestüt Schlenderhan near Cologne, founded in 1869 by Baron von Oppenheim. From 1908 to the present day, Schlenderhan has bred 19 Deutsches Derby winners, most recently In Swoop in 2020. A great example of the success of small-scale German breeders is, of course, 2021 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso, bred by Paul H. Vandeberg from his only mare, Tijuana; herself from Schlenderhan breeding.

The 200th anniversary of German racing is being celebrated across the country, with commemorative stamps produced by Deutsches Post. The highlight will be the festivities at Berlin-Hoppegarten racecourse from 12 to 14 August. The three-day anniversary meeting opens with an official ceremony at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin and on Saturday evening, 13 August, the Hoppegarten racecourse invites everyone to a big anniversary party. Details available at: 

Milestones in gallop racing - German gallop (deutscher-galopp.de)

Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures 2022

The 6th Annual Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures were held at Tattersalls on Tuesday, 7th June and this year focused on Thoroughbred Reproductive Efficiency. The lectures were aimed at all those involved in breeding racehorses and were supported by the Gerald Leigh Trust in honour of Mr Leigh's passion for the Thoroughbred horse and its health and welfare. 

There were six lectures in total from four internationally recognised experts in their field with two discussions on mare and stallion fertility.

ACCESS ALL LECTURES FROM THIS LINK

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeWFdwB7poOQLBHXKlsdnQA/videos

Reproductive strategies of stallions and mares

The morning session was kicked off by Dr Dominki Burger, a professor at the Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine, talking about his fascinating research on both mare and stallion reproductive behaviour and how social signalling affects reproductive strategies of stallions and mares.

“Breeding of horses in feral herds differs significantly from breeding under domestic conditions. The traditional concept of the equine breeding industry is to keep stallions and mares spatially separated which can lead to significant behavioural as well as fertility problems in both stallions and mares. Our studies demonstrate that the social environment of horses significantly influences their individual reproductive strategies. The perception of this social environment is influenced by various factors, including age and size-related traits or odours that reveal the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The MHC is a group of immune genes that has been found to influence olfactory communication and reproductive strategies in various vertebrates.”

Social signalling and its effect on mare reproduction

In mares, Dr Burger’s research group has shown that mares exposed to a stallion ovulate earlier in the breeding season than mares without male stimulation, and that when in season, mares show consistent preferences towards certain stallions. It is thought that the MHC or linked genes may influence equine female mate choice in a similar manner to previous observations in humans and other species. MHC-dissimilar mares and stallions have been shown to be more compatible and in fact, close proximity to a stallion with similar-MHC at the time of fertilisation; and early gestation can have a negative effect on pregnancy rates even when bred to an MHC-dissimilar stallion. The same group also showed that oxytocin levels have been shown to be significantly elevated in response to teasing, and multiple periovulatory inseminations potentially lead to an increase in fertility results per cycle, without causing increased inflammatory uterine reactions in healthy, fertile females. 

Social signalling and its effect on stallion reproduction

In stallions, they found that the MHC-linked signals influence testosterone secretion and ejaculate characteristics, both indicators of male reproductive strategies. Higher testosterone levels and higher sperm numbers were recorded in ejaculates from males exposed to MHC-dissimilar mares than when kept close to MHC-similar mares. 

How management strategies can increase reproductive efficiency

Dr Burger concluded firstly that exposing transitional mares to the proximity of a stallion is an easy and safe alternative to, for example, light programs or elaborated hormonal therapies, to start the breeding season earlier and to increase the number of oestrous cycles and possible matings in horses. Secondly, that optimal MHC-linked social signalling around the time of breeding has an effect of cryptic female mate choice and hence leads to better pregnancy results. Thirdly, optimal housing social conditions including the use of MHC-linked social signalling promises potential optimisations regarding sexual behaviour and semen output of stallions, and that introducing optimal MHC-linked social signalling around the time of breeding can lead to an increase of semen quantity and quality in the stallions’ ejaculates. 

Applying these new and practicable options in the field may result in improved management and well-being of both breeding stallions and mares as well as a more desirable economic situation for breeders.

Stallion fertility and reproductive efficiency

The second speaker of the day was Dr Charles Love, a professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M. Dr Love is a world-renowned stallion expert and internationally recognised for his extensive and ground-breaking research in stallion fertility. He spoke on his work on record analysis systems for critically studying stallion fertility and ways in which we can improve stallion reproductive efficiency.  

“There are many factors to evaluate in addition to the seasonal pregnancy rate and per cycle pregnancy rate. The breeding season (mid-February through the end of June) is a dynamic period such that the conditions (type of mare bred [barren, maiden, foaling], number of mares bred) vary considerably throughout the breeding season. For instance, a stallion’s fertility may decline in the middle of the breeding season when the number of mares he breeds increases, while early in the season he may do well. In contrast, stallions may do poorly early in the breeding season due to reproductively poor-quality barren mares, then improve once they start breeding foaling mares. The fertility of thoroughbred stallions may be affected by the cover (1-4) on which a mare was bred. A mare bred on a later cover (2-4) may receive fewer sperm than the mare on the first cover, therefore, evaluating the effect of cover can provide insight into a stallion’s fertility.”

The importance of monitoring testicular size

Evaluation of testes size and function is a fundamental part of the breeding soundness evaluation and in particular insurance examinations for first-season stallion infertility. The evaluation of sexually immature stallions that have recently retired from racing is challenging, because this can be a very dynamic period for testes growth due to the stress of racing as well as the immaturity of the stallion. Testes size can be measured by ultrasonography, and a volume measure can be attached to each testis. This provides an objective measure of the testes for all the parties involved and identifies those testes that are clearly very small and unlikely to produce sperm at the time of the evaluation. Measurements of the testes also allow the practitioner to re-evaluate a suspect stallion at a later stage to determine if the size is changing.

A common cause of stallion subfertility

Dr Love spoke about one of the most common conditions of the stallion, plugged ampullae or sperm accumulation. “This condition results when sperm back-up in the ampullae (an accessory gland located in the pelvis) and become non-viable (dead). The condition usually occurs in stallions with large testes (they produce more sperm) that have not bred since the end of the previous breeding season. Depending on the severity of the condition, the clean-out period, which requires frequent ejaculation to remove the accumulated sperm, can take from days to weeks. If stallions are bred during this time, subfertility may result because of the deposition of poor-quality sperm into the mare. Semen collection prior to the breeding season will help identify these stallions so they can be cleaned out before the start of the breeding season.”

Does reinforcement breeding improve fertility?

Reinforcement breeding occurs when a stallion finishes his cover, dismounts, and the “dripping” from the penis are collected into a container, mixed with semen extender and then passed (reinforced) into the uterus of the mare that the stallion just covered. Opinions vary as to how often this procedure should be applied (to select mares and stallions, only select covers, or all covers). One factor that plays a role is simply the number of sperm that are recovered in the dismount. The more sperm in the dismount sample, the fewer remain in the mare; thus, unless the dismount sample is reinforced, the mare may not receive an adequate “dose” of sperm. A study from Texas A&M University found that when >200 million sperm were reinforced, fertility increased almost 12% in those mares that were reinforced. Other factors that may affect the decision to reinforce include stallions that are physically limited (e.g., hindlimb/back pain, size disproportion [tall mare, short stallion]), resulting in a premature dismount and sperm deposited in the vagina or even outside the mare rather than the uterus.

Management of the barren mare for optimal fertility

Moving on to the mare, Dr Karen Wolfsdorf—a partner at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute Kentucky—gave the first talk on management of the barren mare for optimal fertility. Karen explained that “a broodmare needs to produce six foals every seven years and consistently produce viable foals to be economically successful. In order to achieve this, the mare needs to be in good physical condition, have regular oestrous cycles, mate, conceive, maintain pregnancy, give birth and raise a foal. If there is a breakdown in any of these areas, she will become considered a “problem” mare. Consideration of breeding practices and fertility of the stallion is important before all the blame of subfertility is placed on the mare. Therefore, to manage the mare appropriately, a complete reproductive examination is imperative in order to identify the potential cause of the mare’s infertility. Once this has been determined, specific therapy can be initiated. Practising appropriate breeding techniques, considering the mare’s inadequacy and then providing post-breeding treatments can aid in optimising pregnancy rates.”

Investigating the problem mare

As with any investigation, taking a thorough history of the past reproductive performance of the mare is essential. This includes age, breed, past and present reproductive status, cycling patterns, previous uterine infections and treatment, hormonal use, foaling problems, abortions and surgery.

Clinical evaluation of the mare starts by external examination. Good body condition and perineal conformation are essential for good fertility. Mares with extreme weight loss or obesity (equine metabolic or Cushing’s disease) have poor reproduction performance. The mare’s reproductive tract is composed of the vulva, vestibule, vagina, cervix, uterus, oviducts and ovaries. All work together to provide the most conducive environment for embryonic development and the birth of a healthy foal. The reproductive tract resides in the caudal portion of the body suspended from the body wall by the broad ligaments. As the number of oestrous cycles and foals produced increases, so does the laxity of these ligaments causing the reproductive tract to lie more cranial and ventral to the pelvis. Three major anatomical barriers protect the uterine environment. These include the vulva labia, vulvovaginal fold (hymen) and the cervix. Failure or compromise of these barriers leads to contamination by particulate matter, pneumovagina (sucking air in the vagina), cervicitis/vaginitis and endometritis. Perineal conformation involves the anatomic relationship between the vulva and anus. The presence of abnormalities and the degree of angular change may predispose to pneumovagina or urine pooling.  Several surgical procedures to correct abnormal perineal conformation have been described to include Caslick vulvoplasty and different types of perineal body reconstruction (vestibuloplasty, Gadd and Pouret’s technique).

Palpation of the entire ovarian surface assesses size, consistency, follicular activity and the presence of an ovulation fossa. Small ovaries with little or no follicular activity as in anestrous, transition or genetic abnormalities can be differentiated from normal follicular activity.  Normal ovarian consistency can be distinguished from large firm ovaries, which may be cystic in appearance related to ovarian haematomas or tumours. Examination of the uterus allows size, tone and location in the abdomen to be determined. Identifying the presence and amount of endometrial oedema as well as intra-luminal abnormalities such as fluid, hyperechogenicities, endometrial cysts or masses are also important in trying to differentiate the presence of inflammation versus other causes of infertility. Palpation and measurement ultrasonographically of the cervix allows direct correlation of length and width to stage of the oestrous cycle and pregnancy. Cervical tears must be definitively evaluated manually and during dioestrus when the cervix is closed. 

Uterine culture and cytology are useful tools in the diagnosis of endometrial inflammation and an indicator of bacterial endometritis. Bacteriological (culture) and cytological results obtained by endometrial biopsy are the most sensitive indicators bearing positive predictive value (a positive result is indicative of endometritis) compared to results obtained by endometrial swab. The use of low-volume lavage is a fast and accurate method to obtain endometrial samples for identification of mares with chronic or subclinical endometritis. 

Endometrial biopsies can be indicated in barren mares, repeat breeders, early embryonic death or abortion, pyometra and mucometra, genital surgery and fertility evaluation. They provide an endometrial biopsy score which is an accepted maker of uterine health and predicted fertility.  The endometrium is classified according to the presence of inflammation (type and severity), endometrial gland density, peri-glandular fibrosis and nesting, cystic glandular distension, lymphatic lacunae and angiopathies or angiosclerotic changes. As the number and severity of pathologies increase, so does the category classification and thus decreasing the potential of carrying a foal to term. Hysteroscopy (direct visualisation of the uterus) is a valuable tool when uterine abnormalities need further investigation or the cause of infertility cannot be determined by other diagnostic procedures. 

Endometritis: a leading cause of subfertility in the mare

One of the most commonly identified problems is inflammation of the uterus or endometritis. This can be caused by acute or chronic infections or persistent mating induced endometritis (PMIE).  The most common aetiological agents found to cause uterine infections are Streptococcus zooepidemicus and Escherichia coli as the result of faecal and genital flora contamination. Mares that fail to clear the uterus of bacteria are classified as susceptible to chronic infection and are believed to have a compromised uterine defence system. This is usually identified by the presence of intraluminal fluid on ultrasound for an excessive period of time. Chronic endometritis is a major cause of equine infertility in older and multiparous mares. Normal mares are able to clear their uterus of bacteria with their uterine defence mechanisms, inflammatory response, uterine contraction and lymphatic drainage. In susceptible mares when bacteria infiltrate and contaminate the uterus, a persistent or chronic endometritis persists. In addition, some bacteria are able to utilise methods to survive degradation by the host immune system and antibiotic therapy.  

Mares with chronic infectious endometritis will be treated with conventional methods such as appropriate antimicrobials (determined by culture and sensitivity) as well as uterine lavage, oxytocin and cloprostenol to assist the uterus to physically clear contaminants and inflammatory products.  Most importantly, correction of perineal conformation and the breakdown of external barriers by Caslick’s vulvoplasty or cervical repair is imperative. With the recognition of increased production of mucus with inflammation and the identification of biofilms, emphasis on treatment has become focused on new alternative therapies that can potentiate the effectiveness of antimicrobials. BActivate has recently been described as aiding clearance of dormant B. strep, allowing for identification and enhanced antibiotic therapy and treatment. Treatment is usually systemic for 10–14 days as well as intrauterine during oestrus. Chemical curettage with kerosene has been demonstrated to produce glandular activation in mares, with improved conception rates in treated versus control mares as biopsy grades increased from I to III.  

After identifying and resolving the cause of infertility, specific breeding strategies should be considered. A problem mare should be bred once within the oestrus period so inflammation is kept to a minimum.  

Modulating the mare’s immune response in cases of PMIE

Most therapies in the past for PMIE have been directed at aiding uterine contractions and uterine clearance; however, as more research is directed toward the abnormal immune response of susceptible mares, new therapeutics are starting to address the modulation of the inflammatory response.  

A significant improvement of pregnancy rates was observed when prednisolone acetate was administered to mares with a history of PMIE. When dexamethasone was administered within one hour of breeding in combination with traditional post-breeding therapies, mares with a history of fluid accumulation had increased pregnancy rates when three or more risk factors for susceptibility to endometritis were identified. 

Enhancement of cell-mediated immunity by a cell-wall extract of Mycobacterium phlei intrauterine or IV (Settle; Bioniche Animal Health - Bogard, Georgia) or Proprionibacterium acnes IV (EqStime; Neogen Corp - Lexington, Kentucky) also aid in clearance of inflammation experimentally and clinically increased pregnancy rates respectively. 

Intrauterine autologous plasma has been used to aid the immune response post-mating to clear spermatozoa and bacteria. More recently treatment with platelet rich plasma (PrP) has been shown to reduce the inflammatory response and improve pregnancy rates after breeding particularly in mares susceptible to endometritis.  

Biological treatments, such as autologous conditioned serum (ACS) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used in human and veterinary medicine for immunomodulation for over 10 years. Additional studies need to determine the effects of MSCs on problem mares affected by PMIE. 

Dr Wolfsdorf concluded that in order to manage the “problem” mare we first need to determine the cause of her problem.  Specific treatments have been illustrated for varying diseases however it is important to remember for best results or pregnancy it is imperative to have a non-infected, un-inflamed uterine environment into which the semen is deposited.

Managing the high-risk pregnancy

Dr Wolfsdorf’s second talk was on managing the high-risk pregnancy. A recent report estimated that the proportion of annual lost pregnancies in Thoroughbred mares ranges from 7.9% to 15.2% in the UK, Ireland and Kentucky. A recent study showed that the most common causes of pregnancy loss worldwide from 1960–2020 include EHV-1, placentitis, leptospirosis, twinning, congenital abnormalities, EHV-4, umbilical cord torsion and equine amnionitis/mare reproductive loss syndrome. When a mare becomes stressed, debilitated or her reproductive tract is compromised, inflammatory cytokines initiate prostaglandin release which can induce abnormal uterine irritability and potential pregnancy loss. Reproductive problems that arise during gestation, when diagnosed early and treated appropriately, can be overcome; and foetal viability increases, producing a live foal. 

Transrectal ultrasound monitoring

In mares that are considered to be high-risk for pregnancy loss, monitoring of the uterus, placenta and foetus by screening monthly with transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography is a viable method for detecting abnormalities early. Foetal presentation, combined utero-placental thickness at the cervical star and orbital diameter and blood flow of foetuses in anterior presentation can be assessed. Normal values for the utero-placental thickness at 271–300, 301–330, and >330 days of gestation are <8, <10 and <12 mm respectively. Qualitative and quantitative assessment of foetal fluids can be monitored by trans-rectal ultrasonography. Fluids that have increased echo density are likely to have increased cellularity due to infection or inflammation and therefore should be noted. Increased foetal movement can also falsely increase cellularity of the fluid at that period of time due to the stirring affect. Integrity of the utero-placental unit at the cervical star region can also be monitored, helping to identify opening of the cervix, placental separation, placental or uterine oedema or the presence of exudate. Since ascending placentitis is one of the most common abnormalities identified, examination of this area is imperative.

Transabdominal ultrasound monitoring

Transabdominal ultrasonography is extremely useful in evaluating for multiple foetuses, foetal growth, activity, mobility, presentation, viability as well as placental abnormalities and foetal fluid volume and echogenicity. Normal values for heart rate and rhythm, foetal activity, size, stomach measurements, cervical pole and foetal fluid depth have been determined and therefore comparisons can be made. The foetal presentation can be identified by finding the ribs and thorax usually midline and cranial to the mammary gland.  Foetal heart rates can vary depending on activity, ranging from 70–100bpm with consistently low or high heart rates indicative of foetal stress or distress. Identification and examination of the umbilical cord can sometimes be assessed, depending on positioning of the foetus. It is important to always examine both sides of the abdomen completely to eliminate the possibility of twins (a differential for premature mammary gland development). Foetal activity and tone can be determined when monitoring heart rate and reaction to ultrasonography.

Biomarkers of foetal well-being

In the normal physiology of pregnancy, progesterone (P4) is synthesised by the ovaries until about 150 days of gestation. From then until 320–360 days, P5 is supplied by the foetus, which is converted into P4 by the placenta. During the second half of pregnancy, little if any P4 is present because it is rapidly metabolised into progestagens. These progestagens increase gradually during the last few weeks prior to parturition (>300 days) but decline within a few days or even hours of delivery. In the first trimester impending abortion is preceded by declining or low P4 levels. However, foetal losses or premature deliveries in late gestation, particularly those caused by placental abnormalities especially placentitis are associated with high concentrations of total progestagens. In mares where there was acute foetal distress (colic, uterine torsion) production of progestagens was dramatically reduced, indicating the importance of a healthy foetal-placental unit for progestagen formation.  

In general, the predominant oestrogens during pregnancy in mares in order of magnitude are oestrone, equilin, equilenin and oestradiol-17B. These hormones are produced by precursors from the foetus, metabolised by the placenta and act primarily on the maternal uterus. Measuring total serum oestrogens or more specifically estradiol-17B should help predict foetal viability and potentially help determine if therapy is successful.   Supplementing with oestrogens when total oestrogens are lower than normal is controversial at this time. Relaxin, a placental hormone, can be used as a biochemical marker of placental function and foetal well-being and as a predictor of pregnancy outcome in the horse. Serum Amyloid A has been identified to be increased in studies in which ascending placentitis has been induced. Unfortunately, this has not been translated into the farm situation in which subclinical placentitis or ultrasonographic changes are identified. In recent studies, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines have been identified within the different compartments of the foetal placental unit and serum of the mare. Especially oestradiol 17B and IL-6 may be of interest when commercial testing is available and not too cost prohibitive. Further studies are needed to evaluate uterine blood flow in the compromised pregnancy as well as identify a potential “diagnostic panel” for pre-clinical placentitis specific for inflammation and for the placenta.  

Treating the high-risk pregnancy to improve outcomes

Treatment to help manage and support the high-risk pregnancy is directed at resolving the microbial invasion if present, inflammation, providing good or improved blood flow to the uterus, diminishing uterine contractility and improving viability of the foetus. Systemic treatment can include antimicrobials, exogenous progestagens, anti-inflammatories and rheostatic agents. If a mare has vaginal discharge and the cervix open, speculum examination and culture of the exudate yields identification and sensitivity of the organism and allows for appropriate local treatment. Specific antibiotics have been documented as crossing the placenta and achieving therapeutic values in the foetus and foetal fluids. Anti-inflammatories use consists of Flunixin Meglamine and Firocoxib. Administration of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) improves uterine and ovarian perfusion and increases plasma progesterone concentration, but whether this results in increased uterine or placental perfusion remains to be determined. Extrapolation and use of pentoxifylline has also been utilised for similar reasons. 

Hopefully in the future, using a combination of these markers and techniques, the clinician will be able to identify abnormalities and initiate treatment early in the course of disease.”

Genetics of early pregnancy loss

Dr Mandi De Mestre, a reader in Reproductive Immunology from The Royal Veterinary College, London, spoke on her research into the genetics of early pregnancy loss. “Embryonic and foetal loss remain one of the greatest challenges in reproductive health with 5–10% of established day-15 pregnancies failing in the first two months. If they make it to two months, 5% of these pregnancies also fail to produce a viable foal. The underlying reason for these losses is variable, but ultimately most cases will be attributed to either a pathology of the mare (such as endometrial pathology, hormone function, aberrations in the immune response to pregnancy and egg characteristics) or the pregnancy itself (embryo/foetal-placental unit). Defects in the embryo can be derived from the stallion (sperm) or mare (eggs) or acquired during early embryonic development or in the case of abortion, later in pregnancy. In both cases, external factors such as pathogens, nutrients and environmental contaminants play a role, too. Whilst previous research has focused on factors that impact the environment in which the embryo develops, surprisingly little is known about defects of the embryo and foetus and how and why they occur. 

In early pregnancy, the most common reason for a pregnancy to fail is an abnormal number of chromosomes. When an embryo has either one extra or one less chromosome, the whole genome of the developing foal is disrupted which impacts critical events in early development. A number of outcomes can follow, ranging from loss of the embryo before it is even detected at two weeks post cover, to development of an embryo with no foetus, or development of a foetus with an abnormal cardiovascular or central nervous system incompatible with life. This condition can also be associated with abortion and stillbirth, but it is less common in later stages of pregnancy. Other genetic changes in the embryo such as single nucleotide polymorphisms and microdeletions are well described in other species and are likely to be revealed to be important for equine foetal health in the next couple of years.

What we have learned about umbilical cord torsion 

Dr DeMestre also spoke about umbilical cord torsion (UCT), which is the number one cause of abortion in the United Kingdom. “A recent study of a large population of mares in the UK and Ireland found for every 200 pregnant mares, there are three mares that lose a pregnancy due to UCT. The underlying cause of umbilical cord torsion is still being investigated, but its impact on foetal health and viability is likely related to the length of the amniotic portion of the umbilical cord and the degree of movement of the foetus between 100 and 200 days. In contrast, other causes of abortion are much less common with just three mares losing a pregnancy due to placentitis (infection of the placenta) for every 1,000 pregnant mares. A similar number of pregnancies are lost due to equine herpes virus infection and developmental defects of the foetus.

Genetics and late-term abortion

Whilst genetic causes of abortion are less common than during the early pregnancy period, they still contribute. Indeed, a single base pair change in DNA within the procollagen-lysine, 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase1 (PLOD1) gene leads to foals being born with extensive skin lesions due to abnormally thin and fragile skin, and other significant musculoskeletal abnormalities. A foal will only be affected by the disorder if it has two copies of the mutation, therefore it can be avoided with mating selection.”

Conclusion

The stallion talks really reminded us about what we can learn from nature and how we might be able to implement some management changes to improve reproductive behaviour in both the mare and stallion under domestic breeding conditions. Dr Love reminded us of the importance of good covering data and how monitoring both testicular size and dismount samples will help identify potential problems a stallion may encounter during the breeding season.

Dr Wolfsdorf highlighted the importance of a thorough clinical examination and diagnostic workup of any empty mares at the end of the season to ensure time to treat any issues and restore the reproductive tract so that barren mares enter the next breeding season in optimal condition. Dr Wolfsdorf also informed us of the options for monitoring and treating any high-risk pregnancies during later gestation to help improve live foaling rates.

Dr DeMestra’s work has highlighted the role of genetics in early pregnancy loss and the importance of the continued research being done on umbilical cord torsion as we still have more to learn about the number-one cause of late term pregnancy loss in the UK.