Training the untrainable - how to improve the respiratory system
Most body systems of the horse have some capacity to respond to physical training of the type used to improve fitness and performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. The art of training is of course assessing what each horse needs, when to start, when to back off and when to accept that you have reached a suitable level of fitness which should result in a horse being able to get close to achieving a performance consistent with its genetic potential. However, the one body system that training cannot improve on is the respiratory system and this article will highlight some of the implications of this.
Dr David Marlin (17 September 2008 - Issue number 9)
CTT - The Changing Face of Racing Part 2
Are any of us old enough to remember a time when the training of
Thoroughbreds was about providing enough care and enough exercise to
obtain optimal performance? I suppose such a time existed, but not in
recent memory. Hands on therapy and horsemanship have been replaced by
fast acting and less labor intensive drugs and medications. By way of
example, in the last decade we have seen the elimination of equipment
such as the whirlpool tub.
Edward I. Halpern, CTT Exec - (14 October 2008 - Issue Number: 10)
Michael Dickinson - "The Mad Genius"
Michael Dickinson is welcoming and instantly likeable, suffused with energy as he bounces around Tapeta Farm on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. “I don't say I'm good or great but I'm not boring, he promises. Along that vein, the burning question is, why do people call him ''The Mad Genius' as coined by an American turf writer? Dickinson’s standard reply is that the nickname is "only half right" without declaring which half. No relentless line of questioning will drag it out of him. "Who do you think you are, Barbara Walters?" he deadpans. "Or the guy with on CNN with the braces [suspenders]. Larry King." What does his wife, Joan Wakefield, think? ";Don't answer that. Keep quiet! Could be divorce proceedings here!" teases her husband. She says only, "I know which half is right!" & Draw your own conclusion. If he’s mad, or if he's a genius, or if he's both - he embraces it.
Frances J. Karon (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
The ‘Chief' Allen Jerkens
Ask anyone in Thoroughbred racing to name the savviest trainers in the history of the sport, and you may hear: Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Woody Stephens, Charlie Whittingham, Laz Barrera,D. Wayne Lukas, John Nerud and, certainly, Allen Jerkens.Jerkens has never saddled the winner of a Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup race, yet he's still training winners and winning stakes at the age of 79, 34 years after his induction into the Hall of Fame. At the time, he was the youngest trainer ever enshrined.Known as the 'Giant Killer' for his historic upsets of Buckpasser, Kelso and Secretariat, and as the "Chief" for his incredible horse knowledge, Jerkens was honored by the Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) with a Lifetime Outstanding Trainer award at a benefit dinner in Sands Point, Long Island on May 28th this year.Rather than being passed by time, he has adapted. Though he doesn't own a computer, he has a cell phone and a website, www.AllenJerkens.com.
Bill Heller (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
Andrew Lakeman - life after being paralyzed
Andrew Lakeman was paralyzed from the waist down in a racing accident at Belmont Park. Originally from England, Lakeman came to the United States in the mid-1990s and worked for Michael Dickinson, Hall of Famers Nick Zito and D. Wayne Lukas, Barclay Tagg and Tom Skiffington before finding a home with Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens. Jerkens, who used Lakeman extensively in the mornings and afternoons, said, "Naturally, it's tough. He has better days than others. It's got to be an awful thing to get used to." It is."In the beginning, sometimes I thought, 'Why me?'," said the 33-year-old Lakeman. "Now I'm handling it better."
Bill Heller (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
Is Conformation Relevant?
This year’s yearling sales are just beginning with Fasig-Tipton July in Kentucky quickly followed by Fasig-Tipton August taking place in Saratoga. Then it is the turn of the monstrous Keeneland September catalogue to lay host to thousands of blue-blooded Thoroughbreds desperate to have their conformation analyzed by trainers, owners and those conformation experts – the bloodstock agents. The 2007 September Keeneland yearling sale sold nearly four thousand horses for just short of four hundred million dollars in seven books, each illustrated with photographs of the current superstars sold at last year’s sale. Does examining a horse’s conformation really give you a better idea as to whether you are looking at next year’s superstar?
James Tate BVMS MRCVS(10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
First time on turf - how to prepare a horse
Preparing a horse for his first start on turf is trickier than most people realize. Most tracks ban maidens from their grass courses, and many allow only grass stakes-nominated horses who have not made their last start against maidens or claimers to work on the turf course.
Bill Heller (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
Feed contaminants - how big a risk are they?
or all professionals associated with the training and competition of horses under the rules and regulations of racing, the choice of which feed products to use has never been greater, and the range appears to grow on a daily basis. This is especially true of the plethora of dietary supplements (otherwise known officially as complementary feeds) available.
Dr Catherine Dunnett and Dr Mark Dunnett (10 July 2008)
Federal Intervention in the regulation of steroids in racing
On February 27th, the United States Congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection conducted a day-long hearing on drugs in sports. Discussion of one of the topics, anabolic steroids in horseracing, triggered the typical, knee-jerk reaction by the horseracing industry: heaven help us if there's federal intervention.
(26 June 2008 - Issue Number: 6)
Maryland - can slots solve the problem?
It's come to this. The Maryland racing industry starts and ends at the same place, the same date, the same issue – the voters' booth come November. The slots referendum – the denouement – will decide once and for all whether Maryland will attain slots to help staunch the losses of horses, horsemen and handle to neighboring states.
Sean Clancy (26 June 2008 - Issue Number: 6 )
Eco Trainers - converting manure to electricity
Trainers at the main French training base, Chantilly, have gone green and are soon to be the envy of their contemporaries around the world with a ground-breaking manure-disposal project. Faced with piles of manure, the bane of all trainers' lives, Chantilly professionals are working together to launch a pioneering scheme which looks set to solve all their problems and at the same time reap both environmental and financial rewards. The 10-million euro project, which should be operational towards the end of 2009, is at the cutting edge of technology and consists of using a process of methanization to convert the waste into electricity which will then be sold to the EDF (French Electricity Board), and into heat which will be used locally.
Katherine Ford (26 June 2008 - Issue Number: 6)
Kentucky Downs - America's only European-style turf course
Working as a groom between his junior and senior years in college, Corey Johnsen wagered his entire week's salary on a horse in his care in hopes of earning his second-semester tuition. Decades later, Johnsen, now president and part owner of Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky, gambles on the success of a turf-only course accommodating shippers-only with just a six-day annual race meet. Will it be a winner? If uniqueness were a guarantee of success, Kentucky Downs, hard by the Tennessee border, would be a huge overlay. It is billed as the nation's only European-style turf course but General Manager John Goodman modifies this slightly and perhaps best expresses its essence: "It's English racing meets the county fair.
Ken Snyder (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
Is the Grass Greener? Investigating State Incentive Programs
When lifelong horsemen Nancy and Harvey Vanier were married in 1960, state racing programs were barely in the discussion phase.The concept of millions of dollars allocated specifically to and for horses bred or raced in a particular state was at least a decade away.The closest thing to an Illinois-bred was Nancy herself.
Caton Bredar (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)
Can fractures be predicted?
While catastrophic fractures are relatively rare - less than 2 percent
of all horses racing worldwide sustain them - they account for nearly 80
percent of racing-related fatalities. Even with advances in modern
veterinary medicine, fracture diagnosis can often be elusive. What if a
simple blood test could reveal a fracture or a predisposition to one
before it became a crisis?
Kimberly French (10 July 2008 - Issue 9)
Equine gastric ulcer syndrome
Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is an increasingly common problem
in the Thoroughbred racehorse, causing a range of symptoms from
depression to aggression, and often impacting negatively on performance.
Diagnosis is sometimes difficult, although there are methods by which
they can be swiftly identified and treated. Equine gastric ulcers are
graded on a scale of 0 to 4 where 4 is the most severe. A grade of 2 or
more is clinically significant and usually warrants treatment. The
primary objectives of treatment of equine gastric ulcers are to
facilitate healing and relieve symptoms. This can be accomplished by the
use of antacids, histamine receptor antagonists or acid pump
inhibitors. Ulcers are an issue - especially for racehorses- as they can
be a source of chronic pain, leading to reduced appetite, loss of
condition and sometimes colic. The clinical signs of the problem are
often intermittent, and can vary tremendously depending on the horse and
the types of discipline they compete in.
Rachel Queenborough (10 July 2008 - Issue 9)
At home with Tom Busteed in his "nursery" for young racehorses
When I visited Audra and Tom Busteed in Cork freak gales were ravaging the coastline. Tranquil was hardly the best word to use; yet down at the bottom of the steep four furlong woodchip gallop, set within a wooded glen, was a peaceful stream in which many a Cheltenham hero had paddled as it carried its first ever rider. Slow, calm, meandering; oblivious to the storm of the outside world. This is indeed the tranquil nursery of Tom Busteed, the master tutor of the horse.
Lissa Oliver (European Trainer - issue 22 - Summer 2008)
Are racecourses selling their customers?
The world has gone gambling mad, and perhaps it will hit us harder than most people anticipate in coming years. There is fierce competition out there, for the betting pound, the gambling euro and the wagering dollar. Therefore, this is not a good time for horseracing to lose its share of the gambling pot.
Geir Stabell (European Trainer - issue 22 - Summer 2008)