Åge Paus- It's hard to keep a good man down

He was riding in flat races in Norway at the age of eleven. He rode his first race over hurdles at thirteen, and one year later he became champion jump jockey. Yes, it may have been on a small circuit more than 50 years ago, but it was already clear that Åge Paus was a horseman a bit out of the ordinary. He was. It was also quite clear that the kid from Oslo could go on to make his mark on a much bigger stage. He did. Some forty years later, Paus trained Group One winners in France, before things went badly wrong in 1981.

After a battle, “that took me three years and left me absolutely skint,” he had his licence, which had been wrongfully withdrawn, back. Paus had to start all over. No longer particularly impressed by the French racing authorities, he went to New York, where he trained for a short spell, before returning to his native Norway. “Training back in Norway was also a new challenge,” he says, “as I was dealing with quite moderate horses compared to my days in Chantilly.”  Indeed he was. A classic winner in Scandinavia does not exactly compare to horses winning races like the Marois, Morny and Ispahan in France. Paus was competing at the top level. A good friend of Francois Boutin, he trained for Robert Sangster, Charles St. George and Mahmoud Fustok, and Lester Piggott often flew over from Newmarket to ride his horses.

His story is as bizarre as it is fascinating, and as frustrating and enjoyable in hindsight. Who is this horseman, who turned 70 in October? What was his background, and where is he today?  To the last question first: Paus is still working with horses but no longer training. He and his partner Elle Bitte Ihlen work long hours daily treating horses. Paus turned his attention to chiropractic some years ago. They were based in Lambourn for four years, “and we had plenty of work,” he explains. “Most trainers have seen the value of this work now,” he says. “For example, when Brian Meehan got around 80 newly bought yearlings into his stables, he asked me to check each and every one of them, before they were put into training.” Working in England is ideal, in many ways, but not in every way. “Elle Bitte was keen on the idea,” he remembers, “she kept telling me that the UK was such a small country and it would not be a problem to get around - we were soon fed up with being stuck on the M4 and the M25 though,” he says, “and we moved back to Norway.”  Today, the couple works with Thoroughbreds, harness horses and show jumpers in Norway and Sweden. Their services are in great demand and they make a good team. “So we should,” Paus laughs. “We were madly in love as teenagers but our lives took separate ways, until our paths crossed again 15 years ago and we got together again.”

As a boy Age would ride his bike for well over five miles to ovrevoll racecourse, where he fancied riding those highly strung Thoroughbreds instead. “My weight was only 35kg,” he recalls, “so I was really too light, but I was given the chance, and rode races from when I was eleven.”

He took out a trainer’s license in Norway in 1959 and in 1965 he moved his operation to Sweden, where they had more racing. Paus soon had a string of between 80 and 90 horses in his care. To put things into perspective, the Thoroughbred population of Norway is around 450 horses today.

He bought horses in England and France and that is how he met Francois Boutin. “It was quite amusing,” he recalls, “how we first met. I was at the sales in Newmarket in the late 60’s, and one of Boutin’s owners was selling a horse called Irish Royal. I liked him a lot and I bought him. Boutin was upset, as he had planned to buy the horse in himself. When I realised this, I approached him and said that if he thought so much of the horse I would be happy to put him back into training with him.”

This conversation led to a long and fruitful friendship with Boutin. Shortly afterwards, Paus delivered one horse at Boutin’s stables, and bought five. The French trainer was probably more than happy that he had failed to buy that horse back in. 
“Boutin repaid me big time,” Age continues, “he was the one who made me realise that I should move to France. Things were going well in Sweden. Over a period of ten years, I was champion trainer seven times, but I needed new challenges. And Boutin was very helpful when I made the move in 1974. We took only five horses from Sweden, so it was very much a case of starting from scratch.”
On his trips to England, Paus had also become friendly with Richard Galpin, and through him he got two horses from England into his ever growing stables in Chantilly. They were Mendip Man, who Paus trained to win the Prix de l’Abbaye, and Sun Of Silver, who became a Group 3 winner. He was owned by the famous bookmaker Jack Davies. Paus got a flying start to his international career. He was not French, so the locals may not have been too keen on his success, but then again, he looks more French than Scandinavian, and his French was soon fluent too. Within a year he had between 90 and 100 horses in his care. Men like Sangster, Getty and St. George were also impressed, and put horses in training with the Norwegian. “At one point, I had 47 horses for Alan Clore,” he recalls, “who was the son of Sir Charles Clore, the founder of William Hill Bookmakers.”

Then came a horse called Nadjar. Paus bought the colt at the Deauville yearling sales for 120,000 francs in 1977, on behalf of his long time friend Gunnar Schjeldrup. The son of Zeddaan was out of the Orsini mare Nuclea, who was a half-sister to the German Derby winner Neckar. Nadjar was a stakes winner at two and but for the top class Irish River he would have been a classic winner. Irish River beat him in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, like he had done also in the Prix de Fontainebleau. Nadjar trained on at four, when he became one of the best horses in Europe. He defeated Foveros and In Fijar to win the Prix d’Ispahan by five lengths. He followed up by beating the top class English miler Final Straw in the Prix Jacques le Marois, then ran second in the Prix du Moulin. Hard on his heels followed the filly Pitasia, who Paus trained to win the Prix Robert Papin, Prix Morny and Criterium des Pouliches (now Prix Marcel Boussac) at two, and the Prix de Malleret and Prix de la Nonette at three, when she was also third behind the subsequent ‘Arc’ winner Three Troikas in the Prix Vermeille.

“As a trainer, you must find the right owners, that was no different in the 70’s,” Paus says, “but of course, the best way is to win Group One races, and the owners will come to you.” Nelson Bunker Hunt bought Pitasia after her career in France and after a while Paus also had good connections in USA. Mahmoud Fustok of Buckarm Oak Farm had his own stables and trainer in France. One day he approached Paus and asked him to “find me a good horse.” Paus did that, and another good relationship had been formed. 
He trained in France for seven years, leasing stables belonging to the Countess of Batthyany, an influential breeder in Germany. Things had been going will for seven years in Sweden, and the first seven years in France were even better. They were also to be the seven last, however, as disaster struck in 1981. That spring, Paus won the Prix Greffulhe with the outstanding colt No Lute, a son of Luthier out of the top class miler Prudent Miss (Prudent II). He had been bought for just 640,000 francs at Deauville as a yearling. Just like Nadjar, he was a dream fulfilled. His name was soon associated with what can best be described as a true nightmare in the life of Age Paus though, one that lasted three years and changed his life forever.

“No Lute tested positive for steroids,” he tells us, “and he was disqualified. I had been using steroids through the winter, but never through the season or close to races. I was testing my horses meticulously all the time myself, as I had been taking regular blood samples when racing in Sweden. When I trained in Chantilly, we always took two tests of each horse, and sent one off to a lab in England and the other one off to a lab in Sweden, to get a double check. I wanted to know as much as possible, every day, about the wellbeing of my horses. Avoiding mistakes is so important in this game.”

The test was positive though, No Lute was disqualified and Paus stripped of his license. A few weeks later No Lute, ridden by Pat Eddery, outclassed his rivals in the Prix Lupin. The racecard gave Robert Sangster, one of the colt’s part owners, as the trainer.  After this win No Lute was sent to Henry Cecil in Newmarket and Sangster’s ‘career as a trainer’ was thus cut short – shorter than the battle his previous trainer was about to fight to clear his name. Paus left no stone unturned in his strive to get the license reinstated. “The results of the test were out of this world,” he says, “I felt that in no way could I let this go unchallenged.” 
Paus went to the police and pressed charges against “Mr. X,” meaning that he also told the police to suspect himself for foul play. “One big problem,” he says, “was that although vets in France were shaking their heads when presented with the test results, not a single one of them were willing to be an expert witness in a court case. Not just that, but the French legal system did not allow such expert witnesses from outside of France.”

Did he find such expertise abroad? He did. Paus travelled to the University of Kentucky, where he was assured that these traces of steroids could be produced naturally by a horse. Experts in Kentucky sent the tests off to two other universities. Paus wanted a second opinion, and he wanted a third opinion. All three reports came to the same conclusion. So, the married man and father, well aware of the fact that he soon needed to be earning a living again, made haste for Newmarket and the Animal Health Trust, where the original test had been analysed.

“I was well received there,” he recalls, “and I felt that I would be able to turn the whole situation around. I was asked to leave the matter with the AHT for a week and get back to them. When I did, the tone was not at all the same. I was told that they were willing to investigate the matter, but that it would cost around 300,000 pounds and that I would have to foot the bill. That was not possible, as I was nearly broke. But for help by friends and owners, I would not have been able to go on.”
Paus had the analysis, reports and conclusions from three highly respected authorities in USA, but in Europe he was running into a brick wall.  The situation was not much better than it had been on the day he lost his license. It is also part of his story that a couple of years before No Lute was disqualified, his stables in Chantilly were attacked by arson. Not once, not twice, but three times. When the actor Alain Delon learnt about his story, he wanted to make a film about Paus’s life. “They did a script, but when I read it I said no, it was simply too bad,” he says.

In the autumn of 1981, another horse who would play a crucial part in this drama entered the stage. His name was Vayrann. He was owned by HH The Aga Khan and trained by Francois Mathet. Some six months after No Lute was first past the post in the Hocquart, Vayrann was first past the post in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. Vayrann’s post race test came back positive, showing the exact same result as No Lute’s. This time, no hasty decisions were made. The Jockey Club ordered an inquiry, and it took months. 
“I was contacted by the Aga Khan’s office,” Paus explains, “as he wanted to borrow my files from USA. Of course, I had no problem with that but my condition was that the Aga Khan would have to help me clear my name if the decision in England was to go in his favour. This he agreed to, and they had copies of my files. Again, my problem was this, whatever the findings would be in the UK, the French legal system did not allow expertise from abroad in a French case. My case was purely French, so there I was. The ongoing investigations in England were still so important to me.”

The Aga Khan paid for extensive tests of a group of horses in England, and the horses chosen for this exercise were horses that belong to The Queen, as they were under a 24-hour surveillance. The tests showed that the Americans had been right. Vayrann was not disqualified from his win over Cairn Rouge in the Champion Stakes and, eventually, in 1984, Paus was handed his French license back.

“I was advised by legal experts to sue the Societe d’Encouragement for damages,” he says, “but I also knew that if I did, they could appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court. In other words, it might take the best part of ten years.” 
Understandably, Paus was no longer completely charmed by France, and when Mahmoud Fustok offered him a job in New York, it was easy to accept. Paus moved his family to the Big Apple, and began training a small string of Buckram Oak Farm-owned horses at Belmont Park. “I had around 25 horses,” he recalls, including a number owned by Mr Haakon Fretheim, who had owned the famous Noble Dancer. The problem was, he had mainly offspring of Noble Dancer, who was nowehere near as good as a sire as he had been as a racehorse. Noble Dancer had been fourth in Ivanjica’s Arc, when trained in Norway by Terje Dahl, Age Paus’s boyhood friend, and the colt went on to be a turf champion in North America.

“My time in New York was interesting,” he recalls, “but not very successful.”

In 1986, Paus returned home, or at least back to where he was brought up, and the small racing community outside Oslo was simply buzzing before his arrival. “Paus is coming back to train here,” was the whisper; “no way,” many said, “that can’t be true.” 
But it was, and he soon made his mark on the Scandinavian circuit, transforming the handicapper Flying Galivant to a winner of the Danish Derby in a matter of months, and training winners at a high strike rate. Truth be told, Flying Galivant would probably have finished last in each and every race contested by the Paus-trained stars in France but, as all horsemen know, it is not exactly easier to win races with moderate stock.

Today, Paus is working as a chiropractor and it is not all a new thing in his life.  “During my years of training in France, I met a Dr. Aldridge at Longchamp,” he tells us, “educated in Japan and Australia. He told me about his work with athletes and football players, and offered to teach me his trade. He thought it might be interesting to use it on horses. He also introduced me to laser treatments, and let me borrow his equipment. I picked it up at his practice after racing, and worked through the night treating horses after they had run, then returned the equipment in the morning.”

Having obtained this skill and knowledge also helped Paus through the three years when he could not train for a living, as he worked for other stables in this capacity.

Paus does not see his work a chiropractor as unique, “but I use laser at the same time,” he says, “which may not be all that usual.” Very simple mishaps can cause big problems for a racehorse, “a horse can become cast in his box, and it rules him out of training, never mind racing, for some time,” Paus comments, “and the horses know when they get help. Nine out of ten horses are easy to treat, as they feel good and become relaxed. I use the laser after having treated the horse, sometimes I use it before we begin as well, to loosen the horse a bit. We also use laser from both sides simultaneously. At the end of the session, I often make use of acupuncture.”
This treatment helps many horses but it must also mean they need a recovery time after the session?
“Oh, yes,” Paus answers. “a horse may need a day or two of rest after we have worked with him. Therefore it is important to cut down on feed, and they also drink a lot during these hours of recuperation. “

He also explains how he prefers to take a look and examine the horse straight after activity. His experience is that the main causes for problems are simply being cast in the box, taking a bad step in a race, and neck problems, which are often there when the horse is a yearling. In his opinion, horses that rear up and become stuck in the starting stalls should be taken out of the race, because “it can take very little to make bad damage.” He also says that jumpers have more tendon injuries, and that his work in Scandinavia has shown that harness horses suffer more frequently from back problems.

“Trainers in Scandinavia seem to be better with these matters,” he says, “they often have quite moderate horses to work with, and to get results, they need to be a bit smarter.”

Good for them then, that they have cosmopolitan horseman Mr Paus on their side. 

Global Superbet - Can it take horseracing to a bigger stage?

Twenty-five years ago John R. Gaines in Kentucky came up with an idea, the Breeders’ Cup series. Gaines felt that Thoroughbred racing needed a high profile day, which would make it possible for the sport to compete with NFL, NHL and NBA in the media picture. Everyone involved in racing agreed, just as much as they agreed that Thoroughbred breeding and racing needed new innovations, offering opportunities for more international competition with chances of winning bigger purses.

Has it worked? Partly, and the Breeders’ Cup has most certainly been more a star actor than just another face to the stage. This year, the International Federation of Horseracing has been working on another new idea, of a totally different nature. Again, the reason for exploring new products for the sport is that we are badly in need of legs to stand on in the increasingly competitive betting market. While turnover on horseracing, according to figures released by the bookmaking industry, has levelled out, it has increased markedly in other sports. In Europe, football is the sport attracting the biggest betting figures.

One big difference between the two sports, as far as betting is concerned, is how international football has become. The Champions League, the UEFA Cup, World Cup Finals, European Cup Finals and their qualifying rounds, and the Copa America, combine for a huge, huge betting market – just in Europe. Add in markets like Hong Kong and Australia and the total figures are truly staggering. With football fans from all over the world logging on to bet on and tuning in to watch these big international matches on a weekly basis, it is almost unbelievable that no betting firm has come up with a weekly “Football Superbet.” For instance, a multi-leg wager where you need to predict home win, draw or away win in, say, ten or twelve high profile games. With a global, massive pool, it would become a lottery for the thinking fan.

Strange as it may seem, quite a few in this world still prefer to use their brain, their own knowledge, when betting. They do not want to bet on numbers games where the odds are stacked heavily against them. Without products to stimulate them, these brains will soon no longer be potential players, not when it comes to horseracing betting, that’s for sure. They will either turn their backs on betting altogether or they will look for other challenges. There is no longer a shortage of alternatives. Poker and bridge, to name but two card games, are tailor made for internet wagering involving thinking players. And these products are considerably cheaper to produce, and run, than horseracing. There is no comparison.

Let’s get back to the idea of a superbet. While other sports do not seem to have grasped such an idea, horseracing is, for a change, a couple of lengths ahead. This year, the International Federation of Horseracing began developing and testing a new bet, called the “Global Trifecta.” This wager is very much in its infancy, and it has been a complicated baby to conceive, but it is an excellent idea that ought to be given all the backing it can get. It has already been tested with international pools on a small number of flat races this season, but with a “soft launch approach,” according to Totesport’s (Pari-Mutuel operator in the UK) PR manager Damian Walker. If it can be refined, and marketed, in the right way, it has every chance of becoming a big success. Not just as a betting product, but also as a tool to promote the sport of horseracing worldwide. “Mauritz Burggink, at the IFH in Paris, is the man behind the idea of a superbet,” Damian Walker explains, “it is all quite simple. With bigger liquidity in the pool, there will be bigger dividends, and a bet like this can compete with all the lotteries. A lot of work has been done already, and the ultimate aim is to have a Global Superbet every week. We have tested it, but I must stress that the betting on a few races in 2007 has been nothing more than ‘dipping a toe in the water’ as there are various complications to overcome. Not least the fact that different countries have different IT-systems, and local laws also affect what we can and cannot do.”

Walker explains how punters in big markets like Australia, Hong Hong, USA, South Africa, Singapore and Europe were this year given the opportunity of betting into a global trifecta pool on some Group One events. “The product cannot be properly tested without real bets, though testing such a product must begin on a relatively small scale,” he says, “and that is why we have given this a quiet launch. I am convinced that this will be a big success, and it can change the world of betting on horseracing dramatically.

The progress of this project will be high on the agenda when representatives meet in Tucson, Arizona this December.” The global trifecta - where one has to select the first three home in the exact order - was opened for betting on the Prix de Diane at Chantilly in June. This is not a high profile race internationally, my guess is that a large proportion of racing fans in Australia, Hong Kong and USA have never heard of the race. Walker agrees, but a guinea pig is a guinea pig, and he has some interesting figures from this race. “The turnover was 60,000 euros,” he tells us, “and the dividend was 1,767-1. If the bet had been settled on the UK pool alone, the dividend would have been just 929-1. This shows what a difference a bigger pool can make.” That may be, but the pool was nowhere near what it will, hopefully, be one day, and it was too small to provide the operators any sort of hard conclusions. To the customers, however - the punters - a 60,000-euro pool is big enough to enable them to assess the value of the product.

Did this trifecta pay over the odds, under the odds, or just about normal? Well, UK punters probably would not have a clue, as they are absolute beginners when it comes to trifecta betting, most of them not even that. Most gamblers in the USA, on the other hand, would have been able to take a quick glance at the result, the odds for the first three home, the number of runners, and say whether a 1,768-1 return was good or bad value. The Diane had 14 runners and was won by West Wind, who returned 9-2. She beat Mrs Lindsay (14-1), with Diyakalanie (40-1) third. Almost as a rule of thumb, a North American exacta, on a race like this, will return at least the product of multiplying the tote win odds on the two horses involved. Plus some if the shortest priced horse is second, minus some if the shortest priced horse in the winner. In this case that would be 5.50 (9-2) multiplied by 15 (14-1), which is 82.50.

So, with a 40-1 shot finishing third, was 1,767-1 good value? Finding a race to compare this to in the USA is not at all difficult. The Breeders’ Cup Mile has a habit of returning trifectas that include both a winner at a fair price and a real longshot, and also excludes the favourite. And it is a race with a pool made up of punters from all kinds of corners of the world. The 2003 edition of the BC Mile produced an almost identical trifecta to the one seen in this year’s Diane. Six Perfections (5-1) beat Touch of The Blues (12-1) and Century City (39-1). The race had 13 runners. The trifecta returned 2,627-1. Which is a whopping 48% higher than this year’s global trifecta on the Diane. Although interesting enough, this is not at all a fair comparison, as the trifectas on the Breeders’ Cup races nearly always pay well over the odds, simply because the majority of the pool is made up of punters with little or no knowledge of racing. The pool on the Diane was almost certainly made up of punters who knew racing well, and also knew enough about the sport to know that the bet existed. 1,767-1 was therefore a very good return, indicating that it could easily have paid 2,600-1 with a bigger pool. For the record; the trifecta pool on the 2003 BC Mile was $2.3 million. A whole different ballgame, and also where one is aiming to take the global superbet.

NOT NECESSARILY A TRIFECTA

“The global superbet does not necessarily have to be a trifecta,” Walker continues. “There is a good chance that it will be a carbon copy of the Triple Trio, a highly successful bet in Hong Kong.” The Triple Trio is a multi leg bet where one has to select the first three finishers, in any order, in three consecutive races. At last year’s Hong Kong International day, when the bet was made up of two handicaps and the Hong Kong Sprint, the dividend was 301,707-1 No space here to take an analytical look at the combined odds of all the nine horses involved, but it makes sense to mention that the three winners paid 14-1, 5-1 and 3-1. A win treble at these odds would return 359-1.

It may be a pure coincidence but it is interesting to note that the Triple Trio returned 840 times the win treble, which is not at all 840 times easier to predict. We can understand why a bet like this is a real alternative to playing the lotteries. On the other hand, offering a global triple trio may have its disadvantages, as one is then asking punters to analyse three races, possibly staged in three different countries. Nobody, nowhere, will be confidently familiar with the form of all the horses. Thus, perhaps a trifecta on one race is a better way to go. “Another issue we need to address is the cases when the bet is not won, and creates a rollover, or jackpot if you will,” Walker comments. “Punters in one country may not be too happy about their money moving on to a different jurisdiction, where they will be at a disadvantage when getting involved.”

When betting on horseracing, local knowledge does count for a lot, but these are changing times, and he or she who can find the right angles on and the right understanding of international racing will stand the best chance of collecting on a global superbet. Nevertheless, without the local customers - the two-pound, two-euro or two-dollar punters joining in - the pool will never be massive enough to compete with the lotteries. Perhaps there is a simple solution to this problem. The weekly races will probably have to be scheduled in advance, but “reserve races” could be assigned the following week in the country where the race or races take place, meaning that, when there is a rollover, the global bet stays in one place until it is won. Of course, this could take weeks, especially if the bet is a triple trio, though perhaps not if it is a one-race trifecta.

Has an American style superfecta been discussed at all? “Yes, it has,” Walker replies. “The global trifectas we have had this year have mainly been like lab testing, and various models will be discussed and analysed before we land on one model. We are testing technical solutions just as much as we are testing the nature of the bet.”

COMPETITORS WILL EMERGE

I love the idea of a global superbet, but wonder, will it really happen? Will it be a success? This is early days, but, please, make sure that those two words are not too easily swallowed too often within horseracing, in particular when it comes to creating and promoting new products. We have heard them so many times before. Sometimes those ‘early days’ become ‘all time.’ Horseracing authorities and regulators, in Europe in particular, so often come across as so incredibly conservative and as such a stubborn bunch, that the one word that springs to mind is ‘immature.’

Racing still seems to be run from offices that are, if not totally then at least seriously partly, lagging behind the rest of the world. I would be delighted to be convinced that I am wrong about this, as I also fear that this state of affairs will be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for a new global superbet. Things are simply moving way, way too slowly. Take the lack of European racing rules, a topic that came to the fore after this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Of course, this has been discussed before, but nothing seems to happen. Why not make a couple of quick moves, why not just do it? Make those changes. Toss a couple of coins if need be to settle a couple of disagreements between the English and the French, and get on with it.

Bookmakers taking more and more and more bets on football, and fewer and fewer on racing, do not care about the lack of a sensible set of international racing rules. They are busy making money, and giving the gambling market new, lucrative products, which is precisely why the development of a new global bet must be speeded up. Why? I’ll tell you why. Because as soon as this concept becomes more high profile, through proper marketing and media coverage, bookmakers will grab the idea, adapt it to some other sport, maybe even other sports, and create a new product within a matter of weeks. All of a sudden, racing will be behind, again.

The International Federation of Horseracing may be a couple of lengths ahead with their development of a global pool bet at the moment. A couple of lengths, however, is not exactly a comfortable and commanding lead on a playing ground which is changing so fast, and is so volatile, as the betting market. Not when you are involved in the race for the betting dollar, euro, or pound. Unless you are by far the biggest, financially strongest player, it can actually be a disadvantage to lead the way. It is only an advantage if you are smarter, considerably smarter. Let’s hope we are.

Hoof Matters - concentrating on the foot rather than the shoe

In 1889, for the fourth edition of his book “The Racehorse in Training with Hints on Racing and Racing Reforms”, the English jockey turned horse trainer William Day added a chapter on shoeing, his preface stating “…one topic, highly important to all owners of horses, ‘Shoeing’…might advantageously be added…the aim to deal with facts and to avoid speculation.” Day wraps up by adding that he hopes “it will be found…that the best method of shoeing and of the treatment of the foot has been not only discussed but actually verified… that the prevention which, in the diseases of the feet…is better than cure and has been placed nearer the reach of all.”

If only. Nearly 120 years after Day and his book, the “cure” for many horsemen plagued regularly by a variety of hoof ailments and issues seems as far out of reach as ever. With quarter cracks as common as quarter poles, horsemen particularly in North America continue to play out a modern day version of Cinderella, looking for the shoe that leads to happily ever after, or at the very least, to happy and sound on the racetrack.

Among farriers, veterinarians and trainers there appears to be little agreement and much speculation when it comes to the shoeing of Thoroughbreds. With no “best method” at hand, everyone can, in theory, agree with the familiar adage “no foot, no horse”. But there is great controversy surrounding how to go about improving horse hooves and preventing injury, or even why horses have so many hoof-related problems in the first place. When it comes down to the sole of the matter, at the end of the day, hoof care may well turn out to be the Achilles Heel of the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Most recently, the break-down and subsequent death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro brought the topic of equine injuries, and, more specifically, laminitis, to the forefront. Since Barbaro, American racetracks have spent millions installing synthetic surfaces, all espoused to be safer and more cushioned for horses. A record $1.1 million distributed this year by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to numerous equine research projects may also be a direct result of the late champion’s demise. Last autumn, the foundation designated a Hoof Care and Shoeing Task Force, another possible throw-back to Barbaro and the subsequent focus on equine injuries.

In the task force’s first official report this past April, prominent owner and breeder Bill Casner outlined one possible cause of injuries in “The Detrimental Effects of Toe Grabs: Thoroughbred Racehorses at Risk”. Endorsed by the Jockey Club, the Grayson Foundation and the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, the report placed the lion’s share of the blame for catastrophic injuries - and hoof-related issues - on the use of toe grabs in horse shoeing. Thoroughbred anatomy plays a role, according to the report: the fact that bone structure and hoof walls aren’t matured in the average racehorse; also the length of pastern or the type of hoof.

The report also briefly mentions harder racetrack surfaces. But the overwhelming research revolved around the link between injuries and toe grabs. Such thinking, according to at least one long-time farrier, may be what’s keeping the industry from finding Cinderella’s shoe. A self-proclaimed maverick, “as far out there as I can be,” North Carolina-based farrier David Richards believes rather than looking at the shoe, researchers should look at the foot. Richards has been shoeing horses for the last 30 years. When asked what type or breed of horse he specializes in, the farrier replies “lame ones”. According to Richards, around 20 to 30 percent of the horses he works on annually are Thoroughbreds. Seventy to 90 percent of all the lameness problems he sees, according to Richards, are related to the hoof wall. “We need to look more at hoof wall as a site of failure,” the farrier says, a principal which has become the backbone of “Equicast,” a product Richards has been developing and marketing for nearly 20 years. The cast, a tape-like, fiber-glass blend, covers the hoof, extending up to the hairline at the coronet band, with a shoe attached either on top of, or beneath, the cast. Its creator likens it to a walking cast in humans, with the event that Thoroughbreds are able to exercise while wearing it, although “there’s a big difference between hoof and human bone.” “The key is managing lateral expansion,” Richards elaborates, “to prevent an overload of the hoof wall, causing hoof problems and pain. The hoof wall is the point of least resistance.” The cast “provides additional support and relieves pressure on the hoof wall,” he says, adding that his product minimizes heat and moisture, factors that also play a role in weakening hoof walls. “When you adhere a shoe to a foot, you are frequently encapsulating bacterial materials,” the farrier offers. “Also, most apoxies are heat generating, and the hoof wall is already a great conductor of heat.”

Common solutions such as vitamin or feed supplements have a minimal effect at best, according to Richards. “The huge problem with any of that is that horses have very poor circulation to their feet.” Circulation issues cause problems all of their own in terms of growth and healing, but they also minimize the effect of anything ingested making a difference. Richards believes a host of factors contribute to a general weakening of the structure of the hoof wall, “a complex and sometimes contradictory” situation that covers nearly everything wrong with feet, from quarter cracks to long toe-low heel to medial lateral imbalances and White Line Disease. “There’s actually no problem in growing feet,” he offers. “The problem is in growing strong feet. “We definitely see a more volatile foot today,” he concedes, citing feeding programs that cause quicker growth, synthetic surfaces that don’t stress the feet enough, and trends in commercial breeding as just a few of the possible contributing factors. “One of the things we’re doing wrong, we’re not stressing the feet enough,” he says. “From the day that they’re born we’re coddling the foot.” “I’ve never heard of a breeder breeding for feet,” Richards adds. “I can think of one really prominent sire that’s a classic example. I have four young horses by the same sire. Four babies right now that already have conformational issues. The sire has a great mind, tremendous ability. But his foals aren’t known for their feet.” “You can’t knock it,” he continues. “But you have to accept the ramifications.” And figure out how to deal with them. Richards looks to external factors as much as internal as a source of the problems.

“Horses who run almost exclusively on turf don’t have half the problems as horses who run on sand,” he says. “They don’t have the shock factor. It’s unfortunate, but if something doesn’t stimulate feet to get harder, they get softer.” Another factor Richards feels may contribute to weaker hoof walls is moisture. “Feet problems are something plaguing all horses evenly, from coast to coast,” he says. “Very little else is constant. Feed differs East to West, other things are different. One thing that’s constant, moisture. And variables of moisture.” Richards laments the fact that little has been done to research the effect of moisture on feet, or whether different parts of the hoof, or different types of hooves, absorb water differently. He’s currently doing his own research on white hooves to see how they react to moisture and believes it may lead to some answers for common problems. “The industry is very grand-fathered in mentality,” he says. “It’s ‘my father did it that way, and his father did it that way.’ There’s a resistance to new products,” he continues. “The diagnostics now have surpassed the treatment. We’re always working with the result of the cause, rather than looking for the cause itself. We’re looking through the answer, for the answer.” Looking down, rather than up, is another part of the problem according to Richards, “The goal is to balance the horse,” he offers. “It doesn’t matter what the sport, you’re ultimately judged on symmetry. There are times when I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with a horse’s feet, instead of looking down at the foot, I look up to see which shoulder is higher. I’m one of a very few who are cognizant of the whole foot - not just the heel and the toe,” and just as important, how the whole foot fits with the rest of the horse. Richards explains that the majority of the horses he looks at have one leg longer than the other, either from birth or wear and tear.

He goes on to explain that the average 1,000 lb horse exerts 54 lb’s per square inch on the hoof wall with every stride. When that horse is shod, Richards says, the weight on the hoof wall is nearly doubled, to 95 lb per square inch. A typical racing plate exacerbates the problem even more. “We need to transition out of the conventional shoe,” he says. “We are overloading the coronary band.” “One of my criticisms of the industry,” he continues, “there is a total misunderstanding of what foot issues really are. Feet are no man’s land.” “Shoes haven’t changed much over the years,” he adds. “They’re prettier, but they’re going the wrong way. They mask the problems rather than reverse them. The horse may have a longer life on the track, but not a more productive or sounder one.” “It’s a horrible misnomer to say shoes are corrective,” Richards continues. “They’re not corrective. They are totally protective,” a line of thinking which supports the barefoot practitioners, who believe in eliminating shoes entirely at least part of the time. “I’m a huge proponent of it,” he says. “A horse should be totally comfortable doing his respective sport barefoot. The foot is much better at managing us than we are at managing the foot with conventional methods.”

And while at least a few trainers are known to place blame on farriers, Richards holds veterinarians just as accountable, as they are generally the ones who actually diagnose the problems. “They know what’s wrong, but they often don’t know how to treat it,” he says. But in defense of the vets, “there’s a lot of misinformation and a lack of communication.” Perhaps the biggest culprit, from Richards perspective, is a close-mindedness and lack of commitment to the finding the cause of the problem and fixing it. “There are a lot of things we need to do as an industry,” he says. “As an industry, we need to set a standard. There should be an orthopedic certification program, for example, that’s taught to both vets and to farriers. The vets will have to dummy down a little and the farriers will have to bone up.” “But a lot of this is just common sense. A horse with a foot bothering him is like having a tire with too little air in. You wouldn’t drive a car with less air in one tire, you’d fix the tire. You wouldn’t sit in a chair with one leg shorter than the others.” Richards believes we ask our horses to perform that way all the time. He believes at least some of the money for research should be re-allocated, or new money dedicated specifically to hoof issues.

“What we need is to fix a flat.” “How much more does New Bolton really need?” he asks referring to the clinic that treated Barbaro through his final days and has since received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for research. “Problems evolve for a reason,” says Richards, who believes the reason almost always rests in the hoof wall. “If we find an effective way to address the problem, it will make a difference that could be revolutionary.” A difference hundreds of years in the making.

Tooth Trouble - why regular dentist visits are essential for racehorses

The mouth of a Thoroughbred is the principle means of communication between the horse and his rider. Other aids are used as well, but for many, the bit is what determines direction, rate of speed and position or frame in which the horse moves.

The design and function of the horse’s mouth is such that it provides a perfect vehicle for use as a “steering device.” The interdental space allows a bit to lie comfortably without interfering with the normal position of the jaws when they close. Horses are the only domestic animals that have their mouths used in this fashion. Dr. Jack Easley, DVM, MS, Diplomat ABVP, who specializes in equine dentistry and resides in Shelbyville, Kentucky, insists the domestication of horses is the prime reason they require dental care. “Typically, horses keep their heads on the ground and eat grass 16 hours a day,” Dr. Easley said. “But we keep them in a stall with their heads up and feed them hay, oats and sweet feed. Stabled horses tend to have more problems with periodontal disease and abnormal wear because their teeth have not adapted from their natural forage diet.”

Dr. Easley recommends preventative dental care long before a young horse is introduced to a bit. “An oral examination should be performed the day a foal is born,” Dr. Easley said. “You want to make sure the jaws match and there is no deformity in the head.” A foal’s deciduous premolars are all in use within the first few weeks of life and can soon start to wear abnormally if they do not mesh properly. While there are orthodontic devices and surgical remedies to correct truly severe over- and under-bites, they are expensive, difficult to maintain and have variable rates of success. A foal should be examined again when it is weaned to make sure no teeth are missing from trauma, such as a kick in the mouth, and that all teeth are still properly aligned. Unless there is an obvious problem, such as holding the head to the side, loss of feed while eating, nasal discharge or swelling of the face, jaw or mouth, a horse does not need to be examined again until it is ready to be bitted, which for a Thoroughbred is usually when the horse is a yearling or a 2-year-old. When a horse is nine months old, all 24 baby teeth are in place. At this age, most horses will also erupt two wolf teeth and the first permanent molar set erupts behind the baby premolars. By the time the foal is a yearling, he has erupted 24 to 30 teeth and all of the deciduous teeth have been “in wear” long enough that their edges are likely very sharp. Deciduous teeth are softer than permanent teeth and wear sharp edges much faster. It is not uncommon for yearlings to have ulcers or lacerations on their cheeks and tongues from these razor-sharp points.

The first consideration prior to placing a bit in a horse’s mouth is to be sure there are no abnormalities within the mouth that may cause discomfort. “Trainers should have their veterinarians do a performance float of their horse’s teeth before he is broken,” Dr. Mary DeLorey, DVM of Kettle Falls, Washington, said. “They will remove all sharp edges and round the front corners of the first cheek teeth, both upper and lower. This allows more room for mouth tissues and reduces discomfort when the reins are tightened and bit pressure is increased.” A wolf tooth is a pointy little tooth located in the bit seat of a horse’s mouth. Much like a human appendix, the wolf teeth are evolutionary holdover, with no real function. The crown and root of the tooth are usually quite small. A horse can get up to four wolf teeth, which are almost always removed during a performance float because they can interfere with bit placement. They often become “blind” or unerupted and can be felt as little bumps in the gums. A horse’s mouth undergoes the largest turnover of deciduous to permanent teeth between the ages of 2 and 3 1/2 years. He will lose two sets of deciduous incisors and shed two sets of premolars, all to be replaced by permanent teeth. He will have already erupted his second set of permanent molars, and the third set may be getting ready to erupt by 3 1/2 years of age.

According to Dr. Jon W. Gieche, DVM, the shedding of baby deciduous teeth is a complex process that can be hastened by normal chewing forces and delayed or accelerated by abnormal chewing forces. If chewing forces are reduced, breakdown might be slowed. If the adult tooth is not present, breakdown occurs anyway, but at a reduced rate. In some teeth without adult counterparts, the deciduous tooth might remain functional for years beyond its normal life. Premature loss of a deciduous tooth results in abnormal development of the adult tooth and should only be removed if the adult tooth is present or a loose deciduous tooth can easily be wiggled. If chewing forces are abnormal, tooth attrition is abnormal. In such a situation, eruption is uneven, with some teeth erupting faster than others. The faster erupting teeth become longer than others, resulting in hooks, ramps, steps, and waves. Without outside intervention, these conditions become progressively worse. They can result in many other complications such as cavities, periodontal disease, and pulpitis (inflammation of the dental pulp, which is located in the central cavity of a tooth). This can lead to premature loss of teeth.

Dr. Easley compares this scenario to human babies cutting their teeth and thinks it’s essential that young Thoroughbreds receive oral exams every six months. “Oftentimes, we are asking horses to perform while they are experiencing the pain and headaches that are similar to a baby’s teething,” Dr. Easley said. “Babies are cranky and can’t sleep at night when their teeth come in. A horse is going through the same thing; it just can’t cry to let us know it’s in pain.” These signs could indicate a young horse in dental distress: • Loss of feed from the mouth while eating, difficulty chewing or excessive salivation • Weight loss or loss of body condition • Large or undigested feed particles (long stem or whole grain) in the manure • Head tossing, bit chewing, tongue lolling, fighting the bit, resisting the bridle • Poor performance, such as lugging in, failure to stop or turn, even bucking • Foul odour from the mouth and nostrils or traces of blood in the mouth • Nasal discharge or swelling of the face, jaw or mouth •

While cheek teeth fractures are an unusual occurrence, they can be responsible for many dilemmas for a horse, from difficulty chewing to bad breath and can cause behavioural problems when pressure is placed on the sides of a horse’s face from the reins In an attempt to gather more knowledge on the treatment, management and frequency of this condition, the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, sent a questionnaire to veterinarians and equine dental technicians. The survey results concluded that 147 horses suffered 182 total fractures. More than 70 percent of the fractures occurred in the upper mandible or jaw and where discovered in roughly .07 to 5.9 percent of all horses examined. Weight loss and food impaction in the inner cheek are acute complications linked to cheek teeth fractures.

Thirty-three percent of the horses examined during the study were unable to eat properly, 29 percent experienced biting and other various behavioural problems and 12 percent had halitosis. However, 39 percent of horses that had sustained a cheek tooth fracture presented no symptoms and were discovered through routine dental care. The most common method of treatment was extraction of the small dental fragment. Other methods of treatment included extraction of the entire tooth; eradicating sharp edges on the fractured tooth; reducing the height of the opposing tooth; referring the case for other treatment; or not treating the tooth in any way. After treatment, 81 percent of the diagnosed cases had no further symptoms, 13 percent had no clear-cut outcome and only 6 percent still had continuing complications.

In order for horses in training and racing to remain happy and healthy, it is critical to ensure they are able to work and perform in comfort. Comprehensive dental care delivered regularly by an experienced veterinary professional may be one of the easiest ways to maximise a horse’s performance and optimize his health for a lifetime.

Oiling the Wheels - using oil as a supplement in the diet of racehorses

Historically, oil has not featured highly in the diets of horses in training, or indeed those of other horses. The natural oil content of pasture and other forages is quite low at between 2-3% on a dry matter basis, yet despite this, horses digest oil extremely well. Oil added to the racehorses’ diet is tolerated well, with no major palatability problems having been reported. There are many advantages to feeding an oil supplemented diet to horses in training. For feed manufacturers, the addition of increasing amounts of oil in a feed formulation allows the addition of energy or ‘calories,’ without any contribution towards the starch and protein content of the feed.

This means that lower starch feeds can be produced, whilst maintaining the total energy content of the feed. This type of diet can help prevent the digestive system from being overwhelmed by the presence of starch in the diet. Additionally, beneficial effects of this type of diet on behaviour have also been reported and horses that are prone to tying up may also gain. Oil supplementation can also potentially bring other beneficial effects e.g. on coat condition and on respiratory health or mobility and performance. However these additional desirable effects are likely to depend not only on the quantity of oil within the daily ration, but also on the nature of the oil included.

OIL - MORE ENERGY THAN MOST INGREDIENTS IN FEED

The energy or calorie content of oil is higher than any other ingredient commonly used in the manufacture of racing feeds, as seen from the Table 1 below. In a direct comparison with oats, vegetable oil such as corn oil provides about 70% more energy for a given weight. From a trainer’s perspective, top dressing oil onto an existing ration allows an increase in the energy density of the feed i.e. more calories for the same volume of feed. This is particularly useful for fussy feeders helping to keep their meal sizes relatively small. Ingredient Energy (MJ/kg) Corn Oil 38 Oats 12.5 Racing Mix 13 Hay 7.5

Table 1 - Estimated energy content of different components of a racing diet. Oil is usually added into the diet in oz or ml rather than in kilograms. So for a more practical comparison, a coffee mug of oil, which is equivalent to about 250ml (225g), would provide about 9 MJ of energy, which is equivalent to about ¾ of a flat scoop of oats (750g). There are many types of oil besides corn and soya that have been fed to horses over the years. Vegetable oils derived from rapeseed or canola, sunflower, safflower, coconut and even peanut have been previously fed. Fish oils such as tuna oil, salmon oil and cod liver oil have also been used. Cod liver oil should, however, be used sparingly due to the high fat soluble vitamin content.

Other high oil containing ingredients that are commonly used in racing feeds, or in some cases to top-dress racing diets, include rice bran, linseed meal, full fat soya and naked oats (see Table 2). Whilst the oil content of all of these ingredients is relatively high, the starch content varies quite significantly. In terms of oil delivery and starch content, linseed meal would clearly be a good choice for oil supplementation where a low starch containing diet was desired. Ingredient % Oil Content % Starch Content Ricebran 16-20 15-27 Linseed Meal 37 5.5 Full Fat Soya 20 4.5 Naked Oats 10 53 Table 2 - Percentage oil and starch content of typical components of a racing ration * Information taken either from actual analysis or from Premier Atlas Ingredients Matrix

EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOUR

There has been some suggestion in the scientific literature in recent years that feeding a ration that is high in oil and fibre and low in starch can have a beneficial effect on behaviour, in terms of reducing excitability. Studies on Thoroughbreds with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) reported decreased excitability and nervousness, as well as lower resting heart rates, when they were fed a low starch high oil containing diet, compared with an isocaloric diet that was low in oil and high in starch. This effect, however, is likely to have been mostly due to the reduction in starch intake from cereal, rather than the oil content per se. The use of increased amounts of oil in the diet does, however, facilitate the reduction in starch content without leaving an ‘energy gap.’

BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES FOR TYING UP

More recently, stress has been implicated as a trigger for RER in susceptible horses and so the potentially beneficial effects of oil supplemented diets that are also low in starch and high in fibre have been extolled. Accordingly, lower plasma concentrations of creatine kinase (CK) following a standard exercise test have been reported in response to such diets, in comparison to traditional racing type diets that are high in starch and low in fibre and oil. Specialists on RER have successfully advocated the use of such diets for horses in training that are at risk from RER. In addition, there is a strong argument for the use of such diets during pre-training and the early part of actual training. Significant oil supplementation during full training, if the starch content of the diet is also drastically reduced, is more controversial due to the metabolic effects that can be induced and so the potential effect on subsequent exercise performance.

METABOLIC EFFECTS OF OIL SUPPLEMENTATION

Putting this section into context, the metabolic adaptations to oil supplementation have been reported to occur when relatively large quantities of oil are fed, typically where near to 20% of the total dietary energy intake is provided by oil. For a cube or a mix fed at, for example 6kg per day, this would require a 10% declaration of oil for that feed. For comparison most racing feeds would contain oil at the level of inclusion of 5 - 8.5%.

A high level of oil supplementation has been reported latterly to decrease resting muscle glycogen concentration and improve the use of fat as a fuel source during low and moderate intensity exercise (trotting through to slow cantering) through metabolic adaptation at the muscle level. This offers the possibility of sparing muscle glycogen stores during low intensity exercise training, but equally may impede muscle glycogen replenishment following hard work or racing, which may disadvantage (see European Trainer Issue 19 Racing Power - Supporting Muscular Effort through Nutrition). The effect of oil supplementation on high intensity exercise performance such as racing is very controversial. Some studies show little or no effect, whilst others have shown a beneficial effect. As a result the scientific community are divided and so the jury is still very much out in this respect.

OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS OF OIL SUPPLEMENTATION

Dietary oil also provides a source of what are termed essential fatty acids, namely linoleic acid, which belongs to the omega 6 family of fatty acids and α-linolenic acid, which belongs to the rival family the omega 3’s. Most ingredients found in a racehorses’ diet are rich in the omega 6 type of fatty acid with much less omega 3 fatty acid present. The role for dietary omega-3 fatty acids which has been proposed in maintaining joint and skin health, and in supporting immune function, fertility and respiratory health, makes them an attractive nutraceutical ingredient for racehorses. The use of linseed meal has recently increased in proprietary horse feed and supplements. However, although α-linolenic acid is a precursor of the longer chain more bioactive omega 3’s, eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA), the efficiency of conversion is quite low.

Therefore nutraceutical ingredients that provide a more concentrated source of either or both EPA and DHA are becoming more widely used. Ingredients such as micro-encapsulated and deodorised fish oils e.g. tuna oil, as well as green lipped mussel, and more recently plant sources of DHA in the form of algae are now more commonly seen in equine products, primarily supplements. Few studies into the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids have, however, been published in horses. In a preliminary study using ponies with sweet itch, a beneficial effect of linseed on inflammatory skin conditions was proposed. Encouraging results have also been reported for the effect of supplementation with a combination of EPA and DHA on arthritic horses. In humans there is some evidence to support a protective role for omega-3 fatty acids in human asthma, a condition that is not unlike recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) in horses, but the results are not indisputable. A recent supplementation study with omega 3 fatty acids in horses, however, did not significantly alter clinical indicators of pulmonary function, although the leukocyte counts in epithelial lung lining fluid were reduced in the omega-3 supplemented horses. This may suggest an effect of supplementation on pulmonary inflammation.

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH AND CAN THERE BE TOO MUCH?

The answer to this question is not straightforward as if you are intending to top dress oil onto feeds, the quantity required will largely depend on how much is present in the basal diet already. Certainly, where the oil is being used to increase the energy density of the diet and reduce the inclusion of starch rich ingredients, a level of 250-300ml per day to replace a kilo of oats or other racing feed would not be inappropriate, where the basal diet contained a low level of oil. For horses that struggle to maintain condition, addition of 100-150mls of oil daily into the existing ration is likely to help. One should always remember, however, that oil does not provide any protein or vitamins and minerals and so must be fed in conjunction with a balanced diet, particularly with respect to antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin E. Oil should always be introduced to the diet slowly and the daily amount spread over several meals. In addition, any adverse affect on dropping consistency may be a warning that the level of oil in the total diet is too high and the level should be reduced. As far as the neutraceutical omega 3 fatty acids are concerned, we know much less about the quantities required, but hopefully research will continue in this area to investigate their potentially beneficial effects.

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Francois Rohaut

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter goes to Francois Rohaut. For a trainer to win a big race outside his home country is quite a feat, to win two on different continents on the same day is remarkable but to win three, all on the same afternoon, in countries as far apart as Germany, Spain and Canada.

James Crispe (European Trainer - Issue 20 / Winter 2007)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Larry Jones

TheTRM trainer of the quarter award has been won by Larry Jones. Larry and her team will receive a TRM product portfolio worth in excess of $1,500. The portfolio will consist of TRM tack bags and saddle pads as well as a large selection of the world famous TRM product range.

Finishing second may be like kissing your mother - as Jones said after watching his gallant three-year-old colt Hard Spun finished second to Curlin in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Oct. 27, at Monmouth Park - but it’s better than no kiss at all. And if you are destined to finish second, there are no better times to do it than in million dollar races.

Jones, wearing his ever-present white cowboy hat, saddled one other horse that day, Proud Spell, and she finished second to undefeated Indian Blessing in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly. Proud Spell had won her three prior starts, including the Grade 2 Matron.

Those two seconds capped a breakthrough year for the 50-year-old trainer, whose $5.7 million in earnings ranked 13th nationally through early November.

“It’s something you only dream of,” Jones said, Nov. 9th. “I never expected it to happen to me.”

It didn’t happen by accident.

By: Bill Heller
 (01 December 2007 - Issue Number: 6)

Jones, whose other Breeders’ Cup starter, Ruby’s Reflection, finished 10th in the 2002 Juvenile Filly at Arlington Park, is an accomplished horseman whose grandfather and father had horses on their farms. His first ride was on his grandfather’s mule at the age of 3. Jones then rode horses regularly on his dad’s cattle farm, then Quarter Horses at bush tracks in Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois. He turned to training in 1980 after he purchased a filly, Ala Turf, for $800.

Jones didn’t win a stakes race until 1995 with Capt. Bowl, another horse who cost $800. He improved his stock gradually and won Grade 1 stakes with Island Sand and Wildcat Bettie B, but Hard Spun took him to another level.

“I’ve got to put credit to the horse,” Jones said. “He was a very easy horse to train.”

Jones trained him brilliantly. After Hard Spun won the Grade 2 Lanes End Stakes easily, he finished second in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Preakness and fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Jones freshened him and he finished second to Any Given Saturday in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth.

Rather than backing off with Hard Spun, Jones asked the son of Danzig to cut back from a mile-and-an-eighth to seven furlongs in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes on Travers Day at Saratoga. First Defence headed Hard Spun in mid-stretch, but Hard Spun responded instantaneously, surging again to win by a length and a half. “Probably 98 percent of the horses in the Breeders’ Cup you wouldn’t do that, but Hard Spun is a real fast horse,” Jones said. “With his natural speed, it was easy.”

But how would Hard Spun respond to being stretched out to a mile-and-a-quarter for the Breeders’ Cup Classic? Hard Spun took the lead early and then attempted to take his eight rivals wire-to-wire over the sloppy Monmouth Park track, zipping his first half-mile in :45.85. He opened a two-length lead after one mile before he was confronted on the inside by Kentucky Derby and Travers winner Street Sense and on the outside by Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Curlin. Hard Spun put away Street Sense, but had no answer for Curlin, who won by 4 ½ lengths. Hard Spun held second by 4 ¾ lengths over Awesome Gem, who beat Street Sense by a length for third. “I was very proud,” Jones said. “Curlin is special. You’re always hoping for better, but believe me, we couldn’t have had a much better day,” Jones said.

Or a much better year. “It’s been wonderful, you bet,” Jones said.

News from North California - Saving Bay Meadows

The appeal by the “Save Bay Meadows” Committee was heard before the 1st District Court of Appeals on September 19. By all accounts, a decision is due by the Court before the end of the calendar year of 2007.

If successful, the citizens group will push that the Bay Meadows development be put to a vote by San Mateo residents as to whether they want the proposed project to move forward. If the appeal is denied, it basically ends any hope that Bay Meadows will not be developed in the near future. It seems almost certain that Bay Meadows Land Company would start their project in the fall of 2008.
 
After months of meetings and industry input, the CHRB awarded 2008 race dates for Northern California. In what seems to a certainty, Bay Meadows will hold its final thoroughbred race meet from February 6 through May 11. In addition, the San Mateo Fair will race from August 6-8. The CTT worked hard to get Bay Meadows to agree to stay open for stabling and training in the fall of 2008. There is a real possibility that construction could commence shortly after the finish of the San Mateo Fair. Bay Meadows management has agreed to work with the CTT in establishing training hours that will work to ensure the safety of both horse and human during any possible construction times.
 
The new Tapeta racing surface that was installed at Golden Gate Fields is being embraced by the trainers thus far. The first horse set foot on the surface on October 5. In fact, a horse even worked a half mile that first morning! The trainers seem to be extremely pleased and encouraged that the surface is kinder and safer for their horses. Michael Dickinson, the creator of Tapeta, has told trainers that his goal is to reduce the amount of injuries by 50 percent. Now, that is a worthy goal!
 
Golden Gate Fields management was clearly thrilled with the first three days of entries taken as they awaited the first race run on the Tapeta surface. The number of horses entered for the first 3 days averaged 8.5 per race in comparison to the average field size in Northern California this year of 6.9. The first race run on the surface was on opening day of the Golden Gate fall meet, and a flat mile race was clocked in a very respectable 1:38:1.
 
The fair circuit was finished for the year with the running of the Fresno Fair in early October. The management of the Fresno fair should be thanked as they spent considerable funds to install rubber bricks throughout the paddock area. The Stockton Fair has announced that they are in the process of securing funds to install a new turf course at their facility. If all plans go accordingly, the first turf race will be run at Stockton during their Fair of 2009.
 
Pleasanton is aggressively seeking funding to install a synthetic surface. Once Bay Meadows closes, the CTT is very hopeful that this facility will become the second barn area (besides GGF) in the Bay Area to accommodate the stabling needs for our horses. If all goes well, Pleasanton will have installed a new surface by the end of the fall of 2008. Good luck to them…

Charles E. Dougherty, Jr. CTT Deputy Director (First Published: 01 Dec 2007)

Jerry Hollendorfer - interview with a racing legend

By Steve Schuelein

Jerry Hollendorfer is the classic case of the big fish in the small pond. Small in stature but giant in achievements, “The Dorf” has become a training legend in Northern California. During the past 21 years, Hollendorfer has led every meet at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields. That staggering total reached 61 this year following his 33rd straight Bay Meadows title and 28th consecutive Golden Gate crown.

Since taking out his license in 1979, Hollendorfer has cranked out winners at such high frequency that he ranks fourth on the all-time list for career victories. Closing in on the 5,000-victory plateau with 4,890 at midyear, Hollendorfer trails only Dale Baird (9,379), Jack Van Berg (6,378) and King Leatherbury (6,202) in the career category. His career earnings have exceeded $90 million. But Hollendorfer, 61, is not a story of running up statistics with bottom-shelf claimers. When given the occasional horse of talent, Hollendorfer has shown his ability to shine at the highest level. He first came to national prominence with King Glorious, winner of the Hollywood Futurity in 1988 and Haskell Stakes in 1989, both Grade 1 stakes. In 1991, he won another pair of Grade 1’s, the Kentucky Oaks and Coaching Club American Oaks - with Lite Light. To prove the first Kentucky Oaks victory was no fluke, he won the prestigious race for a second time in 1996 with Pike Place Dancer.

Hollendorfer’s stable rolled along to $5-million years during the decade since and produced several more stakes winners. On the Kentucky Derby undercard this year, Hollendorfer struck again with another Grade 1 victory, Hystericalady in the Humana Distaff Handicap. Hollendorfer reflected on his career recently during an interview with Steve Schuelein.

What was it like growing up in Ohio, and how did you become interested in racing there?

      
I grew up outside Akron, where it was pretty rural. We had a few acres and a pony to ride. My father worked for Chrysler, my mother for the Baptist church. When I went to Revere High School in Richfield, I did a little wrestling at 112 pounds with modest success and worked at a market. I went to college at the University of Akron--now called Akron State--and graduated with a B.S. in business administration. I was always interested in going to the races in my younger years. I went to Ascot Park in Cuyahoga Falls and Thistledown and liked to go to the trotters at Northfield.

LeBron James grew up in Akron too. Has he done as much for basketball as you have done for racing?

I think LeBron’s got me beat a mile. Everyone from Akron is proud of LeBron.

What brought you to California and when?

After college, I visited a friend in San Francisco. I liked the climate right away. I went back, packed the car and drove out.

How did you get started in racing?

When I came out, I wasn’t working and wanted to see the backstretch. My degree was in marketing. That didn’t interest me enough, but the horses did. I was interested in finding out what was going on on the backstretch.

What trainers did you work for, and what did you learn from them?

I went to work as a hot walker for Dan Wilcher, who had a horse named Rigatoni King. I was working for him when he left for Southern California and recommended me to stay here with Jerry Dutton. Working for Dutton was a great experience. He made you work hard but you could learn, and he never asked you to do more than he would do. I worked my way up from hot walker to groom to foreman to assistant trainer and pony boy with him. Later I went to work for Jerry Fanning in Southern California and then back to Dutton in Northern California. Trainers don’t teach. You have to learn by observation. Dutton had a training pattern, and Fanning had a similar one. I do a lot of similar things. I kind of believe in keeping a horse on a schedule, something I learned from them. In addition, I always liked to see what other people do, especially the more successful trainers. I always pay attention and try to retain the good things they do. But it’s an ongoing learning process. I try to make adjustments every day to be a better trainer.

Early in your career, did you ever aspire to approach these heights?

In our barn, I just try to do what works well. You reflect back, and it’s just something that transpires. You accept more horses along the way, and the barn grows. Along with that, you have to be real lucky to get good people to work for you.

What do you remember about Novel Sprite?

She was a filly I claimed for $16,000 at Golden Gate Fields, and she ended up making over $400,000. She was named National Claimer of  the Year (in 1986) and gave me my first stakes win (in the San Jose Handicap). The first stakes winner always sticks with you. She was a very good horse. I credit her with giving me a big boost.

You’ve called King Glorious your best horse and winning the Hollywood Futurity your biggest thrill. Are those comments still accurate?

King Glorious was my first big horse, and the Hollywood Futurity was worth $1-million, a good race to win. (Chris) McCarron rode a great race, although I was a little worried about an inquiry because of an incident at the head of the lane. But he didn’t come down. I got a big kick out of it because Ted Aroney, owner of Halo Farms, has always been very supportive. Ted bought his mare out of a sale when she was in foal with King Glorious. I had him from the start. He caught everybody’s attention right away. He was a great-looking horse and very fast. He was a Cal- bred and only lost once. Aroney was offered a lot of money for him and sold him to the Japanese.

What do you remember about Lite Light and the Kentucky Oaks wins with her and Pike Place Dancer?

I began training Lite Light in the spring of her 3-year-old year after she was purchased privately by M.C. Hammer, the rap star. He was from Northern California, Oakland, and named his stable Oaktown Stable. (Track publicist) Sam Spear introduced me to him. Ted Aroney found out Lite Light was for sale and suggested I should try to buy her for him. After Hammer bought her, she won the Santa Anita Oaks with her old trainer, Henry Moreno. Then I put her on the stakes trail, and she won the Fantasy at Oaklawn Park and the Kentucky Oaks. We had a great rivalry with Meadow Star that summer. She got beat a nose in the Mother Goose but came back to win the Coaching Club American Oaks. It was quite amazing to work for a music star because of his large entourage, which included bodyguards. Everyone recognizes the star. I was able to stay in the background while Hammer did his thing. You never expect to repeat the performance of Lite Light in the Kentucky Oaks, and I was fortunate to win that race twice. I bought Pike Place Dancer at the Keeneland September yearling sale for $40,000 and was lucky to get her for that price. She was a half-sister to Petionville, a year younger than him before he became a stakes winner. I sold a half interest to George Todaro, with whom I have had a great successful partnership. She beat the boys in the California Derby before she won the Kentucky Oaks.

As good luck as you’ve had in the Kentucky Oaks, you seem to have been cursed with as much bad luck in the Kentucky Derby.

It’s the hardest race to win, and I’ve enjoyed trying. You can’t let it get you down. I’ve gotten to run three horses in it and been there with two others. Eye of the Tiger finished fifth (in 2003), and Cause to Believe and Bwana Bull didn’t run well (in 2006 and 2007). Event Of The Year had a hairline fracture in his knee after his last work before the Derby, a real good work (in 1998). Everyone was quite taken with his looks. He had a lot of media attention. He had a big chance. That one hurt. Globalize was entered (in 2000), and the next day, when the pony picked him up, he bit the pony, and the pony kicked him in the hock. He needed to be stitched (and was scratched). A lot of horses get close and don’t make it. That only adds to the mystique and aura of the Derby.

How do current graded stakes winners Hystericalady and Somethinaboutlaura rank among the better females you have trained?

They give a good account of themselves every time you put them in. They came to me quite differently. I bought Hystericalady at the Keeneland September yearling sale. She is by Distorted Humor, who I liked at the time. I bought Somethinaboutlaura privately (in February, 2006). She wins on turf and dirt, long and short, and is happy all the time.

Any other horses or races that have produced special memories?

There are so many. I enjoy the everyday contact with the horses. I enjoy winning, and I enjoy the work it takes to win.

You have dominated Northern California racing like no other. How important is it to keep the winning streak alive?

I don’t know how many more meetings I can stay on top. They’re getting closer. I won the last one by only eight races. It seems like we have to work harder and harder to stay on top. It’s getting more difficult to keep winning.

What are your thoughts on the current state of affairs in Northern California?

I’ve been here a long time and seen a lot of things. Bay Meadows going away is in no way a positive. We’re in a state of transition and flux, and I hope things work out. I hope the young guys coming up have as good a setting as I have had all these years. I’m pretty flexible. If my horses continue to fit, I’ll continue. If not, I’ll do something else. I could go to Southern California or another state. The fairs get in the way of my program during the summer. That’s why I race at Hollywood Park and Del Mar then.

Should racetracks embrace slot machines?

I think the state of California should have them because there are people there to gamble. It would help the house handle. There are a lot of slot machines in nearby states such as Nevada.

You’re fourth in career winnings nearing the 5,000 mark. What goals do you have left?

I don’t know. I would like to win 5,000. That’s an attainable goal. It’s hard to plan if you should cut back. As long as the people working with me want to keep doing it, I’d like to keep doing it. It takes a lot of dedication, but a lot of trainers keep going on. I can’t imagine a guy like Dale Baird winning 9,000 races. He must be the iron man of the world. I’m comfortable trying to compete. If I ever get uncomfortable, I will have to rethink it.

Tell us about your stable and key personnel.

I stable mostly in Northern California at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields and ship to the fairs during the summer. I have about 100 to 110 horses in Northern California plus 25 to 30 in Southern California. I have been and in-and-outer there the last few years but would like to keep a division there. I spend a lot of time at Del Mar. My wife Janet works with me all the time and is a great catalyst to make things work in my barn. She is my right hand. Janet was on the racetrack as a teenager in Southern California and I met her while she was working for Mel Stute. Andy Wilson handles my off-track horses, and Cristy Wiebe oversees the Southern California division.

What are your thoughts on the workers’ compensation insurance situation?

It has been vastly improved through the efforts of various different groups. Great progress has been made. A lot of people on the backside - both trainers and workers - are a lot happier. The AIG group has been looking after things in a more intensified manner.

Who have been and are your most important owners?

Everybody’s important to me. I have been successful building small and large partnerships. My main partner, George Todaro, has stuck with me for more than 20 years. (The Hollendorfer-Todaro partnership led California owners in wins last year). Halo Farm (Aroney) has been with me that long. Peter Abruzzo was instrumental in bringing me to Chicago two years in a row.

 
What is the origin of your nickname “The Dorf?”

Ivan Puhich, a jockey agent, started calling me that in Northern California, probably one day when he got mad at me.
What is your training philosophy?

I like to keep horses as fit and happy as I can.

Are the current medication rules fair?

My only opinion is if you want to measure anybody’s business in nanograms and picograms, it makes it very difficult. The testing procedures are correct but they measure in such small amounts, I don’t know how fair that is for somebody trying to do the right thing. But they have to have some rules.

What do you think about the new synthetic surfaces being installed?

I’m a very conservative person. To my way of thinking, I wouldn’t automatically change all the tracks. It may be the best thing, but something may come up. We’ll know in time. But they shouldn’t change them all over until they’ve done more testing.

Do you have any hobbies?

I’m just a horse trainer. That’s all I do.

In at the deep end - Mike Back, the trainer and mechanic

By Frances Karon

Fair Meadows racetrack in Tulsa, Oklahoma is sheltered under the shade of the city’s imposing skyscrapers, yet once there the eye is riveted by the busy jumble of pick-up trucks and horse trailers, cowboy hats and shiny belt buckles. The stabling area is well stocked for the mixed racing meet. Walk down the barn and pick a nose to scratch from among the heads stretched over the doors of their cedar chip-bedded stalls: Quarter Horse, Paint, Appaloosa or Thoroughbred.

One of the truck-and-trailer rigs belongs to 37-year-old Mike Back, who has hauled his filly Hard Bargain to Fair Meadows from his home in Adair – an hour away – for a half-mile workout, once around the 4-furlong “bullring” track. This is his first of two treks to the venue today for what will be a total of four hours on the road. Later, he will run Irishrunaway in the 3rd and Bagadiamonds in the 9th races on the 12-race twilight card. Back greets his rider and leans against the rail to watch as Hard Bargain skips over the red dirt surface. “He didn’t let her roll,” says Back. “Having a big, tight hold of her made her start throwing her head around a little bit, wanting to buck. I was wanting to see her set down and work. She was just doing a lot of jacking around.” He meets them at the gap, and when they get to the vacant stall he’s found for her in the barn he pays the rider, lets Hard Bargain draw some water from a bucket he has brought from home and hoses her down. Behind the barn, he surveys the eight four-horse Equicisers, chooses one and snaps the lead onto her halter. All of the walkers have two or three unsupervised horses on them already. On one, a gray Quarter Horse has stopped flat, refusing to yield to the tug on his head. He has that unmistakably ornery look in his eye, and you feel sorry for the bay attached to another arm of the mechanized hotwalker; there will be no cooling out for him this morning. Occasionally a passer-by will scoot the gray horse along, but inevitably he will stop again as soon as he’s left on his own. In a half-hour he completes three circles. On the other side of the enclosed area, Hard Bargain goes quietly, rhythmically placing her hooves on the worn path of the small circle. When her breathing has regulated and her coat has dried, Back unhooks her, loads her on the trailer and begins his long journey home.

Training horses is Back’s second career. His day job, the one that pays the bills, is as a mechanic for American Airlines, where he has worked for 18 years. “I couldn’t afford it without my job,” he says. He has taken a vacation day to shuttle horses to and from Fair Meadows today but doesn’t seem to mind. “I get excited at these races. It’s my Kentucky Derby.” He gets philosophical for a moment. “Otherwise, if you can’t do something that drives you, why go through life?”

Returning to Adair, Back turns Hard Bargain out into a pen. Except for the ones running later, his horses are lazily sunning outside. The set-up on his 160-acre farm is simple. Where possible, he has used whatever was on hand to save money, and inside his barn many of the walls are made up of sturdy wooden boards with colorful letters stenciled on them: “Mike Back for School Board.” (He was successfully elected.) There is a breeze billowing through the aisle and fans whirring over the stall doors to cut through the Oklahoma humidity. Three of the farm’s horses are in training; one is a pregnant broodmare he’s keeping for a friend; and a field towards the rear of the property houses one gelding who was badly injured during a race last month – a horse ran up on his hind tendons – and a few ex-racehorses that didn’t make the grade. “It’s a business and if one can’t run that’s fine but I won’t ship them off to the killers. I’ll find a home for them. I may have to keep them a year.” All the horses are happy and well-tended: this is not a bad place to be a horse. Training is done in the round pen, 15 minutes a day. “When you get one [fit enough] all you’ve got to do is just stand there and they’ll go 15 minutes strong. You’ll know when they’re ready for a work or for a race.” He smiles, telling a joke on himself. “I have the poor man’s Equiciser. I’m the motor in the middle. Except I can only do one at a time!” After their workout, each will be handwalked for 10 minutes before being set loose to play in the paddock.

By major racetrack standards, Back’s method is unorthodox but he is not alone in training this way: round pens have begun to appear at various racetracks. At Lone Star, he says, they “charge ten bucks to get in it, and it’s full every day. There’s a waiting list. Some people, when I tell them [how I train], they kind of frown and say that it’s hard on their knees because they’re always turning. Well it’s hard on their knees, too, when you put a 140-pound exercise rider up. Danged if you do, danged if you don’t. It works for me, and I’ve got the tracks close enough that I can take them there and blow them out.”

 
Fed by slots at local Cherokee and Choctaw owned casinos, prize money in the state is “almost double this year.” Tonight’s Thoroughbred portion of the racecard is capped by a $14,000 maiden special weight. “Oklahoma is the perfect place. Pretty good purses. Run year round, from February to December. The purses are getting better every year. Makes the competition harder, so you’ve got to have a better horse.” In Oklahoma alone, there are three racetracks within a two-hour drive of Back’s farm, though he will go as far as he needs to. “If I can win a race I’ll go across the country, if I could win a race and it was worth it. I’ll drive across the country for a minute and a half of racing! It’s ten hours to Fonner in Grand Island, Nebraska; that’s a long drive and there’s not much to see across the canvas, long and boring, but the people are great. Drove to Retama down in San Antonio a couple years ago, got there in 11 hours and they cancelled the races because of rain. That was a nice long drive back home!”

Back was introduced to racing when his father bought a racehorse for $500 in 1990. The horse won three races for them and Back had a first taste of what he would grow to love, admitting that horseracing “is just a very addicting sport.” Still, he didn’t get more involved until six or seven years ago. He had bred a few foals out of a mare and was having trouble finding a trainer. “I put an ad in the Tulsa paper, in the horse classifieds. And this guy called me, he worked the railroad and trained horses. He lived in Arch City, Kansas, so I drove up there one weekend, took the horse up and met him.” In a twist of irony, airplane and train joined together in their passion for the original mode of transport: the horse.

 
That railroad engineer, George Blatchford, trained for Back before encouraging him to apply for a trainer’s license. Blatchford had by then retired from the railroad and moved farther away to Oklahoma City, and while continuing to train horses off his farm was not always able to saddle Back’s starters, many of whom were now trained by Back in all but name. “George has been just like a dad to me. He told me I could do it myself, that I could do what he’s doing and not pay somebody $40 or $50 a day. And he was right.” When Back became a licensed trainer in October, 2005, he won his very first race, with Dr T’s Miracle. “Should have quit,” he says, full of logic but short on sincerity. “I’d have been ahead. I should have said, ‘hey, I’m 100%, what more could you want?’”

In the nearly two years since his maiden victory, breaking into the training ranks has proved a challenge. “A lot of your trainers at the track don’t give up much information. They think it’s a big secret. I kind of have to learn on the fly, you know?” But Blatchford steps in to give a hand or a push in the right direction whenever possible. “He really is a big help,” says Back. “Why do I like him?” asks Blatchford. “Well, because I know he enjoys the horseracing. I mean, it’s nice to make money with them but he does it as a sport. He does good and he tries hard. He’s always willing to learn. We’re so helpful to each other. He goes out of his way to help me and I go out of my way to help him. He’s just a great person to work with. He doesn’t have as good horses as I’ve got. You’ve got to have the horses. We’re at the bottom of the pole here, and we’re doing it because we enjoy it. Most people, it’s a business to them.”

Turning into Fair Meadows for the second time that Friday, Back heads for the two stalls that Blatchford has saved across the shedrow from his own pair of runners. As the sun sets over Tulsa, Irishrunaway settles into his stall like the veteran he is – this will be his 40th lifetime start, fourth for Back – but Bagadiamonds gets riled up. The upper half of the stalls have bars on three sides like a cage to give the horses plenty of socialization, and the sorrel Quarter Horse gelding next to her is acting coltish. Blatchford immediately pulls out one of his laid-back geldings and switches stalls with Back’s filly. The swap has helped; the filly, while still on her toes, quiets down, if only a little. Blatchford’s horse ignores the hysterics of the gelding beside him.

Blatchford’s presence at Tulsa tonight was a lucky break for Back. In Oklahoma, no one is allowed in the paddock without a license, so finding help is a chore. “You got a license?” he asks while we’re in his truck. “It’s like that, I just have to ask. If one of my buddies like George isn’t here I have to find somebody and pay them, especially if the races are back-to-back. It’s almost a nightmare, but I make it work. Once my oldest son, Taylor, turned 16 we got him a license, and that’s been a big help. He always goes with me and helps me anyway but until this year he couldn’t go in the paddock. I just kind of make do with whoever I can find.” Sometimes, he has to make do without. “A lot of times I’ll saddle them by myself just because I don’t have any help. It’s not real easy but you have to do it. I can’t do that with all of them.”

Over the course of the day it has dawned on me that when Back does his taxes there is not enough space on the “occupation” line: airplane mechanic/owner/trainer/psychologist/groom/hotwalker/van driver. It is easy to see why, for every Mike Back, there are countless people who can’t make it work. “It’s tough,” he says. “It’s a tough thing to break into, for a little person. And the politics of the track, they’ll just kill you!”
Once when Blatchford was listed as the trainer they had a horse leading the race into the last turn. “He was a dead winner,” says Blatchford – until the jockey pulled him up. Unsaddling, the rider told them the horse couldn’t breathe and Back couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I said, ‘there’s nothing wrong with that horse.’ I went to the stewards – I was so mad – the next morning I went back over there and said, ‘What do you want this horse to work?’ He said to work him 3/8’s and I said, ‘I’m going to work him a half.’ And he had a bullet work. Brought him back two weeks later and won a race with him. But if it hadn’t been for George pulling some strings I’d have never gotten anybody to ride him.”

Another of Back’s charges got a DNF not long ago. “Why? Well come to find out later the jockey had gotten thrown that morning, his back was hurting. I didn’t know that. The steward had had four complaints that day. The horse was going to run in the money. Instead, it put me on the vet’s list. I had to go work the horse, I had to take the horse in front of the vet, for nothing wrong with him. I can not afford for that to happen. So now I have a horse that’s got a DNF, and I’ve got to find somebody to ride him. What are they going to think? They’re going to think there’s something wrong with this horse.” With effort, he convinced a jock agent his horse was sound, the jockey took the mount and rode him to two consecutive third-place finishes. Back felt vindicated but the sting of what he might have lost remains. “It’s out of your hands once you put them on a horse. They could be costing me a race that I need to keep going through next week. That’s the whole killer, is they don’t realize how much I have riding on every race. It’s not a life-or-death deal but it’s a trying-to-get-by-to-next-week deal. Next week’s $200 feed bill and next week’s $150 this-and-that. It all quickly adds up.”

Back searches for new horses regularly. “I’m just looking for the next good horse that I could win a race with.” When studying claimers, he keys in on entries from “the bigger trainers, a horse that they’ve dropped to the bottom, that’s not working in their program,” but who’ve shown a little bit of ability in the past. “It’s so hard when you claim one. That could make or break you right there. You’ve got to be willing to lose your money. It’s an investment for the long term. I look for a horse that’s sour from the track, take one that’s not happy and just let him be a horse.” He singles out the gray Irishrunaway, who came to him through a trainer friend in Louisiana. “When I got him, I gave him some feed, a little TLC, a little time out, just to make him happy. He’d done absolutely nothing in his life. But now he’ll try, he’ll give it everything he’s got. I’ve run a second and a third with him in three outs.” His fondness for the horse – for all his horses – and for using his good instincts to learn what makes each one tick is plain to see.

He found Hard Bargain, a winner of three races for her previous owner, on HandRide.com, a website he visits frequently. “I called a guy and swung a deal with him. It was the only horse he had. She’d won a bit of money and won races last year but he had a new baby and he just couldn’t afford it anymore. And I said, ‘Yeah, I know what you mean!’” The married father of four (with a very supportive wife) drove to Henderson, Kentucky, looked the filly over and bought her. Back has pursued the online angle aggressively, e-mailing the representatives for many of the racehorses listed for sale, offering to train them unless he spots an obvious red flag indicating that there’s something wrong with their horses. “I’ll just shoot them an e-mail and they’ll either say yes or no. Most of them write back saying ‘you’re too far’ or ‘we’ll see what happens if we don’t get him sold.’ My ultimate goal is to be hooked up with somebody that wants to send horses that don’t fit the bigger circuits. I’m working on it. I just haven’t got that connection yet.”

Years ago, before he was training, Back was involved in the private purchase of an A.P. Indy colt out of Wayne Lukas’ stable. “He was my pride and joy. People would just ooh and aah when they’d see him at the track,” he says, and from the catch in his throat you know you don’t want to hear what comes next, that the horse died in a barn fire at a friend’s nearby farm. “I almost got out of it then, cause I just loved him. I wish I had him knowing what I know now, which is not a lot – but knowing what I know now and how I do it, I’d win a bunch of races with him.” His leather halter is hanging up in Back’s house.

Blatchford accompanies him to the paddock and helps with the saddling. At Fair Meadows the owners don’t use their own silks; the house silks match the numbered saddlecloths. The only statement Back is allowed are the crimson blinkers emblazoned with his initials in white – the color scheme of the University of Oklahoma Sooners. After putting Mario Galvan up into the saddle, Back and Blatchford join friends in the stands. They are easy to find; the cool weather and free admission have failed to attract many people, and the crowd is remarkably sparse. The regulars are surprised at the low turnout. Irishrunaway was left at the gate on his previous outing, and Back is worried tonight before the start of the 6½-furlong, $7,500 claiming event. He has the gelding’s owner, Linda Searles, on the phone to give her the play-by-play. His share of the $3,564 winner’s purse would make a huge difference to Back; he has “never had a paying owner” and Searles and Back have a purse-splitting agreement in place, where she has no out-of-pocket expenses. “It helps her out and gives me a horse to run so I can get my feet wet.” Searles, who lives in Louisiana, is the kind of person whovoluntarily offered to pay for half the gas when Back took Irishrunaway to Nebraska in May, where he was second. She says, “Mike is a hard-working young man, and he’s honest, which is very important to me. I hope he will get that big one so that he doesn’t have to work two jobs.”

 
For all practical purposes, Irishrunaway’s race is over as soon as it begins: he spots the field too many lengths at the start, and must make up ground going around two very tight turns on the bullring. The announcer gives him an optimistic call on the backstretch: “Irishrunaway is eating up ground!” His long stride carries him wide around the second turn and it almost as soon as they straighten out of it they hit the wire. With so much going against him, Irishrunaway finishes a creditable third. Back is encouraged. “When I run third I’m happy. I’m disappointed that I’ve run third but I’m just tickled to death, I’m the happiest guy in the world. I don’t like to get beat but if my horse runs hard, I’m happy, I’m satisfied.” More than that, this check will pay for fuel: oats and diesel, horses and horsepower. That genuine effort provides Back with what will be the highlight of his evening as he leads the gelding off to cool him out on the Equiciser. Hours later, in the maiden special over a mile, Bagadiamonds is a passive observer under Galvan and the bright lights. She fretted her race away in the stall, and as they walk down the track her dark coat blends into the blackness of night. Only the white of her right hind leg, star, shadow roll and tall trainer give her away. Blatchford has gone one better: the gelding who had the studdish horse in the next stall over (he finished fourth in his 300 yard dash) has run second in his race.

Irishrunaway is wound up, as though he were mad at himself for not being able to get there. He will, one day. For now, he squeals at Bagadiamonds…in the stall, through the barn, in the trailer. They leave for home; it will be close to midnight before they are tucked up in their stalls beneath the sleepy chickens and roosters perched in the rafters.

A window into the day of the trainer whose story is seldom told: to wonder why he does it is to be immune to the thrill of horses thundering into the homestretch, to not get goosebumps when Dave Johnson roars, “And DOWN the stretch they come!” Mike Back does not hesitate for a fraction of a second when asked if he would like to train horses full time: “Yes. Definitely. If you’re not getting excited about it, you’re in the wrong business.”

The Equine Heart - how it works to power a racehorse

Robert Keck

Exciting new advances in ultrasound image technology have provided a better understanding of both the anatomy and function of the heart at rest and during exercise. In the last 30 years many veterinary clinics and universities with equine departments that study equine physiology are able to study the heart of the equine athlete in their own sports performance laboratories, while exercising on a high-speed treadmill.

Considering that heart rate is one of the most frequently measured physiological variables in exercise tests, Thoroughbred racehorse trainers have largely failed to take advantage of the heart rate monitor as standard equipment. However, heart rate monitors are commonplace in eventing and sport horses. Understanding the heart’s function, and its response and adaptation to training, can provide trainers with a competitive edge.

ANATOMY AND FUNCTION

The heart of a Thoroughbred weighs about 1% of the horse’s bodyweight but can be as high as 1.3-1.4% in elite animals. Therefore an average 1000 pound horse has a heart weighing between 8-10 pounds. The horse has a proportionately larger heart per unit of body mass as compared to other mammals. The horse’s heart rate is 20-30 beats per minute at rest and may have a maximal heart rate of 240 beats per minute during maximal exercise. The fact that the horse is able to increase heart rate by nearly 10 times the resting heart rate is a contributing factor to their athletic superiority.

As in all mammals, the heart consists of four chambers with valves that open and close as the heart muscle relaxes and contracts to insure blood flows in the right direction. The two pumping chambers are the left and right ventricles, and the two receiving chambers are the left and right atria. The left ventricle is larger than the right ventricle.

Specialized cells within the heart conduct electrical activity that coordinates the muscles of the heart to contract in order to optimize blood pumping. Electrical impulses of both the atria and ventricles are isolated by a fibrous ring; preventing them from contracting simultaneously. The only point at which electrical activity can pass between the atria and the ventricles is via the Purkinje fibers found in the wall between the left and right ventricle. When the atria contract, blood is delivered to the larger volume ventricle that lies beneath. The right side of the heart receives unoxygenated blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs to allow the red blood cells to uptake oxygen. Oxygenated blood returns to the left side of the heart, and the left ventricle pumps it out the aorta to the rest of the body.The cardiac cycle consists of a contraction/ejection phase (systole), and a relaxation/filling phase (diastole). Stroke volume (SV) is the volume of blood pumped in each beat, and is influenced by the muscular contraction of the ventricles, their resistance to flow during systolic ejection, and their ability to fill during the diastolic relaxation. The structural integrity of various anatomic components of the heart such as the valves and septa between the chambers affect heart function.

Stroke volume in a 500 kg Thoroughbred is approximately 1.3 litres and can increase by 20-50% during exercise. Cardiac output (CO) is stroke volume (SV) multiplied by heart rate (HR); therefore CO = SV x HR. At rest the cardiac output is approximately 6.6 (25 litres) gallons per minute and increases to an amazing 79 (300 litres) gallons per minute in elite athletes during exercise.

A horse’s total blood volume is approximately 10 gallons, representing 10% of its body weight. At rest 35% of the horse’s blood volume is red blood cells, however they can amazingly increase their red blood cell count on demand to 65% of their blood volume during a race, with up to 50% of the total red blood cells stored in the spleen. The horse has a proportionally larger spleen per unit of body mass as compared to other mammals. The red blood cells are void of a nucleus and have the large protein haemoglobin that transports oxygen. The horse’s heart is able to handle the increased viscosity of the blood. During exercise blood is diverted away from internal organs such as the intestines and kidney to working muscles used in motion.

THE HEART AND VO2 MAX

The heart is a major determinant in VO2 max, a measure of aerobic capacity. VO2 max is the maximal rate of oxygen consumption that can be consumed by the horse. VO2 max is determined by cardiac output (stroke volume x heart rate), lung capacity, and the ability of muscle cells to extract oxygen from the blood. During exercise the oxygen requirement by muscles can increase to 35 times their resting rate. Sydney University studies have shown that training can increase a Thoroughbred’s VO2 max by 20% or more, with this improvement highly attributable to the heart’s pumping capacity.

VO2 max expressed as millilitres of O2 per kilogram of bodyweight per minute (or second). At rest the horse absorbs 3 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Maximal rates of oxygen intake vary within breeds and training state, but fit Thoroughbreds have a VO2 max of 160-170 ml./min./kg and elite horses can achieve 200 ml./min./kg. By comparison elite human athletes have a VO2 max of about half or 85 ml./min./kg. Pronghorn antelopes have a VO2 max of 210-310 ml./min./kg.
VO2 max is a high indicator of athletic potential, and has been found to be highly correlated with race times in Thoroughbred horses. A horse with a higher VO2 max had faster times (Harkening et al, 1993). The ability of the horse’s muscle mass to consume oxygen far exceeds the ability of the heart and lungs to provide oxygenated blood. Therefore cardiac output is a limiting factor in performance. Conditions that improve cardiac output positively impact VO2 max.

HEART RESPONSE TO TRAINING

The heart has two initial responses to exercise, a rise in blood volume pumped and dilation of the blood vessels. The heart rate increases, and beats stronger. The stroke volume may increase from 20-50% above resting rates. Through training the heart becomes more efficient at delivering oxygenated blood to exercising muscles.

Heart mass has been shown to increase with training. This hypertrophy (enlargement) in the heart comes in two ways, a thickening of the heart walls, and an increase in the size of the chambers, especially the left ventricle. Although the effects of training on the heart are not clearly understood, heart mass has been shown to increase up to 33% in 2-year old horses after only 18 weeks of conventional race training (Young, 1999). The increase in heart size results in increased cardiac output. Stroke volume has been shown to increase by 10% in as little as 10 weeks of training (Thomas et al, 1983).

Although not yet proved, it is likely that in addition to the strengthening, improved filling capacity of the pumping chambers when the heart is relaxed may contribute to the increases shown in stroke volume. Interestingly, maximal heart rate does not increase with training, and resting heart rates (unlike humans) do not decrease with training.

Training can improve VO2 max from 10-20% in the first 6-8 weeks of training, after which further improvement is limited. The relationship between VO2 max and velocity is highly correlated, but the differences found in speed and performance of two Thoroughbreds with equal VO2 max can be explained by differences in biomechanics and economy of locomotion.

Although the heart plays an important role in determining several physiological factors related to performance, it is merely one variable in the whole physiological equation that describes the equine athlete. Not only does the heart change and adapt with the rigors of training, but a myriad number of adaptations take place in the muscle fibers at the cellular level. As a result of training, oxidative enzymes in the muscles increase, along with the size and density ofmitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. Enhanced oxidative capacity results in increased utilization of fat and less reliance on blood glucose and muscle glycogen, being an advantage at both submaximal and maximal exercise, because fat is a more efficient energy fuel.

An improved network in the number and density of capillaries provides more efficient blood flow and transit time to working muscles, which also become more efficient in buffering lactate in anaerobic exercise. Muscle, bone, tendons and ligaments modify their structure with the stresses of training. Depending on the event, the horse develops “metabolic specificity” and neuromuscular coordination for his chosen discipline.

EVALUATING THE HEART - ULTRASOUNDS

When evaluating the equine heart, ultrasound has become an extremely valuable non-invasive tool, revolutionizing equine cardiology. The heart’s anatomical structure and physiology can be readily determined as well as measurements in heart size, wall thickness, and identifying defective cardiac valve function. Findings can determine pathology of the heart and the cause of poor performance. The ultrasound examination of the heart (echocardiogram) is now considered an integral part of cardiovascular evaluation of equine athletes.

An ultrasound machine works by emitting a beam of high frequency sound waves (>20,000 Hz) from an ultrasound transducer into the body tissues. In general, the waves can penetrate to a maximum of 15 inches (40 cm) and they interact with various tissue types in different ways. The waves can be scattered, refracted or attenuated. The reflected waves are transmitted back to the ultrasound transducer. This information is interpreted by the ultrasound machine which produces a two-dimensional black and white image called a sonogram.

The frequency of the ultrasound waves emitted by the transducer markedly influences the quality of the image, depending on the depth of the tissues. Higher frequency ultrasound waves have a shorter wavelength and yield better resolution of small structures close to the skin surface. However, more energy is absorbed and scattered with high frequency, therefore high frequency transducers have less penetrating ability. Conversely, a lower frequency transducer will have greater depth of penetration but poor resolution. The transducer selected for echocardiography should be the highest frequency available that will penetrate to the depths needed to image the heart in its entirety. Frequencies generally used for veterinary echocardiography range from 2.25-3.5 Mhz for adult horses.

The three main types of ultrasounds available to veterinarians and researchers are the M-Mode, Two-Dimensional (2-D), and Doppler. Although M-Mode yields only a one-dimensional (“ice pick”) view of the cardiac structures, it can yield cleaner images of cardiac borders, allowing the researcher to obtain very accurate measurements of cardiac dimensions and critically evaluate cardiac motion over time. Two-dimensional echocardiography allows a plane of tissue, with depth and width, to be imaged in real time. This makes it easier to appreciate the anatomic relationships between various structures. 2-D echocardiography makes available an infinite number of imaging planes of the heart. Doppler echocardiography records blood flow within the cardiovascular system when blood moving toward or away from the transducer causes a Doppler shift. From this shift, it is possible to calculate the velocity of the moving blood.

ELECTRO-CARDIOGRAM (ECG)

An ECG (electrocardiogram) is another tool commonly used in evaluating the heart. It measures the heart’s electrical conductivity can identify a part that is not contracting properly. It is the tool of choice for diagnosing arrhythmias. The ECG provides information to the researcher about the quality and rhythm of the heartbeat. The appearance of the ECG changes dramatically from rest to exercise.

Cardiac contractions are the result of a well-orchestrated electrical phenomenon called depolarization. In the myocardium are specialized fibers that are very conductive and allow rapid transmission of electrical impulses across the muscle, telling them to contract. There is uniformity in the sequence and force of both the filling and ejecting chambers, relying on a single impulse initiated by the sinoatrial (S/A or sinus) node. Another node is the A/V node (atrioventricular node) situated between the two chambers.

The ECG measures electrical activity from the P-Wave, QRS, and T-Wave. The P-Wave represents the electrical impulse measured across the atria, whereas the T-Wave measures the repolarization of the ventricles. The QRS represents the electrical impulse as it travels across the ventricles. Measurements between these impulses include the PR and ST segments and the PR and OT intervals, all of which can reveal abnormal heart function.

Electrodes are placed in strategic positions on the skin surface to pick up the heart’s electrical activity. In clinical practice, 12 leads may be used in a diagnostic ECG, but usually there are three standard leads, I, II and III, placed at different areas around the ribcage and chest. Placement of the electrodes are critical, and can change the size and shape of the ECG.

HEART MURMURS AND ARRHYTHMIAS

Vascular diseases in horses, such as atherosclerosis, which contributes to strokes and heart attacks, are rare. Two of the most common heart abnormalities are heart murmurs and arrhythmias. A heart murmur is the sound of turbulent blood flow, usually caused by an abrupt increase in flow velocity. This turbulence is caused by increased velocity due to a leak or obstruction in one of the heart valves or because of abnormal communication between different parts of the heart. Heart murmurs, which are fairly common, occur in horses of all ages. They are called “innocent” when they are soft, short and variable without any other cardiac pathology. One study detected cardiac murmurs in 81% of 846 Thoroughbred racehorses (Kriz, Hodgson, and Rose 2000).Congenital heart defects are abnormalities that are present at birth, the most common being ventricular septal defect (VSD) where a hole is found between the two ventricles.

Oxygen-rich blood from the higher pressure left ventricle passes through to the lower pressure right ventricle and pulmonary artery during ventricular systole. Because some blood bypasses the lungs, it is not fully oxygenated and will have an adverse effect on cardiac function. Depending on the size of the hole, the horse may be fully capable of moderate activities without fatigue or shortness of breath. VSD is usually detected on the right side of the chest over the cranial part of the heart, and can be fully diagnosed with 2-D ultrasound and Doppler echocardiography.

Atrial fibrillation is an electrical disorder of the heart rhythm, also know as an arrhythmia. Associated with diminished performance, the normally regular, organized atrial waves become irregular, disorganized and chaotic, and the atria fail to contract normally, leading to an unpredictable and irregular heartbeat. Accurate diagnosis using an electrocardiogram can determine type and severity, and often an oral or injectable drug such as quinidine can be administered to establish a normal rhythm. An arrhythmia can sometimes be caused by myocarditis, where part of the heart muscle tissue has died due to an infectious disease such as strangles, influenza or an internal abscess. Toxic damage to the heart muscle may occur from a severe deficiency of vitamin E or selenium.

The most commonly recognized acquired structural heart disorders are degenerative valvular deformities. These defects, involving a thickening and deformity of the valve leaflets, cause inefficiency of one or more heart valves, resulting in dilation of the chambers trying to handle the regurgitated blood on either side of the damaged valve. If the leak is severe enough, the pressure in the veins leading to the affected side of the heart increases until fluid accumulation (edema) occurs.

HEART SIZE AND PERFORMANCE

For centuries, owners, breeders and trainers have been captivated by the idea that the horse’s heart may be the proverbial “Holy Grail” to understanding athletic performance, and predicting the future elite racehorse.

The large hearts found in elite human athletes are well-documented. In the 1920’s the “Flying Finn” Paavo Nurmi, who won 12 Olympic medals in track including 9 Golds and set world records from 1500 meters to 20 kilometers, had a heart three times larger than normal (Costill). At postmortem, the legendary 7-time Boston Marathon winner Clarence De Mar was shown to have an enlarged heart and massive coronary arteries (Costill).

In 1989, it was believed that Secretariat, American Triple Crown winner of 1973, had a heart weighing over 10 kg (22 lbs.), and may have had a VO2 max of 240 ml./kg./min. Autopsies showed that the great Australian racehorse Phar Lap had a heart weighing 6.4 kg. (14.1 lbs), 20% larger than normal, and Key to the Mint, American champion 3-year old of 1972 and excellent broodmare sire, had a heart weighing 7.2 kg (15.8 lbs). Secretariat’s rival and runner-up Sham had one of the heaviest hearts recorded, weighing in at 18 lbs. (8.2 kg).

Some of the first studies that scientifically attempted to correlate heart size with race performance were conducted in the 1950’s and early 60’s. The Heart Score concept was first discovered and developed by Dr. James D. Steel, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Sydney in Australia in 1953. Using ECG (electrocardiography) to studying herbivores, he began studying the occurrence of heart disease in racehorses. His examinations led him to the development of the “Heart Score” which was his term to describe the correlation between the QRS (intraventricular conduction time) complexes and the performances of several elite versus average racehorses at the time. He believed that the higher heart score number based on the QRS duration using the standard bipolar leads must be correlated with the larger heart size and weight found in superior racehorses.

Steel developed a ranking system that placed male horses with a heart score of 120 or more (116 or more for fillies and mares) in the large heart category, between 103-120 in the medium to normal category, and 103 or less in the small heart category. His conclusion was based on the assumption that the QRS represents the time required for the electric wave to spread and depolarize the ventricular mass. He believed that the QRS interval corresponds to the beginning and end of ventricular depolarization. As the ventricular muscle mass increases, a longer time will be necessary for the ventricular depolarization to take place. Therefore, he believed the higher the heart score the larger the heart mass (and size) Unfortunately, Steel was wrong!

Steel’s conclusions seemed logical at a time when equine cardiology was in its infancy. But in the horse (and hoofed mammals) the depolarization process differs from that of small animals because of the very widespread distribution of the Purkinje network. These fibers extend throughout the myocardium and ventricular depolarization takes place from multiple sites. The electromotive forces therefore tend to cancel each other out; consequently, no wavefronts are formed, and the overall effect of the ventricular depolarization on the ECG is minimal. (Celia 1999) Today, we know that ECGs provide little or no information about the relative or absolute sizes of the ventricles. An ECG cannot measure heart size and cannot be used to correlate its size and / or mass. In several studies, heart score showed a relationship neither with body weight nor with ventricular mass, as determined by echocardiograph. Heart score did not correlate with heart size and cannot be regarded as an index for predicting potential performance (Lightowler et al 2004). Although a study using Danish Standardbreds showed a correlation between heart score and Timeform ratings, using these scores to determine heart size has largely been disproved.

HEART SIZE AND PERFORMANCE

Current research in the field of equine exercise physiology continues to investigate the heart and cardiac output. The size of the heart is a key determinant of maximal stroke volume, cardiac output and therefore aerobic capacity, and several new studies have proved this relationship.

A recent breakthrough study demonstrated a significant linear relationship between British Horseracing Board Official rating or Timeform rating and heart size measured by echocardiography in 200 horses engaged in National Hunt racing (over jumps)  (Young and Wood, 2001). It is the first study that positively correlates heart size to performance.

Additionally, a significant strong relationship has been found between left ventricular mass (and other measurements of cardiac size) and VO2 max in Thoroughbred racehorses exercising on a high-speed treadmill. (Young et al 2002).

Interestingly, no such relationships have been reliably been found when horses employed in flat racing were examined, suggesting that, as might be expected, VO2 max and heart size are more important predictors of performance for equine athletes running longer distances.It must be emphasized that these research studies were conducted on older racehorses that were already racing and training, very different from an untrained yearling.

CONCLUSION

Understanding the equine heart and its role in equine physiology will remain of great interest to breeders, owners and trainers. Future use of heart rate monitors and heart evaluations using ultrasound technology to identify heart pathology and abnormality will undoubtedly contribute to future breakthroughs in training and racing. The equine heart still remains just one variable in the elusive equation that makes for a great racehorse. 

Should Horsewalkers be Round or Oval?

By David Marlin

Horsewalkers (electro-mechanical devices that allow multiple horses to be exercised simultaneously in a controlled fashion) are used extensively in the management and training of horses. They permit controlled exercise of horses at walk and trot. They are less labour intensive than most other forms of controlled exercise, such as walking in-hand, lunging, riding, swimming or running horses on treadmills.

The exception might be ride and lead, but this is not a widely used technique, except perhaps in polo. Horsewalkers may be used for a variety of reasons including warming-up or cooling down prior to or following ridden exercise, as a way to relieve boredom in stabled horses, for controlled exercise as part of a rehabilitation programme and to supplement ridden exercise. Horsewalkers are often also used where ridden exercise is not desirable or possible, such as in preparation of young animals for sale or in animals that may have injury to the back and therefore cannot be ridden. The majority of horses can be trained to accept being exercised on a horsewalker within a short period of time. Any form of exercise carries a risk of injury and whilst there does not appear to be any objective information on the safety of this form of exercise, it would generally be considered that the horsewalker is a very safe form of exercise.


Until recently, horsewalkers have been exclusively of a round design in which the horse is constantly turning on a circular track. The radius (tightness) of the turn is determined by the diameter of the walker - the larger the walker, the more gradual the turn. At present commercial round horsewalkers vary from around 10 to 30 metres in diameter (i.e. 5-15 metres in radius). The conventional design is of a centre post from which radiate arms that support the moving dividers that separate the horses but also encourage them to walk as the centre post rotates, in turn moving the dividers. Other designs do not incorporate dividers but horses are hitched to arms radiating from the centre post. Whilst the majority of walkers can operate in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, on the walker the horse is still turning constantly. 


Exercising at walk or trot on a circle for prolonged periods of time must be considered to a large extent unnatural for a horse. Horses at pasture, whether grazing or exercising, move in all directions and never in one continuous direction. The same is true of ridden exercise. No rider would work his or her horse continuously for 30 minutes on a circle, even when working in a confined area. For example, a Dressage test incorporates many changes in rein and exercise in straight lines as well as on turns.

Lunging is another mode of controlled, unridden exercise that is commonly used by horse owners or trainers. Lunging may be used in place of ridden exercise or to train riders or as a warm-up for the horse prior to it being mounted and ridden. Lunging may also be used in situations where a horse requires to be exercised but where fitting a rider and saddle is not desirable, for example, in the case of a sore back. However, prolonged lunging is not advisable and in addition, as with circular walkers, changing the rein frequently is common practice.

Continual turning may be deleterious to the musculoskeletal system  (muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and joints). For example, it is widely recognised that signs of lameness are exacerbated in horses exercised on a circle. This is commonly used by veterinary surgeons in lameness investigations. It is also suspected that sharp turns may contribute to injury of distal limb structures (i.e. those structures furthest from the body such as the foot). This implies that turning exercise changes the
weight distribution through the limbs. The surface on which a horse is lunged may also determine whether lameness is apparent or not; a horse may not exhibit lameness when lunged on a soft surface but may do so when lunged on the same size circle on a firmer or uneven surface. 
Most research into how horses move has been concentrated in horses walking and trotting in straight lines, or on treadmills, and there are only a limited number of studies relating to horses turning on a circle.

Only one kinematic (movement) study has evaluated the effects of turning a corner on the distal joint motions. Horses turning in a sharp (1.5m diameter) left circle showed a shorter stride length, but stance duration (the amount of time the foot is on the ground) was longer. This work also showed that the lower leg and foot rotate as the weight of the horse moves over the limb. 
Research from Australia showed that the outside edge of the cannon bone is not loaded significantly during exercise in a straight line on a flat surface. The same group of researchers also showed in a separate study that surface strains on the cannon bone vary between inside and outside forelimbs during turning. On the inner surface of the cannon bone, compression of the bone is greatest in the outside limb, and stretching of the bone is greatest on the inside limb. On the outer surface of the cannon bone, both compressive and tensile peaks are largest on the inside limb, which also showed the largest recorded strains in compression. On the dorsal (front) surface of the bone (where bucked shins occur in young horses), compressive strains were largest on the outside limb, and were greater on larger circles. They concluded that turning exercise is required to maintain normal bone, in that low-speed exercise in a straight line only loads the outer edge of the cannon bone. 
In 2006 workers from the USA studied the effect of trotting in a circle on the centre of mass of the horse. The centre of mass is a point within or on the body at which the mass of the body is considered to act. The centre of mass may vary according to gait, speed and direction of travel. The location of the centre of mass affects the distribution and size of the loads on the limbs. These researchers showed that in horses trotting on the lunge on a 6m diameter circle at a speed of ~2 metres/second, all horses leaned inwards at an angle of ~15°. The speeds attained by these horses at trot on a circle are lower than those typically seen for horses on a straight line. As the speed was slower, the implication is that stance proportion was increased (i.e. the weight bearing phase of the stride was longer on a circle than would be expected in a straight line). Furthermore, the researchers pointed out that “horses may behave differently when turning clockwise versus counter-clockwise due to asymmetries in strength, suppleness and neural programming…”. Thus, whilst it is often assumed that an equal amount of exercise on each rein on a circular horsewalker should be applied, this may not be the case for many horses and may actually be counter-productive.

The potential negative impact of circular exercise has also been highlighted with respect to the muscular system: “Especially in the initial stages of a return to work avoid lunging, horse walkers, or work in tight circles, as well as hill work”; a quote from veterinary surgeon and muscle specialist Dr Pat Harris from the Equine Studies Group at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, UK.

Exercising on a circle also requires more effort than exercising in a straight line (Harris, Marlin, Davidson, Rodgerson, Gregory and Harrison (2007) Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology, in press). For example, being lunged on a 10 metre diameter circle was around 25% more work than being ridden on a large oval track in an indoor school. In addition, being lunged on a 5m circle was around 12% more work than being lunged on a 14 metre diameter circle. Even accounting for the weight of the rider, lunging is harder work than ridden exercise, which is most likely due to the continual effort required by the horse to balance itself on a continual turn.

Oval walkers are a new concept. The premise of using oval walkers is that continual exercise on a small circle is unnatural for horses and could even lead to injury and that a walker incorporating both straight line and turning exercise would represent a more appropriate form of controlled exercise. As so little information exists on turning in horses, a study was designed by us [Dr David Marlin (Physiologist) and Paul Farrington (Veterinary surgeon)] to investigate turning stress in horses in more detail. The work was undertaken in collaboration with Dr Bob Colborne (a specialist in Biomechanics) at Bristol University, UK.

A SUMMARY OF THE RECENT RESEARCH ON TURNING


The purpose of this study was to record the forces acting on the lower limb as horses walked in a straight line, on a 14 metre diameter circle, and on a 10 metre diameter circle to provide insight into the horizontal forces transmitted up the limb during locomotion in a straight line and whilst turning.

Three fit, sound Thoroughbred horses, ages 3, 5 and 12 years of age were used in the study. Horses were walked across a force-plate (a metal plate placed on the ground that measures the force with which the horses’ foot is placed on the ground) both in a straight line and on a 10 and 14 metre diameter turn. For the turns the horse was always walking on a left-turn.

The results showed that the coffin joint had the greatest degree of abduction (movement of the limb away from the body), adduction (movement of the limb towards the body) and axial rotation (twisting movement) and that these movements were greatest at the time of impact and break-over. The first point of contact with the ground has a significant influence on the line of stress through the foot and up the limb, as does the position of the body at the same moment. On a turn the horse abducts the inside forelimb away from the body towards the line of the circle with rotation of the foot in the direction of the turn. The stride length is dictated by the tightness of the turn, as is the stance time (when the foot is on the ground). As the horse then moves forward the horse’s body moves towards the inside limb increasing the loading on the limb. The results showed that on average the forelimbs tended to behave asymmetrically (i.e. the two front legs did not behave the same) on a circle so that the forces and 
movements differ to produce different torque effects (twisting forces). The hind limbs tended to behave more symmetrically except  when the size of the circle was reduced from 14 to 10 metres in diameter.

IMPORTANCE OF HORSEWALKER SURFACES


The walking surface will likely have an effect on the stresses experienced by a limb. If the surface allows reasonably free twisting of the hoof when weight bearing, the stresses between the hoof and ground will be small. However, any ground surface that holds the hoof and impedes this horizontal rotation will probably impart higher loads to the joints of the lower limb. Large turning forces should be avoided when the limb is vertically loaded (i.e. when the weight of the horse’s body is over the limb and the limb is on the ground). It is also important that the walking surface is level to avoid tilting of the hoof during weight-bearing. A walking track that is worn in the middle and that causes rotation of the joints in the foot is likely to cause larger and uneven forces to the lower limb joints and associated tendons and ligaments.

IMPLICATIONS FOR OVAL VERSUS ROUND HORSEWALKERS


Our recent research and a review of other scientific studies show that turning is not equivalent to exercise in a straight line. Turning exercise is harder than exercise in a straight line and loads the bones in a different way. Furthermore, on small turns the inner and outer limbs may not behave in the same way as on larger circles. This may have implications for horses with pre-existing musculoskeletal injuries. The potential advantages of an oval walker is that it combines straight line and turning exercise that more closely mimics the exercise that a horse will do when being ridden or when free at pasture. 
The results of our small study have shown that the hind limb patterns were quite different on the tighter radius turns, indicating a different strategy for turning, and supporting the notion that both straight line and turning exercise should be recommended for overall loading patterns that are healthy for maintaining bone that can withstand loading forces in a variety of directions. 
The results also make clear that small diameter round walkers (~10 metre diameter or less) are less desirable than round walkers of 14 metre diameter or greater. Small diameter round walkers increase the loading and asymmetry and increase the work compared with larger diameter walkers. 
In conclusion, there appear to be significant advantages to using a walker of an oval design as opposed to a round design, as exercise on an oval loads the limbs with a combination of straight and turning movements, as would be experienced during riding or in free movement.

Reinventing the Wheel - the Kurt Equine Training System

​By Niki Sweetnam

The combined forces of Italian trainer Daniele Camuffo and the enigmatic Turkish businessman Mehmet Kurt have brought to fruition a project first dreamt up by Kurt himself more than a decade ago. 

The Kurt Equine Training System has been endorsed by some of the world’s leading veterinary surgeons and research groups, and the results of horses trained on it are already beginning to speak volumes for its future potential. From 12 juvenile runners this season, 3 have raced and all have won or placed, showing no signs of physical or mental stress at any stage.

A specialist equine vet for more than 30 years, it was Italian Marco Astrologo who introduced Kurt to the then Rome-based trainer Camuffo, knowing that Kurt was looking for a good trainer with an open mind to come and work with him in Turkey and turn his 10 years worth of research, investment, development and modification on his invention into reality. The Kurt stable had won 2 Turkish Derbys, on both occasions with European trainers (1993 with the aptly named The Best and in 1999 with Bartrobel); Camuffo had come to the realisation that there was no longer much of a living to be made out of training in Italy as costs spiralled, owners thinned and prize money levels swung. Born in 1963 and a licensed trainer since 1989, a disillusioned Camuffo travelled to Turkey on the invitation of Kurt and loved the opportunity he saw. A blank page, top class facilities at his private base near Istanbul, the chance to work with Kurt and break new ground in the application of science to the art of training thoroughbreds.

 “I’m a traditionalist” Camuffo announces, contradictory to what one may think. “I don’t like the idea of training horses by machine. Human intervention is critical, the human eye makes training an art, not a science, but in the development of his skill an artist should avail of the most modern techniques, the most high-tech instruments, the newest chemical mix of powders, resins, oils, water, in order to achieve perfection.” Since Camuffo’s move out to Turkey less than 2 years ago, the pair have modified and fine-tuned Kurt’s brain-child to perfection. Knowing precisely what they wanted to achieve, and having a dedicated team behind them has allowed them to overcome numerous minor technical and practical problems, and the fact that the invention has been funded entirely by Kurt himself has eliminated bureaucracy and red-tape. In short, the Turkish inventor’s dream has become the Italian trainer’s reality.

It is clear that the driving force between Team Kurt is Kurt himself, who has invested his cotton fortune in his passion for horses. Kurt, Astrologo, and Camuffo work closely together on the horses with the back-up of the Kurt Group office team which is overseen by Kurt’s daughters. They are joined by a small but diligent Turkish workforce at the training centre and the former Portuguese dressage trainer Jorge Almeida. “In Turkey, as elsewhere, good jockeys are hard to come by. The Kurt Training System alleviates this problem and provides a more consistent work-out for individual horses at the same time as eliminating many of the risks associated with working young thoroughbreds at high speeds. Of course we are not aiming to substitute jockey for robot, it is all about the achievement of maximum fitness with minimum risk. Our young horses do not have a different rider on board each morning, are not subject to variances in human mood, smell, handling, do not pull, do not take off, do not develop uneven muscle tone due to rider imbalance, do not work outside their ideal heart rate zone. As you can imagine, this vastly reduces both physical and mental stress for them. Consequently, when a jockey does get on board a couple of times a week, the horses are infinitely more manageable, better balanced, and thus less prone to injury. As a trainer this takes a good 80% of the risk out of the job.” explains Camuffo, leaving the obvious unsaid, that his own physical and mental stress as a trainer is consequently reduced to a minimum. In his experience, the Kurt horses are also better ‘do-ers’, stomach ulcers being one of the main manifestations of stress in a racehorse. The light-framed Camuffo keeps to a sensible riding weight as horses work typically four days per week on the system, are ridden two days and rest a day.

Whilst it may be hard to see the Kurt Training System’s acceptance in traditional European racing circles for some time to come, there has already been significant interest from the Arab Emirates and America. Given the initial level of investment required (and the fact that it is equally suitable for training camels!), this is not surprising. Indeed many of Kurt’s business contacts are in the States and word there is spreading fast, so much so that daily enquiries come into the Kurt Group office, requests for visits to Turkey so see the machines in action from vets and trainers alike.

Doctor Wayne McIlwraith from Colorado State University is one such recent visitor to Istanbul. He sites a number of uses for the Kurt Training System. The safe training of young horses up to relatively fast work with decreased need of exercise riders was the primary reason behind Kurt’s development of the system. McIlwraith goes on however to explain from a veterinary viewpoint its beneficial role in the musculoskeletal conditioning of young horses. Weanlings have been worked on the machine on an early conditioning programme to build muscle and strengthen bone with the aim of reducing injuries once they went into full training. Furthermore, McIlwraith highlights its potential use as a post-operative rehabilitation tool, decreasing the need for in-hand walking and providing a safe, consistent environment for the gentle, controlled exercise required for optimum recovery after surgery. All this can happen on a more natural training surface than that of the traditional treadmill.

Professor David Evans from the University of Sydney is another who sees multiple advantages in the use of both the rail (multiple) and single vehicle training systems. In particular he is excited about the single vehicle’s potential as a diagnostic tool. “This kind of ‘mobile laboratory’ has really opened up new opportunities for research. With racehorses, the performance limiting factors that we need to monitor generally occur only at high speed. The advent of the single vehicle training system allows us to assess accurately and in a safe environment the reasons behind poor performance in an individual because horses can work safely up to racing speed. At this speed they can be endoscoped, have pressure sensors attached to under their hooves, we can measure their oxygen uptake, lactic acid production, heart rate, and study the mechanics of their movement ie length, regularity and freedom of stride.” Such measurements also provide the trainer with the basis for an individual’s fitness programme, ensuring that each horse is neither over nor under-trained, that they work within the correct heart rate zone and don’t tie-up, data which Camuffo has at his fingertips on a daily basis to use to his advantage.

From Rome to Istanbul, Camuffo has adapted easily. Istanbul is a bustling, cosmopolitan city like any European capital and English remains the common language for international business, although a basic grasp of Turkish is helpful. There is not a strong tradition of thoroughbred racing in Turkey, the 24 founding members of the Jockey Club back in 1950 have grown to some 120. From its Istanbul headquarters it organises the racing programme in 6 racecourses nationwide as well as the Jockey Club Stud in Izmit. The Istanbul racecourse features a 2020  metre / 10 furlong turf track, a 1870 metre / 9 furlong dirt track and a separate dirt training track of 1720 metres / 8 ½ furlongs and hosts the majority of Turkey’s major races. Breeders have been able to avail of stallions such as Sri Pekan, Common Grounds, Manila, Eagle Eyed and Strike the Gold as the country has opened up to investment in the thoroughbred sector and the importation of foreign mares that meet strict quality control criteria. 
 
Last year Kurt, whose racing stock are all home bred, invested heavily in the breeding stock sales at Goffs and Tattersalls, buying mares in foal to leading European sires such as Acclamation, Dansili and Daylami. He has whittled down the 90 horses that Camuffo found upon his arrival to 70, split between mares, yearlings and horses in training all with the emphasis firmly on quality. Of these, 29 are in training, well, Camuffo is superstitious about the number 8 so he told me to write 29. When he is not training the Kurt string or avoiding the number 8, Camuffo enjoys sailing and for the immediate future is happy with his lot in Turkey. The Romans may have invented the wheel, but the formidable Kurt-Camuffo team have gone one step further!
 
THE KURT TRAINING VEHICLE

A single training vehicle in a horse-shoe shape with a driver’s cab behind. Horses are neither “pushed” nor “pulled” , the crescent being closed behind by two padded panels behind and the horse restrained by safety cables that support, contain and correct the horse’s forward movement allowing for correct carriage at the various speeds and stages of training. The vehicle is then driven around the track at speeds of up to 60km / 35 miles per hour while cameras monitor its occupant from several angles.

THE KURT MONORAIL SYSTEM

This is a train of box cars on an electric locomotive that is hauled along an overhead track which can be assembled to suit any shape or length of training track. Up to 50 horses can be trained simultaneously on this system. Both prototypes were engineered by Roush Technologies, a British company specialising in vehicle design, engineering and development, in full collaboration with the Kurt Group.

THE SILICONE SADDLE

Silicone saddles of various weights and mouldings have also been developed in conjunction with the Kurt Training System in order to accustom the horse to carrying a jockey’s weight.

Long Layoffs - training a horse to win after months of not running

By Bill Heller

With Thoroughbreds racing fresher and less frequently these days, traininga horse to win off a month layoff is commonplace. But when a trainerstretches his Thoroughbred’s layoff to six months or longer, and he winsthat first start back, that’s special. Doing it consistently stamps a trainer as one of the best in the business.

Different trainers take different approaches with workouts trying to reachthe same destination: the winner’s circle, even if the return race is a prepfor an upcoming stakes.

 “The training theories are a lot different now,” Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens said. “The horses are not quite as strong as they used to be. They’re bred a lot more for speed. It’s a different game now.”

It’s a game Jerkens, at the age of 78, continues to win. In the space of 10days at the end of May at Belmont Park, Jerkens won the Grade 2 ShuveeHandicap with Teammate and the Grade 3 Jaipur Stakes with 24-to-1 longshot Ecclesiastic and finished second with longshot Political Force in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. All three horses are home-breds owned by Joseph Allen.

 First up was Teammate, the four-year-old gray filly who was coming off afine three-year-old season, one win and four second in 10 starts in 2006 and earnings of $350,890. She won the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss by six lengths; finished second in back-to-back Grade 1 stakes, the Alabama and the Gazelle, both to Pine Island - Shug McGaughey’s outstanding filly who suffered a fatal breakdown during last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff - and concluded her three-year-old season last November 4th, finishing a front-running fourth at 2-5 in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm Handicap. “She was running against the best,” Jerkens said. “She looked like she was home in the Alabama.”

Teammate’s first goal this year would be the Grade 2 Shuvee Handicap at one mile at Belmont May 19th. To get her there, Jerkens penciled in herfour-year-old debut in an allowance/optional $75,000 claimer at sevenfurlongs at Belmont, May 3rd.

Teammate’s first published work was April 10th at Belmont Park, when she breezed five furlongs on the Belmont Park training track in a leisurely1:04, only the 21st fastest of 27 working that day at that distance (21/27).Four days later, she worked a bullet five furlongs on the training track in1:00, best of 59 at that distance (1/59). On April 24th, she worked sevenfurlongs in 1:24 3/5, a brilliant move which wasn’t ranked because no other horse worked that distance that morning. Teammate’s final prep came on April 30th when she returned to the training track and again recorded a bullet, covering four furlongs in :46 4/5, best of 28 that day (1/28).
 
Asked about bringing her back, Jerkens said, “You jog a little bit, gallopand start breezing slow. Some horses get more out of their gallops. Shedoesn’t like to gallop too slow. She’ll gallop along in the morning. Thisyear, she’s been easier to train than last year. She seems to be morewilling. I have a good man get on her.”
 
The blazing works, especially the seven furlong move, may have been a tad faster than Jerkens preferred, but it didn’t faze him. “Some real goodhorses will work as fast as you want them to,” he said. “When you’re running with good horses, it’s a whole lot different. If you’re running $20,000 claimers, they won’t do it, and they can’t do it. I was looking for 1:26. If she had been racing every three weeks, you wouldn’t want to her to work that fast. Everything is relative to how close the race is. You don’t want to go too fast on top of a race.
 
“Years ago, I remember watching Eddie Neloy when I was younger. He would take his stakes horses and work them five furlongs in :59 three days out, then walk the next day, then gallop a mile and a half, and then do it again on the morning of the race. I watched him a lot. Ben Jones had a filly named Bewitch. She was a big fat mare. He worked her five-eighths in :59 or in a minute the day before the race.
 
“I remember Beau Purple (who upset Kelso four times). He worked 1:48 3/5 for a mile and an eighth a week before the (1962) Hawthorne Gold Cup. He was a little fat horse. He shipped to Chicago, then, three days before the race, he went three-quarters in 1:11 3/5. And it was muddy. He beat good horses.”
 
Surprisingly, in a field of just five in her 2007 debut, Teammate faced good horses, too: Todd Pletcher-trained Yachats, making her return off an even longer layoff, and Her Royal Nibs and Endless Virtue, who’d each wonmore than $150,000 in the last year and a half. Longshot Solarana completed the field.
 
Yachats, a four-year-old filly owned by Aaron and Marie Jones, hadcompleted her three-year-old season last August 19th, when she finished atiring fifth in the Ms. Woodford Stakes at Monmouth Park, April 19th. For2006, she had two wins and a second from six starts and earnings over $61,000.
Pletcher, who has won the last three Eclipse Awards for trainer and againleads all trainers in earnings this year, wanted to bring Yachats, named fora town in Oregon, sooner. “It was basically frustration,” Pletcher said. “Wehad entered the horse several times at Gulfstream Park. The races didn’tfill. So we entered her here, and we look up and see Teammate was in there.”
 
Yachats showed six works before her return, all at Palm Meadows, thetraining center in south Florida:
 
      March 4th - five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 handily, third fastest of 19 (3/19)
      March 12th - five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 handily (6/21)
      March 18th - five furlongs in 1:02 3/5 breezing (16/26)
      March 24th - five furlongs in 1:02 3/5 breezing (13/29)
      April 8th - a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 handily (1/12)
      April 15th - five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 handily (8/9).
Both Teammate and Yachats raced well in their 2007 debuts, Teammate beating Yachats by a neck. In her next start, Teammate won the Shuvee by half a length over heavily favored Sugar Shake. “We were flattered when Teammate came back (and won the Shuvee),” Pletcher said. “Sometimes, you run well and you just get outrun.”
Sometimes you don’t. Eugene Melnyk Racing Stables’ Harlington had suggested greatness early in his career for Pletcher. A son of Unbridled out of the 1992 Eclipse Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Serena’s Song, Harlington made it to the races late in his two-year-old season, winning a one-mile maiden race on a sloppy track at Aqueduct by a neck, November 28th, 2004.
Freshened over the winter by Pletcher, he returned at Gulfstream Park onJanuary 15th, 2005. Racing again on a sloppy track, he won a bottom-levelallowance race by three lengths. Harlington finally caught a fast track inhis third start, the Grade 3 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. Sent off the6-5 favorite in a field of 11, he raced extremely wide from the 10 post andchecked in sixth, three lengths behind the winner, Scipion.
 
“We were disappointed right after the race,” Pletcher said. “But he cameout of the race with a filling in his left front ankle.”
 
Given ample time to heal and recover, Harlington returned to the track,December 4th, 2005, at Aqueduct, and he won an allowance race by fivelengths. Pletcher again freshened him and Harlington moved up the allowance ladder, winning a non-winners of three-other-than by a length andthree-quarters over a future star, Premium Tap, at odds of 3-5, February8th, 2006.
Pletcher upped the ante, and Harlington responded by capturing the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap by a neck, March 4th, 2006.
 
Harlington moved up to Grade 1 company in the Pimlico Special, May 19th, where he finished a dull sixth to a horse making his first North American start: Invasor. Who knew? Invasor, last year’s Horse of the Year, hasn’t lost a race since.
Again, Harlington came out of the Pimlico Special with a filling in thatsame ankle. “We sent him to Eugene’s farm,” Pletcher said. “They gave him time off. Phil Hronec is there and runs the farm. He knows what level we want. Had several half-mile breezes before he came back to us.”
 
Pletcher began shopping for a spot for Harlington’s five-year-old debut,eventually selecting a mile-and-a-sixteenth allowance/optional $100,000claimer at Belmont Park, May 24th, a year and five days after his last race.

 “A horse like that is going to have to run at least a mile,” Pletcher said.“You have to have a starting point. We were thumbing through the condition book. We circled this race at Belmont. There was a back-up plan for an allowance race at Churchill Downs a couple days later. We were happy the race filled at Belmont.”
Pletcher’s workout pattern is one he has honed. “There’s really not a wholelot of variation you can do,” he said. “I’m not a breeze-him-back in fivedays. I’m a six or seven-day guy. Generally, we’re on a six or seven-dayschedule.”

Harlington had six workouts leading up to his race, the first three on theBelmont Park training track and the next three on the main track:
 
      April 8th - five furlongs breezing in 1:03 3/5 (7/12)
      April 22nd - five furlongs breezing in 1:02 (7/20)
      April 29th - five furlongs breezing in 1:02 2/5 (10/15)
      May 6th - a bullet five furlongs handily in 1:00 3/5 (1/12)
      May 14th - five furlongs breezing in 1:00 (6/46)
      May 21st - five furlongs breezing in 1:01 4/5 (41/54)
 
The gap from April 8th to the 22nd was because of a lot of rain on LongIsland. And Harlington’s final work was supposed to be on May 20th, fourdays before his race. “We got rained out again, so I had to make his workout three days back,” Pletcher said. “Because he is a large horse and carries a lot of weight, I wasn’t worried about it. We pulled him up fairly quickly after the wire. Usually, we let them go on for a quarter or three-eighths.”
 
Harlington won his return easily by 3 ¼ lengths. “I was very pleased,”Pletcher said. “I thought he raced very well. He’s a horse we’ve always feltvery good about. He put us in a position to move into a stakes. He is aGrade 1 stakes horse, and we have to prove it.”
 
Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito’s Commentator has already proven himself at the highest level of competition. His neck victory over subsequent Horse of the Year Saint Liam in the 2005 Grade 1 Whitney Handicap was one of the greatest victories in Zito’s career. He had successfully stretched out Tracy Farmer’s New York-bred speed machine to a mile-and-an-eighth. That victory was Commentator’s seventh in eight career starts as he battled an assortment of physical problems.
 
In his next start, the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes, then at Belmont Park,Commentator was cooked by two rabbits entered by Saint Liam’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, and faded to be a distant third to Saint Liam.
 
Commentator made just two starts in 2006, winning the Mugatea Stakes for New York-breds easily at 1-9 and then having terrible luck in the Grade 1 Forego, September 2nd, 2006, at Saratoga. Sent off the .90-to-1 favorite in a deeply talented field of 11, Commentator leapt up at the start, gettingaway dead last. He was rushed into contention by Eibar Coa, then faded to10th.
 
Given ample time to recover, Commentator was pointed to a new campaign this year by Zito. “We’re always talking about having a good bottom,” Zito said.
“A horse needs to have a good bottom before you can even breeze him. I’ve been doing this for a good time. Every single day, you have people come to the barn and say the horse worked great. But they don’t know how much went into it before they work. We had to gallop him for two months because he needed it. We didn’t like the way he came back from the farm.”
Zito takes pride in his ability to win with long layoff horses. “We’ve donepretty well with layoffs,” he said. “The more talented the horse, the betteryou look.”
Wanderin Boy made Zito look like a genius when he overcame a six-monthlayoff to take the Grade 3 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4th by 4 ¼ lengths.
Could Commentator do the same? Zito chose a softer spot for his return, the Richmond Runner Stakes for New York-breds at 6 ½ furlongs at Belmont Park on May 28th. Only four other horses were entered, all of them considerably overmatched.
 
Commentator showed six different works before his return, the first at Palm Meadows, the next four at Churchill Downs and the final one on the deep Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga:
       March 31st - three furlongs handily in :36 2/5 (1/3)
      April 10th - four furlongs breezing in :48 (9/49)
      April 19th - four furlongs breezing in :48 2/5 (11/34)
      April 27th - four furlongs breezing in :47 4/5 (2/22)
      May 7th - a bullet five furlongs breezing in :58 4/5 (1/27)
      May 22nd - a bullet four furlongs breezing in :47 3/5 (1/43)
Commentator ran true to his works, springing out of the starting gate as ifhe’d been shot out of a cannon, then dusting his rivals wire-to-wire by 11 ¼lengths in a sparkling 1:15 3/5 under Corey Nakatani, who barely moved his hands during the race. Commentator was back and ready for harder battles.

Getting back to the winner’s circle in his return could do nothing but help.

Hoof Matters - concentrating on the foot rather than the shoe

By Caton Bredar

In 1889, for the fourth edition of his book “The Racehorse in Training with Hints on Racing and Racing Reforms”, the English jockey turned horse trainer William Day added a chapter on shoeing, his preface stating 
“…one topic, highly important to all owners of horses, ‘Shoeing’…might advantageously be added…the aim to deal with facts and to avoid speculation.”

Day wraps up by adding that he hopes “it will be found…that the best method of shoeing and of the treatment of the foot has been not only discussed but actually verified… that the prevention which, in the diseases of the feet…is better than cure and has been placed nearer the reach of all.”
If only.

Nearly 120 years after Day and his book, the “cure” for many horsemen plagued regularly by a variety of hoof ailments and issues seems as far out of reach as ever. With quarter cracks as common as quarter poles, horsemen particularly in North America continue to play out a modern day version of Cinderella, looking for the shoe that leads to happily ever after, or at the very least, to happy and sound on the racetrack.   Among farriers, veterinarians and trainers there appears to be little agreement and much speculation when it comes to the shoeing of Thoroughbreds.

With no “best method” at hand, everyone can, in theory, agree with the familiar adage “no foot, no horse”.  But there is great controversy surrounding how to go about improving horse hooves and preventing injury, or even why horses have so many hoof-related problems in the first place.  When it comes down to the sole of the matter, at the end of the day, hoof care may well turn out to be the Achilles Heel of the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Most recently, the break-down and subsequent death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro brought the topic of equine injuries, and, more specifically, laminitis, to the forefront.  Since Barbaro, American racetracks have spent millions installing synthetic surfaces, all espoused to be safer and more cushioned for horses.  A record $1.1 million distributed this year by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to numerous equine research projects may also be a direct result of the late champion’s demise.
Last autumn, the foundation designated a Hoof Care and Shoeing Task Force, another possible throw-back to Barbaro and the subsequent focus on equine injuries. In the task force’s first official report this past April, prominent owner and breeder Bill Casner outlined one possible cause of injuries in “The Detrimental Effects of Toe Grabs: Thoroughbred Racehorses at Risk”.  Endorsed by the Jockey Club, the Grayson Foundation and the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, the report placed the lion’s share of the blame for catastrophic injuries - and hoof-related issues - on the use of toe grabs in horse shoeing. Thoroughbred anatomy plays a role, according to the report: the fact that bone structure and hoof walls aren’t matured in the average racehorse; also the length of pastern or the type of hoof. The report also briefly mentions harder racetrack surfaces. But the overwhelming research revolved around the link between injuries and toe grabs.

Such thinking, according to at least one long-time farrier, may be what’s keeping the industry from finding Cinderella’s shoe. A self-proclaimed maverick, “as far out there as I can be,” North Carolina-based farrier David Richards believes rather than looking at the shoe, researchers should look at the foot.
Richards has been shoeing horses for the last 30 years.  When asked what type or breed of horse he specializes in, the farrier replies “lame ones”. According to Richards, around 20 to 30 percent of the horses he works on annually are Thoroughbreds.  Seventy to 90 percent of all the lameness problems he sees, according to Richards, are related to the hoof wall.
“We need to look more at hoof wall as a site of failure,” the farrier says, a principal which has become the backbone of “Equicast,” a product Richards has been developing and marketing for nearly 20 years. The cast, a tape-like, fiber-glass blend, covers the hoof, extending up to the hairline at the coronet band, with a shoe attached either on top of, or beneath, the cast.  Its creator likens it to a walking cast in humans, with the event that Thoroughbreds are able to exercise while wearing it, although “there’s a big difference between hoof and human bone.”

“The key is managing lateral expansion,” Richards elaborates, “to prevent an overload of the hoof wall, causing hoof problems and pain. The hoof wall is the point of least resistance.”  The cast “provides additional support and relieves pressure on the hoof wall,” he says, adding that his product minimizes heat and moisture, factors that also play a role in weakening hoof walls.
“When you adhere a shoe to a foot, you are frequently encapsulating bacterial materials,” the farrier offers. “Also, most apoxies are heat generating, and the hoof wall is already a great conductor of heat.”

Common solutions such as vitamin or feed supplements have a minimal effect at best, according to Richards.  “The huge problem with any of that is that horses have very poor circulation to their feet.”  Circulation issues cause problems all of their own in terms of growth and healing, but they also minimize the effect of anything ingested making a difference. 
Richards believes a host of factors contribute to a general weakening of the structure of the hoof wall, “a complex and sometimes contradictory” situation that covers nearly everything wrong with feet, from quarter cracks to long toe-low heel to medial lateral imbalances and White Line Disease.
“There’s actually no problem in growing feet,” he offers.  “The problem is in growing strong feet.
“We definitely see a more volatile foot today,” he concedes, citing feeding programs that cause quicker growth, synthetic surfaces that don’t stress the feet enough, and trends in commercial breeding as just a few of the possible contributing factors.
“One of the things we’re doing wrong, we’re not stressing the feet enough,” he says.  “From the day that they’re born we’re coddling the foot.”

“I’ve never heard of a breeder breeding for feet,” Richards adds. “I can think of one really prominent sire that’s a classic example.  I have four young horses by the same sire. Four babies right now that already have conformational issues. The sire has a great mind, tremendous ability.  But his foals aren’t known for their feet.”
“You can’t knock it,” he continues.  “But you have to accept the ramifications.”  And figure out how to deal with them.
Richards looks to external factors as much as internal as a source of the problems. “Horses who run almost exclusively on turf don’t have half the problems as horses who run on sand,” he says. “They don’t have the shock factor.  It’s unfortunate, but if something doesn’t stimulate feet to get harder, they get softer.”

Another factor Richards feels may contribute to weaker hoof walls is moisture.  “Feet problems are something plaguing all horses evenly, from coast to coast,” he says.  “Very little else is constant.  Feed differs East to West, other things are different. One thing that’s constant, moisture.  And variables of moisture.” Richards laments the fact that little has been done to research the effect of moisture on feet, or whether different parts of the hoof, or different types of hooves, absorb water differently. He’s currently doing his own research on white hooves to see how they react to moisture and believes it may lead to some answers for common problems.
“The industry is very grand-fathered in mentality,” he says.  “It’s ‘my father did it that way, and his father did it that way.’  There’s a resistance to new products,” he continues. “The diagnostics now have surpassed the treatment. We’re always working with the result of the cause, rather than looking for the cause itself.  We’re looking through the answer, for the answer.” 
Looking down, rather than up, is another part of the problem according to Richards, “The goal is to balance the horse,” he offers.  “It doesn’t matter what the sport, you’re ultimately judged on symmetry.  There are times when I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with a horse’s feet, instead of looking down at the foot, I look up to see which shoulder is higher. I’m one of a very few who are cognizant of the whole foot - not just the heel and the toe,” and just as important, how the whole foot fits with the rest of the horse.


Richards explains that the majority of the horses he looks at have one leg longer than the other, either from birth or wear and tear.  He goes on to explain that the average 1,000 lb horse exerts 54 lb’s per square inch on the hoof wall with every stride.  When that horse is shod, Richards says, the weight on the hoof wall is nearly doubled, to 95 lb per square inch. A typical racing plate exacerbates the problem even more.
“We need to transition out of the conventional shoe,” he says. “We are overloading the coronary band.”
“One of my criticisms of the industry,” he continues, “there is a total misunderstanding of what foot issues really are.  Feet are no man’s land.”
“Shoes haven’t changed much over the years,” he adds. “They’re prettier, but they’re going the wrong way.  They mask the problems rather than reverse them.  The horse may have a longer life on the track, but not a more productive or sounder one.”
“It’s a horrible misnomer to say shoes are corrective,” Richards continues. “They’re not corrective.  They are totally protective,” a line of thinking which supports the barefoot practitioners, who believe in eliminating shoes entirely at least part of the time.
“I’m a huge proponent of it,” he says.  “A horse should be totally comfortable doing his respective sport barefoot. The foot is much better at managing us than we are at managing the foot with conventional methods.”
And while at least a few trainers are known to place blame on farriers, Richards holds veterinarians just as accountable, as they are generally the ones who actually diagnose the problems.
“They know what’s wrong, but they often don’t know how to treat it,” he says.  But in defense of the vets, “there’s a lot of misinformation and a lack of communication.”   
Perhaps the biggest culprit, from Richards perspective, is a close-mindedness and lack of commitment to the finding the cause of the problem and fixing it.

“There are a lot of things we need to do as an industry,” he says.  “As an industry, we need to set a standard.  There should be an orthopedic certification program, for example, that’s taught to both vets and to farriers. The vets will have to dummy down a little and the farriers will have to bone up.” “But a lot of this is just common sense.  A horse with a foot bothering him is like having a tire with too little air in.  You wouldn’t drive a car with less air in one tire, you’d fix the tire.  You wouldn’t sit in a chair with one leg shorter than the others.”
Richards believes we ask our horses to perform that way all the time.  He believes at least some of the money for research should be re-allocated, or new money dedicated specifically to hoof issues.  “What we need is to fix a flat.”
“How much more does New Bolton really need?” he asks referring to the clinic that treated Barbaro through his final days and has since received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for research.  
“Problems evolve for a reason,” says Richards, who believes the reason almost always rests in the hoof wall.  “If we find an effective way to address the problem, it will make a difference that could be revolutionary.”
A difference hundreds of years in the making.

Who is Controlling Racing's TV Signals?

By Howard Wright

For all the differences between the horseracing and betting landscapes in Britain and North America - size, history, administration and race and bet types, - one similarity of principle has emerged over the last five years. The live televised racing scene has crystallised into two entities, and the impact on both the foundation and prosperity of the sport and the availability of its betting facilities has been thrown into the blender.

 In Britain, the 60 racecourses have lined up equally between the two cable and satellite broadcasters - Racing UK (RUK), with 30 tracks on board, and At The Races (ATR), with 29, but soon to become 30 when the new venue of Great Leighs attains its long-awaited completion.

In North America, the dominance and extensive exclusivity of TVG has been challenged by the major corporate racetrack owners Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) and Churchill Downs Inc., which have jointly formed the cable and satellite broadcaster Horseracing TV (HRTV), shutting out TVG from coverage of their many high-quality courses.

Into the mix have been catapulted bookmaking, advance deposit wagering and online betting facilities, the biggest attraction for the public and the most significant cash provider for racing outside the deep pockets of racehorse owners.

What will come out at the other end, and when, is impossible to say with any certainty. Interested parties have their own views, based on which side of the divide they sit, but it would take someone akin to a soothsayer, let alone an experienced industry observer, to imagine where the path will lead.

The road-makers are still at work, using different maps to plot their separate ways, and sometimes giving the impression they are making up the journey as they go along.

Two examples of intricacies that can only ripen confusion and spread uncertainty are worth recording, before attempting to untangle the web spun by rights-holders seeking to manage content to best advantage.

Ascot, Britain’s best-known international venue, lined up with At The Races when the second coming of that daily satellite broadcaster emerged from the ashes of a failed venture known as Attheraces in June 2004. At the time, as Ascot negotiated with its bankers over loans to service a £200 million redevelopment scheme, huge uncertainty surrounded previous rights, which may have meant Ascot having to repay a significant sum. Partly to allay the fears of financial institutions, Ascot fell in with ATR, and was given a five per cent stake in the company for its allegiance.

However, the contract, which runs until 2012, did not include pictures supplied to betting shops, and when these came up for renegotiation earlier this year, Ascot decided to jump on to the back of another media rights horse. It sided with Amalgamated Racing - Amrac for short - which had set up a joint venture with the stock market-quoted betting-shop services provider Alphameric to introduce a new channel, Turf TV, offering pictures from aligned courses to off-track bookmakers.

Until then, for 20 years the betting industry had had only one company to deal with, Satellite Information Services (SIS), which took pictures from Racing UK courses under contract, and by sub-contract from At The Races’ courses through an organisation called Bookmaker Afternoon Greyhound Service (Bags).

Bags has outgrown its title by owning horseracing rights and covering evening racing, while ATR controls no betting-shop picture rights in Britain, but it does use SIS to produce its programmes on a daily basis, and has a contract with it to distribute pictures into betting shops in overseas territories such as Sri Lanka.

Confused? You soon will be…

Explaining the decision to go with Amrac, Ascot’s finance director Janet Walker says: “We believe Amrac is the best vehicle for racing’s commercial relationship with the betting industry. And the decision has no impact on our separate satellite media rights arrangement with ATR, and should in no way be interpreted as a negative reflection on our relationship with that company.”
In North America, the picture began to get decidedly murkier in March this year, when Churchill Downs bought a 50 per cent stake in HorseRacing TV, which had previously been owned wholly by Magna.

It was the biggest in a series of deals that the two sides concluded at the time, and out of the arrangement came the formation of another joint venture called TrackNet Media Group, through which one partner’s horseracing content would become available to the other’s various distribution platforms - Magna’s advance deposit wagering (ADW) site XpressBet, Churchill’s similar newcomer TwinSpires.com.

TrackNet would also deal with providing content, from pictures to betting availability, for third parties, it emerged. These were to include racetracks, OTBs, casinos and other ADW operators - but not TVG, it seemed; well, not without a groundbreaking change of heart.

HRTV immediately took over coverage of Churchill Downs, and as contracts run their course, it picked up exclusive rights to Arlington Park on August 6, Fair Grounds in November and Calder on January 3, 2008.

It was not long before the consequences became clear. The 2007 Kentucky Derby was shown exclusively on HRTV and bet on through TwinSpires and winticket.com (whom Churchill Downs subsequently purchased). TVG and its wagering partner Youbet did not get a look-in. The same applied to the second races in the US Triple Crown, the Preakness, run at Magna-owned Pimlico, but come the last leg, the Belmont, exclusivity returned to TVG, under its contract with the New York courses.

Just before the Kentucky Derby, a contributor to the Turf’n’Sport website was moved to remark: “At the best possible time of the year for generating positive horseracing buzz, the industry has succeeded in turning on itself and creating negative headlines. At a time when online racebooks that offer betting on all major Thoroughbred tracks continue to make inroads, and at a time when the World Trade Organisation has ruled America must open up horse betting to offshore racebooks, the existing companies are bitching at each other.”

The punchline summed up: “How long will it take horseplayers to catch on and simply move their accounts offshore?”
He clearly is not the soothsayer identified earlier, who might supply the answer to what will come out of the mix. But he does have a point.

A similar observation holds good in Britain, though with a different emphasis. At times the two sets of particular circumstances in Britain and North America do run along parallel lines, but at others they are subtly interlinked and completely separate. The differences, and some of the connections, can be seen in the betting arena, where HRTV and TVG have their own direct outlets, but Racing UK has a joint venture and At The Races remains corporately aloof while relying on bookmaker partners to provide one of 30 income streams.

The key in Britain is Turf TV, the betting-shop channel set up in part by the Racing UK courses, which flickered into life with six exclusive members (including Ascot) and a small percentage of betting-shop supporters, mainly small independents until the Tote joined up, but none of the four majors, which account for 80 per cent of the UK estate.

On January 1, Turf TV will be bolstered by 25 other RUK courses. The split will be equal - just as it is in the choice facing satellite viewers, who need two TV accounts to cover the field - and the dominant bookmakers, who have lined up solidly behind SIS and the status quo, will have to decide whether they can survive on half rations for their horseracing coverage.

On that decision could depend a large slice of British racing’s future prosperity. The situation in North America depends on whether racecourse and betting operators choose TrackNet or TVG. It seems they cannot have both.

In each case, the participants have made their positions clear.

Robert Evans, president and CEO of Churchill Downs, told a shareholders’ meeting: “I understand our objectives on occasion may ruffle a few feathers. That is one of the things about competition. It is not really our intent just to go out and be disruptive. Our intent is to compete aggressively and to attract more customers to our business. There are always a few potential consequences when you challenge the status quo.”

In response to the Kentucky Derby impasse, TVG general manager David Nathanson said: “We attempted to negotiate with TrackNet Media and its owners in good faith, but thus far have not seen any terms from them indicating a strong desire to reach a mutually beneficial long-term agreement. We remain open to negotiating an agreement that is in the best interest of the racing industry, the respective parties and, ultimately, the racing fan.”

In Britain, Turf TV has become the dividing line between broadcasters and rights-holders Racing UK and At The Races.
RUK executive chairman Simon Bazalgette reflects: “Historically British racing has not been good at being commercial about negotiating its media rights, and has allowed third parties, such as BSkyB (the satellite provider) and the bookmakers, to get a lot of the economic benefit. Now racecourses can manage the business themselves, keeping more of the commercial benefit in racing and having greater control over the presentation of the sport. Turf TV is a great deal for the racecourses.”

ATR chief executive Matthew Imi takes a dispassionate view of Turf TV, since betting-shop rights do not figure in his company’s portfolio. “It will be interesting to see how it works out, but we’re not threatened by Turf TV,” he says. “The most fascinating aspect is not whether Turf TV gains any material traction among the big bookmakers, but what the net effect will be on British racing. For us, though, it’s a valuable opportunity to concentrate on our core business, which is to exploit our partners’ rights. Getting together in the UK with Racing UK is not on our radar.”

It might not be war, but for the moment, and maybe for the foreseeable future, it clearly is every man for himself.

HOW THE TELEVISION BROADCASTERS LINE UP

NORTH AMERICA
HORSERACING TV (HRTV) 
Owned by: Joint venture of Nasdaq-listed Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) and Churchill Downs Inc.
Operates: Subscription national cable and satellite TV horseracing network. Live racing content is acquired by sister company TrackNet Media Group. Estimated coverage 11 million homes.
Racetracks covered: 70-plus Thoroughbred, harness and Quarter Horse tracks, including Santa Anita Park (California); Churchill Downs (Kentucky); Gulfstream Park, *Calder (Florida); Lone Star Park (Texas); Arlington Park (Illinois); Pimlico (Maryland). International: UK tracks on Racing UK.
MEC operates off-track betting network, and national account wagering business XpressBet. Churchill Downs recently opened online national account wagering service, TwinSpires, and more recently acquired account wagering operator AmericaTAB and affiliates.
Overseas coverage: Racing World channel in Britain, joint venture with Racing UK.
*effective January 3, 2008

TVG
Owned by: Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., global multi-media and technology company, including loss-making TV Guide magazine, in which Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has 41 per cent stake.
Operates: Subscription national cable and satellite TV horseracing channel, and online betting network. Estimated coverage 50 million homes.
Racetracks covered: Turf Paradise (Arizona); Del Mar, Fairplex Park, Hollywood Park, Los Alamitos, Oak Tree (California); **Calder (Florida); Prairie Meadows (Iowa); Ellis Park, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Turfway Park (Kentucky); Meadowlands, Monmouth Park (New Jersey); Ruidoso Downs, Zia Park (New Mexico); Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Saratoga, Yonkers Raceway (New York); Emerald Downs (Washington). International: Japan, UK tracks on At The Races. Some contracts with tracks owned by HRTV partners due to expire over next year. Has arrangement with online account wagering operators Youbet and The Racing Channel.
Overseas coverage: At The Races in Britain, through arrangement with TRNi and the Dubai Sports Channel in the UAE.
**through January 2, 2008

BRITAIN
RACING UK (RUK)
Owned by: 30 British racecourses, split Jockey Club Racecourses (50%), Chester, Goodwood, Newbury, York (sharing 25%), 11 smaller courses (sharing 25%). Owns all rights, including terrestrial TV, except for licensed betting offices (belong to Amrac, see below and facing).
Operates: Subscription national cable and satellite (via BSkyB service, part of Setanta Sports package) TV horseracing channel, with links to small number of bookmaker partners; international channel, Racing World, in partnership with MEC and Churchill Downs; licensed betting-office channel, Turf TV, set up by Amalgamated Racing (Amrac), joint venture between Racecourse Media Services (separate company owned by RUK courses and Ascot) and betting-office provider Alphameric; overseas delivery of pictures and data from RUK courses in association with South Africa-based racetrack and betting operator Phumelela. About 200,000 subscribers (including Setanta, forecast to grow to 1 million when Premiership football comes on stream in Autumn 2007).
Racetracks covered: Aintree, Ayr, Bangor, Beverley, Carlisle, Cartmel, Catterick, Cheltenham, Chester, Epsom, Goodwood, Hamilton, Haydock, Huntingdon, Kempton, Ludlow, Market Rasen, Musselburgh, Newbury, Newmarket, Nottingham, Pontefract, Redcar, Salisbury, Sandown, Thirsk, Warwick, Wetherby, Wincanton, York. International: France, Dubai, occasional other major races;  HRTV (see above) coverage of North America on separate channel, Racing World.
Overseas coverage: North America, joint venture with HRTV; Australia, jointly with At The Races; other territories, partnership with Phumelela (South Africa).

AT THE RACES (ATR)
Owned by: broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (46%), racetrack owners Arena Leisure (46%) and Northern Racing (2%), and racecourses Ascot (5%), Newton Abbot, Plumpton and Ripon. Owns all media rights of participating courses except licensed betting office and terrestrial TV rights.
Operates:  National cable and satellite (part of Sky Sports package) TV horseracing channel, with links to bookmaker partners. ATR courses shown in betting shops through agreement with Satellite Information Services (SIS), which sub-contracts rights from Bookmaker Afternoon Greyhound Service (Bags). BSkyB subscription platform covers 8.5 million homes in UK.
Racetracks covered: Ascot, Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Doncaster, Exeter, Fakenham, Folkestone, Fontwell, Hereford, Hexham, Kelso, Leicester, Lingfield, Newcastle, Newton Abbot, Perth, Plumpton, Ripon, Sedgefield, Southwell, Stratford, Taunton, Towcester, Uttoxeter, Windsor, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Yarmouth. (Great Leighs will become 30th on opening). Plus all 27 Irish courses. International: France, Dubai, Germany, occasional other major races; TVG (see facing) coverage of North America.
Overseas coverage: North America, arrangement with TRNi, through to TVG; Australia, jointly with RUK; other territories, distribution by SIS.

Should sales catalogues include information on medication?

By Geir Stabell
​

Not too long ago, I saw a TV interview with Terje Haakonssen, three times World Champion snowboard rider. When talking about his lifestyle, and that of the general public, he made an interesting point; “Look carefully at what you eat, take it seriously”, he said, “People don’t. You know, a man is ever so careful about what quality of petrol and oil he gets for his new car. But when he has filled it up with the best he can find, the most expensive, he buys a full fat cheese burger and a large coke for himself.” Perhaps many of us value our cars more than we value our bodies. Look around you. It certainly appears to be the case, doesn’t it.

Haakonsen is a man obsessed with quality and image. In 1998, he boycotted the Nagano Games because he felt the Olympic image was not good enough for his sport. Can you imagine a leading owner boycotting a high profile race meeting, or a top thoroughbred breeder boycotting a leading sale, for similar reasons? Probably not. Haakonsen’s world is different to the horseracing world. He is a bit of a loner, but has many admirers way outside the circles of his minority sport, simply because he talks a lot of sense. The racing industry could do with someone like him.

Labelling of food products have become more of an issue lately, and when going to the supermarket I actually notice some reading these labels. On the other hand, I have also been stared at when taking a minute to compare the amounts of energy, fat, salt and sugar in, say, various breakfast cereals.
“Looks almost like he is studying a pedigree page”, I once heard a man say to the other as they passed behind me while I performed such a study. Living in Newmarket has its charms. I found the remark amusing too, until I began thinking about it on my way home. Actually, a pack of breakfast cereals costing less than three pounds is better labelled, by stricter regulations, than any million-dollar yearling passing through the ring at any public auction.

When studying sales catalogue pages, it strikes me more and more how much of the crucial information has been left out. It will never happen but I can assure you that if I did consider purchasing an expensive yearling, I would not base my decision on what has been printed in the catalogue. Of course, one has to do proper, independent research, but what exactly is the point of these sales catalogues, if they are not even able to give you half the story, half the truth, about this fragile four-legged product on offer? Using the sales catalogue as your source of information, you do not get the official ratings of horses that have run, nor of their relatives. You very seldom get any information about the races these horses have won or been placed in, such as distance, surface, were they handicaps or weight for age races, if in England were they ‘banded races’ and so on. There is no information on whether horses have raced with blinkers or cheek-pieces, or whether they have been bandaged when running. And, more importantly, there is absolutely no information on any use of any medication. Believe you me, that is the one piece of information that, according to common sense and law, absolutely should be included. Having run in blinkers has never made a horse less valuable to a future owner. A history of medication, and a pedigree elevated to black type status with the help of medication, certainly has. In particular in Europe, where one does not allow racing of horses on medication.

A friend of mine bought a horse at a public auction in Europe. The horse had performed well in Listed events, and he was going to Scandinavia, where his level of form would make him one of the top performers. Since the horse also had a nice pedigree, a good conformation and was consigned by one of the bigger operations in Europe, my friend was quite excited when getting the final bid. So was his trainer. Until he raced him. One run revealed why local bidders had not gone higher when he went through the ring; the horse was a bleeder. Could not win a race even in Norway, and how he had been able to perform so well for his previous owner on a few occasions remains a mystery. My friend wrote to the vendor, explaining the situation and suggesting that they should take him back. That never happened of course. So, my friend decided to send the horse to USA where, surprise, surprise, he won quite a few times, even in nice allowance races at principal tracks, when racing on Lasix.

At most major international sales, they have established a repository facility for x-rays, allowing vendors to lodge x-rays applicable to the sale of their horses. This is one step in the right direction.  When you buy an expensive horse, or any horse for that matter, is it so much to ask, if one also demands accurate information on its medical history? I don’t think so. Nor do I think it is too much to ask, if someone wants the simple information on the horse’s closest relatives; did any of them, at any point in their careers, run on medication? Let’s get briefly back to the man with the car and the hamburger. Would he buy this expensive car, if he was informed that “this is a real classic, a beautiful car, with elegant interior, sexy seats and a powerful engine, but, mind, you, the engine tends to switch itself off from time to time… it seems to be genetic and we can’t do much about it.” When you buy a horse at public auction, part of the “engine” may already be a bit dodgy. If you buy a young horse with an American pedigree, the chances are very high that you also buy a horse from a family that has, for generations, been racing on medication. If you plan to race the animal in a jurisdiction where such medication is allowed, that may be just fine. If you plan to stand the horse at stud, in a jurisdiction where medication is allowed, that is also fine. If not, you could soon be in trouble with this horse. Thus far only Germany has taken a strong stand on medication in their breeding stock. No stallion is approved if he has raced on medication. That is some difference, compared to the situation in North America. Change may be coming there also though.

There is a will in USA to do something about medication. As explained in Trainer, Spring Issue 2007, the Jackson’s Horse Owner’s Protective Association is lobbying hard for a marketplace which would allow buyers of horses to return the horse and demand a full refund, if veterinary records are falsified or information is omitted. Any administration of drugs would have to be disclosed. The association’s lawyer Kevin McGee says: ”The actual buyers and sellers of horses would like to see this in Kentucky because it would strengthen the integrity of the business. This would be an excellent way to encourage new owners to come into the business because it reduces the mystery of buying a horse.”
Exactly. Three key words; “reduces the mystery”. These words can hardly be used too often, in too many contexts, in this industry. Where better to start, than with the sales catalogues?
 
Achieving a better image, that of a clean, honest, open and transparent bloodstock market place, will not be quick process. There can be little doubt, however, that addressing the problem with medication in a serious way, and make some progress in this field, will help speeding up such a process. If you believe fallers and fatal injuries at Aintree and Cheltenham creates about the worst possible publicity horseracing can get, think again.  In the wake of any death on the track in North America, one often sees a flood of letters, articles and opinions posted and published on the internet, almost exclusively pointing the finger sharply at the use of medication.

Too many bad write ups will make it even harder to recruit new investors to the game, but bringing the issue of medication into the sales rings, might help a lot. What does a bloodstock agent reply, to the wealthy ‘newcomer’ at the sales, if he expresses a wish to bid as a yearling enters the ring and says, “I like this one, let’s go to 200,000 or so, but, by the way, does this family have a history of use of medication?”
Print it in the catalogue and, provided the man has a copy of it and that he can read, he will know the answer. Regardless of where the lot was bred or has been raced. This is not at all a problem exclusive to the US market. American bred horses, and horses with American pedigrees, fill many a page also in many a European sales catalogue. When I was asked to do this article, posing the question, “should information on medication be included in sales catalogues”, it is was so tempting to give a reply like; “Yes, do it” or perhaps one like; “Should health warnings remain on the tobacco packaging?”

Common sense does not always win through in this world, especially not when up against commercial interests. Horseracing and breeding is a global industry, and herein lies the problem. Not that it is global, but that it is an industry. More than it is a sport. It may have set out as a sport, but commercial factors are at the forefront and more and more dominant these days. Therefore, some breeders, consigners, sales companies, perhaps even bloodstock agents, may be opposed to the idea of publishing information on medication in catalogues.
In one corner of Europe, there is no need for any catalogue information on any use of medication for any of the country’s stallions. Germany is the nation where you cannot stand a stallion at stud if he has been raced on medication. That’s a good policy, and it should help improve the breed. Provided, of course, that none of these stallions have been trained on medication. And provided that all the mares bred to these stallions have also been trained and raced without the aid of medication. Not trying to complicate matters even further here, only trying to point out what a jungle this actually is.
Racehorses are bred from sires who raced almost exclusively with the aid of medication. Horses are being bred out of mares who also raced on medication, but a vast number of horses are out of mares that never raced. Disclosing the reason why these mares failed to make it to the racecourse, is probably quite impossible. One thing can be said for certain though, that any man or woman who spends a considerable amount of money on a yearling, is hoping that the animal will one day be physically capable of taking part in a race.
Everyone who buys a yearling should know that about one in five yearlings actually never become racehorses. Therefore, deciding how good the chances are for one particular individual is important. Disclosing all information about any use of raceday medication in the family, gives the purchaser a better chance of assessing a yearling’s chances of making it to the racecourse, than information on, for example, how many races a couple of grandsons of the third dam managed to win.

I would suggest that information about any use of medication, going back three generations, should be included in all sales catalogues, even if it means pushing some information low on the page off the page. With catalogues published online, even that should not be a problem – an extra few lines, or even an extra page, means nothing in this way of publishing. “Still not possible”, I hear some say.
I see. How about this line of thought then; that such steps would actually help the thoroughbred industry in its so-called strive at “enhancing the breed”.

The way things are going now, that is not exactly the case is it.

What does the future hold for Great Lakes Downs?

By Troy Ruel

Shane Spiess invested his future in the Michigan Thoroughbred industry nearly a decade ago when Great Lakes Downs opened in Western Michigan.

The veteran trainer bought an expansive ranch and moved his breeding and boarding operation across the state following the closure of Ladbroke DRC in Detroit.

“GLD has been good to us and I love this area,” said Spiess, who won the inaugural training championship at GLD in 1999. “I have put everything I have into this place. This is home now.”

For John Drumwright, his expense might be even more. Drumwright came to Michigan in 1940 — and has devoted the last 67 years to the state’s horse racing industry. It’s decades of time spent in a business he loves. “This is all I’ve ever done and all I know,” said Drumwright, 84. “You put a smile on your face and pray for the future, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

As the midway point closes in on Great Lakes Down’s 100-date season, both trainers — along with the hundreds of other horsemen on the GLD grounds — face an uncertain future as the 74-year-old history of Michigan Thoroughbred racing could come to an end when the season concludes on Nov. 6.

Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns the meet license through MI Racing Inc., announced last January that this would be its final meet in Michigan unless there were “significant changes in the regulatory environment that restricts horse racing from competing at a level playing field with other forms of gaming and entertainment.”

The MEC release came early enough with a standing offer that lease agreements on the facility were possible, however, as self-imposed deadlines continue to pass, nothing has been done yet to save Michigan’s only Thoroughbred racing facility.

“It’s frustrating, and even depressing at times, but we’re doing everything we can for the future of Thoroughbred racing here in Michigan,” said Gary Tinkle, executive director of the Michigan Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “It’s a tough sell, but I believe it’s vital to maintain dates in 2008.”

A rich traditionThoroughbred racing kicked off in 1933 with a 31-date meet at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit and has since grown into a $1.2 billion industry statewide.

The industry was riding an emotional high in 1998 with a record-setting combined wagering handle of over $145 million at DRC, but track owners carried out a threat that they would shut its doors if casinos were allowed to be built in downtown Detroit.DRC did just that on Nov. 8, 1998, ending a run of 48 years in the state’s major metropolitan area and leaving the Thoroughbred horsemen in limbo.

The horsemen found some relief when a group of private investors re-opened Muskegon Race Course — a former Standardbred track near the shores of Lake Michigan — and eventually sold the facility to Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, who was in the process of adding strategic venues across the country to his growing stable of MEC facilities.

The move to Muskegon was thought to be temporary as MEC won the licensing rights to build Michigan Downs, a proposed multi-million dollar entertainment complex in metro Detroit. However, the legislative climate cooled across the state and those plans since have been placed on hold.

The primary reason for the pessimism was the 2004 passage of Proposal 1 — an anti-gambling measure primarily funded by the state’s casino interests. The vote added a law to the Michigan constitution requiring statewide and local voter approval before additional gambling opportunities were added, eliminating the opportunity to add slot machine-like video lottery terminals at the state’s seven pari-mutuel facilities.

Since then, the figures have been staggering as the tracks struggle to keep pace with other states.

The combined wagering handle at GLD dipped to $14 million last year — 90 percent off the final figures from Detroit — and numbers statewide are down an additional 12.4 percent already this year. The purse pool continues to be affected as well, as last year’s total was $6.1 million, half of the 1998 numbers. The first casualty came with the closure of Saginaw Harness Raceway to begin the 2005 season, while GLD appears to be next.

Magna Entertainment Corp. estimates its annual losses to average $1.8 million and stated prior to the current season that it “can not continue to subsidize horse racing in Michigan with no prospect of future profitability.”

“We’re aware this could be the last year,” said GLD general manager Amy MacNeil. “It’s business as usual. We’re striving to make this the best year ever.”

“In a sense, we’re lucky to have Magna’s support even for this one last year,” said five-time GLD track training champion Gerald Bennett. “But, it’s tough not to think about the future. Everyone, so far, is doing their part to make the races go.”

What lies ahead?

The news was devastating — albeit not surprising — to the Thoroughbred horsemen at Great Lakes Downs.

However, the decision could create a crippling ripple effect through the state’s entire agricultural community. Horse owners and trainers are already looking to sell off a majority of their stock — creating voids in filling fields and putting a pinch on the local economy.
According to numbers supplied by the track, GLD generates $3.7 million into West Michigan through its vendors, while the horsemen generate millions more through temporary housing, feed and other job-related expenses.

As the season nears the halfway point, the effects have been noticeable. Trainers already are lightening work loads and jockeys are looking to ride elsewhere.
“You’re starting to see people cutting back or selling off, that’s what I intend to do,” said Spiess. “It’s too expensive to keep them. The drought this year isn’t helping and the cost for feed and fuel has increased. It’s a vicious circle.”

Gerald Bennett, who led the field with 430 starts and over $1 million in earnings last season, is nowhere near the leaders in starts for 2007, while former champion jockey Mary Doser chose to return to Kentucky to be closer to her family farm.

The future of the industry is in jeopardy as horse breeders also are getting out of the game. Rick McCune, who has been breeding horses since 1980 in Michigan, has witnessed the decline firsthand. “The uncertainty is killing the sales and hurting the farms,” said McCune, the acting president of the MHBPA. “When I got into the business, there were 26 farms that do what I do. Today, there are only five in Michigan. There is no market for our animals.”

McCune said he bred just 12 mares last year, down 75 percent from past years. The auction prices for the annual yearling sale saw a decrease of 66 percent from a year ago — averaging just $2,700 a head.

“No one knows what’s going to happen with the track, so a lot of people are cutting their losses and getting out of the business,” added McCune. “They’re cutting back because they just can’t afford to keep the babies.”

If Great Lakes Downs does close its doors, many of the state’s horsemen will leave in search of greener pastures. However, their options remain limited. It’s tough to break into new racing circles, while getting granted stall applications late in the game will be difficult as well.

Many may not have the stock to compete against horses from Kentucky and the East coast. Some trainers and owners are expected to ship horses to established tracks in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Louisiana and the fall meet at Fort Erie. Once they leave, it will be hard to draw them back. Meanwhile, others will choose to get out of the business altogether.

“It’s tough to say how many would get out of horse racing here in Michigan,” said Dr. Robert Gorham, the leading trainer at this year’s meet at the midway point. “The smart ones got out of it a long time ago.”

“When you get the horse racing business in your blood, it’s hard to get out,” added McCune, 60. “That being said, there’s absolutely no way I would start all over again. I am 60 years old now and it’s just too much work and a lot of time.”

Guarded optimism

Many of the trainers at Great Lakes Downs continue to go about their daily business and try not to think about the future. Whether it’s a 
case of denial or unbridled optimism is a reason for debate.

“It’s like we have our heads stuck in the sand,” said one horse owner. “We don’t want to believe this is happening to us.”
Unfortunately, deadlines are coming quickly on the status of the track. Race date applications must be on file with the Michigan Office of Racing Commissioner imminently.

“We’re all beginning to realize we have to do something soon,” added Gorham. “It’s beginning to get more and more pressing for the horsemen. At some point, we need to all stick together and come up with a solution for the future.”

There are ideas that could impact the track’s status. There’s controversial talk about the possibility of adding instant racing — video game-like machines that offer betting on taped races — while many believe a ballot proposal to add slot machines may not be too far out in the future — even as early as 2008. There’s a growing belief that Magna Entertainment Corp. wants to be around when that happens as they still hold the license for Michigan Downs.

Other possible proposals on running a shortened season or even move to a different Michigan racing facility don’t seem realistic to many horsemen. Purse revenue this year is already down nearly 10 percent, so the track would need to run a minimal amount of dates to make it cost-worthy for Michigan horsemen to remain. And the cost of transforming an existing Standardbred facility into a Thoroughbred track would be too much.

“There’s just too many loose ends out there,” said Tinkle. “We’re trying to do something, but we’re limited in what we can do. We’re willing to work with anyone willing to put a meet on, unfortunately, there’s not a lot of people able to do that.”

Many people believe that if Thoroughbred racing went on hiatus — even for a year — that it would be a crushing blow to the industry.
“Absolutely devastating,” added Tinkle. “We lost a lot of people when we went from Detroit to Muskegon and it would be magnified if we took a year off.”

In addition, the Michigan breeders fund — which helps supply nearly $2 million to the purse pool for state-bred stakes races — is in jeopardy if the track comes to a close. Horsemen groups have petitioned ORC Commissioner Christine White to place that money in escrow, but with the financial troubles within the state, all bets are off.

The Michigan Harness Horsemen’s Association, a group that has been at odds with the Thoroughbred track in the past, has also vocally supported the efforts to keep GLD open. Many people feel that without Thoroughbred racing within Michigan, simulcast signal opportunities, as well as wagering, will fall dramatically.

The key ultimately could fall at the hands of the state legislature.“We’re still wagering the way we did in 1933 — basically it’s win, place and show and that’s it,” said Tinkle. “It’s sad to say, but horse racing has a deep tradition in Michigan and it’s in serious, serious trouble.

“And, so far, nothing’s been done in Lansing to allow us to compete fairly for the gaming dollar.” Jim Griffin, a prominent state owner and breeder, said, “In order to salvage the industry, we’re going to need a minor miracle here. “We need some cooperation from the state to give us something to survive.”

''Jarred Up'' horses - observations by a racecourse farrier

At the height of the flat racing season how many different terms are used to describe horses that lose their action? The description depends very much upon those that are explaining the condition and what is perceived to be the cause and the effect; the animal simply becomes scratchy and non free flowing in its movements. The exciting cause reveals itself as being “JARRED UP.”

At this early stage no observable foot specific secondary condition is presented. The physical condition I have become aware of horizontal striation of the dorsal wall which is rarely present in two year olds, but as a condition is fairly common in the older three year old plus groups, specifically when the animals have raced the previous season on firm ground. I feel there are several diagnostic constants which mix the primary causes of being “jarred up” with the secondary effects to form the description and source of the discomfort, these can be incorrectly described.

I feel the primary cause of the loss of action often relates to horses’ feet and acute inflammatory changes. The conclusions are drawn from physiological changes noted and only recently considered as being relevant to a loss of action some six to ten months earlier. The early foot changes are demonstrated by irregular growth patterns in the development of the dorsal surface of the hoof wall and related voids within the actual structure of the hoof. The above features progress downward locked in the structure of the hoof wall during normal growth from their area of formation, which was initially located within the tissues of the coronary crown down towards the hoof’s bearing surface. Voids are only revealed physically and visually when the attendant ridging and grooving reach ground level.

Without doubt the observations, when applied to flat racehorses, relate to an incident or repeated incidents of athletic output during the previous racing season on ground conditions unsuitable for the specific animal or its specific physiology. The animal often simply presents as not being free moving without any observable unilateral lameness. Often a few days on “The Walker” at rest and an analgesic course of medication will enable the animal to keep racing throughout the season and without any apparent loss of form, yet the animal’s action is changed and varies from slightly off to quite uncomfortable. To continue to race demonstrates just how adaptable a racehorse is.

I will attempt to describe the primary action modification most commonly noticed. My peers have long since suggested horses prepare their feet to land by lateral and medial adduction and abduction prior to their foot planting, a flaccid lower limb state, probably seeking out the nature of the ground surface and what adjustment the horse has to make to avoid injury. I have noted that the landing preparation aspect of the stride of sore / jarred up horses is dramatically visually bi-laterally exaggerated and the animal instead of abducting/adducting its feet actually assumes a base wide flight and its feet immediately prior to landing describe circular movements away from its axis, the left foot anti clockwise, the right foot clockwise. The movement described is bi-laterally matched, symmetric, which is felt is abnormal and forwards progress for the animal is somewhat mechanical [not free flowing], yet the animal is not exhibiting any unilateral [single leg] lameness. The above is felt is an outline of the noted condition, but what is actually happening? I feel there is strong evidence of coronary shunting, effected by the concussive forces transmitted through the dorsal wall of the hoof into the sensitive tissues of the coronary cushion due to a firm racing surface. It is these concussive forces that cause the coronary corium to lay down a protective fluid barrier, a “CORONARY SEROMA” [blister] or even in the most severe insults “HAEMATOMA” [blood blister], the fluids protect and buffer the vital horn growth area. It follows that this fluid area effectively becomes locked within the growing structures of the dorsal wall. The lymphatic system fairly rapidly mops up the fluid, a cellular, sometimes bloodstained and often linier void remains [non cellular] within the structure of the wall. The severity of the initial physiological insult determines the extent of the fluid, seroma/haematoma and the resultant defective area/void. The weakened hollow area now below the coronary ring is, I feel another of nature’s ways to effect an additional buffering/flexibility to dissipate any future or ongoing shunting trauma, firstly protected by a hydraulic action then an air buffered flexible space which remains within the horn tissue, a perfect and natural response for concussive protection.

The problems of shoe attachment to defective horn are at this stage are effectively still latent. How it affects the tradesman “Abraded feet” is a fairly loose term to describe the ultimate nightmare for the racetrack farrier. The distal edge of the hoof capsule has become flaky, cracked, underrun with cavities, to a greater degree loose from its underlying and adjacent supporting structures. The sole is consistently doubled, one of nature’s processes to protect the solar surface of the distal phalanx [P3] and its related soft tissues. This thickened sole is often not sufficiently matured to be mechanically exfoliated, yet it hangs below the level of the wall.

Nature takes no account within its physiological blueprint for the need of the farrier to attach a metal shoe as a base plate. The increased thickness of the double sole creates stressing forces of its own, demonstrated by the perfectly natural sideways loading on the weakened wall and to complete natural the separation of the already partly separated base structures prior to rebuilding them, which often is further demonstrated by the presence of a dorsal depression in the wall.

This is saying nothing of the now inflexible nature of the doubled sole constricting the natural processes of the sole connective tissues. It must be remembered in the wild state this horse would be somewhat in a recovery state and acutely in danger of predation. The problem is these feet seldom support a shoe in a satisfactory way. Racing plates tend to become easily detached especially during transit to the racecourse. This is a headache for the racetrack farrier, as in order to reattach a shoe, which he is employed to do, the loose unviable horn and great deal of the remaining poorly integrated glue has to be removed, just as is outlined as one of nature’s processes in the above paragraph in order to get a satisfactory layer to load a shoe onto and re-attach, nail the plate into. The problem here is that often after the defective horn is removed there is left insufficient wall horn, both in quantity and quality, into which a nail can be driven, certainly other than in the most forwards toe area and maybe one nail in each heel area. Otherwise, no viable nail supporting wall horn remains.

The thickened solar plate can in the very short term be used by a farrier to assist with a semi-secure nail attachment, as is demonstrated by the system of very low nailing and close shoe fitting sometimes seen in US stock. With ingenuity, stealth a great deal of luck and some skill a failure to reattach a shoe for the purpose of a single race is extremely rare, in my case twice in twenty six years, once due to the extreme stroppy nature of the patient not permitting re-attachment without displacing the re-attached shoe by immediately kicking it off again. The other occasion the animal was still as lame after re-attachment as it had been with the shoe absent when it arrived at the track!

Just out of interest, occasions have arisen when horses have gone to post with the nailing supported with electrical insulating tape, a very useful tool to have in the van and at other times the shoe and nailing supported in place with multiple layers of vet wrap. What happens after the animal returns to the care of its yard is fortunately another’s worry. I have these problems at home in my own daily practice when time is not of an essence. This is why it has been necessary to attempt to understand the specified racetrack scenario.

I will attempt to suggest how the condition of voids within the horn structure described in part one lead to abraded feet. It is actually a simple matter where the voids represent a wall detachment/lock up cavitation, which when the affected wall area reaches the level of bearing is imperfectly attached so as to have a loss of integrity with the underlying and surrounding horny tissue. The remaining wall structure gradually and simply fractures away from a defective basal connection and then further disintegrates under the loading associated with the stresses of athletic performance and when any attempt is made to nail into it.

There is a complicating factor in feet containing dry seroma cavities which I will attempt to explain. The integrity of feet which are affected in this way remain fine, and SEEM to remain thus until the separated area grows down to a level of the white zone junction, when the farrier’s nails penetrate into the cavity in order to attach a racing plate. The action of nail penetration seems to trigger a secondary effect, an influx of bacteria and yeast infection, associated with loose wall, seedy toe and/or white line disease kick-off, all of which assist the weakening conditions related to shoe loss and separation of the hoof wall from its junction with the solar plate. The author feels infection in itself is an induced condition and secondary to the original insult. The breakdown of the wall sole junction is without doubt related to environment and compaction by the racing/training surfaces.

To identify the onset of the syndrome takes very close observation as the initial indication is masked by the covering racing shoe and is not unusually seen as an extremely thin linier fissure, on many occasions detected by little more that a gut feeling. Having said this, if the fissure is missed at a very early stage, during the course of a full shoeing cycle great horn destruction in the area of the white zone will take place. A seedy toe, yeast-induced wall separation will happen and will unless effectively dealt with, migrate up the bi-sulphide junction more quickly than the wall can grow downwards, creating a chronic and accelerating condition. This horn decay is fortunately something that can be today easily controlled and/or reversed with recently and specifically developed products which condition hoof horn and destroy hoof related infection. I have trialled a conditioning gel product over the past two years with fantastic results.

There is when addressing problem feet today a distinct move towards the early use of hoof rebuilding materials and the attachment of alloy plates with glue products, from my viewpoint somewhat of a cop out and the equivalent of a band-aid exercise, undoubtedly. “Glue destroys the integrity of viable and healthy hoof horn.” This rebuild/attachment method is a nightmare to the racecourse farrier as these rebuilt feet and shoes attached with glue seem to be easily rejected. During the course of a year several reinforced feet / glue-on shoes are lost at the racecourse prior to racing; in fact it is fair to say the majority of front feet presented have evidence of glue/rebuild materials present. The shoes seem predisposed to falling off for many reasons. When this happens most of the lower hoof wall falls away with the polymer and /or acrylic. There is never sufficient time for the racecourse farrier to re-glue or rebuild a foot so the retained farrier has to find a way to replace the glue-reinforced/attached shoe using the traditional nailing method. There is no crisis more critical than getting a horse to the starting gate sound once it is at the racecourse premises. It is a very stressful time for everybody involved, and damaged feet are conditions best avoided wherever it is preventable.

So how can feet be made to regenerate sufficiently after having been subjected to treatment with re-enforcing material? The basic conclusion seems to be getting back to common sense methods, good diet, working on suitable surfaces (sea sand is not one of these), good husbandry, a regular shoeing cycle, sufficient hygiene, suitable bedding, pre-racing foot conditioning and the essential observant farrier. I feel a most important aspect is conditioning of the animal and its limbs in a way to assist sufficient horn keratinisation, which possibly is effected by training on suitable surfaces.

Steeplechase horses subjected to an element of road work in their preparation seem to have less hoof problems, yet this may simply be that they do not race on very firm ground, a seasonal influence. For the future, should we consider fitting a rolled toe shoe when animals are going to be asked the perform on really hard ground? There seems to be no place for the square toe being used on racehorse due to a lack of traction during the acceleration phases, but a very light roll, who knows? We will, in the next couple years no doubt! I feel there will be a niche for the rolled toe during the recovery stage from this condition but as a preventative measure? As a training aid? I will undertake such a study now that it has been suggested.

Current research on Pelvic Asymmetry in Racehorses

Steeplechase racing in particular is a high risk sport for the horse. There is currently some fairly extensive research into racehorse injuries and fatalities on the racecourse, with previously published scientific reports on the subject being widely available. The racing industry is aware of the need for such reports, as the industry itself is very much in the public eye with regard to injury rates on the racecourse. Lameness is one of the main reasons for wastage in the racehorse industry, and was the reported cause of 68% of total horse days lost to training in a study of racehorses in England (Rossdale et al. 1985).

This study also suggested that 10% of all diagnosed lameness cases were caused by tendon injury. Overstrain injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) are amongst the most common injuries observed in the athletic horse (Goodship, 1993). It is therefore important to determine all possible causative factors of SDFT injury so that methods for preventing injury can be implemented as part of a training programme.

HINDQUARTER ASYMMETRY

The hindquarters of the horse provide the propulsion, and the forelimbs support 60% of the horse’s weight. Problems affecting the pelvic structure in the horse can lead not only to poor performance, but also to an unlevel gait and to lameness of the hindlimb. There are to date very few scientific reports on the frequency of hindquarter asymmetries in the horse, although Bathe (2002) found that most hard working horses were likely to have some degree of pelvic asymmetry.

This factor may not always affect performance, as many successful horses have been found to have asymmetry of the pelvis. Dalin et al. (1985) investigated the hindquarter asymmetry in Standardbred Trotters for any correlation with poor performance. He measured differences in height between the left and right tuber sacrale when the horse was standing square. Of the 500 horses measured 39 of them showed marked hindquarter asymmetry. In 30 horses the tuber sacrale was lower on the left, and in 9 horses it was lower on the right. The asymmetric horses had significantly inferior performance (measured by total earnings) compared to the symmetrical horses.

All the horses were trained and raced in Sweden on a left handed track. The asymmetrical horses were also of significantly larger body size than the symmetrical horses. In a recent study undertaken by Stubbs et al. (2006) in conjunction with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a number of racehorses were presented for euthanasia (for injury and/or lameness). Racing and training details were examined in detail, and a clinical examination was carried out before the horses were euthanased. Following post mortem the thoracolumbar spine and pelvis were dissected out and examined. Although not part of the study it was noted that asymmetry of the pelvis was prevalent in many of the horses that had been dissected, the reason probably being due to a natural torsion of the pelvis as a result of training and racing on right handed tracks only.

It is suggested that asymmetrical loads on the pelvic structure caused by external factors (such as racetrack), and by internal factors (such as locomotor apparatus pain) may lead to a higher stress being placed on one hindlimb, and as a result lead to the development of pelvic asymmetry which may be apparent as pelvic rotation. Improper movement patterns of the hindquarters, due to pain caused by overuse or from fatigue, may also result in abnormal alignment of the pelvic structure.

This in turn may then cause overloading on the forelimbs (by off loading the hindquarters) and therefore predisposing the forelimbs to injury. If this can be proved then surely this would emphasise the importance of correcting pelvic misalignments using manipulation techniques such as chiropractic, osteopathic and myofascial release approaches. There is some unpublished material available to support the use of McTimoney manipulation methods and other soft tissue manipulation in the correction of pelvic rotation. Hindquarter asymmetry is often associated with sacroiliac joint lesions or with chronic hindlimb lameness.

The tuber sacrale can appear asymmetrical in clinically normal horses as well as in horses with misalignment of the sacroiliac joint (Dyson, 2004). Horses with longstanding poor performance attributed to chronic sacroiliac damage were investigated by Jeffcott et al. (1985). The majority of these horses showed some asymmetry of the hindquarters with the tuber coxae and tuber sacrale lower on the same side that the animal was lame on. Hindquarter asymmetry may be due to some tilting or rotation of the pelvis in addition to muscle wastage of one quarter, usually the side the horse is lame on.

ABNORMAL ALIGNMENT OF THE PELVIS

Pelvic rotation or abnormal alignment of the pelvis to the thoracolumbar spine can be measured by the level of the tuber coxae to the ground. If the horse is unable to produce the propulsion from its hindquarters due to discomfort in the pelvic region, then the forelimbs may be required to provide more horizontal propulsion. The horse will in effect be pulling himself forward with his forelimbs, rather than pushing from his hindquarters. This may result in over development of the shoulder muscles, thereby reducing the efficiency of the forelimb movement by adding unnecessary weight. Unpublished data has suggested a positive relationship between injury to the forelimb stay apparatus and pelvic asymmetry, particularly where the presence of functional asymmetry in the hindquarters was found to be due to pelvic rotation, and not as a result of differences in individual bone lengths of the hindlimb.

LAMENESS AND COMPENSATORY MOVEMENT PATTERNS

The compensatory mechanisms of horses with lameness have been extensively researched and reported. The potential for secondary injuries resulting from a horse’s attempt to compensate for lameness by altering its gait pattern are still unclear. Clayton (2001) found that when a lame limb is supporting body weight, the horse minimises pain by decreasing the load on that limb, resulting in a compensatory increase in the vertical forces in other limbs. The compensating limbs are therefore subjected to abnormally high forces, and these may lead to lameness in the compensating limbs. Uhlir et al. (1997) found that in all cases of diagnosed hindlimb lameness that true lameness of the left hind caused a compensatory lameness of the left fore, and that true stance phase lameness of the left fore caused a compensatory lameness in the right hind. TENDON INJURY The SDFT is the most frequently injured tendon in horses. In a recent study of steeplechase horses diagnosed with tendon and ligament injuries sustained during training, 89% occurred in the SDFT (Ely et al. 2005). It has been suggested that an optimum level of exercise is required at an early age for tendon adaptation to training, but with increasing age accumulation of microdamage and localised fatigue, failure to the tendon will occur with increasing exercise (Smith et al. 1999). The induction of injury to the SDFT occurs when loading overcomes the resistive strength of the tendon. Factors which increase the peak loading of the SDFT, such as weight of rider, ground surface, shoeing, conformation, incoordination, jumping, and speed will act not only to increase the rate of degeneration, but will also increase the risk of the onset of SDFT strain (Smith, 2006). Therefore the prevention of tendon strain-induced injuries by reducing some of the risk factors that increase loading on the tendon may provide the most satisfactory answer.

ANIMAL MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES

McTimoney Animal Manipulation aims to improve asymmetries through manipulation. There has been much anecdotal evidence for the benefits of McTimoney Manipulation Techniques on animals (Andrews and Courtney, 1999). There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that McTimoney and other manipulative therapies can make a difference where veterinary medication has failed (Green, 2006), although the application of manipulation techniques in veterinary medicine may be dependent of further research into the clinical effects of manipulation. Manipulation techniques are thought to cause muscle relaxation and to correct abnormal motor patterns which may be the result of muscular imbalances and restricted joint motion or altered joint mobility (Haussler, 1999). There is some unpublished material to support that there are significant changes in the symmetry of the pelvis after the application of McTimoney manipulation techniques, and that there is continued improvement one month after initial treatment.

CURRENT RESEARCH INTO PELVIC ALIGNMENT

In a recent unpublished study a group of 40 steeplechase horses in training, all using the same gallop, were measured for pelvic asymmetry. The measurement technique used was a somewhat simple (but reliable) method. Each horse was measured on flat, level concrete while standing completely square and weight bearing on all four limbs. Measurements were taken vertically using a horse measuring stick with a spirit level, from the most dorsal aspect of the lateral wing on the ilium (the tuber coxae) to the ground, on the left and right sides. Various data was collected on each horse, regarding race history, how many races run, whether “bumper” (flat races for steeplechase bred horses), hurdle or steeplechase, prize money earnings, handicap rating, and also brief veterinary history. The aim of the study was to compare pelvic rotation in 20 sound horses to the incidence and degree of pelvic rotation in a group of 20 horses with SDFT strain in either one or both forelimbs. Both the sound horses and the injured horses were in training with the same trainer, and therefore had used the same gallops, and underwent the same training regime. Although no significant difference was found in the number of horses with pelvic rotation in sound horses compared with the number of horses with tendon strain, there was a high incidence of pelvic rotation in the group as a whole, with a predominance towards pelvic rotation on the right.

This could have been due to training methods or gallops used, and certainly warrants further research. There was no significant association between side of pelvic rotation and side of forelimb tendon strain, but again warrants further investigation using a larger number of horses. Due to the prevalence of right side pelvic rotation it would not have been possible to show any significant associations anyway between left and right forelimb injury. The study did present some trends for age of horse, sex, and race history; showing that the number of horses with pelvic rotation and tendon injury increased with age. Geldings tended towards a higher incidence of tendon injury, and mares tended towards a higher incidence of pelvic rotation. There were equal numbers of sound and injured horses for each race type, but the degree of pelvic rotation in horses that had fallen was notably larger than in the horses that had not fallen.

FUTURE STUDIES INTO PELVIC ASYMMETRY

The preliminary investigation as described above has formed the basis for further research into abnormal pelvic alignment in racehorses, and whether or not there is any association between side of misalignment and side of forelimb injury. Further research is due to be carried out with a larger sample of horses, and from different yards, to investigate whether there is any prevalence as to the side of misalignment, or if pelvic alignment is affected by training methods and the use of different gallops.