Are the six newly upgraded Group One races for fillies and mares in Europe worthy of their status?

Well that is too soon to say, but there is a significant difference between the newly upgraded “f&m” events and how other races that have earned Group One status over the years. The key word is “earned” of course, as a race cannot, under normal circumstances, be upgraded unless it has earned it through attracting high quality fields.

Still, the upgrading of six races to Group One in 2004, was triggered mainly by the wish to improve opportunities for fillies and mares. Such a factor would almost certainly not be allowed much emphasis in discussions concerning upgrading races for males. Ruth Quinn, racing director at the British Horseracing Board, said at the time: “I am delighted to be able to announce these considerable improvements to the race program for fillies and mares. We want to offer every encouragement to fillies to extend their racing careers in Britain”.

What Quinn was actually saying, between the lines, was that the BHB were anxious to stop the export of potentially high class broodmares to the US, where better purses and black type opportunities in Graded handicaps make it more viable to continue a filly’s racing career before retiring her to the paddocks. So, two years ago, Europe offered a greatly improved program for fillies and mares aged three and up, including these new Group One races: Falmouth Stakes 1 mile (England) Sun Chariot Stakes 1 mile (England) Matron Stakes 1 mile (England) Pretty Polly Stakes1 1/4 miles (Ireland) Prix d’Astarte 1600 metres (France) Premio Lydia Tesio 2000 metres (Italy) Interestingly, these six were also the only races upgraded to Group One status that year.

How far off having earned the status were some of these new championship “f&m” races? The two in England are perhaps the two strongest and, as it has been won by stars like Sonic Lady and Al Bahatri, many would argue that the Falmouth Stakes was long overdue its upgrading. But the year before being staged as a Group One for the first time it was won by Macadamia – who had won the Royal Hunt Cup off handicap mark 93 three weeks earlier. She was improving of course, and two starts later she ran second in another Group Two, the Sun Chariot Stakes. That day, she was chasing Echoes in Eternity – who had not even been given the mark 100 by the BHB handicapper for her Listed win at Yarmouth just over two weeks earlier.

At the time, many would argue that these were weak Group Two events. Twelve months later they both held Group One status, as the European Pattern program underwent some major changes: - 23 new Group races were introduced, 21 as Group 3 events and four as Group 2 events. - 17 of the 23 races were restricted to fillies and mares aged three and up (three were for juvenile fillies). - 17 Group races were upgraded. Six races went up to Group One status, ten races went up to G2 status and one race went up to G3 status. - 11 of the 17 races were restricted to fillies and mares aged three and up (two were for juvenile fillies). Excluding the juvenile races, no fewer than 28 of a total of 40 new / upgraded races were contests restricted to fillies or fillies and mares. It is also interesting to note that, despite having given 40 races an elevated status, the European Pattern Committee downgraded only six events.

The Pattern Book had either been, or become, imbalanced. After such a shake-up in 2004, it was no surprise when only minor changes were made prior to the 2005 season. Four races were upgraded and two races were downgraded that year, including the Prix Lupin (a previous Group One race which was withdrawn from the pattern to allow the French Derby to be run at 2100 metres). Over the two-year period, no other race was downgraded from Group One status.

Is the European Pattern Committee gambling when upgrading as many as six fillies & mare races to Group One with one throw of the dice? Not if enough owners decide to keep top class fillies in training. They are the ones taking the financial gamble and, as one is striving to see fillies that have already won in Group One company stay in training, purses play a crucial role. The lure of prize money must not only outweigh the lure of a sale of the filly, or a sale of her first yearling, it must also be big enough to over-shadow the risk factors involved in keeping a valuable filly in training. Funds were added, as the Falmouth and the Sun Chariot both jumped up from £58,000 to £116,000 in value when being upgraded. That was the financial reward as Attraction took the first Sun Chariot Stakes carrying Group One status. Two weeks later the mare Chorist picked up £81,576 for finishing second to Haafhd in the Champion Stakes (Gp1) – where she was the only female runner. She had earned just shy of £110,000 when beating her own sex in the Pretty Polly Stakes (G1) at the Curragh earlier in the season. Chorist’s second in the Champion probably enhanced her broodmare value more than what was the case for Attraction when she won the Sun Chariot. This simply because Attraction had already won three Group One races. When a filly with such an impressive CV stays in training, one has to say that the enhanced program has already given positive results.

Though what will the enhanced program achieve in the long run? Will it make more and more Group One winners stay in training, or will it simply create more (party sub-standard) Group One winners? The big breeding operations, with Juddmonte at the forefront, will never stop sending numerous fillies to continue their racing careers North America, and a filly like Attraction – owned by the Duke Of Roxburghe – would never be exported in any case. In the 2004 Sun Chariot, Attraction beat Chic and Nebraska Tornado, giving the race the look of a solid Group One. Last year’s edition was won by Peeress, who beat Sumitville and Musicanna. That was hardly a genuine Group One finish but it is too soon to assess the success or failure of the upgrading this event.

Overall, the new Group One races seem to have got off to an adequate start. The continuation is perhaps more important. Will they all be deserving continued Group One status in about five years’ time? And if not, how difficult will it be for the Pattern Committee to downgrade one or two of them? Such a move will probably very difficult. Racecourses, trainers, owners and breeders combine for rather a formidable pressure group, and they will all be interested in keeping these races at Group One status. Even if they should become numerically strong enough to be self-destructing quality-wise, producing below par championship races, and in turn produce below par Group One winning broodmares.

A total of 85 Group One races were staged in Europe last year. 19 of these were races restricted to fillies (for 3-year-olds or 3-year-olds plus). In other words, 22.35% of all Group One races are for the fairer sex only. These are races that give the girls protection from competition with males. It is easy to see how the decision to upgrade six such events was a major change. Nevertheless, fillies and mares who race exclusively in their own division are still not offered anything as big a slice of the cake as they are in USA. North American racing has long had a lucrative program for fillies and mares. The US racing circuit will be staging 104 Grade One races in 2006, of which 39 are restricted to fillies and mares (excluding those for juveniles). This means that 37.5% of all Grade One events are “f&m” races and, not surprisingly, a great number of female runners stay in training well past their 3-year-old season. What it also means, however, is that US trained fillies and mares are rarely seen competing with males at Grade One level.

This is a feature that has always played an excellent role on the vivid and colourful stage called European horseracing. The true championship races should always involve clashes of sexes, as well as clashes of generations. If the increase in upgrading of European Pattern races restricted to fillies of mares continues, clashes of sexes may well be a rarity. If not a thing of the past altogether. An ‘Arc’ or a ‘Jacques le Marois’ without a top filly involved would not be quite the same, would it? It would not be as competitive. Many will argue that this would be a small price to pay, in return for seeing more top older fillies in training over a period of two to three years.

Maybe so, but more Group One races will always mean more sub-standard Group One races. And increasing top level opportunities for fillies and mares will have a knock on effect also on some of the established Group One events open to both sexes. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes are not likely to be vulnerable in the foreseeable future, though races like the Prix d’Ispahan, Sussex Stakes, Preis von Europa and Champion Stakes could easily lose some big players of the fairer sex. Many of them will be campaigned exclusively in “f&m” races. So, without throwing out an unnecessarily early opinion on these new developments, perhaps one can offer this (provisional) theory: Giving the filly & mare division significantly increased protection can have positive effects, but overdo it, and negative side-effects will be part of the bargain.

The European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee

Anyone heard of it? No? EHSLC? Still no-one? Thought not. Neither its full nomenclature nor its clumsy acronym elicits anything approaching a visceral response amongst racing professionals. This does not sound a sexy topic for discussion or debate – those at the Racing Post would surely agree, given that mention of this body has popped out from between their covers just twice in the past four years. If, in a private moment of extreme narcissism, you have ever ‘Googled’ yourself, I can guarantee that, however insignificant you are, you will find more references in cyberspace to you and your namesakes than to EHSLC.

This is curious. Rightly, racing preoccupies itself with the notion of integrity: maintaining a veneer of absolute probity is understandably this or any sport’s ne plus ultra. While we’re counting, integrity issues have warranted no fewer than 926 RacingPost articles in the corresponding period, yet the collective whose purpose more than any other is to ensure horses perform on a level playing throughout the five major European racing nations field barely warrants more than a couple of lines. It strikes me that the organisation whose mission statement is to “harmonise technical doping control policies and procedures… [and] to engender cooperation between the member countries in research underlying the suppression of doping” likes to keep a low profile.

Fortunately, Trainer was able to track down Peter Webbon for assistance. Webbon is happily rather less of a shrinking violet (91 Post mentions, in case you are interested) and is also what is commonly referred to as a ‘key player’ at the EHSLC. Dubbed ‘The Enforcer’, Webbon is now one of the sport’s most powerful individuals. Currently the Jockey Club’s director of welfare and science, he will assume overall control of racing’s integrity remit in April when he becomes the first chief executive of the newly branded Horseracing Regulatory Authority. When the appointment was announced, Toby Balding declared: “He will be brilliant. He is a very informed and switched-on operator. He will be excellent at the job.” Webbon and outgoing Jockey Club head Christopher Foster have been among senior administrators from several racing jurisdictions across Europe to have collaborated with independent expert pharmacists, chief veterinary officers and analysts in driving forward the work of EHSLC.

“The organisation started in 1992 as a joint initiative between representatives of Great Britain, France and Ireland,” explains Webbon. “In 1997, or thereabouts, we brought Germany and Italy into the fold. In order to maximise our effectiveness, we tend to work not as one single body that meets from time to time, but rather in smaller groups and working parties that are able to put forward suggestions and scientific findings to the relevant governing administrators who are then able to execute policy decisions.”

Implicit is a welcome recognition that horses compete internationally on an increasingly regular basis and, thus, there is an obvious danger that misunderstanding and misapplication of medication when abroad can occur. By harmonising drug thresholds and releasing data on detection times, the theory goes that unfortunate disqualifications can be avoided. Within this, more nuanced disparities also need to be ironed out. Webbon cites Scandinavian racing’s absence from EHSLC: “Although fewer British trained horses run in Scandinavia, they do tend to compete in the bigger races on a more regular basis than was the case. In Sweden, for example, the regulations state that there is a specific period of time before a race when certain drugs may not be administered under any circumstances, irrespective of whether a test returns a positive result. Theoretically, the authorities can ask to see the medication records of any trainer and disqualify a horse that actually tested clean and which, under domestic regulation, would be a legal competitor. This is a situation that we are striving to eradicate in EHSLC countries.”

There are those who would argue a “when in Rome” policy – that it behoves the trainer to familiarise himself with foreign regulations. It is surely realistic nowadays, however, to expect a certain level of assistance from, and cooperation amongst, the governing bodies when time constraints impinge so heavily on the busiest yards. There is, after all, evidence enough to suggest that trainers already feel a sense of disenfranchisement when it comes to doping policy. Rupert Arnold, the experienced chief executive of the National Trainers’ Federation, has concerns over the manner in which policy changes precipitated by the work of EHSLC insinuate themselves into the rule book.

“The first key issue on testing,” says Arnold, “relates to the sensitivity of tests and whether procedures are changed. We feel we get very little feedback from the regulators unless we push hard for it. This comes to a head when a rash of positives presents itself, as was the case with clenbuterol last year when trainers were contacting us to say that they weren’t doing anything different.” Arnold advocates the introduction of something akin to the current American model in this respect. “In the United States,” he says, “Horsemen’s associations tend to agree to a testing protocol with their particular state regulators where everybody knows exactly where they stand. If modifications occur, the associations are consulted.

One EHSLC inspired initiative concerned changes to the Jockey Club’s C7 Code of Medication Practise. There were subtle, but significant, alterations into which we were allowed no input – the Jockey Club just went about their job.” According to Peter Webbon, EHSLC will release a lumpy pack of information to show the fruits of its labour over the last seven years that will coincide roughly with this publication - it is hoped that this goes some way to assuage Arnold’s worries. To do so, however, it must be clear, palatable and accessible; not a straightforward task given the complexity and volume of the material at hand. Such a release will gauge the productivity and the utility of EHSLC.

As Webbon concedes, however, measuring its success and efficacy is an almost impossible task as a security body is essentially only informed by its failures. Rather as British intelligence was lambasted for its failings in the aftermath of the London bombings, so a body such as this is only truly scrutinised when there is a spate of dope test failures or a single event that is in some way deemed newsworthy.

In order to be accorded any credit, it must release its own findings and seek to present a positive impression. Nobody hoists the bunting for MI5 when we all manage to travel home safely on any given day. It is here that we arrive at the interesting pragmatic reality of EHSLC. Certainly, its basis in science and the advancement of drug testing technology and harmonisation is sound, but where it is most potent is in its capacity to protect racing’s image and to manage our expectations. That is, to keep us feeling warm and fuzzy when dark thoughts of racing’s besmirched integrity invade the sport’s collective consciousness. Look no further here than the EPO ‘raids’ of January 2002.

Martin Pipe, Paul Nicholls, Venetia Williams, Len Lungo and Alan Jones were visited simultaneously early one morning – each and every horse was tested only for presence of the performance enhancer EPO, of which there had been extensive speculation at the time, and each test returned negative in double quick time. This was the first time such testing had been carried out without prior warning to the trainers involved and was presented as new policy enlightened by the collaborative power of EHSLC – Britain was merely aligning itself with pan-European policy whilst, according to Peter Webbon, “safeguarding the industry.” Incidentally, “no horse in Britain has ever tested positive for EPO.” I am not suggesting that such unannounced out-of-competition ambushes are bad per se – there are now about a dozen that take place quietly each year – nor positing that they do not act as some form of deterrent to would-be cheats.

This particular instance, however, was no more than an exercise on the Jockey Club’s part to allay fears of widespread drug abuse. To suggest that they attempted to keep this out of the public eye is folly – this was the whole point and was realpolitik at its most brazen, with its deliciously press friendly rhetoric of ‘dawn raids’ and so forth. EHSLC, of course, facilitates such exercises by providing a collegiate ‘research based’ backdrop to proceedings. This is simply how any government operates – the Jockey Club (or HRA) is New Labour and EHSLC is the European Commission, “moving to strengthen practical cooperation between member states,” with its working parties, delegations and information networks.

When asked whether he is confident that racing has actually been made tangibly cleaner, Webbon is far more the pragmatist than the utopian. “You would have to be very naïve,” he suggests, “to think that we will find every illicit drug out there, but there are new technologies that are sure to act as deterrents.”

The interesting development cited may indeed make some think twice, namely the storing of samples (rather in the manner of a DNA database) so as that new technologies may revisit these some years later with the potential for different results. While he recognises the difficulties that could ensue here – the disqualifications and reallocation of prize money, not to mention the overwhelming bloodstock implications – Webbon outlines the possibility that this could uncover systematic breaches of regulations if more than one re-tested sample from the same yard was to betray a concerted effort to flout the authorities.

This is ostensibly admirable, but to what extent is this appeasement? What would happen if a swathe of retested samples came up positive? Would the consequences for the sport be sufficiently cataclysmic for this to be brushed aside? These are suggestions that would, I have no doubt, be vigorously denied, but presentation of an untarnished sport is obviously crucial, particularly at a time of impending financial Armageddon for racing. And this is fundamentally why I question any overarching international racing body such as EHSLC.

Each member state, and particularly racing’s present Britain, is consumed by perfectly understandable self-interest – lofty visions of consensus and ideas-sharing are often undermined. In this case, it appears that suggestions are made, but individual administrators can use or ignore them at will. Why is it, for example that Italy, in common with America, regularly tests for ‘milkshakes’? (Excess drenched doses of bicarb to reduce fatigue in horses). While, in Great Britain, according to Peter Webbon, “a few of these tests for excess CO2 were carried out pre-race a few years ago, but we’ve got the kit in the lab if we want to use it.”

The current EHSLC press release regarding detection times is most welcome and is not before time. In addition, a desire to harmonise doping procedure is a commendable one. It is hard, however, to conceive of the EHSLC as a unified force for improving racing’s integrity. Rather, it is a useful management tool and adjunct to an increasingly well-oiled Public Relations mechanism.

Trainer’s Comment - Christian von der Recke

This summer the Football World Cup will take place in Germany. Teams from Africa may play teams from South America. It is unlikely they'll talk the same language and the games may well be refereed by Asians who speak neither French nor Spanish! But, they all know the rules they are playing by.

You see, wherever international football, rugby, cricket, basketball or golf (to name but a few sports) uniform rules of sport are in place. Not like racing! In 2005, I raced horses in no less than fifteen different nations. Hand on heart, I needed to memorise rules that differ from country to country. Horse Racing is now a global business, it really needs to adopt an international rule book, thought out properly by professionals so that wherever we race we are racing under the guidelines of the same rulebook.

The European All Weather Series is a great idea and offers owners and trainers the opportunity to race for a valuable pot of money from February to May. However, through no fault of the courses that are running the series, the whole concept of bringing together the European All Weather nations is nearly halted by the varying rules from country to country.

Lets try and run a "mythical" horse in each of the races. Here are just a few of the problems we might face:

France

We enter the horse to run on the date given for entry deadlines. But, wait for it, the horse entry is voided because we didn't enter the horse eight days earlier than stated. The horse we entered is not based in France! So, we enter at the forfeit stage and now have to pay a premium to run. On raceday it is only by chance, we find out that we have to declare the horse to run. We declare the horse to run and with earplugs.

Germany

We make it into the parade ring where we are told that we are not allowed to run with cotton wool earplugs. The stewards are also not going to let us run as the horse has no hind shoes on. We are scratching our heads - this wasn't even an issue in France! England Like France we remember to declare the horse on raceday. But, we didn't have to do this in Germany! The horse runs without hind shoes and no one has asked anyway.

Italy

We present the necessary customs health papers at the border and are allowed into the country. Nothing unusual about this, the papers are needed whenever you ship horses into a country outside your home country. Our papers get lost between the border and racecourse but we aren’t concerned, as they were only for border officials when we travelled in France or England. On arrival at the course we aren't allowed into the stable area as we can't find the customs health papers. Why does the racecourse need them? They were only valid at customs and have nothing to do with the racecourse!

Sweden

We win the race! However our celebrations are short lived as the jockey used his whip inside the final furlong! This is not allowed in Sweden.

Now as I've said this is purely a "mythical" situation but it does show how diverse the rulebook is across Europe. I'm sure that any trainer who races overseas will sympathise with the idiosyncrasies I've highlighted. But how do we go about getting an international rulebook set up?

Under the auspices of which authority would this be introduced? Should racing have a world governing body, just like in other major sports? Perhaps the answer is staring us in the face! Each October the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities meet in Paris. Their website states that one of the main objectives of the federation is to coordinate and harmonize the rules of the member-countries regarding breeding, racing & wagering.

As trainers, we should lobby our own country representatives to help bring about the harmonization. We must have voice heard and it’s obvious that the governing organisations need to ask our opinion on such an important matter.

The role of protein in the racehorse's diet

Dietary protein is probably one of the most talked about elements of a racehorses’ diet, which is unfortunately ill deserved. Whilst the level of protein in the diet is important for tissue growth and repair, it is probably the least important source of energy to the athletic horse when compared to starch, fibre and oil. Protein has received a lot of ‘bad press’ in racing in the past, with both inadequate and excess intake being used to explain poor performance.

Excessive protein in the diet has also been blamed for racehorse excitability and even for conditions such as itchy or bumpy skin (urticaria) and tying up. More recent evidence suggests that protein per se is unlikely to be the major culprit in these situations. However, far from being undesirable, protein is an essential part of a horse's diet, as it provides the building blocks needed for tissue growth and repair and also for the synthesis of many important body chemicals such as enzymes and hormones. These building blocks are known as amino acids and each protein source used in horse feed has a characteristic amino acid makeup or profile. Look for quality and not just quantity Protein is digested primarily in the horse’s small intestine by the action of digestive enzymes; however, a varying proportion of the protein in feed may escape digestion in the small intestine and reach the hindgut, where it is fermented by the resident microflora. Although this latter method of breakdown can be beneficial to the hindgut microflora, the resultant amino acids released are generally not absorbed and so are unavailable for use by the horse. So the horse relies on dietary protein being digested in the small intestine, as far as possible, to provide a useable source of amino acids. Proteins from different sources are digested here to a greater or lesser extent, with the protein from cereals (oats, maize) and oilseeds and pulses (soya, linseed), generally being more digestible in the small intestine than that from forages.

In exception to this, the protein digestibility of alfalfa is relatively high compared to other conserved forages such as hay or haylage. Horses can synthesize some amino acids in the body, whilst others must be supplied in the diet and are known as the essential amino acids. The quality of a protein source is measured by not only its ability to be digested in the small intestine, but also by how much of these essential amino acids, in particular lysine that it provides (see table below). Commonly used protein sources for horses Protein Source Total Protein (%) Lysine (%) Soybean meal 55 3.0 Oats 12 0.5 Alfalfa 15 0.6 Hay 7.0 0.1 Inclusion of a proportion of a very high quality protein source such as soya, either within the existing racehorse mix or cube or as part of a high protein feed used to top-dress the diet is an advantage. How much protein is enough? An average mature horse in full work needs about 1.5 times the amount of protein per day compared to the equivalent requirement for the same horse in light work. Yearlings and two year olds have a slightly higher protein requirement compared to there mature counterparts, in the early stages of training when in light work. However, once their workload has increased, this extra protein requirement is more than covered by the increased requirements for hard work in itself. The bottom line for young horses coming into work is that the feed chosen for this stage of training needs to be considered carefully and ideally, whilst being relatively low in energy should have a slightly higher protein content compared to an ordinary low energy feed.

Many of the ‘recovery’ type products are suitable for this purpose or alternatively addition of a small quantity of a high protein supplement feed can suffice. As far as horses in harder work are concerned, their increased requirement for protein would easily be met by the increase in quantity of feed used in the transition from light training to hard work, irrespective of age. So providing that you are using decent quality hay or haylage and a feed designed for hard work or racing, the issue of inadequate levels of protein in the diet should not arise. It is always worth having batches of hay or haylage analyzed to ensure that amongst other things the protein level is not outrageously low or equally excessively high. In reality, there are probably far more racehorses being overfed protein and underfeeding is only likely to occur when forage is being used that is particularly stemmy and mature and has a related very low protein level. In contrast, excessive protein intake in the diet is likely to be more prevalent and some of the potential consequences are discussed below.

Ammonia and dehydration are two issues with excess protein intake One of the main issues with overdoing protein intake is the effect that it can have on both hydration status and respiratory function. If a horse is fed above and beyond its requirements for protein, the excess amino acids produced from its digestion will be re-processed by the liver and the nitrogen containing part, which is toxic, must then be converted to harmless urea, which is then eliminated in the urine and faeces. However, unfortunately no matter how meticulously clean a racehorse’s bed is kept, bacteria present will soon start to breakdown the urea to produce ammonia, which has a characteristic pungent smell and has consequences for the health of both horses and their lads or lasses respectively. When ammonia combines with water in body tissues it can become extremely irritating and harmful to the eyes, sinuses and respiratory system.

In humans short-term exposure to high levels of ammonia can cause upper and lower respiratory tract irritation and oedema, and over the long-term can contribute to chronic bronchitis and may exacerbate other lung diseases including asthma. In horses, ammonia restricts the movement of cilia (brush-like hairs) in the airways that filter out harmful dust particles, and its corrosive action causes inflammation and a build up of mucous. Independent consultant and respiratory expert Dr David Marlin warns that excessive ammonia inhalation in horses could cause irritation of the respiratory tract and exaccerbate other pre-existing conditions such as is recurrent airway obstruction RAO (formerly known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, heaves) or inflammatory airway disease (IAD).

In addition to the ammonia issue, overfeeding protein can often result in horses drinking more and urinating excessively. This not only leads to wet beds, but can contribute to dehydration in horses. It is widely accepted that dehydration is a major factor in reduced exercise performance for horses involved in fast exercise. Too much or too little? A potential sign of a large surplus of protein in the diet is a horse that is drinking to excess and that has a wet smelly bed. Using blood results to assess protein status is not unfortunately as straight forward as simply looking at the level of plasma total protein. Plasma total protein for a horse in training is likely to fall between 53-67g/l. However, there are many factors, which influence this result in addition to the level of protein in the diet and therefore a high or low plasma total protein is not exclusively indicative of inadequate or excess protein in the diet. A more useful measurement may be the ratio of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) to creatinine, with values under and over the normal range being related to inadequate or excess dietary protein intake, respectively.

Another approach is obviously to have the ration checked by an experienced nutritionist, although, this would obviously require analysis of the forage and feeds, especially where straight feeds are used. Whilst excessive protein intake potentially can have a negative impact on horses in training, quite often the protein content of the diet is maligned without justifiable cause as discussed below. Is a high protein diet implicated in tying up? An excess protein intake was historically blamed for episodes of Azoturia or ‘tying up’ in racehorses. This is largely unfounded, as although the exact triggers for tying up are not fully understood, there are a number of other dietary related factors, which exclude protein, that have been implicated in its occurrence.

Tying up is more commonly associated with high-energy diets, where a large part of that energy is supplied in the form of hydrolysable carbohydrates (starch and sugars). In addition macro and micro mineral availability and balance (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and selenium), electrolyte supply (sodium, potassium and chloride) and antioxidant provision (vitamin E), as well as other factors such as stress and excitable behaviour are more likely to be relevant. Hives, protein bumps, urticaria – too much protein?

Once again, the general consensus in racing is that the skin disorders often describes as hives, protein bumps or urticaria are simply due to too much protein being fed. However, veterinary research would counter this, as leading dermatologists suggest that feed allergies, although they can occur, are much more rare than is commonly accepted. Certainly, where feed is implicated in the development of these skin disorders it is much more likely to be due to a sensitivity to a particular source of protein such as barley or wheat, rather than simply a general excess. Before feed is implicated, however, other more likely causative factors such as cereal or forage mites, washing powder, fungal skin or other general infections should also be discounted.

Where sensitivity to a particular protein source is seriously suspected, an exclusion diet can be used to identify the source of the problem. This involves feeding forage only for a period of time until the bumps have disappeared and then slowly re-introducing elements of the concentrate feed in an attempt to isolate the culprit. Much of the confusion surrounding protein in my opinion is due to the relationship between the energy content of a feed (DE MJ/kg) and the protein content (%). In general terms, as you move upwards through the portfolio of feed ingredients and compound feeds, as energy content per kilogram increases, so does the protein content of the feed in percentage terms. This is not because protein is a major energy source, but simply because the higher energy ingredients tend to have a higher protein content naturally. This causes much confusion and as more and more feed companies now declare the energy content of their feeds on their packaging or in their literature, there needs to be a move towards choosing feed by energy level and not percentage protein.

Paul Nolan - from complete beginner to leading National Hunt trainer in 10 years

It is at times assumed that a background in horses is almost essential for anyone to succeed at training but one individual that is certainly putting paid to such preconceived notions is Paul Nolan.

Nolan (37) is now firmly established as one of the leading National Hunt trainers in Ireland and his rise through the ranks has been nothing short of remarkable when one hears that a decade ago his experience with horses was minimal at best. From Enniscorthy in Wexford in the south eastern corner of Ireland, Nolan hails from an agricultural tradition. 

“I came from a completely agricultural background. The family had 150 acres and were sheep and tillage farmers. I was involved in farming myself but I might as well have been picking blackberries. Farming was a total waste of time, it was completely non-profitable. There was no way that my parents could make a living off it and that I would be able to rear a family off it as well,” he reflects.

For one that lacked a traditional grounding in racing, Nolan has certainly made up for that over the last eight years and has managed to make his name in the hugely competitive amphitheatre of Irish National Hunt racing. In winter when racing is down to three or (at most) four fixtures a week, the standard at even the most ordinary of race meetings can be very high and it is in this environment that Nolan has had to make his mark.

It was about ten years ago that his thoughts began to turn away from farming but things could have turned out very differently for him. “I was very nearly going to go to Australia but it was the love of hurling (one of Ireland’s national sports and one where Nolan represented his county with distinction at the highest level) and the fact that I don’t like straying far from home which kept me here”.

Having taken the decision to stay at home, he then decided to put an interest and liking for horses to practical use. A six month spell with vet Tom O’Shea and a year with top trainer Jim Bolger gave Nolan the experience to set out on his own. Despite starting from humble origins, his talents didn’t take long to elevate him to the forefront of the Irish jumping scene.

“When I came home we started out with two point-to-pointers. I was charging only a minimal amount and the owners were supplying the oats but both horses won for us. Then we moved up to ten and now we have between 60 and 70 in training,” he says. 

It is almost exactly eight years ago that Nolan sent out his first winner on the track. The horse in question was Nibalda, a Kambalda gelding that cost Ir2,300gns and obliged in a two-and-a-half mile Leopardstown maiden hurdle. 

“Nibalda wasn’t expensive but horses don’t know what they cost and I certainly wouldn’t turn away a horse on account of what they cost”.

In fact, Nolan’s preference for buying horses is to see that the relevant individual has a good front leg: “The front leg and the shape of it is very important. I don’t like jumpers being back of the knee, you’ve got trouble keeping them sound and they don’t last as long as other horses. You like a horse to walk well but the front legs are so important. They are the wheels and ninety percent of horses lose time on the track if they are not right”. 

After Nibalda’s success, Nolan continued to do well with inexpensively bought horses but his success over the last four seasons has enabled him to train a better standard of horse and thus compete at a higher level. It is by now a regular occurrence to see his representatives make more of an impact in the country’s top jumping races. 

To have one’s first winner at a track like Leopardstown is a significant boost for anyone’s career but the victory that has been the cornerstone for much of Nolan’s success was that of Say Again in the 2002 Galway Hurdle. 

The week long Galway festival is undoubtedly one the most important weeks in the year in the domestic racing calendar and indeed Galway Hurdle day regularly attracts the biggest crowd of the year to a racing fixture in Ireland. Nolan could not have picked a better stage for one of the biggest winners of his career and it was after this success the size of his string began to increase significantly towards what it is today.  

Say Again, Cloone River and Accordion Etoile are three of the best horses Nolan has trained and all three are traditional National Hunt types. Their trainer has also done well with useful ex-flat recruits but it is the jumping bred horses that have provided him with much of his success. “They stay more honest to the game for longer,” remarks the Wexford-based handler.

However, Nolan notes the mindset of many owners coming into racing is now making life that bit more difficult for National Hunt-bred horses as the emphasis has shifted on to producing results as quickly as possible.

“National Hunt horses are being broken earlier to be that bit more forward and patience is hard to come by as people want answers as soon as possible. You are better off telling owners that their horse isn’t going to run for a year because it is so backward rather than building up people’s hopes and then trying to explain where things went wrong”.

A feature of Nolan’s successes has been the involvement of his family and his brother James serves as assistant trainer: “He’s a key man. He’s great to work and loves his job. My father plays a very important role and I can’t say enough about Brendan my head man. He’s been with me since the start and is top class”.

Ask the trainer about what he thinks are the most important aspects of training racehorses and the response is instantaneous – health and fitness. The brittle nature of the thoroughbred and the ephemeral nature of racehorse training are already well documented and they are perhaps no more evident than during the winter months of the national hunt season.

“It’s so hard to keep a horse right and keep him fit. It terms of their health, the time I spent working with a vet was certainly help but you have to try and keep them sound as well. Flat trainers do very little different to jumping trainers but the National Hunt is much harder on their bodies and limbs. I also think it is very important to keep them in the right frame of mind,” he comments.

As personable, amiable and helpful an individual as one could ever meet, Paul Nolan has done exceptionally well to make his way to prominence in the National Hunt world. Interestingly when asked as to what was the most difficult aspect of embarking on a career as a racehorse trainer he comes up with a very refreshing response.

“The worry of failure and not doing well. People said that we were crazy and that we didn’t know what we were getting into. Thankfully luck was on our side and we are now making a living out of it and hopefully we will continue to be able to do so”.

Similarly, when asked about his ambitions for the future the trainer adopts the understated approach that has been the hallmark of his career and has brought him to where he is now: “If I could keep in the top ten trainers in the country I’d be happy”.

Conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs dictated that somebody like Paul Nolan would struggle to make an impact but his talents have shone through to make him one of Ireland’s brightest training recruits. Big races and high profile successes, such as that of Dabiroun at last year’s Cheltenham festival, have already come his way and his is a name that we will be hearing much more of in years to come.

International news round up - stories from the world of racing

Kempton Park will become England’s fourth “all weather” venue when racing returns to the right-handed Sunbury oval on Saturday March 25th. Over £18.8 million has been spent on converting the track to a floodlit facility, which will also continue to stage National Hunt racing.

Money has been spent on upgrading stabling and on a new sampling and veterinary unit, which will offer some of the best treatment facilities available.

The flat turf course has been replaced with a Polytrack, which will race similar to the surface installed at nearby Lingfield Park. Kempton will stage a new mile series which will culminate in a £100,000 final in early September. The two group three and five listed races which were staged on the old turf course will all be run on the new surface.

At Lingfield Park two group three races will be run on the Polytrack surface this year. The Winter Derby in March (upgraded from Listed) and the Silver Trophy in June. A new Listed Race (River Eden Stakes) will join the Fluer de Lys Stakes (Listed) to be run on the Polytrack surface on October 21st.

Redcar break new ground this spring and will stage the first big turf handicap, the William Hill Lincoln – transferred from Doncaster, which is closed for redevelopment. This summer, they will stage a new £50,000 mid-summer sprint. The Class 2 event, restricted to three-year-olds, will be staged on Sunday, July 23rd and follows the other major summer races for second season sprinters at York in June and Newmarket’s July festival.

The totepool Two-Year-Old Trophy in the autumn will be worth in excess of £200,000.

Winters in Norway are often harsh and the 2006 one has been no exception. However, trainers at Ovrevoll racecourse have been able to keep their horses in full training throughout the winter as the dirt track was renewed last autumn. The new track is sand based and is regularly salted and harrowed through the night. Temperatures have dipped as low as minus 20c but the track has been in full use by first light.

Figures released by Horse Racing Ireland at the end of 2005 showed an increase in on course betting and Tote turnover. As a result, prize money is expecting to rise to roughly €56 million during 2006.

The Turf Club have revealed that retired Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, and former Attorney General, Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, are to head a new appeals body for Irish racing. The appeals body began on February 1st and will rule on matters such as; doping offences, jockey suspensions and careless riding.

In France Pari Mutuel Urbain (the tote operator PMU) saw a 6% rise in revenue in 2005 to €8 billion from €7.4 billion in 2004. The 2005 figure beat a forecast gain of 5% and marked a 30% increase over the last four years. The PMU is the largest off track betting operator in Europe and has recently signed a deal with Ladbrokes to take promote French racing throughout the UK. Much of the increase in revenue can be attributed to legal internet gambling which produced €250 million sales in 2005.

In Italy, unlicensed offshore internet gambling was effectively outlawed at the end of February with the Italian government enforcing a law that will oblige internet providers to block access to unlicensed betting operators. The ban will be welcomed by many in the Italian racing industry as it will force overseas operators to be licensed and pay a percentage of revenue back to the state betting operator, which will undoubtedly increase prize money.

The Cyprus parliament is waiting for a new bill to be presented this spring, which deals with taxation on horseracing and electronic bets. Whilst the exact content of the bill has yet to be realised, it is expected to contain reference to a remodelling of betting laws along the lines of the British fixed odds betting. The concern for the industry is that if a move away from pool betting is accepted, it will have a detrimental effect on prize money.

American racecourses have announced a raft of enhancements to their stakes schedules this year, which will be of interest to European trainers. Notable revisions include the increase in purses at Colonial Downs where their two feature turf races, The Colonial Turf Cup and The Virginia Derby (Gr. II) have both had their purses increased to $1m. The races form the first two legs of the $5m Jacobs Investments Grand Slam of Grass, a four-race series for three-year-olds on the turf. Hollywood Park have added the CashCall Mile (Gr. III), formerly run as the Royal Heroine Stakes, for fillies and mares, 3-years and up, and will be run on Saturday, July 1. The American Oaks (Gr. I), at 1 1/4 miles, is scheduled for Sunday, July 2. Both races are invitational turf events and will each carry $750,000 purses. At Calder Racecourse in Florida, the inaugural running of the Bob Umphrey Turf Marathon will take place on July 22nd. The two mile event will carry a purse of $250,000 and will be the longest flat stakes race run in North America this year. The race is named in honour of the former racing secretary who died in early January. Calder will also stage two five furlong $250,000 ungraded stakes races on August 5th. Track executives are keen to encourage international participation for all their key races this year and will soon be announcing travel incentives for horses who fly direct to Miami International Airport where new quarantine facilities are now in place.

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Paul Nicholls

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter goes to Paul Nicholls and his team for their six timer at Wincanton on January 21st.

Editorial Writer (European Trainer - Issue 13 / Spring 2006)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Peter Schiergen

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter goes to Peter Schiergen and his team for their handling of Soldier Hollow.

Editorial Writer (European Trainer - Issue 12 / Winter 2005)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Powerscourt

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Henry Cecil and Dermot Weld both trained their 3,000th winners and Valfredo Valiani won a thrilling Juddmonte International at York with Electrocutionist. All three and many others were worthy of the award in their own right, however only one horse can win and for thisissue the winner is Powerscourt.

Editorial Writer (European Trainer - Issue 11 / Autumn 2005)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Fabrice Chappet

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter award goes to French Trainer, Fabrice Chappet, who with his horse Billy Allen has won the European All Weather Series.

Editorial Writer (European Trainer - Issue 10 / Summer 2005)

Hoof Cracks - a very common problem in racehorses

A keen-eyed racegoer spotted a horse running in the USA last summer with six quarter cracks spread between three of its feet. While this number would be highly unusual in the UK, the problem of the hoof crack is not, and is one, which plagues the trainer, vet and farrier.

For the trainer, the words “The apple of your eye has popped a quarter crack, guv’nor,” are not welcome. Some great names have won Group One and other big races carrying hoof cracks, but the onset of a crack will result at minimum in serious problems in the horse’s preparation. Nevertheless, it is quite common for several horses to have cracks of one kind or another in a larger yard at the height of summer. “Some years you might have none, other years you might have two or three,” says Phil Brook, a leading Newmarket racing farrier who works with likes of David Loder, Chris Wall and Cheveley Park Stud.

The key to the treatment of hoof cracks lies in a determination of why they have occurred. This in turn relies on an understanding of the anatomy and dynamics of the hoof. TYPES OF HOOF CRACK Hoof cracks can occur at various locations on the hoof wall, and can be of varying degrees of severity. Cracks are normally defined by their location (toe, quarter or heel) and may also be defined by their type (e.g. sand, grass or horizontal) A grass crack originates at the ground surface and extends up the hoof wall; a sand crack originates at the coronary band, and runs downwards towards the base of the hoof. A horizontal crack runs more or less parallel with the coronary band. Cracks may be ‘superficial’ or ‘deep’. A deep crack can be defined as one, which has penetrated the sensitive laminae.

These are by far the more serious problem being the result of some trauma that has taken, or is taking place inside the hoof capsule. These can bleed during or after exercise and carry the additional risk of infection.

CAUSES OF CRACKS

Standard farriery textbooks will explain that the most likely cause of hoof cracks is either anterior-posterior (front to back) or medio-lateral (side to side) imbalance. Anterior-posterior imbalance may be caused by ‘long toe / low heel’ syndrome, which can result in breakover being forced too far forward through poor foot dressing. The pull of the deep digital flexor tendon conflicts with the point of breakover to cause a tearing of the laminae from the hoof wall and a consequent toe crack.

Likewise, medio-lateral imbalance may also be the result of the failure by the farrier to detect and correct, so far as is within his power, any imbalances. However, in most modern racing yards, good farriery can be taken as a given; and we have to look elsewhere for the causes of these cracks. Medio-lateral imbalance is more usually caused by conformation. Where it has not been possible to correct a limb imbalance when the animal was a foal, then the resultant incorrect loading will inevitably cause stress on other areas of the body, including the hoof. As the horse develops, this creates a potential for quarter-cracks.

A further cause may be injury – an overreach may cause injury to the coronary band, which results in poor hoof growth and a consequent crack in one area of the hoof. Alternatively, simply kicking the walls can open up a weak hoof or an old injury. “Thin-walled hooves with narrow heels can be particularly important causes of quarter-cracks,” says Phil Brook. “Likewise, flat and contracted feet can result in excessive tension at the coronary margin, also resulting in cracks.”

Another contributory factor is the breed itself. Bad feet are often inherited. If the hoof itself is of a weak structure, then it is even more susceptible to the development of cracks, whether through imbalances, conformation or injury. It is significant that cracks tend to appear in the spring and early summer as horses step up to faster work. All-weather surfaces have been cited as one of their root causes, the hard core exploiting any potential weaknesses in the hoof as both speed and concussion increase. Firm going may have the same effect.

TREATMENT OF CRACKS IN RACEHORSES

A hoof crack can never, of course, heal. The two sides of the hoof that have split will never grow together again. But, if the prime cause of the crack can be resolved, then there is usually no reason why good, solid hoof wall should not grow down from the coronary band to replace the area of the crack. The ultimate treatment for a serious hoof crack is of course rest. “Ideally,” says Phil Brook, “ you will want to get 1 – 1 ½ inches of growth from the coronary band before doing any work with the horse.” But for a horse in training, that is not often an option. Farriery techniques that might be used for the same problem on a horse that was not in training are not available to the racing farrier. For instance, lateral extension shoes to correct the weight-bearing through the hoof and limb, are not an optionwhilst the horse is in training, since these shoes will inevitably be lost in work and the problem perhaps exacerbated.

SUPERFICIAL CRACKS

Superficial cracks, which penetrate only the insensitive laminae, can normally be resolved by cleaning out and dressing by the farrier. It is important for the two sides of the crack to be separated so that the edges do not rub together as the hoof naturally expands and contracts with the horse’s action. If this is allowed to happen, then the crack will be perpetuated.

DEEP CRACKS

In the case of deep cracks, two different aspects of treatment are involved. On the one hand, action is required in order to address the original cause of the crack; and, on the other, the split hoof needs to be patched in order to immobilise the two sides, stabilise the hoof capsule and, when possible, allow the horse to continue to work. As Nick Curtis, farrier to Newmarket vets Greenwood Ellis, says, “You can put on any patch you want, but the underlying cause of the crack is what you need to find out. It is a 3-D thing – you have to take everything into consideration. The goal is to get the foot landing level and in line with the skeleton.” Without this double-handed attention, a horse can easily become lame. If, for instance, the two sides of a deep toe crack are pinching the sensitive laminae as the horse puts weight on the hoof, then lameness will follow. In addressing the cause of the hoof crack, the farrier has a number of options open to him. First and foremost, he will ensure that hoof balance is correct and will do whatever he can to correct any limb imbalances. Secondly he will probably use bar shoes to provide more support at the heel. On a racehorse, he is more likely to use ‘straight’ bar shoes than ‘egg’ bars, which can be pulled off in training and certainly in racing. Straight bar shoes are available either in steel or in aluminium versions. The aluminium version can be used for racing or simply as a lightweight therapeutic shoe. A secondary technique sometimes used is to relieve the bar shoe in the area directly beneath the crack in order to reduce the pressure being transmitted to that section of the hoof. This section of the hoof and shoe obviously has to be kept clean so that the effect of the relief is maintained. Thirdly, he may use a shock-absorbent sole packing material such as Vettec’s Equi-Pak. This is a liquid urethane dispensed onto the sole and frog which will ease concussion through the hoof. “Keep him off the all-weather surface for a while” could easily be additional advice from farrier to trainer. A nutritional supplement designed specifically for the hoof might also be recommended if the original problem has been a poor quality or thin-walled hoof.

PATCHING A CRACK

There are a number of ways that may be used to patch a crack, sometimes used on their own or in conjunction with each other. Shallow self-tapping screws may be inserted in the horn to either side of the crack. Wire or strong fibre filament is then wound between them to stabilise the crack. Similarly, a metal plate can be secured with screws on either side Wire can also be sutured directly into the good horn on either side of the crack without the use of screws. Another method, only open to the farrier over the last fifteen years, is the use of acrylic adhesives such as Equilox or Hoof Life and fibreglass cloth. Once the sensitive laminae exposed by the crack have healed sufficiently, a piece of fibreglass large enough to span the crack is impregnated with the adhesive, and is then applied over the surrounding area. Further adhesive is then applied on top To avoid infection, a straw or some form of removeable putty may be used underneath the adhesive, to create a cavity through which the area may be dressed and flushed out regularly. The acrylic or PMMA adhesives, whose main ingredient is Polymethyl Methacrylate, have proven the most effective in imitating hoof horn. Once cured, they can be rasped, and, when used for hoof repair, can be nailed into as if they were normal hoof wall. The Hoof Staple can also be used. This is a product resembling a double-ended fish-hook that spans the crack and is driven in on either side. In the USA, some senior veterinarians have started to use a product called Lacerum, manufactured by BeluMed X of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the treatment of hoof cracks. This is a platelet-rich plasma solution, obtained either from the horse being treated or a donor horse, that is used to promote healing, to accelerate the growth of healthy tissue and to fight off bacterial infection.

Thus, while cracks are, if anything, becoming more prevalent, new products and techniques are becoming available to the farrier as the result of developing technologies that permit him to address the issues in new ways and to find new solutions to the hoof crack problem. For further reading: ‘Farriery – Foal to Racehorse’ by Simon Curtis ‘No Foot, No Horse’ by Gail Williams and Martin Deacon ‘Hickman’s Farriery ‘(2nd Edition) by J. Hickman and Martin Humphrey ‘Principles of Horseshoeing II’ by D. Butler.

Digestion Development - how modern feeding practices affect the natural digestive system

Previous articles in Trainer have looked at how the horse, regardless of what he has been developed to do, remains the nomadic, trickle feeding animal that nature designed him to be. We have also examined how modern diet and management, combined with the physical and mental stress imposed on the competition and racing animal are contributory factors in a variety of problems, including ‘stereotypy’ behaviour such as cribbing and windsucking, and the perennial problem of ulcers and colic.

We know that the horse is essentially a grazing animal, with a digestive tract designed specifically for long periods of foraging, which can be as much as 20 hours per day. Their stomachs seem surprisingly small to some people, in relation to their overall size and the stomach is designed to empty when only two thirds full. Horses cannot vomit so this mechanism is a vital safety function designed to prevent a lethal stomach rupture. Feed then travels from the stomach along the small intestine, an amazing 70-foot-long organ where most starch, sugar, fat, vitamins, minerals and some of the protein is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. The residual nutrients and fibres then travel to the hindgut, a large fermentation chamber of up to 30 gallons of fibrous material, with literally millions of bacteria and organisms working to digest it. Volatile fatty acids produced by fibre-digesting bacteria provide as much as 70% of energy for horses on a forage diet. Some of the residual minerals, including phosperous, protein and water are absorbed from the large intestine and recycled in the body. B-vitamins are also produced by bacteria in a healthy horse’s hindgut. It is easy to see how efficient the system is for a forage-fed horse and how we begin to compromise that efficiency with modern diet. So where does it go wrong? Grains are much higher in starch compared to hay and grass, which the digestive tract is designed to process. Excess starch is not broken down by enzymes at the start of the process due to a number of factors, a lack of enzymes, starch that is too compact to be broken down or there is insufficient time as the feed goes from the mouth, foregut and hindgut in less than six hours. Lactic acid is produced in the hindgut by starch-digesting bacteria and reduces the hindgut pH, with the result that many entirely beneficial, fibre-digesting bacteria, unable to tolerate the increased acidity, die and release toxins into the hindgut. These toxins often results in colic and related problems. Thus we know that starch in the hindgut is a problem and reducing grain reduces the risk of problems, but what of the competition animal? Exciting and pertinent research by Dr Derek Cuddeford, lecturer at the Royal School of Veterinary Studies, has shown that a new form of pure, protected yeast can significantly improve fibre digestibility in the horse, resulting in increased energy available to the animal.

This activity has only been demonstrated with a limited number of yeast strains; an example of which is Biosaf Sc47 produced by Lesaffre Feed additives in France. Dr Cuddeford says that Biosaf Sc47 has been used to good effect in starch-rich diets for high performance cattle and other ruminants for some time. “As soon as the yeast is swallowed it goes straight into the site of fermentation in the rumen where it has been shown to stimulate the growth of fibre-digesting organisms by mopping up oxygen and rapidly fermentable material (such as starch) as well as stimulating the numbers of organisms that use up lactic acid in the gut. “Obviously, this would be great if the same could happen during fermentation in the horse’s large intestine due to the risk of acidosis (excess lactic acid) in horses fed large amounts of starch. It seems that yeast must be actively metabolising and thus alive, to fulfil some of its most important functions. This can be a problem in the horse where the site of activity is in the large intestine and thus, yeast has to survive passage through the highly acid stomach in order to reach the caecum and be viable.”

The producers of Biosaf SC47 use a special process whereby live yeast cells are coated with dried, dead yeast cells that act as a protective barrier to the live yeast inside, likened to a Malteser sweet, which more mature readers will recall was advertised as ‘melt in the mouth and not in the hand’! In contrast, ordinary ‘instant yeasts’, such as Baker’s yeast, are highly vulnerable to attack by enzymes, liquids, acids, etc. Research carried out at The Royal School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh set out to test whether Biosaf Sc47 would survive passage through the horse’s stomach and small intestine. Firstly, some laboratory tests were set up to determine the resistance of this yeast preparation to exposure to acid and the enzyme pepsin normally produced in the stomach. Dr Cuddeford says they were able to show that the Biosaf Sc47 survived prolonged exposure to this strong acid/enzyme combination and it was estimated that one third of an oral dose would survive passage through the horse’s gut to reach the site of fermentation and to be active. “Some further studies were undertaken to test survival through the whole of the horses gut simply by feeding horses Biosaf Sc47 and collecting the droppings and analysing them for the presence of the yeast. Active yeast was recovered from the faeces confirming that this ‘protected’ yeast survived in the horse’s gut and was thus able to benefit the horse. However, it is important to remember that yeast cannot colonise the horse’s gut and thus must be fed on a daily basis. “Live yeast in the large intestine of the horse will utilise any free sugars, scavenge oxygen, stimulate both the growth of lactate-utilising organisms and those bacteria that ferment plant cell wall.

The overall effect is to enhance the digestive process in the horse’s large intestine and to reduce the risk of sub-clinical disease (acidosis) in those animals fed infrequent large meals. Apart from the role of Biosaf Sc47 yeast in stabilising the horse’s hind gut, yeast cell wall contains complex sugars known as mannan- oligosaccharides (MOS) that bind to pathogens thereby preventing their attachment to the gut wall, and thus preventing them from interfering with absorption of nutrients etc. “Thus, certain strains of yeast, together with yeast cell wall, can fulfil very important functions within the horse and this activity has been verified by quite a large number of experiments.” This is an exciting development in equine nutrition with significant implications for the high-performance horse. UK equine supplement and balancer manufacturer TopSpec includes Biosaf SC47 in its Bloodstock and Racing balancers.

The Lone Star phenomenon - built for big things

Maybe it’s because of the long, flat stretches of landscape that, when shimmering in the summer heat, have potential for mirage. Or maybe it’s just the capacious grandeur of a land vast as imagination. But whatever the reason, Texas always has inspired dreams and ideas so big and robust they couldn’t sit comfortably anywhere else.

To attempt anything on a small scale here is an insult to Texas heritage. And back in the mid-1990s, when developers and racing executives were planning a new racetrack for the Dallas area, a racetrack that was to be the jewel of Texas’ inchoate racing industry, they invested their plans with the dream of some day hosting the sport’s championship event. Everything was planned and created with the Breeders’ Cup championships in mind, recalled Corey Johnsen, the first general manager of Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. Everything was built so that it could be stretched or expanded when necessary to Breeders’ Cup proportions.

And on October 30th 2004, in only its eighth season, Lone Star will become the youngest racetrack ever to be host to, as it’s now called, the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. The eight races worth at least $14 million typically attract the most accomplished racehorses in North America, as well as many of the best from Europe. This year the Breeders’ Cup will take its excellence and its pageantry and its enduring significance to a new region, specifically to Grand Prairie, Texas.

But don’t misunderstand. Grand Prairie isn’t a hiccup of a town in a Larry McMurtry novel; it’s a fast-growing city in the geographic centre of a metropolitan area of five million people. To the east, about 12 miles distant, the Dallas skyline is visible from the upper levels of the Lone Star grandstand. A few miles west, near one of the nation’s most famous amusement parks, the Ballpark in Arlington is home to Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers. A little farther west sits Fort Worth, which claims to be the only city that owns a herd of longhorn steers, and who would dispute it? Here the West is said to begin. And about 10 miles north of Lone Star Park, the Dallas Cowboys, who have won more Super Bowls than any team in the history of professional football, pursue yet another while playing at Texas Stadium.

In the sports world Texas is probably best known for football and in the general awareness for cowboys of all sorts. But, again, don’t misunderstand. This country, tamed on horseback, was made for horse racing; both the sport and the region have a prodigious capacity for inspiring dreams. And indeed Texas has a rich, if disjointed, history of racing.

In the mid-1930s, Arlington Downs, located about where The Ballpark in Arlington now stands, was one of the most successful racetracks in America. Crowds of 30,000 filled the grandstand on weekends. Newspapers of the time speak of dignitaries from around the world attending Arlington Downs. In 1937, Ben Jones topped the trainers’ standings. Jones, of course, went on to win six Kentucky Derbies, the first in 1938 with Lawrin, who had raced at Arlington Down the previous season. Racetracks also prospered in Houston and San Antonio.

If politicians hadn’t intervened, Texas quite possibly would have become the horse racing capital of North America. But the state’s racing industry instead became the victim of an acrimonious political dispute. In 1938 it was banned in the state. And so for the next 50 years, Texans simply raced elsewhere. 
 In 1946, as America and indeed the world recovered from an epidemic hostility, a Texas-bred racehorse named Assault supplied the raw material for hope and myth. He was raw-boned and deformed, and he had the most unlikely provenance. Yet with a sweep of the Triple Crown, the little chestnut known as the "clubfooted comet" became a prominent character in the eternally appealing story of determination's triumph.
 And for Texans, he was much more; he was their representative.
"The victory of Assault in the Kentucky Derby," wrote an editorialist of the time, "is but one example, if example is needed, that this great southwestern section of America is on the march and will be heard from in increasing proportions in every phase of American activity, and none more strongly than in the field of the horse."Assault was bred, born and raised on a vast expanse once called the "Wild Horse Desert" but later famous as the King Ranch. When he was a weanling, he stepped on a surveyor's spike. It ran through the frog, of the right 
front foot and out the hoof wall. The injury left the foot deformed and the horse crippled.
And so even years later Assault walked with a conspicuous limp and would sometimes stumble and fall when going to the racetrack. But once there, he ran 
with surprising grace and efficiency and, most of all, courage. Perhaps that was the source of his charisma. Overcoming his misfortune and his lameness to become 
the seventh horse ever to win the Triple Crown, he became a popular hero and for many an embodiment of courageous spirit.
After the Triple Crown, Assault was "the main topic" of conversation throughout Texas, according to a contemporary newspaper account. So popular was he that his 
admirers developed "some fantastic schemes" to satisfy "the public's clamor" and allow "the rank and file of Texans who were not able to witness the 3-year-old 
in action . . . to catch a glimpse" of him.

People petitioned Gov. Coke Stevenson to issue a proclamation honouring Assault and making his jockey, New York native Warren Mehrtens, an honorary Texan. 
Sentiment grew for returning horse racing to the state. There was even a plan to raise $100,000 for "a special race, without betting, of course," intended to attract Assault.
 "Everybody knew about Assault," remembered Monte Moncrief, who at the time was a Texas A&M student but who later became the King Ranch veterinarian. "We were highly proud. Just as Dallas is proud of the Cowboys, Texas was proud of Assault. . . . When Assault won the Triple Crown, it was like Joe Louis beating Max Schmeling."
 Yes, although no horses raced in Texas for more than 50 years – not with legal betting anyway – the state still can boast of a rich racing history that’s fraught with achievement. But most Texans, such as Hall of Fame jockeys Bill Shoemaker and Jerry Bailey and Hall of Fame trainer Max Hirsch, had to leave the state to pursue their racing careers.
Even without racing at home, Texans remained prominent in the sport, developing successful breeding farms in Kentucky and campaigning stakes winners from New York to California and from Ascot to Chantilly. Throughout the 1980s, racetracks in neighbouring states, such as Louisiana Downs and Oaklawn Park, prospered in part because of the many Texans that regularly travelled three-to-six hours to attend the races.

Racing returns

Then in 1987, the state’s politicians, who for 50 years had kept the sport underfoot, finally turned the issue over to the voters, who in a statewide referendum overwhelmingly welcomed horse racing back to Texas.
Problems persisted, however. The Texas Racing Commission, which regulates the sport in the state, could have produced a new translation of the Bible in less time than it took to write the state’s rules of racing. An onerous pari-mutuel tax virtually precluded the substantial investment necessary to develop any large racetrack, and so the first racetracks to open in Texas during this modern period were insignificant.

 Once the tax was lowered, the Commission dragged its tentative feet in awarding licenses. The Dallas area was a proven market for the sport, having supplied about 50 percent of the attendance at nearby Louisiana Downs for years. A Dallas racetrack was destined to stand at the centre of the state’s racing industry. But the Commission put off awarding a license in the Dallas area, deciding first to license racetracks in Houston and then San Antonio.

 Finally, the Commission awarded the coveted Dallas area license to Lone Star Park over three other applicants. The citizens of Grand Prairie had voted for a half-cent sales tax to help finance the $100 million Lone Star project. Nevertheless, as the new racetracks in Houston and San Antonio struggled, Lone Star developers met with considerable scepticism from banks asked to provide additional financing. But in 1995, famed real estate developer Trammell Crown and his son Harlan injected $10 million into the project. The state’s horsemen pledged another $5 million. And the dirt soon began flying at the Lone Star site.

 On a Thursday afternoon in April of 1997, 60 years after the closing of Arlington Downs, a crowd of 21,754 filled Lone Star’s Spanish baroque grandstand and welcomed major league racing back to North Texas. A couple days later, Bob Baffert, the leading trainer in the nation, saddled the winners of two stakes races, Anet in the Lone Star Derby and Isitingood in the Texas Mile. Skip Away, who finished third in the inaugural Texas Mile, would go on to become Horse of the Year.

 For its first season, Lone Star averaged nearly 10,000 in daily attendance. The average daily handle of $2.39 million was a record for an inaugural season by any North American racetrack built since 1970. No little house on the prairie, it immediately became the success story many had anticipated for decades; it became, in other words, the racetrack Texans had envisioned when they voted in 1987 to bring racing back to the state.

 Since then, most, if not all, of the nation’s leading jockeys have competed at Lone Star, many of them in the annual National Thoroughbred Racing Association All-Star Jockey Championship. And the nation’s leading trainers – such as Bobby Frankel, Bill Mott, Richard Mandella, Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen have raced their horses in Grand Prairie. In fact, Asmussen, who currently sits atop the North American standings in both victories and earnings, is Lone Star’s all-time leading trainer. And many of North America’s leading horses have raced around the Lone Star oval, including Congaree, Real Quiet, Answer Lively, Hal’s Hope, Sir Bear, Bluesthestandard and Hallowed Dreams.

 Since the track opened, more than 8.8 million people have attended Lone Star and have wagered more than $1.7 billion.
 In 2002, Magna Entertainment, which also operates Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, purchased Lone Star. Since then, in anticipation of the Breeders’ Cup, three new barns have been built, including a 96-stall quarantine barn. When nearly $8 million in capital improvements are completed, the winner’s circle and paddock areas will be expanded and the seating augmented to accommodate a crowd of 50,000. A new banquet room is also under construction.
 Lone Star is accepting ticket applications for the Breeders’ Cup at lonestarpark.com. The deadline for applying is June 4.

What you need to know

 Lone Star’s regular season runs from April to mid-July. But to accommodate the Breeders’ Cup, the track will have a special championship season, starting Oct. 1 and continuing through Oct. 31.
 During October, the North Texas weather is like Goldilocks’ favourite bowl of porridge, neither too hot nor too cold. The average high temperature for the month is 78, with an average low of 56. The average high on Oct. 30, by the way, is 72, and the average low 51. The record high for October is 90, recorded back in 1951. In other words, if you endured the weather in Southern California this past year, you’ll love Texas in October.
 Lone Star will offer 14 stakes races, in addition to the Breeders’ Cup events, during its October season. The opening weekend will feature stakes races that could serve as Breeders’ Cup preps – the Silver Spur for 2-year-old fillies, the Middleground for 2-year-old colts and geldings, and the Alysheba for 3-year-old sprinters. The $250,000 Lone Star Derby and the $150,000 Stonerside Stakes for 3-year-old fillies will be run Oct. 29.
 The Dallas area is one of the most dynamic sports markets in America, with professional basketball, soccer, hockey, football and baseball teams. Moreover, a series of festive events, including concerts, are planned leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.

Around the ovals

 Lone Star has a one-mile dirt track, with chutes for 1 ¼-mile and seven-furlong races. Inside the track, as is typical with American racetracks, is a seven-furlong turf course, with a chute angling across the infield.
 When the track first opened and its turf was immature, horses with early speed enjoyed considerable success. Because of that, the turf course developed a reputation for favouring speed. And that reputation, although confuted by hard evidence, lingers. Over the last four years, half of the 480 turf races around two turns have been won by horses that rallied – that is, by horses that were more than four lengths behind the early leader. And only 16 percent of the turf races have been won by horses on or near the early lead.

 The main track, on the other hand, seems to offer an advantage to tactical speed. The race is not always to the swift, as the prophet pointed out, but at Lone Star a modicum of early speed generally proves valuable. Horses that have sufficient speed to gain an early advantage or to race within a half-length of the early lead win more than a third of the sprints. But the most effective style is stalking – that is, racing close to the early leaders, within four lengths, and then pouncing in the stretch. Late-running types win about 18 percent of the races.
In two-turn races on the main track, the victories spread out somewhat more evenly among the three running styles. But stalkers again tend to have an advantage, winning nearly 40 percent of the races. Horses that rally from more than four lengths back win about 26 percent of the two-turn races.

 Few places in America have packaged the joy and excitement of racing more effectively. Lone Star quite simply is a fun place to attend the races. And on Oct. 30, it’ll become the host racetrack for the sport’s championship event. Lone Star and indeed all of Texas racing could be very much like the diminutive colt who 58 years ago outran early difficulties to attain enduring glory.

Weighing Racehorses - how regular monitoring can provide vital information

 As racing has slowly embraced the technological era, so horsemen's lore has been reinforced or refuted by scientific advance. One area of increased awareness is the importance of monitoring the weight of the racehorse. From stud to stable, weighing machines have augmented, and even supplanted, the empirical judgment of the eye. Applications range from gauging the development of the weanling to assimilating the optimal fighting-weight of the performance horse to monitoring the effects of transportation.

Eliciting the comments of a diverse cast of trainers from the Flat and National Hunt communities on the use of weighing machines precipitates several common themes. There are two main areas where the use of weighing machines have proved illuminating: in establishing the weight that a thoroughbred is at its most athletically efficient, and in monitoring the systemic stress of competition and its attendant recovery rate. On the first topic, it is clear that a good deal of experience is required in interpreting the data which weighing the thoroughbred over a significant period yields. It is accepted that the thoroughbred develops physically until the age of five, yet there is no corresponding linear relationship with its mean weight. Fatty tissue is gradually replaced by muscle, so the racehorse gets bigger but leaner. This results in its weight varying considerably with factors such as pedigree, training, feeding and environment. Judging optimal performance weight is, therefore, far from being an exact science. "A lot of my horses weigh the most at the age of two.

Russian Valour, for instance, is the heaviest successful horse of any age I have trained," Mark Johnston said before the smart juvenile won last year's Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. Dermot Weld, another qualified vet, is said to believe that the weight of his top Flat horses varies little between two and three years old, again perhaps due to the alliance between training technique and the variance in tissue type. The brilliant Irish trainer is therefore in a strong position to formulate a relationship between weight and performance. Eric Alston has been weighing racehorses for 15 years and is a strong advocate of the practice as a training aid. "The key is appreciating that horses are individuals and building up a pattern of how their weight varies with age and time," he says. "The eye is still very important, but weighing gives you that extra bit of confidence in your judgment of when a horse is right." Some equine giants range up to 570kg, but the majority fit within the range 470-515kg. When you consider that some can lose more than 25kg (roughly 5% of their bodyweight) through a single race, it is clear that monitoring recovery rate is vital to continued wellbeing and performance level. A thoroughbred at peak fitness should put back the lost weight within three to four days if all remains well with them, though individual rates vary and some even make a full recovery within 24 hours.

Leading National Hunt trainer Henry Daly believes that weighing horses has an important role to play in the analysis of post-race recovery. "I find that horses lose between 7.5kg and 25kg post-race," he says. "Travelling is a major factor. In my experience, the distance a horse races from its home base is roughly proportional to its weight loss, all other factors being equal." "This is especially true of the young horse, first time out. A novice can appear to win without having a stressful time, for instance, but when you get it back home it has experienced a significant weight-loss and your training must be adjusted accordingly."

William Bedell, whose company The Horse Weigh is a market leader in manufacturing weighing equipment, reports that the demand for weighing machines has mushroomed across the thoroughbred industry. "Our weighing units are constantly under development and the feedback from training yards - which constitute 40-50% of our business - is vital in development," he says. "The new-age trainer is soon on the phone if he believes he is missing an important aid to maintaining or improving his position." One of Bedell's most valued clients is the Shadwell Stud in Norfolk, whose manager Johnny Peter-Hoblyn is effusive about the importance of the equipment to one of the world's leading thoroughbred nurseries. "Weighing is an essential part of Shadwell's monitoring techniques, " he says. "Aberrant weights enable us to pick up potential problems before they are apparent to the naked eye, and before they become more serious. Weight loss can be the sign of the onset of viral problems, but just as important to us is controlling weight gain. "If a foal picks up more than 1.5kg a day, the extra burden on its young joints can lead to developmental problems. Having quality tools at our disposal, such as the weighing machines we have here, is crucial to the stud's success."

Weighing machines are also in use by racehorse transporters whose customers are sensitive to monitoring the physical stress of getting their horses to the racecourse. James Paltridge of International Racehorse Transport (IRT) has vast experience of travelling horses round the world, notably to events such as the Breeders' Cup and Melbourne Cup. "Obtaining reliable readouts can be difficult, as weighing machines seem to be calibrated differently. For this reason we have our own at either end of the journey when we fly horses to Australia," he says. "A horse can lose up to 30kg on a long-haul flight, mainly as a result of dehydration. Getting a horse to drink in a rarefied atmosphere is difficult, particularly if it is travelling from a winter climate to warm weather." "IRT uses weighing machines in order to provide the customer with information about weight loss. This is also of great benefit to the company liability-wise." Now comes the thorny issue. If knowledge of a horse's weight is so useful within the various enclaves of the thoroughbred industry, should it not be placed in the public domain on race days?

After all, the image of the sport is dependent to a significant extent on transparency, particularly in the aftermath of the blow to its integrity delivered by the Panorama and Kenyon Confronts programmes two years ago. Rupert Arnold, chief executive of the National Trainers' Federation, sums up the position of his members towards trackside weighing. "We discussed the topic at most of our regional meetings last autumn," he says. "So long as weighing was carried out at a convenient position and with minimum disruption - and we believe that it can - that is not a significant concern. "The main issue in the trainer's mind is the misinterpretation of the information in sensitive cases. Weights can vary significantly through natural variation, and isolating it as a central factor in the performance of a horse is far from straightforward. "Integrity is an important issue to trainers, but it is not very clear that weighing racehorses would improve matters. We are all for expanding information sources, but even the more sophisticated punter is more likely to be misled than enlightened by racehorse weights."

British horseracing already has a model available if it is considering publishing weights. With integrity issues always to the forefront of its considerations, the Hong Kong Jockey Club introduced the practice three years ago. According to one professional punter, however, the information has been subject to various degrees of interest. It is far from evident that winner finding nor performance interpretation has been made easier as a result. Newmarket trainer Luca Cumani experienced mandatory weighing when sending Falbrav over to win the Hong Kong Cup last December "I had no problem whatsoever with having Falbrav weighed before the race. Anything which is helpful, useful or interesting to the racing public is a service which should be offered. There is little disruption to the horse." Cumani has no qualms about the practicalities of weighing but does doubt its efficacy in providing novel information. "I used to weigh horses in training but gave it up because it was adding nothing to my judgment. After a couple of years of recording and analysing the data, I came to the conclusion that I could judge a horse's weight within 5kg on the vast majority of occasions. "Of course, this is a personal opinion, but every experienced trainer should be able to do the same, if he lives with his horses every day."

It is far more important for those clamouring for technological improvements to focus their attentions on sectional times rather than weights, for British horseracing is screaming out for better time information in order to market itself better to the rest of the world. Racehorse weights are of considerable use to the professional horseman who has all the facts at his disposal with which to interpret the information correctly, but it is doubtful they would be anymore than interesting to the public. As far as integrity issues are concerned, it is possible that a mature horse reappearing after an absence could be checked to ensure it is not carrying more than a reasonable amount of excess weight. However, establishing what constitutes a reasonable variation, and dealing fairly with cases which are judged to be outside normal parameters, makes for extremely difficult policing.

Do horses suffer from jet-lag?

The consequences of jet lag for the equine athlete have become more relevant in recent times due to increased travel of performance horses across multiple time zones for international competition. The effects of jet lag are significantly more detrimental for the professional athlete hoping to perform optimally in a new time zone. Before defining the implications of jet lag for the horse, it is first necessary to understand the effects of light on any mammalian system. Most all life on earth is influenced by the daily cycles of light and dark brought about by the presence of the sun and the continuous rotation of our planet around its own axis.

From the simplest algae to mammals, nearly all organisms have adapted their lifestyle in such a way that they organize their activities into 24-hour cycles determined by sunrise and sunset. For this reason, many aspects of physiology and behaviour are temporally organized into circadian rhythms driven by a biological clock. Thus, biological clocks have evolved that are sensitive to light and so enable physiological anticipation of periods of activity. Light is the primary cue serving to synchronize biological rhythms and allows organisms to optimise survival and adapt to their environment. An example of this environmental adaptation is clearly evident in the mare’s natural breeding season. As the number of hours of light gradually increases in the early spring, the mare’s reproductive system reawakens and within weeks is ready for conception.

With an 11 month, one week gestation period, horses have evolved to produce their young when the days are long and warm and the grass is green – the ideal environment for a growing animal and for a lactating mare with increased nutritional needs. However, we have interfered with nature’s design. With the creation of a universal birthday for Thoroughbred horses of January 1st and the economic demands to produce early foals for sale as mature yearlings, we have succeeded in altering the mare’s natural breeding season through use of artificial lighting programmes. A 200-watt light-bulb, in a 12-foot by 12-foot stall, switched on from dusk until roughly 11:00 pm nightly and beginning December 1st, is sufficient to advance the onset of the mares reproductive activity such that she should be ready to be bred by February 15th, the official start of the breeding season. From this, it is clear that light can control seasonal rhythms. What is more important in relation to jet lag is that light also closely regulates daily, or circadian rhythms. These circadian rhythms include changes in body temperature, hormone secretion, sleep/wake cycles, alertness and metabolism. A disruption of these rhythms results in jet lag.

It can be defined as a conflict between the new cycle of light and dark and the previously entrained programme of the internal clock. The first step to understanding jet lag is to examine the workings of the biological clock and the extent to which the daily cycles of light and dark can control physiological processes. All mammals possess a “master” circadian clock that resides in a specific area of the hypothalamic region of the brain. This area of the brain is responsible for regulating diverse physiological processes such as blood pressure, heart rate, wakefulness, hormone secretion, metabolism and body temperature. Each of these processes is in turn affected by time of day.

During daylight hours, the eye perceives light and light energy is transmitted via a network of nerve fibres to the brain. Here, the light signal activates a number of important genes and these “clock” genes are responsible for relaying signals conveying the time of day information to the rest of the body. Recent advances in the study of circadian rhythms and clock genes have shown that a molecular clock functions in almost all tissues and that the activities of possibly every cell in a given tissue are subject to the control of a clockwork mechanism. The role of the “master” clock in the brain is to communicate the light information to the clocks in the peripheral tissues, so that each tissue can use this information for its own purpose.

Thus, as day breaks and eyes perceive morning light, hormones are produced to help us to wake up, enzymes are activated in our digestive systems in anticipation of breakfast, heart rates increase, muscles prepare for exercise and many more circadian rhythms are initiated. This master clock in the brain, that controls so many bodily functions, must be reset on a daily basis by the photoperiod, whether it is sunrise and sunset or lights on and lights off, in order for an organism to be in harmony with its external environment. Jet lag occurs due to an abrupt change in the light-dark cycle and results from travel across multiple time zones, which in turn causes de-synchronization between an organism’s physiological processes and the environment.

Coupled to this is the fact that the circadian clock can only adapt to a new lighting schedule gradually and while the brain receives the light information directly, there is a further lag period involved in transmitting the time of day message to peripheral tissues. As a consequence, behavioural and physiological adaptation to changes in local time is delayed. This means that following a transmeridian journey, travellers are forced to rest at an incorrect phase of their circadian cycle, when they are physiologically entrained to be active and more importantly for the athlete, they are expected to perform when they are physiologically set to rest. As mammals, horses also suffer from the effects of jet lag.

Research is needed to understand the extent of physiological disruption caused by a transmeridian journey, the time period of the disruption and the overall effect it has on equine performance. Until now, no studies have been undertaken to investigate the physiological effects of jet lag in the horse. Studies in human athletes have demonstrated the detrimental effects of translocation on exercise capacity and performance. One early study examined human subjects following intercontinental flights consisting of eastward or westward journeys across multiple time zones (1). Results clearly demonstrated significant disturbances in heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, evaporative water loss and psychological function. Interestingly, these disturbances were found to be more profound following the eastward flight.

A more recent study conducted using top athletes from the German Olympic team investigated the effects of time-zone displacement on heart rate and blood pressure profiles (2). In athletes, blood pressure and oxygen supply to the organs are of utmost importance for optimal performance and successful competition. Rhythm disturbances in the 24-hour profiles of heart rate and blood pressure were found to be present up to day 11 after time-zone transition. The athletes were involved in intensive training programmes throughout the study and underwent frequent bouts of strenuous exercise.

Regular exercise at a set time in the 24-hour clock can strengthen circadian rhythms that are integral to physiological processes and can act as a timing cue secondary to light. It is also thought to aid in resynchronisation to a new time-zone. However, exercise was not found to improve the jet lag effects in this study, an observation that has relevance for the athletic horse in intensive training. The investigators concluded that following a flight across six time zones, athletes should arrive for their competition at least two weeks in advance in order to overcome the jet lag effects before competing.

Another study using fit human subjects examined performance times before and after an eastward journey across 6 time zones (3). Performance times for a 270m sprint were slower for the first 4 days following translocation as were times for a 2.8km run on the second and third days. This can be explained by the fact that the athletes’ internal body rhythms, including several neuromuscular, cardiovascular and metabolic variables and indices of aerobic capacity are out of synchrony with the environmental light-dark cycle following a transmeridian journey. Small mammals such as rats and mice have historically been used to study human circadian disorders such as jet lag. Current research being conducted at the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky has resulted in successful isolation of a number of ‘clock’ genes.

A comparison of these equine specific genes with their human counterparts has revealed an unusually high similarity between these two species at the DNA level, closer than the similarity observed between small mammals and humans. Unlike humans and horses, rats and mice are nocturnal animals and have yet to be proven as elite athletes. Further research is underway to investigate in detail the effects of jet lag on equine performance that will eventually lead to the development of measures to counteract these effects. Until then, information on the effects of transmeridian travel derived from studies on human performance can be used to provide guidelines to horse trainers, especially based on the similarity between the species in question. The severity of the jet lag effects can depend on a number of factors. These include the ability to preset the bodily rhythms prior to flying (4), the number of time zones crossed, the direction of the flight and individual variability.

Just as set exercise times can affect circadian rhythms in many physiological processes, feeding schedules also play an important role in entraining biological clocks, particularly within the digestive system. Horses anticipate feeding times. Banging of hooves on doors and rattling of empty feed buckets are common sounds that greet those responsible for feeding a yard of hungry horses. Therefore, it is important to change both feeding times and exercise schedules to mimic the new time zone prior to travel, in order to shorten the amount of time required for resynchronisation of digestive function and performance capacity upon arrival. Lighting is also of paramount importance. Exposing animals to early morning bright light for several days prior to an eastward journey across multiple time zones, or, extended hours of evening light prior to a westward journey, will help synchronize circadian rhythms to the new time zone prior to travel.

A recent study that tested a combination of approaches to hasten the resynchronisation of a group of elite sports competitors and their coaches to a westerly transmeridian flight, demonstrated the usefulness of combining melatonin treatment, an appropriate environmental light schedule and timely applied physical exercise to help the athletes overcome the consequences of jet lag (5). Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland of the brain during the hours of darkness, is thought to help synchronize sleep-wake cycles and resynchronisation to a new time zone, but its suitability for these purposes has yet to be tested in the horse. Of course, these procedures to preset bodily rhythms need not be implemented if it is possible to arrive at the destination in sufficient time to allow natural re-entrainment to the new light-dark cycle.

For financial reasons, this is not necessarily feasible for the equine athlete. Two other important factors that determine the severity of jet lag effects are the number of time zones crossed and the direction of the flight. As one would expect, the greater the number of time zones traversed, the more severe the physiological disruption. For example, a flight from Europe to the East Coast of the United States, across six time-zones, would require a significantly greater resynchronisation time than a flight from the East Coast to the West Coast (three time zones), within the continental U.S. Any transmeridian journey in an eastward direction will result in a more profound disruption of circadian rhythms than a similar journey in a westward direction. The reason for this is a molecular one and involves the individual characteristics of certain clock genes. Suffice to say that clock genes react more rapidly to light than to darkness. When travelling in a westward direction i.e. from Europe to the United States, travellers enter an environment consisting of extended hours of evening light. The light continues to stimulate clock genes in the brain and adaptation to the new time zone occurs more rapidly. To some extent this may explain the success experienced by European horses at U.S. racetracks, even when they arrive three to four days prior to a race.

Knowing exactly how long it takes for the equine athlete to overcome any travel effects that may impinge on performance following such a flight, should provide valuable information to European trainers. In contrast, an eastward journey results in a shortened day length at the destination and requires a phase advance of the circadian clock. Travellers experience earlier nightfall and as the clock genes cannot respond well to darkness, an extended duration of jet lag. To emphasize, it will take an animal longer to adapt to the new light-dark cycle following an eastward flight and consequently longer to reach optimal performance levels following transit.

Pharmacokinetics deals with absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs and these steps are influenced by physiological function of the body, which we now know to be influenced in turn by time of day. The implications of this for the athletic horse following transmeridian travel is worth highlighting, as it underlines the importance of knowing approximate physiological resynchronisation time to a new time zone. For example, terbutaline, a bronchodilator similar to clenbuterol commonly used by equine practitioners, has a significantly longer half-life when administered in the morning than in the evening (6). This implies that drug clearance times can be affected by transmeridian travel. In addition to the disruption of circadian rhythms, travel stress can also be a significant factor in further compounding the effects of jet lag following the transportation of horses across multiple time-zones.

Major complications associated with long-distance travel include pleuropneumonia, otherwise known as ‘shipping fever’, dehydration and colic. Even in cool conditions, horses will often lose 2-5 pounds of body weight for every hour they travel, as they do not like to drink while travelling (7). Care of horses during long-distance transportation is an extensive topic that requires separate attention. At the Gluck Equine Research Center, preparations are underway to conduct several experiments that will simulate phase advances and delays in the lighting schedule of groups of horses, thus mimicking eastward and westward journeys, so that the molecular and physiological effects of jet lag and the time duration of these effects can be investigated. The goal of this research is ultimately to provide practical guidelines to trainers in order that measures can be taken to counteract the detrimental effects of jet lag on performance, therefore leveling the playing field for horses competing away from home.

Hoppegarten Racecourse - a history of the German racecourse

May 17th 1868 was an important day in the history of German horseracing. Prussian King Wilhelm I (the founding of the German Empire and the title Emperor was still eight years away) himself attended the successful opening ceremony of “Hoppegarten” together with his ministers including Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Driving force behind the scenes was the Union-Klub, a Jockey Club founded in 1867 by leading racing enthusiast. The club purchased the over 600 hectares big area outside Berlin for the amount of 296,000 Prussian Taler. The name “Hoppegarten” comes from the fields, “garten” meaning garden, of hops that were replaced by the racecourse.

Very soon trainers from England opened up yards in Hoppegarten and racing was developing at a remarkable rate until the outbreak of World War I. The first trainer coming from England the homeland of horseracing and opening up a yard in Hoppegarten was in 1871 Ch. Hayhohe who was able to win the German Derby five times. Many others followed him including Richard Waugh and Reginald Day (Royal Stud of Graditz) at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. James Cooter, who was training horses for the King of Wuerttemberg and George Arnull, the trainer of the famous Schlenderhan Stud . In 1910 Emperor Wilhelm II declared himself out of pure enthusiasm “protector of the Union-Klub”. This was followed by a huge rebuilding programme that gave Hoppegarten the look it still has today. All wooden stands were replaced by solid steel and stone constructions.

It is today one of the very few racecourses around the world that has completely preserved it’s architecture for more than 80 years. Hoppegarten saw it’s best years without any doubt from 1925 to 1945. Over 1200 horses were in training in the yards surrounding the race track and training centre. The 775 hectare area included six race tracks just for training, 29 kilometres of turf and 16 kilometres of sand tracks. Top horses from England, France and Italy travelled to Germany to race in Hoppegarten. Leading European breeders and owners like Marcel Boussac, HH the Aga Khan and Frederico Tesio were frequent guests in Hoppegarten. In 1945 the Union-Klub went into exile to Cologne after the Soviet Occupational Government had taken away the property from Germany’s oldest Jockey Club for being too aristocratic and therefore being an enemy of the working class. Thanks to many racing enthusiasts in the former German Democratic Republic, the communist eastern part of the divided Germany, Hoppegarten survived almost without a scratch the 45 years that followed. One of the most remarkable racedays in the history of Hoppegarten was on the 31st March 1990.

It was the first German race meeting after reunification. The course was sold out with over 40,000 racing fans from both sides of the iron curtain that vanished six month earlier. For the first time in 30 years race fans, owners, trainers and jockeys from both parts of the country could meet, race and party together again. Throughout the nineties racing blossomed again at the racecourse of the capital. Legendary jockeys such as Lester Piggot, Frankie Dettori, Willie Carson, Steve Cauthen and many more met at the scales in Hoppegarten. All had similar comments: “A fantastic course, better than we had ever imagined”. Unforgettable moments were the visits of HRH Princess Anne, the victories of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with George Augustus in the Prix Zino Davidoff and Central Park in the Europachampionat, and the first class sprinter Mr Brooks winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin. Though the Union-Klub was now back again in Hoppegarten organising racing it took over eleven more years to regain ownership by a compromise with the government granting the Union-Klub a 99 year lease of the property it purchased in 1874. Hoppegarten today is the stage for three international group races, the GROSSER PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND (11th July, Gr. II), the GROSSER PREIS VON BERLIN (8th August, Gr. III), the VOLSWAGEN-PREIS DER DEUTSCHEN EINHEIT (3rd October, Gr. III) and a number of listed races.

Today, 14 years after re-unification the fixtures are well embedded into the German racing calendar. Since two years under the chairmanship of Peter Boenisch, a former secretary of state and spokesman of the Kohl Government, the historic racecourse is witnessing a remarkable upturn for horseracing in the German capital. A Milestone in getting racing back into the focus of the public and the media has been last year’s GROSSER PORSCHE PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND that saw an unforgettable duel between Martillo and Mail The Dessert. Over 25,000 spectators, including chancellor Schroeder and Porsche CEO Wiedeking saw Hoeny-Hof Stud’s Martillo’s win. Hoppegarten today is still an ideal place to train and race horses in the most professional way. The 2350 metres long main racecourse is regarded as the best turf course in Germany. An ideal design with very wide turns and long straights provides fair conditions for all runners. The 550 metres long home straight with the “Anberg”, a slight elevation in the second last furlong, demands very precise timing from the jockeys. The 1400 metres straight sprint turf track is unique in Germany. Inside the main turf course is a hurdle course and the infield is used for jump races.

The stands are providing an un-obscured view of the whole course enabling racegoers to follow every second of the race with their own eyes against the background of over 100 hectares of forest surrounding the grounds from all sides. Already in the twenties of the last century the public gave Hoppegarten the name “Rennbahn im Grünen” meaning “racecourse in the green” or “Parkrennbahn” meaning Park Racecourse for its location in the middle of the green belt surrounding the capital. The Racecourse can be reached by car or train in 25 minutes from the centre of Berlin. Hoppegarten’s own train station is conveniently located only a 5 minute walk away from the main gate. Over a dozen public trainers have their yards nowadays in Hoppegarten using the training centre. Hoppegarten provides them with the biggest training grounds in Germany and very competitive costs. The biggest success story of the last two years was written by the Idea yard, led by Lord John Fitzgerald. Only in his second year in Berlin he is already the local prize money champion. Taking over the Idea yard in April 2002 Lord John continues in the tradition of English Trainers in Hoppegarten and connects the training centre to the glorious times before WW II.

Lord John previously trained in Newmarket from 1986 to 1992 before holding various senior management positions in the horseracing bodies of Dubai, Hong Kong and Macau. His first complete racing season in Germany in 2003 was very successful. Highlights were the victories of Anzasca in the Deutscher Stutenpreis in Cologne (Gr.III) and of Russian Samba in the Frankfurter Stutenpreis. For this season 35 horses are being prepared at the Idea yard, including 14 two year olds The Union-Klub von 1867 zu Berlin hopes to attract more horses, trainers and owners to come to Berlin in order to reinstall the historic course again as one of the most international centres in racing.

International incentives - how racecourses attract owners and trainers

Every racing authority and every racecourse must offer incentives if they have any particular ambitions. Appearance money, owners' premiums, breeders' premiums, travel allowances and all manner of special offers are either tried out or made a basic part of policy.

The question always is whether they have the intended result. If so, then the offerers must ask if the money was well spent and whether the chosen policy will produce a satisfactory result in the longer term. As for the owners and trainers who are the beneficiaries, their job is to keep themselves informed and pick up whatever they can. However successful, incentives remain extras. They have little point if a strong programme, which should lead horses up a ladder of opportunity, does not back them. Any weaknesses should be filled, as European authorities are currently attempting by offering more chances for fillies and mares. The lack of conditions and Listed events for two-year-olds, which leads so many trainers to step directly from winning a maiden into Group 3 class, may be just as undesirable a gap.

These gaps are among the reasons why our horses, and European ones in general, are so attractive to American agents and owners. American racetracks offer an extensive programme of allowances (conditions events)while their practice of keeping the sexes separate, at all stages of a horse's career, provides even more opportunities. European horses may have shown plenty of ability but can still have won only once or twice when they are sold. They are then able to make almost a fresh start, beginning at a relatively low point on the ladder, when they reappear in the United States.

A Listed race winner in Britain, France or Ireland has an excellent chance of winning an American Graded race. Add to that the greater economic strength of American buyers - even with the current weak dollar - and it is obvious that any changes designed to strengthen competition for horses, close to Pattern race level but not quite good enough, can only ever be partially successful at best. It should all start with that objective nevertheless, backed up by as many incentives as available funds will allow.

France has offered the most generous rewards ever since the sport was reorganized by Jean Romanet in the 1950s. The yields from the pari-mutuel monopoly are not as handsome as in the past but still support some amazing extra rewards. Owners of a French-bred receive a premium of 75 percent on all prizes in two-year-old races and of 63 percent in those for three-year-olds. There is an additional ten percent on offer in Listed and Group 3 events. Prizes and premiums go down to seventh in tierce handicaps and to fifth place in everything else. Owners receive no extra premium in races restricted to French-breds nor in many races for older horses however. Breeders are just as handsomely compensated, even in races for French-breds, in which they receive at least 19 percent of the prize in juvenile events. Roseanna, a daughter of Anabaa trained by Criquette Head-Maarek, which won the Listed Prix Yacowlef for Peter Savill at Deauville last August, earned her breeders a 25.9 percent premium.

Savill, who picked up an extra 85 percent of his £13,312 first prize, is far from the only British owner attracted to France although the number of British-owned horses in training there is well down on the level in the early 1970s. Most owners want to see their horses in action whenever possible and sending them to another country decreases that chance. Other considerations come into play for breeders as well.

The Niarchos Family picked up a prize of €199,990 when Six Perfections won the race which they sponsor, the Prix Jacques Le Marois, at Deauville. In addition, the French-bred daughter of Celtic Swing earned them premiums of €125,993(63 percent) as owners and €45,637(22.8 percent) as breeders, plus a special prize of €85,710 (42.86 percent) from the EBF. Yet the Niarchos operation, although based at the Haras de Fresnay le Buffard in Normandy, has always relied on the horses which it breeds in Kentucky and which are not qualified for any of these incentives. Similarly, the Aga Khan has always been happy to breed in Ireland and race in France.

Such owners breed and raise their horses where they are most likely to achieve classic success. Incentives, even ones as generous as those in France, are more important to people operating on a smaller scale. But by how much do they promote the buying and racing of French horses, how much do they encourage the raising of standards and how much are they simply a reward for the continuation of mediocrity? These are questions which have been debated for years.

Some British trainers have made effective use of the premiums, as Brian Meehan did with the likes of Brief Encounta and Challenges in 1998-99, but the experiment was not continued. Success abroad is counterbalanced by the heavy demands which regular foreign ventures make on the way a stable operates.

Owners might also be tempted by the rewards for purchasing Italian-breds to race in that country, starting with an extra 50 percent on all two-year-old winners, except in sellers and claimers, in all other flat races worth more than 8,800 euros in total (which means about £2,800 to the winner), and in all jumps races and amateur events. These premiums increase by stages in more valuable races, and in Listed and Pattern events, until you double your money if you can win a Group 1 with an Italian-bred. Prize money itself is excellent by any European standard, and racing has grown steadily more competitive, but there has been no real move by foreign owners to take advantage. Italian breeders are also well rewarded, receiving premiums in every race and special prizes for the first ones home in major events, wherever they finish. Owners of British-breds now receive premiums of 25 percent in most races for two to four-year-olds on the flat and for the majority of jumps races, with a maximum payout of £25,000 for a winner and £10,000 for a placed horse. More questionably, the premium increases to 50 percent for fillies & mares competing over jumps. The BHB has budgeted £1.1m for this year but estimates that the scheme, which is intended to increase the demand for British-breds at the sales, will cost £3.5m in 2005 and £7.2m by 2011. It was intended to supplant breeders' premiums but they will continue for this year at least.

One significant difference between Britain and Ireland and other major racing countries is the much smaller proportion of horses raced by their breeders. Premiums might have a more certain effect if there were more owner-breeders. There is little public sympathy for commercial breeders because it is so easy to point to the apparently rich gains they can make at the Sales.

However, for each example of that type, there is at least another like the story of the American filly You. Now five, You won nine of her 23 races, including four Grade 1 events, and earned $2,101,353. She was bred by Dolphus Morrison, who sold her privately after she had finished second and won a maiden in his colours. But he had already given away her dam, Our Dani, to the University of Louisiana. You won her first Grade 1 in the Frizette Stakes at Belmont in October 2001. Three months later, the University sold Our Dani, in foal to the virtually unknown In a Walk, sire of 98 foals from his first five crops, for $625,000 at Keeneland.

The most successful trainers are those who take advantage of the current situation and adapt most rapidly to any changes, either in the programme or in the way incentives are offered. If there is extra money on offer, take it. It is for others to worry over the effects and to make changes as necessary. When Haydock Park tried to make its chases more competitive by offering a prize to trainers, Martin Pipe sent well-laden horseboxes up the motorways and swamped the opposition. When Ascot offered a prize to trainers, in an attempt to increase the fields for its jumping, it used a combination of success in the races and the number of runners supplied. Michael Chapman saddled enough horses from his Market Rasen stables to win the money.

Much the same happened when appearance money was introduced for runners in conditions events in July 2000. Rank horses were soon working overtime, particularly on Sundays, which carried extra bonuses. Four Men and Time For The Clan each ran 35 times in 2001. The only occasion on which either won a prize was when Four Men was second of three behind a 1-40 shot. Yet both horses earned their keep, which is something, many much superior animals could not do.

Offer an attractive prize and some smart trainer will step up to bid for and probably win it. When Kempton offered £50,000 in 1987, backed by an insurance policy, to the first horse to win three handicaps at the course, Gerald Cottrell soon snapped it up with Stock Hill Lass. When the Bank of Montreal put up a bonus of $1,000,000 for a Canadian Triple Crown winner starting in 1989, no horse had done the treble since Canebora in 1963. Yet With Approval, Izvestia and Dance Smartly did so in the first three years and the Bank cried enough. Only the $US5,000,000 Visa Triple Crown Challenge bonus, first offered in 1987, has remained out of reach. Plenty of horses have won two of the races but there has been no Triple Crown hero in America since Affirmed in 1978. Travel allowances, which were backed in Britain by the Tote from its earliest years, were one of the first incentives. Again they were exploited, or abused, depending on your point of view, by enterprising trainers. They are a matter of particular rather than general policy nowadays, paid by courses seeking to maintain or improve their position rather than by the overall authorities. Goodwood offers £1,000 for any foreign-trained runner, including Irish ones, in its 11 Group races and an additional £1,000 to any of them, which have won a Group 1 or Group 2 during the current season. Punchestown pays travel allowances and other expenses for overseas runners at its Festival meeting and was rewarded with its first French-trainer runner, admittedly Irish-owned, when First Gold won the Heineken Gold Cup last April. Horse Racing Ireland pays a travel allowance of €1,000 to any overseas raider, which finishes out of the money in Group or Listed races.

This method of rewarding foreign participation is gaining popularity with other promoters of international races, like Arlington, Hollywood Park and Woodbine, all of which also offer a generous welcome to owners. Cagnes-sur-Mer and Pau offer travel allowances, graduated according to the distance covered, and subsidised stabling to attract runners, most of which come from the Paris area, where racing shuts down for the best part of three months. As in the United States, where subsidised stabling is an important part of the sport, they do not look kindly on those who take up box space without running their horses. Deauville paid travel allowances in 1962 at a time when competition was weak. They attracted a lot of runners, including eight English winners and three from Ireland. When the scheme was repeated the following year, however, it began to attract the equivalents of Four Men and Time For The Clan and was abandoned.

Travel allowances are at their most important in international races these days. The Breeders' Cup considers its prizes sufficient inducement to contest the so-called World Thoroughbred Championships. But it loses runners as a result to the Japan Cup and the four rich events at Sha Tin in mid-December, for each of which all expenses are paid. Equally generous incentives are offered in the spring, when horses can follow an international trail through the Dubai World Cup meeting, the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Singapore Airlines International Cup. Of course, your horse still has to be good enough to receive an invitation but big money is not a enough on its own. In addition to the excellent prize money, the new Dubai International Racing Carnival at Nad al Sheba offered free transport and stabling, provided the horses run twice or more at the carnival. Dubai also paid what the Japanese call 'participation incentive money' of $2,000 to horses finishing from fifth to tenth in races with total prize money of $75,000 or more.

The Japanese themselves have been gradually opening up their big races to international competition. The number of open events has reached 23 this year. You might think that the gigantic prizes would be enough but that is not the case. There is no entry fee and it costs only about £520 to run in the Grade 2 Yomiuri Milers Cup at Hanshin on April 17. The winner is guaranteed over £313,000 and even the eighth will earn £18,765 yet there will be few if any international entries, let alone runners. Dumaani, owned by Hamdan al Maktoum and trained by Kiaran McLaughlin in Dubai, was a 56-1 winner of the £392,466 Keio Hai Spring Cup at Tokyo Racecourse in April 1995. Heart Lake, who ran fifth in that race for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor, went on to lift the £670,840 Yasuda Kinen the following month. Godolphin did it again with Heart Lake in the 1996 Keio Hai Spring Cup and added another huge prize when Annus Mirabilis, ridden by Darryll Holland, took the £405,308 Mainichi Okan that October. Annus Mirabilis returned to Japan in June 1998 to finish third in the Group 2 Naruo Kinen at Hanshin. But his connections lost interest while most others are more conscious of the certain expense rather than the possible gains. At the time of Maktoum interest, there were no travel allowances except in the Japan Cup. But the Japanese now pay the expenses of horses, which are sufficiently highly-rated, as Tout Seul and the French-trained Special Kaldoun were when they contested the Grade 1 Mile Championship at Kyoto last November.

None of this will stop racecourses from offering incentives to attract big names, as Ascot did so successfully with Choisir. Ascot has now established a formal link with Racing Victoria, by way of the newly-established Silver Arrow Sprint Challenge at the Melbourne tracks. Choisir won and then finished third and sixth in the first three legs of this four race series last year. The Challenge offers a bonus of $AUS500,000 to any horse which can win three out of four, a prize which would have been claimed by Placid Ark in 1987 and Schillaci in 1992. In addition it guarantees an expenses paid trip to the big Royal Ascot sprints for the horse, which does best in the series. Everyone wants the best horses.

The Challenge is just the latest device to promote international competition. If it works, everyone will be happy: if not, they will try something else. Most incentives only have a brief life and, if you have the chance, you should take advantage of them while you can.

The growing pattern - how and why new races have been added

Very few ideas for radical change in horseracing are either universally popular or accepted at the first time of asking. And that’s if a single authority is involved. When a group of nations, some of which have a history of antipathy, bordering on hostility, towards each other’s proposals, come together to examine a programme of alterations, the chances of a speedy and amicable resolution are even slimmer.

Something rare happened, therefore, over the last quarter of 2003, which led to January’s announcement by the European Pattern Committee of a greatly expanded programme of Group 1 and 2 races for fillies in 2004. The bare facts are that three separate layers of opportunity confined to higher-grade fillies of three years and upwards have been created and will be contested this year.

As far as the top two Pattern groups are concerned, they break down into three distance categories - a mile, ten furlongs and a mile and a half. Furthermore, the aim has been achieved to provide a steady flow of opportunities, approximately one a month, across Europe from the end of May to the beginning or end of October in the shorter-distance brackets, and from the beginning of July in the longest. In addition, the authorities in Britain and Ireland have sought to build on the framework by enhancing opportunities just below the very highest grade, so that Ireland will have two more Group 3 races, and Britain will have five, in keeping with the overall strength of its current horse population. Behind the creation of what amounts to a pattern within the Pattern, confined solely to fillies and mares, lies an unprecedented intent to do something about a growing European problem, and a remarkable determination to do it quickly.

No time to let the grass grow here, seemed to be the underlying thought, even though caution was raised in some quarters. The ultimate objective was simple: to produce a programme of races throughout the year that would act as encouragement to owners of higher-grade older fillies to keep them in training in Europe. The lure of the US dollar has grown ever more powerful, and with prize-money stacking up high, turf horses have exited Europe with damaging regularity. Cash led the call for colts; lack of suitable opportunities appeared to be a more dominant force for taking away fillies. It didn’t take a genius to fire the European Pattern Committee into thinking that something had to be done. But what? Give the fillies something to aim at, that’s what. And the 2004 programme is the resulting magnet.

Already the radical steps appear to have had an effect. Russian Rhythm, Soviet Song and Favourable Terms in Britain; Six Perfections and Nebraska Tornado in France; Echoes In Eternity from Godolphin: they have all stayed in training as four-year-olds, and the new programme has been cited as part of the persuasion. Each one is out of the top drawer, but in any other year, it is doubtful if all six would have been kept for another season.

But 2004 will not be ‘any other year.’ Jason Morris, racing director at Horse Racing Ireland, is understandably delighted at the response. “This was precisely the aim of the initiative,” he says, adding that the newly elevated Irish races should draw the horses, and bring in the crowds. The reasoning of Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford is impossible to fault. “It’s good news for owners of fillies that have sufficient quality to compete against each other in the top class,” he says. “It has certainly encouraged us to keep Echoes In Eternity in Europe rather than send her to the US, because it makes it easier to plan her programme. She can go to America later in the season.” Favourable Terms is perhaps the least well known of the six named here, but her career lends as much credibility to the new programme as any other. Owner-bred by Maktoum Al Maktoum, she did not race until May last year, and ended the season having won three out of five starts for Sir Michael Stoute, including the Group 2 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown. She would have been a prime candidate for the paddocks in any other year, but it bears repeating that this is not ‘any other year.’ For one thing, the Matron Stakes now has Group 1 status, and who would bet against Favourable Terms attempting a follow-up, now that the opportunities are there to test her rate of improvement? The decision that Six Perfections, for one, would stay in training as a four-year-old was made public within hours of her winning the Breeders Cup Mile.

The European Pattern Committee had set the late-October international meeting at Santa Anita as its first deadline to tell the bloodstock world the bare bones at least of its plan for fillies. They reasoned that owners of the fillies they were targeting, especially those with permanent racing and breeding careers in the US in mind, would be making their own plans by then. Their urgency apparently worked, for trainer Pascal Bary said at the time: “It’s wonderful news for me, my staff and the racing public that the Niarchos family has decided to keep Six Perfections in training, and no doubt the changes to the programme were taken into consideration.” That the framework for the changes was announced in October at all was a departure from normal practice. The European Pattern Committee usually gets its individual thoughts together in the autumn, to be crystallised at the annual meeting in December or early-January. Last year, the committee decided in July that it would set up a sub-group to look at the fillies’ programme, with a view to reporting to the annual meeting in January 2004. They thought there was room for improvement, especially among the older age bracket and particularly in the early part of the season. The sub-group met within two months, and suddenly the mood for change picked up a head of steam, with the French and Irish teams leading the charge, and Britain erring on the side of caution with a plea for a phased introduction of the radical alterations. By the middle of September it had been decided that tinkering with a few races was not enough; there should be a greatly enhanced programme, especially in Groups 1 and 2, and that it if it was to happen at all, it should happen immediately.

The European Pattern Committee met in London a month later, just ahead of the Breeders Cup meeting, and a raft of changes were agreed, taking in all three groups and the trio of distance categories. The Group 1 and 2 details were made public in the second week of December, and the die was cast. In less than six months the mood of the committee had gone from exploratory to explosion. The new races and upgrades have been given three years to prove their worth. If any race does not meet the required ratings parameters, it will be downgraded, without the warning that is given to other Pattern races under the ground rules. Ruth Quinn, the BHB’s director of racing, who played a full part in the process, believes the overall benefits could take that long to work through. “It’s fantastic that the new programme already seems to be having an effect,” she says, “but it has been created with the longer term in mind, and we need to build up a pool of better-class fillies in Europe.” Quinn also believes the outstanding fillies will still take on the colts in the traditional Group 1 races, particularly those over a mile, such as the Prix Jacques le Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. “We didn’t want to create a complete mirror image of the colts’ programme, as they have in the US,” she says, “but we had to make a great deal of improvement in the fillies’ programme if we want to stem the constant flow to the States.”

Philip Freedman, owner of the Cliveden Stud and chairman of the BHB’s Flat Race Advisory Panel, which feeds its thoughts and expertise into the European Pattern Committee, has already seen evidence that the ploy is working. His US trainer Christophe Clement has received fewer European-trained older fillies this winter, and has jokingly suggested he is being put out of business. Freedman, who acknowledges the efforts of a Thoroughbred Breeders Association group chaired by Bill Paton-Smith in first bringing the fillies’ cause to attention, accepts there could be a downside to the enhancements, as owners face greater temptation to keep the best to the company of their own sex. However, he looks to the bigger picture. “We may have to face up to a slightly less competitive Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, for instance, but if the changes to the programme were going to work, it had to be done as a big project,” he reasons. “Adding one or two races wouldn’t have had the same impact. “While I would have been equally happy if, say, the Sun Chariot Stakes had not gone up to Group 1, if we accept that we are running the fillies’ programme as a separate entitity to the colts’, it makes sense for the Sun Chariot to be upgraded. There had to be a logical programme.” The next three years will determine how successful the original logic was. Howard Wright is a member of the BHB Flat Race Advisory Panel.

Howard Wright (European Trainer - issue 7 - Spring 2004)