Jim Bolger - What he has achieved in racing and the thoroughbred breeding industry will never be replicated

By Daragh Ó Conchúir

Some interesting comments there from three behemoths of the racing and commercial bloodstock world that sum Jim Bolger up and though made in the past, they were emphasised once more in the present, by the exploits of Poetic Flare and Mac Swiney, and by risking the opprobrium of most of his training colleagues and the wider industry in claiming that doping is a serious problem in Ireland.

Coolmore titan, John Magnier referred to Bolger not being a mé féiner, which for our non-Gaelic speakers, is someone motivated only by self-interest. Bolger, he argued, had always had the best interests of the wider industry and people within it, at heart. Also, he was a straight shooter. 

Joe Osborne, MD of Godolphin Ireland, compared the Wexford native, who turned 80 on Christmas Day 2021, to Tesio and it was appropriate. There is no one else in racing now operating at the scale he does as someone who breeds so that he can race in numbers and quality. Unless the landscape of the industry alters significantly, there will never be another. Osborne spoke too of Bolger’s courage. 

And then there is the espousal by the man himself of the type of philosophy that doesn’t feature in too many self-help books. Don’t be afraid of doubling down if you think you are right, even if first impressions are that the initial call was an error or it went badly wrong on you. That is a testament to his self-belief. Some might call it stubbornness. Call it what you like, we know as a result of what he has built since starting off at Phoenix Park, that it can work – as long as you know what you’re doing.

Galileo, who died last year after a decade of dominance in the stallion stakes, wasn’t even a second thought for breeders until Bolger intervened. Some of that, of course, was necessity. He could not afford to access the commercially popular routes, so had to be creative.

The result was an unprecedented dominance by one stallion but even though he long since has been priced out of sending his mares to the Coolmore record breaker, the proud son of Oylegate was reaping the benefits still in 2021. 

Bolger bred and trained Teofilo to an unbeaten champion two-year-old career in 2006 before injury prevented the colt from attempting to translate that brilliance into classic glory. That success and the Irish Derby victory of Soldier Of Fortune, who also came into the world and was reared at Bolger’s Redmonstown Stud before being sold to Coolmore, rewarded the support of a sire whose first crop had failed to deliver. New Approach emerged from the third crop, out of Bolger’s first Champion Stakes winner Park Express, to be champion two- and three-year-old, emulating his sire to win the Epsom Derby.

Teofilo is the damsire of Mac Swiney, who followed up Group 1 success as a juvenile by edging out stablemate Poetic Flare in a thrilling renewal of the Irish 2000 Guineas last summer. Teofilo is also the sire of hugely impressive Ascot Gold Cup victor, Subjectivist, bred by Bolger too. Of course the now Coolcullen resident bred and trained Mac Swiney’s grand dam Speirbhean, and his dam Halla Na Saoire. 

It wasn’t just the backing of Galileo that marked Bolger’s outside-the-box thinking. See Mac Swiney’s pedigree for evidence of a lateral approach – the first Group 1 winner inbred to Galileo, in this instance, 2x3. It just isn’t the done thing but that wouldn’t ever put the man off. 

Last year he sold a Teofilo filly at Goffs who was 2x2 to Galileo and 3x3 to Danehill. To the non-pedigree gurus, that means Galileo is both her paternal and maternal grandsire, while both her grand dams by Danehill. It isn’t that the rule book wasn’t read, it’s just that the bits that didn’t add up to him have been ignored. And the results keep coming. 

Poetic Flare and Kevin Manning were effortless victors of the St James’s Palace Stakes

There would have been no Poetic Flare without that initial support of Galileo either. Again, the Newmarket 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner’s dam and grand dam, Maria Lee and Elida, were bred and trained by Bolger, but so was his sire, who had preceded him on both those rolls of honour. Dawn Approach, grandson of Galileo and Park Express, now stands at Bolger’s Redmonstown Stud.

There was a week in October 2020, when Bolger bred four juvenile stakes winners, two of them Group 1 winners, and he trained three of them, who ran in the colours of his wife Jackie.

When Poetic Flare prevailed in a ding-dong battle with Master Of The Seas at Newmarket last May, Bolger was the first since John Barnham Day in 1844 to breed, own and train the winner of the mile classic. It would have been eight years earlier only he sold Dawn Approach to Godolphin towards the end of the horse’s juvenile campaign. 

That places context on his training and breeding feats in 2021. That his 54-year-old son-in-law Kevin Manning was still in the plate, as strong as an ox in Newmarket, cool as a breeze at Royal Ascot, was surely the cherry on top of the cream. They have shared glory all over the world together. The trainer isn’t the only one of them for whom age is no barrier to attacking a day and any challenge that comes with it, with vigour.

Courage, conviction and he would argue, a sense of fair play for all, were behind his decision to speak out about his suspicion that doping is a major problem in Irish racing, initially in an interview in The Irish Field at the time of his spectacular breeding success in October 2020.

He discussed the issue in greater depth in interviews with Paul Kimmage in the Sunday Independent and in other interviews, in print and podcast, though some demanded more detail.

While there was some support from trainers, most notably Ger Lyons, Johnny Murtagh and Richard O’Brien, and a handful more that expressed such support below the radar, by and large, his peers were outraged.

He decided not to accept an invitation to appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee to look into the claims. That was prudent legally and while the Twitterati scream for names, you can know things and not be able to prove them. That failure to show or offer hard evidence has been interpreted by the majority within racing as meaning he has nothing and is engaging merely in “pub talk”, as Aidan O’Brien, his former assistant put it. The leadership of the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association, of which he is no longer a member, was more scathing.

The raid on a stud farm just outside Monasterevin is concerning however, though details remain sketchy, not least surrounding the identity of substances confiscated from John Warwick.

That a conversation began, that media outside racing media took an interest, that bodies outside of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Body took an interest, that measures to beef up dope-testing were beefed up considerably albeit that such measures had been mooted for some time, that the IHRB now faces inevitable changes of governance and structure as a result of recommendations for the Joint Oireachtas Committee that arose from his comments, will have pleased him.

But if there is doping, the cheats need to be rooted out. And if there isn’t, the system needs to be robust enough to ensure that there is confidence in this being the case. But Lance Armstrong passed 500 tests. Most forms of enforcement are reactive, the cheats, the criminals lead the way. 

Mac Swiney’s narrow success under Rory Cleary over Poetic Flare in the Irish 2000 Guineas represented a stunning imprimatur of the Bolger methodology

That’s where retrospective testing comes in and given the samples are kept, one hopes that this might happen. It is all for the benefit of the sport and business in the end. Bad publicity that might come from unearthing cheating is something to be proud of because it is something you can stand by. As Murtagh said, “The guns are out… This will be good for Irish racing.” 

Prior to the Irish Champion Stakes, Bolger told Johnny Ward, of this parish, in an interview in The 42 that what marked Poetic Flare out was talent and robustness. “I’ve trained nothing as hardy as him.”

Fashioned in his maker’s image, it seems. Completely durable. Suffice to say, in his four score years, the boss of Glebe House and Redmonstown Stud has left his mark and continues to do so. 

Nigel Tinkler - A Full Circle, or Full Steam Ahead?

By Mark Rowntree

Four decades have passed since a youthful Nigel Tinkler started training racehorses at Boltby, North Yorkshire. But the unbroken will to succeed through tried and tested methods burns stronger and brighter than ever.

The Tinklers have always been synonymous with success, with Nigel’s mother, Marie Delfosse, landing showjumping’s prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Wembley in 1953 prior to going on to forge a successful career as a point-to-point jockey. His father, Colin Sr, was raised in Nottingham, working as a stable employee to the North London-based Delfosse family before becoming a car dealer in Scarcroft (Leeds) and then a trainer. Older brother Colin Jr—father to jockeys Andrew and Nicky Tinkler—was also drawn to explore the family lifestyle of choice, namely training racehorses.

Nigel explains, “Basically, I knew nothing else other than horseracing from about the age of seven. Watching the Derby and the Grand National became like a drug to me, and my memory could easily chart the entire history of those great races. For the current generation of youngsters, history is often seen as less important than the present, even with the distinct advantage of Google or Wikipedia.”

Since 1666—instigated by King Charles II—the Newmarket Town Plate has been a similarly fiercely contested annual event. With the lure of a string of Newmarket sausages to the winner, Tinkler, then aged 12, first took to the saddle to compete over a demanding three-and three-quarter–mile circuit. Just over three years later, at Sedgefield on Boxing Day 1973, Nimble Joe became Tinkler’s first winner as a full-fledged jockey.

Tinkler went on to notch an impressive 200-plus winners in the saddle, but the lack of a steady income from riding gradually edged him closer toward the training ranks. Citing the frustration of being taken off horses on the biggest of all stages, he says, “I broke a few bones and all, but the main thing I broke was my heart. I probably did too well too early and wasn’t quite mature enough to deal with the bigger jobs. When I was younger, I was quite ignorant—a cocky bastard—although I did have a lot of enthusiasm to improve and learn.”

Initially Tinkler took over the training licence from his father, saddling his first winner over hurdles (Just Jet) at Wolverhampton in early November 1980, but it soon became clear that he needed his own space. 

“I decided to move into training and quite honestly thought that with a dozen or so horses, and if I gambled on them, I could earn as much in one day as in one year as a jockey. I didn’t view this as taking a punt; it was more akin to investing, and that’s how I set off as a trainer, buying the yard and building the stables.”

“The property at Langton (near Malton) was a market garden when I bought it for £49,000. I was told that I was crazy, but I couldn’t keep training from Boltby; my father was getting sick of me.”

“I looked at yards in Middleham and various other properties elsewhere, including the Camacho’s, Roger Fell’s and Malcolm Jefferson’s; but after a year or so of searching, I settled on Woodland Stables. I've never sought to move as I love northern racing; our local racecourses are a lovely way to spend a summer afternoon.”

Tinkler doesn’t seek to mask the fact that gambling played a pivotal role in developing and building the business. “In the early 1980s, I’d be having £2,000 on just four or five horses per year. It was very difficult to lose, and this helped me to build the yard. Ironically, I hardly bet nowadays.”

For the Tinklers, progress didn’t occur by chance. An insightful vision from Colin Sr—long before syndicate ownership was viewed as an acceptable form of ownership—led to the creation, rise and expansion of the Full Circle Syndicate.

“When I first started training, if someone called and said, ‘Can I have a half share in a horse?’, I’d say no, but please do come back when you can afford a full share. Frankly, I was doing alright before my father set up the Full Circle.”

“However, Full Circle provided the opportunity for anyone to buy a horse; my father was well before his time when you look back with Highclere, Middleham Park, Elite Racing and Ontoawinner—all among the current list of successful syndicate operators.”

Tinkler Sr faced an uphill battle in launching the Full Circle Syndicate, having firstly to go to the Jockey Club to seek a change in rules, which at that stage permitted only 12 individuals to own a horse. Shared ownership, even in quarter shares, was considered unusual, and he wanted to have 360 shareholders per horse: hence Full Circle. 

Nigel explains; “I said we’d get approximately 100 shareholders—at £450 per year—but after a Cheltenham Festival winner (The Ellier) and a Grand National third (Monamore), we ended up drawing in £13,000!”

Without a shadow of doubt, the rise of the Full Circle Syndicate captured the attention of those closely associated with racing, but perhaps more importantly also the imagination of the general public at large. Far from resting on his laurels, and as outlined by Tinkler Jr, Tinkler Sr was ever so swift in capitalising upon that initial success.

“My father ran a premium-rate tipping line adjacent to Full Circle and was soon receiving weekly dividends of £10,000. For clarity, the Full Circle shareholders had their own ordinary (non-premium rate) telephone number to call for private and confidential information.”

“In those days, before a bar was placed on such premium-rate services, people were simply going to work and calling the tipping line, or in some cases, the sex line! He’d say to me, ‘I’ve got terrible trouble with the phone line; can you give it a ring to check’? Thank you; that’s working fine, and another £2 goes straight into the coffers.”

Partly after stricter regulations were introduced on 0898-style phone numbers, the success and the allure of the Full Circle ebbed away until the syndicate eventually ceased to operate. Nevertheless, as Tinkler is keen to stress, Full Circle played a major role in changing the overall landscape of racehorse ownership.

“Times have certainly changed for the better; racing was once known as the sport of kings, but now it’s the sport for all. In 2022, a small share in a horse with Middleham Park Racing can have you standing in the paddock next to Her Majesty the Queen.”

For Tinkler, National Hunt Racing was always his first love, with horses such as The Ellier, Rodeo Star, Bank View, Sacre D’Or and Satin Lover propelling his training career forward at a rapid rate of knots. The Ellier (under Gee Armytage) took the Kim Muir Chase at the 1987 Cheltenham Festival, while a mere six year later, Sacre D’Or plundered the Mildmay of Flete over those same hallowed Prestbury Park fences.

Ironically, in 1991, it was the ill-fated State Jester for whom Tinkler harboured Cheltenham Festival aspirations. After a couple of years of searching for the perfect replacement, Sacre D’Or emerged. Tinkler recalls: “An owner with John Mackie was seeking funds, so Sacre D’Or became available prior to Cheltenham for £22,000. After viewing the horse, my owner said, ‘We’ll offer £20,000’; but I was adamant that for the purposes of luck we should offer the full asking price. When he went on to win the Mildmay of Flete, the first thing I said to my owner was that it’s a good job you gave the full £22,000!”

By the late 1980s, Tinkler was also beginning to make his mark as a flat trainer, even though by his own admission, and despite notching a combined total of nearly 80 winners (1988-89 season), he’d become a little blasé. “Looking back and being self-critical there was no reason to be running horses worth £15,000 in sellers. I’m totally different now, and I’ve never been as dedicated to training as I’ve been over the past few years.”

“I knew two years before I stopped training jumpers that the flat would eventually become my life. The type of horse that I was buying off the flat could only go so far over jumps. They’d win their novice hurdles and then a novice chase or two, but being flat-bred, they weren’t strong enough to sustain multiple seasons over obstacles.”

“To train jumpers, you’d need to aspire to be competing at Ascot, Cheltenham and Newbury, and unless you had £100,000 plus to spend on a single horse, it was very difficult to do that. For not a lot of money, I’ve had runners at Royal Ascot in addition to horses winning at most of the major flat festivals.”

“My horses have a nice, easy life which surprises some people as it’s not like my general attitude. When I’m with horses, a year is like a click of the finger. I’m lucky with loyal owners who basically throw me the rope, and say, ‘Look, just do whatever you think is best.’”

At a sprightly 36, Rodeo Star remains very much the boss of his plush retirement pad at nearby Wetherby. Bought from Sheikh Mohammed at the Newmarket Sales, and with Martin Pipe acting as underbidder, he was knocked down to Tinkler for £26,000. Tinkler speaks fondly of Rodeo Star.

“He won first time out for us at Newcastle before winning a Tote Gold trophy and a Chester Cup. We took him to Chester on the Monday prior to the race in midweek and worked him around the track under Nicky Carlisle. Immediately afterwards, I said, ‘Right, let’s go and celebrate him winning with a Bucks fizz and champagne breakfast.’ He was a good horse—a very good horse.”

Despite those vividly fond memories, Rodeo Star wasn’t the best horse to pass through Tinkler’s hands at Woodland Stables.

“Sugarfoot was the best horse I’ve ever trained. He won first time out at Ayr as a two-year-old before taking a break. I kicked James Lambie (of the Sporting Life) out of the pub one evening when he had the [audacity] to suggest that the horse must have an injury. I said, ‘He isn’t injured, but he’s our horse and we can do what the f**k we want with him.’

“We backed him each way to win a lot of money (at 40-1) in the 1998 Royal Hunt Cup. He finished fourth under Royston French, but had he been drawn on either side of the track he’d have won that race. He carried 7st 12lb there but was a proper group horse in the making.”

“The next summer he was 107-rated, and with York’s Bradford & Bingley being a 0-105, I rang up the handicapper and said, ‘Look, I’ve got a real problem here. The owner is very unwell (he sadly passed away the following year), and with a real lack of races in which to run, it would help enormously if I could have 2lb back from you in order to race at York.’ I called again from the gallops at 10am the following Tuesday; 105 [rating]. Result: I’d seen him working at home knowing full well that he was a 110-plus horse for the future, and the race at York was ours for the taking! With none other than Kieran Fallon booked to do the steering that afternoon, [he] gave his seriously ill owner such an immense thrill.”

Tinkler’s training methods have demonstrably stood the test of time, and despite recognising that he’s probably become “a little OCD”, that can only be attributable to a deep passion and enduring admiration for the racehorse.

He eludes, “When Ubettabelieveit went to the Breeders’ Cup, I took him, I rode him, I led him up. When I have a runner at Ascot, I’ll go and walk up with the horse from the stable yard. The other trainers staff know what I’m like, but I do think some of them have respect for what I do.”

“When the press approached me for interview straight after Acklam Express had finished second in Dubai, I said, ‘No, I must go and see the horse first.’ The horses are my best friends.”

As a man who has saddled well over 1,000 career winners, Tinkler acknowledges a certain element of change has occurred with regards the training of racehorses, but his spark and vigor for life continue to be fueled by searching for the highest possible level of performance from each individual horse within his care.

“With training nowadays, the big difference is that you can win a 0-60 handicap with an arm in a sling. When I first started training, you’d have a horse entered for a race a month before, and after he’d run, he’d have a few days break before selecting the next target. You trained every single horse to suit his or her individual needs.”

“Some will state that Martin Pipe revolutionised the training of racehorses, but when the five-day entry system was introduced, most started training their horses on a higher rev-counter. Horses are now usually fit and ready to race but, in my opinion, horses being trained on a higher rev-counter leads to more injuries and therefore a shorter racing career.”

“You can’t have a horse spot on for a race if you make the decision to compete only 48 hours before. It’s like making a Christmas lunch and saying we don’t know whether we’re going to eat on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day or a week later.”

It is testament to Tinkler, that although driven firmly by the strength of his own convictions, he seeks to heap praise upon those to whom he is closest, stating, “I wouldn’t swap my staff.”

“My secretary Samantha (Mark Birch’s daughter) has been with me for 28 years. Helen Warrington has been with me for 22 years. She’s one of the main work riders. My wife Kim—I probably should’ve mentioned her first—rides out four or five lots every single day, and I’d be lost without her.”

“Kim and Helen feed off each other, and I’m just there to pick up the pieces. They train the horses as much as I do. It’s not Nigel—it’s the whole unit.”

Despite such praise, Tinkler is vociferous in expressing his opposition to the recent introduction of joint licences in Britain. “I don’t believe in joint licences, and in any case, I’d have to have the entire team listed as the trainer. How far down the line do you go?”

“If ever you were to get into trouble, how do you penalise or suspend two people? A single-named person must be held accountable. A lot of the time owners don’t like to have horses with people who are older than themselves, so perhaps this is a reason for the greater involvement of the younger generation (i.e., Mark and Charlie Johnston).”

Wife Kim is a qualified jockey coach—a form of mentoring, which had it been available in the early 1980s, Nigel believes it may have prolonged his riding career. Kim is a massive influence behind the scenes at Langton.

“Kim coaches our jockeys, and it’s down to her that our riders have finesse. She not only focuses on their riding style, but also advises on their diet and way of life.”

“Many people think that Kim was lucky because she was small and light, but she was only light because she controlled her diet and exercised properly. At 18, she got to 9st 2lb, but by the time she reached 20, her regular riding weight was 7st. That didn’t happen without a fair bit of effort! She was a dedicated rider (the leading female jockey), and she rode us many, many winners.”

“Jockeys have always had a problem with weight. It hasn’t suddenly become an issue, and it always will be an issue. Wherever you place the line, there’ll be a jockey struggling to make the weight.”

Even in the days when female jockeys were under-represented in the sport, Tinkler recognised added value and was willing to offer competent riders mounts. He explains: “My mother was a jockey; she was leading amateur a couple of times, and I soon realised she had a lot of ability and that horses ran for her. I think the horses like the girls, and some ride a good race and are conscientious.”

Harking right back to the Graham McCourt era, a stable jockey has always been viewed as a necessity to Tinkler. “Graham’s determination to win was simply unbelievable—far exceeds any other jockey that I’ve had riding my horses since. He was so strong that he won on horses that shouldn’t have won.”

Hawick native Rowan Scott, described as being “very chilled”, is the current stable jockey at Langton. Tinkler says, “Rowan is a natural horseman, and it makes no difference to him whether he’s riding in a Gp2 in Dubai or a seller at Redcar. He finds it very easy to ride horses as he’s such a natural.”

Understudy to Scott is the bubbly Lancastrian Faye McManoman, who has flourished with an increased exposure to professional race-riding and the ongoing support offered by jockey coach Kim. 

“When a horse comes home after, say, Faye McManoman has ridden them, they’ll usually eat their dinner. Often under more forceful handling, horses can come home and sulk. It’s no problem if a jockey (male or female) is less forceful than a counterpart, so long as there is consistency. The important thing is the horses enjoy their race.”

“When Faye first started riding, she was very moderate. She has worked her socks off to improve. She now rides a good race, and her percentage of winners for the quality of horses she rides is solid.”

“For most races, I’m more than happy for Faye to ride, and the owners love her. In truth, I’m very easy to ride for as long as you try to do it my way. It’s not difficult.”

Tinkler is a hearty advocate of placing a supporting arm around an individual in times of need, but he equally craves strong and rigid leadership from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). Discussing a recent high-profile disciplinary case, Tinkler says; “To think that a jockey fails a breathalyser test in May, but the case isn’t heard until the following February isn’t good enough for the individual concerned, the other jockeys that are riding or indeed the horses competing in those races.”

“It’s not a greatly expensive job to test riders daily. The BHA are testing a few horses per day on a racecourse, and if a horse is unable to produce a simple urine sample, the costs incurred are significant. Given the amount spent on testing those horses, and without having a go at anyone at all, a jockey who is known to have an issue should be tested daily until the authorities are satisfied those issues have been resolved.”

“It’s basically common sense that we should be testing jockeys more often. Plenty of jockeys have needed support in the past, and plenty will continue to do so in the future, but we can’t have the situation where riders are competing under the influence of alcohol, drugs or whatever.”

So, what of the future for a resurgent Tinkler?

“I’d been doing okay training 20 or so winners per year until I got a contact in Hong Kong which resulted in me shifting the emphasis to selling some of the better horses before they’d raced. Obviously, I was doing very nicely out of selling these horses abroad, but some people began to question my skills as a trainer as the total number of winners fell. I addressed that, and the winners have flowed again in recent years. 2021 was my best tally on the flat (41 winners), and as a result, I’ve gained more and more new clients. It’s all snowballed.”

Ubettabelieveit (centre, red cap) was Nigel’s first runner at the Breeders’ Cup and finished third to Golden Pal in the 2020 Juvenille Turf Sprint

“In 2020, we were lucky to buy Ubettabelieveit because in an ordinary year he’d have gone to the breeze-ups, but given the COVID situation, the vendors were in a difficult spot in that they didn’t know what was going to happen. There were two horses that we liked, and I didn’t know which one to pick, so I rode them both myself and chose Ubettabelieveit, which turned out not to have been a difficult decision!”

“It wasn’t easy for us getting into America to see Ubettabelieveit compete at the Breeders’ Cup. We had to change flights in Atlanta, and the customs officer wouldn’t let me proceed. So I asked Max Pimlott [International Racing Bureau] to pass the papers, which stated I was the trainer.”

He said, “We’re in Atlanta; I don’t think anyone will be bothered about what is happening in Kentucky!”

“During the coronavirus pandemic, you couldn’t simply walk in the United States. I was placed in a room for over an hour while all the paperwork was checked and double-checked.” 

“The Breeders’ Cup was a brilliant experience though, and Kentucky is simply out of this world. If you had three or four lives, you’d have one of those in Kentucky.”

With an evident sparkle in his eye, and a glowing smile across his face, Tinkler offers a typically frank and forthright assessment of current stable star Acklam Express: “We knew his three-year-old season would be difficult, so we thought we’d be better off running during the winter. At his age, we knew that facing the top sprinters would be like banging his head against a brick wall.”

“He did run a good race in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot (10th), but we thought, Where are we going to take him next? He needed a little time off to mature, so we took him to Cliff Stud (Helmsley) and turned him out with a view to running in three races at Meydan in early 2022. After that, we’ll certainly think about running him in the United Kingdom during the summer—with the King’s Stand a possible starting point. But we won’t make any firm decisions until the end of April.”

As Tinkler’s playful mind turns to a second or third life somewhere exotic (prior to Kentucky), he also acknowledges the long-standing haven of Malton, North Yorkshire as home away from home. With ambitious local trainers Brian Ellison and Julie Camacho equally instrumental to the ongoing improvements at a shared gallop, and with first-class facilities already on offer at Woodland Stables, the future for any prospective Nigel Tinkler inmate remains rosy.

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The story of Never Say Die

By James C. Nicholson

The first Kentucky-bred winner of the Epsom Derby would earn a place in Thoroughbred racing lore and even played a small role in the early history of the most successful musical group of the twentieth century. But he nearly didn’t survive his first night of life. 

In late March 1951, John Bell and his wife returned from a night out to find that a new foal had arrived at their leased acreage outside Lexington. Its mother, an undersized daughter of American Triple Crown winner War Admiral named Singing Grass, was exhausted, as was the barn foreman who had helped her with a difficult delivery. 

Never Say Die

The unusually large chestnut colt, by Irish-bred stallion Nasrullah, was having trouble breathing as he lay beside his mother. His right foreleg was tucked awkwardly under his body. Concerned that the newborn might not make it, Bell retrieved a bottle of bourbon whiskey from a desk in the tack room. He took a quick nip for himself and poured the rest of the bottle’s contents down the throat of the struggling foal. The elixir revived the woozy colt, which, fittingly, would be named Never Say Die. 

After being taught to carry a rider by Bell and his Jonabell Stables team, the colt was sent to the Newmarket training yard of seventy-two-year-old conditioner Joe Lawson, who had twice been British flat racing’s Champion Trainer, and had captured most of England’s top races, but for whom the Derby had proven elusive. The colt’s owner, Robert Sterling Clark, heir to the Singer Sewing Machine Company fortune, split his horses between Lawson and another trainer named Harry Peacock. Peacock had won a coin flip to determine which man would receive first choice of Clark’s horses that year. Though he liked the look of Never Say Die, he was not interested in training a son of Nasrullah. Nasrullah was well on his way to one of the most outstanding stud careers in history, but the memory of the stallion’s inability to run to his potential because of temperamental idiosyncrasies was still fresh for many British horsemen. 

Never Say Die had been a gangly foal, but he filled out to become a lovely, compact, balanced young colt with a slightly better disposition than that of his notorious sire. Though he never displayed the mental peculiarities on the racetrack that Nasrullah had, Never Say Die did develop a reputation for moodiness and difficulty among the humans that cared for him. 

A turf writer for the Daily Express observed that Never Say Die had “an excellent, strong, straight pair of hind legs, even if the joints appear to be somewhat rounded. The captious critics might say that he is over-long of his back. Undoubtedly his best points lie in front of the saddle. There is a rhythmical quality about the set of his neck, shoulder, and powerful forearm which is carried down through the flat knees to a hard, clean underpinning.” The handsome colt’s most notable feature was a prominent white blaze that ran the length of his head—from above his eyes to the tip of his nose.  

After some encouraging performances as a two-year-old, including a win in the six-furlong Rosslyn Stakes at Ascot and a third-place finish in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood, Lawson held guarded hope for Never Say Die at three, and believed a talented young rider named Lester Piggott would help the American colt reach his potential. 

John A. Bell III at Jonabell Farm. Never Say Die’s success helped Bell establish Jonabell Farm as one of the leading Thoroughbred operations in America

If anyone was ever destined to become a jockey, it was Lester Keith Piggott, born in 1935 on Guy Fawkes Day in Oxfordshire. The branches of Piggott’s family tree were littered with jockeys and equestrians, dating back to the 1700s. His grandfather Ernie Piggott had won the Grand National three times as a jockey. Lester’s grandmother came from a long line of riders that included her two Derby-winning brothers. Lester’s father, Keith, was a successful jockey, winning five hundred races over a thirty-year career, before becoming a champion trainer of jumpers. Lester’s mother, Iris, also descended from a long line of top-notch jockeys and trainers and was an accomplished rider in her own right. 

Lawson took his time with Never Say Die early in his three-year-old season. With eighteen-year-old Piggott in the irons, the colt began the year with a respectable second-place finish in the Union Jack Stakes at Aintree. He regressed next time out, starting slowly in the seven-furlong Free Handicap at Newmarket, and never factoring in the race. But when stretched out in distance two weeks later for the Newmarket Stakes, Never Say Die gave a performance good enough to convince his owner to give him a shot in the Derby. Though he had tired in the late stages to finish third, he was beaten just a half-length and a head in the ten-furlong test.

Piggott had chosen to ride at Bath that day, and Lawson was inclined to remove him from the Derby-bound colt for his disloyalty. Fortunately for Piggott, the trainer’s first three choices to replace him already had Derby mounts. With the “boy wonder of the turf” again aboard, Never Say Die joined twenty-one rivals on a chilly and damp afternoon at the starting line for the 175th running of the Epsom Derby. Top contenders included Darius, the Two Thousand Guineas victor; Rowston Manor, winner of the Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield; and the Queen’s colt, Landau. Bookmakers listed Never Say Die as a 33 to 1 long shot. His odds would have been even higher but for the popularity of his young rider and the charm of the colt’s name.    

Never Say Die was away quickly from the starting barrier and fell in just behind the first group of front-runners in the early going. He maintained his position, clear of trouble, into Tattenham Corner. Rounding the final turn, Piggott bided time, well off the rail and just behind Rowston Manor, Landau, and Darius. Early in the final straight he eased his mount to the outside. Passing tiring rivals, Never Say Die roared to the front in mid-stretch and strode on for a two-length win, to the astonishment of hundreds of thousands in attendance and millions listening to the BBC radio broadcast. 

With his colt’s Derby conquest, Sterling Clark became the first American owner to win the renowned race with an American horse that he bred himself. In the Derby’s long history there had been only one American-born horse to win—Pennsylvania-bred Iroquois, in 1881. No horse born in Kentucky, the commercial breeding center of the American Thoroughbred industry, had ever won the British Classic.  

American horsemen were overjoyed. In The Thoroughbred Record, a Kentucky-based weekly publication, columnist Frank Jennings noted that, prior to Never Say Die’s victory, “repeated failure on the part of Americans in the English Derby not only was becoming monotonous but was downright discouraging. Men of less determination and means than Mr. Clark gradually had become reconciled to the idea that a score in the big race at Epsom was virtually impossible with a colt bred and raised on this side of the Atlantic. Never Say Die did a great deal toward changing this thought and at the same time [demonstrated] that American bloodlines, when properly blended with those of foreign lands, can hold their own in the top company of the world.”

The seventy-six-year-old Clark had lived a remarkable life. He had served as a U.S. Army officer during the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion, led a research expedition through rural Asia, and built one of the finest private collections of European painting masterpieces in the world. In his later years, he created the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute near the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. But nothing provided him greater satisfaction than that historic Derby triumph.  

Clark learned the race result via telephone. The winning owner was in a New Your City hospital, having chosen not to postpone some scheduled tests. But he was often reluctant to attend the races even when circumstances did not preclude his presence. Large race day crowds made him nervous. 

An impromptu champagne celebration was organized in the hospital room, and Clark proposed a series of toasts. A small group of friends and family first drank to Piggott and Lawson. Then they saluted Bell, the young Kentucky horseman whose fast thinking had helped the Derby champion survive his first night and at whose Jonabell Farm the colt was raised and introduced to a saddle. For Bell, born into a wealthy Pittsburgh family that lost its banking and coal fortune amidst scandal when he was still a child, Never Say Die’s Derby score provided a vital piece of early publicity for his fledgling equine operation that would eventually become one of the most respected in the world and, following a 2001 sale to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, home to Darley’s North American stallions. 

In Liverpool, two hundred thirty miles northwest of Epsom, a middle-class housewife named Mona Best listened to the BBC broadcast of the Derby on the family radio. When the results were announced, she jumped for joy. Mona had pawned her jewelry to finance a bet on Never Say Die because she fancied his name. With her winnings, she put a down payment on the house she had long admired, a large fifteen-room Victorian at 8 Hayman’s Green in the West Derby section of Liverpool.  

Before it was fixed up, children called it “Dracula’s Castle.”  But it had an unusually spacious cellar where, after renovations, Mona opened the Casbah Coffee Club as a place where her son Pete and his friends could congregate. The idea proved much more popular with the neighborhood youth than she had imagined, however, and soon the club had a thousand members who paid an annual fee of 12 ½ pence. 

A group of teenaged musicians called the Quarrymen played the opening night in late August 1959, after helping to paint the walls and the ceilings that summer. Their set included American rock n roll favorites such as Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” and Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.” The group’s name was a nod to Quarry Bank High School, which their lead singer, John Lennon, had attended. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ken Brown rounded out the lineup.  

Mona was sufficiently impressed with the four guitarists to offer them a weekly engagement at the Casbah. Their compensation was to be three pounds cash, and all the Coca-Cola and crisps that the boys could consume. Soon the young musicians dropped Brown, changed their name to the Beatles, and were looking for a drummer to join them for an extended booking in Germany. Pete became the Beatles’ first regular drummer and played with the band for two years, including their three formative stints in Hamburg, before being replaced by Ringo Starr at the precipice of international celebrity.   

Whereas the Beatles were four lads from Liverpool who took America by storm with music that had distinctly American roots, Never Say Die was an American-born horse with a pedigree dominated by European influence that won England’s greatest horse race. Although Never Say Die’s Derby victory did not have the immediate impact on Thoroughbred racing that the Beatles had on western culture, his win at Epsom in 1954 was an important signal of change that had been taking place for decades. Vast fortunes with roots in the American industrial expansion of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries had made it possible for wealthy Americans and their heirs to purchase many of Europe’s top Thoroughbreds from their aristocratic owners and import them to America for breeding purposes. By the 1970s, American racehorses produced from those European bloodlines would be winning Europe’s top races with some regularity, and with lasting ramifications for the international Thoroughbred industry.          

Spain back in the Black Type big time new policy offers hope for other ‘smaller’ racing nations

La Zarzuela racecourse, Madrid

By Dr Paull Khan

This year’s winner and placed horses in the Gran Premio de Madrid—run on Saturday, June 25th at Madrid’s La Zarzuela racetrack—will qualify for ‘black type’ in sales catalogues. This follows a decision by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) to approve a new ‘flagship race’ scheme designed to give ‘emerging’ EMHF racing nations a leg up in their quest for international recognition of their best races.

When news of the decision broke, the deadline for entries for this historical race—run on turf for three-year-olds and up, over 2,500 metres with a prize fund of €68,000—was days away. So, the track extended the deadline by a few days, while its new status was publicised. This paid dividends, with two additional entries received from Great Britain and France. There is still ‘room at the inn’, there being a Supplementary Entry stage on June 20th. 

La Zarzuela’s director-general, Alvaro Gutierrez

La Zarzuela’s director-general, Alvaro Gutierrez, gave his reaction to the development: “For La Zarzuela, who have just celebrated 80 years since opening, and for the whole Spanish horseracing industry—to get back a Black Type race means a lot. We have been working over recent years to be more international and develop our races in quality and level. We have very good tracks and very good professionals that demonstrate, whenever they compete abroad, the quality of our horses. Our local Category A races are really well-situated in prize money terms. We deserve to be recognised by IFHA again with a Black Type race—it will help us to continue developing and improving our horse racing program.”

The Spanish Jockey Club’s Paulino Ojanguren, an EMHF executive council member, agrees: “Black Type races mean good horses, good trainers and good jockeys; and that is what people want to see at the racetrack. A race like the Gran Premio de Madrid is a very good reason to attend the meeting and also a reward for everybody who has been involved in horse racing during the last difficult years.”

La Zarzuela is certainly a striking racecourse. Its signature ‘rippled’ grandstand roof, designed way back in the 1930s by pioneering structural engineer Eduardo Torroja, seems to float almost weightlessly above you. But how does its grass track ride?

“La Zarzuela is one of the most beautiful racetracks in Europe”, says Gutierrez. “It is a monument in its own right, which is in the running for World Heritage by UNESCO on the strength of its architecture and legacy. Also, the facilities are really good and the turf track always has the best of care. Horses here need to be fast because the pace normally is strong, they normally need to be suited by fast ground and to be tough, as the 3-furlong final straight is demanding, with the last furlong uphill. So, in essence, quality horses appreciate our racetrack.

“In 2020, before COVID started, we organised an international female jockeys championship and the feedback from jockeys and trainers was universally really good about our facilities and organisation. Prize money payments are made within 21 days. That’s why we have been visited in recent years by international horses and trainers, such as: Carlos Laffon-Parias, Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez, Christophe Ferland, Andrew Balding, Ed Dunlop, Jean-Laurent Dubord and Nicolas Caullery.”

So, what exactly is this ‘flagship race’ policy, how did it come about and what does it mean for other smaller European racing nations? 

Jason Morris

Europe has long led the way when it comes to the quality control of its pattern. It laudably applies the rules by which races are designated Group I, II or III or Listed with a strictness that is unparalleled around the world. But there has long been the feeling that, for those countries without Black Type races, this makes entry into the Black Type ‘club’ unduly difficult. In recent years, the EMHF has been inching closer to finding a proposal that ‘squares this circle’ to the EPC’s approval. It was Jason Morris, racing director at Horse Racing Ireland and newly appointed chair of the EPC, who came up with the formula which got the idea over the line and met with unanimous EPC support. He explains:

“The EPC supported a proposal from Ireland to take supportive action for the development of racing in the smaller EMHF racing nations. Growing the importance of racing in more EMHF countries will potentially produce political, promotional and commercial benefits for the industry throughout Europe. Helping to stimulate interest in racing in more European countries, improving the quality and standards of the racing and breeding industries within a broader swathe of the EMHF, growing potential export and ownership markets, and encouraging greater international participation and political recognition are all potential benefits.”

“Leading the way in quality control will remain the EPC’s strong ambition. However, pushing for that objective should not prevent us from assisting the development of the smaller EMHF countries. So, in order to move forwards, the EPC agreed to adopt a more liberal approach and agree to a lower Listed rating requirement on the basis that this would only apply to one race per smaller country.”

The full criteria are these:

• An emerging country must adhere to basic EMHF-defined administration/integrity standards and be a member of the EMHF.

• A maximum of one qualifying race is permitted per emerging country which qualifies on the basis of a lower rating parameter/tolerance level.

• This lower parameter/tolerance level is 5 lbs below the normal Listed race levels (i.e., 95 lbs, rather than 100 lbs, with the exception of fillies/mares and two-year-old races, where the thresholds are lower). 

• A race from an emerging country must have achieved this required (lower) rating at least twice in the past three years, meaning that races must have been run at least twice. 

• The race’s prize fund must be a minimum of €50,000.

• A qualifying race is given three years to establish itself before being subject to review and could be downgraded if falling below the lower ‘exceptional’ parameter/tolerance level thereafter (with the general principle being that it must either achieve the 5-lb lower average race rating over three years or the annual rating in two years out of the three renewals).

• If a country wishes to seek Listed status for more than one race or Group status for any race, all Black Type races from that country must meet the full normal rating parameters; and the country would then become an associate member of the European Pattern Committee.

Trainers can thus get a good handle on the likely winnability of these Black Type races from knowing that the average rating of the first four home over recent renewals will have been between 95 and 100.

“An aspiration for the EPC”, Morris continues, “would be that the award of Listed status to one race would serve as a catalyst to improve their race programme and horse population, hopefully propelling them to become associate members in time (allowing more than one race to achieve Listed status if reaching the standard rating parameters).”

No fewer than five countries made applications under the new scheme, despite having only a few weeks in which to do so. In this, the first year, Spain was the only country whose chosen race rated highly enough, but it is our strong hope that, with more time in which to plan, other countries will be successful in the future.

“It is very pleasing that Spain has already been able to achieve the required level for Listed status to be awarded to the Gran Premio de Madrid and that several other countries were keen to put forward races, which will hopefully qualify for future consideration. The EPC will work with the respective rating authorities on trying to standardise their rating file levels with European norms to facilitate future evaluations.”

“An emerging country with aspirations for a race to be awarded Listed status by the EPC, but not yet achieving the rating requirements, will hopefully take encouragement to target the key race(s) within their jurisdiction for the future with enhanced prize money and promotion to boost the quality of the races. For races in an emerging country to be successful, strong communication of the opportunities internationally and incentives to encourage high quality overseas participation will be important.”  

This European scheme could form a blueprint for the development of smaller racing nations in other regions of the globe. Your correspondent represents emerging countries on the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ Executive Council, and discussions with counterpart ‘ExCo’ member for the Asian Racing Federation, Bruce Sherwin of New Zealand, have revealed an interest in its adoption in Asia as well.

Racecourse Fracture Support System

By Ian Wright

Figure 1: The fracture support system is provided in two mobile impact-resistant carrying boxes that protect the equipment and allow it to be checked before racing. All boots and splints are permanently labelled with individual racecourse identification to ensure return of equipment that may have left the racecourse. 

The year 2022 heralds a major step forward in racehorse welfare and a world first for British racecourses. With a generous grant from the Racing Foundation and additional support from the RCA, ARVS and NTF, all British racecourses are to be provided with fracture support systems (Figure 1). These consist of two compression boots and two flexion splints—both for use in the forelimbs—and a set of aluminium modular adjustable splints. One size of each compression boot and flexion splint fits the majority of flat racehorses and the other larger jump racehorses. Together, these provide appropriate rigid external support for the vast majority of limb fractures that occur during racing. The general principles are that management of all fractures is optimised by applying rapid and appropriate support to provide stability, reduce pain and relieve anxiety. 

In the last 25 years, there have been major improvements in fracture treatment due to significant advances in surgical techniques (particularly with internal fixation), minimally invasive approaches (arthroscopy) and the use of computed tomography (CT). Arthroscopy and CT allow accurate mapping and alignment of fractures, which is important for all horses and critical for athletic soundness. All have contributed to improving survival rates; and it is now safe to say that with correct care, the vast majority of horses that sustain fractures in racing can be saved. Equally importantly, many can also return to full athletic function including racing. 

Fracture incidences and locations vary geographically and are influenced by race types, track surfaces and conditions. There is good evidence that the majority of non-fall–related fractures (i.e., those occurring in flat racing and between obstacles in jump racing) are caused by bone fatigue. This is precipitated by the absolute loads applied to a bone, their speed/frequency and the direction of force application. As seen with stress or fatigue, failure in other high-performance working materials such as aeroplanes or formula one cars—in which applied forces are relatively consistent—fractures in racehorse bones occur at common sites, in particular configurations and follow similar courses. Once the fracture location has been identified, means of counteracting forces that distract (separate) the bone parts can therefore be reliably predicted and countered. 

Worldwide, the single most common racing fracture is that of the metacarpal/metatarsal condyles (condylar fracture). In Europe, the second most common fracture is a sagittal/parasagittal fracture of the proximal phalanx (split pastern). Both are most frequent in the forelimbs. In the United States, particularly when racing on dirt, fractures of the proximal sesamoid bones (almost always in the forelimbs) are the most common reason for on-course euthanasia. They occur less frequently when racing on turf but are seen at increased frequency on all-weather surfaces in the UK. 

There is no specific data documenting outcomes of horses with sustained fractures on racecourses. However, there is solid data for the two commonest racing injuries. The figures below are a meta-analysis of published data worldwide.

CONDYLAR FRACTURES

• Repaired incomplete fractures; 80% returned to racing

• Complete non-displaced fractures; 66% of repaired fractures returned to racing

• Displaced fractures; 51% raced following repair

• Propagating fractures; 40% raced following repair

SPLIT PASTERN

• Short incomplete fractures; 65% returned to racing

• Long incomplete fractures; 61% returned to racing

• Complete fractures; 51% returned to racing

• Comminuted fractures in most circumstances end racing careers but with appropriate support and surgical repair, many horses can be saved. There is only one comprehensive series of 64 cases in the literature of which 45 (70%) of treated cases survived. 

Figure 2: Newmarket Compression Boot.

The science behind the development of fracture support systems comes from two directions. The first is data collected from racecourse injuries and the second, improved understanding of fracture courses and behaviour. Data collected from UK flat racecourses between 2000 and 2013 demonstrated that 66% of fractures occurred in the lower limb (from knee and hock down); and of that, over 50% of fractures involved the fetlock joints. Condylar fractures are most common, representing 27% of all reported fractures; and of these, approximately two-thirds occurred in the forelimbs. Split pasterns were the second most common, accounting for 19% of all fractures with three quarters of these occurring in the forelimbs. These fractures have predictable planes and courses which means that once recognised, they can effectively be immobilised in a standard manner that is optimal for each fracture type. For condylar fractures and split pasterns, this principally involves extension of the fetlock joint. By contrast, in order to preserve soft tissues and blood supply to the lower limb, fractures of the sesamoid bones (which represent 7% of recorded fractures in UK flat racing) require fetlock flexion. 

Figure 3: Compression boot fitted to a horse with a condylar fracture, allowing safe comfortable movement.

The compression boot (Figure 2) is readily applied “trackside” and can be used to stabilise most distal forelimb fractures sufficiently for horses to be moved off of the course. It is the temporary immobilisation of choice for forelimb condylar fractures and split pasterns (Figure 3). Radiographs can be taken with the boot in place (Figure 4), and this can be maintained for transport. The boot is a rigid construct of fibreglass made from a single mould. The divided front portion is contiguous with a foot plate on which the back of the boot is hinged. Removable foot inserts are provided to make minor adjustments for hoof size. The boot is lined with foam rubber and has a rubber sole plate, which protects the shell and provides a cushion grip for the foot. When the boot is opened, the injured limb is placed into the front of the boot while the back is closed and secured by sequential adjustment of ski boot clips. When the boot edges are opposed (it cannot be over-tightened), immobilisation is secure. It is made with a fixed fetlock angle of 150o which counteracts distracting forces and allows horses to weight-bear and load the limb to walk. 

Figure 4: X-ray of horse with a condylar fracture (arrows) taken with a compression boot fitted.

Figure 5: a & b) Fitted flexion splint. c & d)  X-rays of horse with bilateral sesamoid fractures taken before (c) and after (d) fitting a flexion splint, correcting hyperextension (dropping) of the fetlock and closing the fracture gap.

Flexion splints (Figure 5) are critical for the survival of horses with breakdown injuries such as sesamoid fractures. They are also suitable for other lower limb injuries, which are supported by fetlock and pastern flexion. The splints are made of aluminium with a secure footplate and conjoined foam-lined front splint, which is angled at 30o at the level of the coffin joint and extends to the top of the cannon. There is a shallow foam-covered concavity in which the upper cannon sits, allowing the horse to lean into the splint and load the leg while flexed. The splint is secured to the leg with nylon and Velcro straps. 

The aluminium splints (Figure 6) are lightweight, adjustable and modular to fit individual horse and regional needs. They are spring-locked and light but rigid, secure and are tolerated well. In the hindlimb, the reciprocal apparatus that combines stifle, hock and fetlock joint positions precludes use of a compression boot. However, modular splints provide rigid support for condylar fractures and split pasterns in hindlimbs and are secured over a bandage to create a parallel sided tube, on the inside and outside of the limb. The splints can also be adjusted and assembled to splint fractures that occur less commonly above the fetlock (Figure 7). 

Figure 6: Adjustable aluminium splints and application to a hindlimb to splint a condylar fracture.

Figure 7: Modular use of aluminium splint suitable for splinting (a & b) knee and (c) forearm fractures.

Appropriate immobilisation effectively stops fracture progression (i.e,. getting worse), which not only improves the horse's prospects for recovery but also provides effective relief from pain and anxiety. As flight animals, loss of limb control or function is a major contributor to stress. The relief provided by effective immobilisation is substantially greater than provided by any pain killer or sedative. It is also recognised that when fractures occur in the high adrenalin environment of racing, horses exhibit latent pain syndrome. Application of appropriate rigid support at this time (i.e., on the course) limits pain generation and allows humane movement for considered evaluation, X-ray, etc. away from the racetrack. 

Techniques for application of the boots and splints are taught to racecourse veterinary surgeons at annual seminars facilitated by the Association of Racecourse Veterinary Surgeons (ARVS). The RCA has provided forms to record use and to collect data centrally which, in the fullness of time, will determine impact and help guide future welfare strategies. The equipment is currently being rolled out and will be available at all British racecourses at the start of the 2022 flat race season. 

The initiative has been widely welcomed by the industry. “This new equipment will provide the best possible chance for an injury to be properly assessed while discomfort to the horse is significantly reduced [to] give the best chance of future rehabilitation.” Caroline Davies, RCA Racecourse Services Director.

“The fracture support kit is a major advance in the treatment of horses on the racetrack. It allows immediate effective support to be applied to an injured horse, resulting in pain control and stability, facilitating safe transport from the racecourse to a centre of excellence without risk of exacerbating the injury. This will optimise the chance of horses to return to athletic function. This innovation must be seen as a major step forward in horse welfare for the participants in racing and all other equine disciplines.” Simon Knapp, Horse Welfare Board

“As a clerk of the course, my number-one priority is the safety of the horses and riders who participate in racing, and we constantly seek ways to improve in that area. The equine fracture support kits are an excellent addition to the equipment available to racecourse veterinary teams and a vital step forward in horse welfare. It is so important for both the immediate comfort and long-term prognosis of a horse who suffers a fracture that the injury is immobilised, and the fracture support kits provide that stability quickly and effectively.” Andrew Cooper, Clerk of the Course, Sandown Park and Epsom Downs

“The introduction of these boots and splints to all racecourses in Great Britain represents a major advancement for the welfare of racehorses. This demonstrates the collective desire of all the sports participants to show to a wider society the ambition to continually improve racehorse welfare.” James Given, BHA Director of Equine Health and Welfare

“The importance of the fracture support kits cannot be overstated. In providing stability and support, it gives horses the best possible chance of recovery.” Emma Lavelle, NTF President

“I have no doubt that in time no racecourse in the world which purports to take equine welfare seriously will be without a set of fracture support kits.” Marcus Armytage, Daily Telegraph

Have horse, why travel?

Alpinista with Luke Morris wins the Longines 131.Grossen Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten racecourse, 2021

By Lissa Oliver

It used to be a case of “have horse, will travel” for some globetrotting trainers, when internationally renowned races and global competition could really put them, and their horse, on the map. We didn’t know how good the southern hemisphere sprinters were until they arrived at Ascot; and we didn’t know how good the European middle-distance and staying horses were until they travelled to Australia or were exported to Hong Kong. Now we’re seeing Japanese horses as a force to be reckoned with, and they’re not travelling for prize money. The big stage establishes the big player.

But still, global competition was only for the big players and stardom was the attraction, not money. The Gp. 1 champions competing abroad had earned their airfare already. Those below simply couldn’t afford to travel to take them on.

With the two recent problems—the global pandemic and the more localised Brexit—travel should have become harder and, indeed, we’ve seen from past pages here that travel between France, Ireland and Britain—the busiest thoroughbred routes—has decreased quite significantly as a result.

For many trainers, however, those problems have not been a deterrent. The lucrative prizes abroad are worth the added effort and paperwork to plunder. Whether there are smaller yards trying to target better prize money to pay their way or owners seeking black type for their horses, a more flexible approach to the programme can pay dividends—especially for those who think out of the box and look further afield or to lesser-known countries.

Sir Mark Prescott is a prime example of using the European race programme to enhance the stud value of his horses. He is already synonymous with working backwards from a big handicap target to ensure the most efficient and beneficial preparation possible. Now he is transferring those tactics to target what might be perceived as Europe’s less competitive Gp. 1 races.

The race of the season in 2021 turned out to be at Hoppegarten at the beginning of August when Alpinista won the Gp. 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin for Sir Mark Prescott and owner-breeder Miss Kirsten Rausing, winning €106,900 as well as enhanced black type.

More interestingly, finishing second that afternoon was Torquator Tasso, trained by Marcel Weiss. And we all know what he did next, taking the Gp. 1 Grosser Preis von Baden en route to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. In third place was Charlie Appleby’s Walton Street, who won the Gr. 1 Canadian International on his next start. Alpinista meanwhile continued on her unbeaten season to claim the Gp. 1 Preis von Europa at Cologne in September and the Gp. 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich in November, taking her earnings to €509,314 in the process.

That was a nice case of black type and prize money, but even for the lower grade horse that doesn’t aspire to Pattern level, there are lucrative opportunities beyond Britain where many trainers are struggling to cope with what amounts to the ‘poor relation’ in prize money terms.

Amy Murphy is just one of several British trainers to open a satellite yard in France, where she describes the prize money as ‘out of this world’. Gay Kelleway and Paul George are among those to also cite prize money as the motivation, as well as the additional temporary fix of avoiding Brexit issues with French runners.

Over-wintering horses in Dubai is popular with those that can afford to do so, but France also offers a more cost-effective chance to get winter sun on their backs while competing for prize money that is higher than the average British winter all-weather handicap. Marie-Laure Treal, assistant director at Cagnes sur Mer, tells us, “Until 13 March, the Winter Meeting of the Hippodrome de la Côte d'Azur offers 59 race meetings. Trainers may rent boxes for the period at €50 per box per month and accommodation is offered for stable staff, allocated according to the different requests and availability.”

While France is the obvious choice when looking for increased earning potential, other nations are also trying to attract international attention with eye-catching purses. As Irish trainer Adrian McGuinness points out in relation to Meydan’s Gp. 1 Al Quoz Sprint, “There's €700,000 on offer to the winner. I could win more in one race than I won in the whole season in Ireland last year, despite the fact I had the best campaign of my life.” He also points out that the runner-up prize of €300,000 is higher than the winner’s purse in the Gp. 1 Prix de l’Abbaye.

With emerging countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and even Libya using money to secure their instant place in the international calendar, trainers need to be more broad-minded than ever when planning campaigns.

The Belgian Galop Federation has many racing opportunities with prize money from 5000-800 Euros

Many opportunities for an average rated horse are much closer to home and easier to target. The prize money might not be eye-watering, but neither is the competitiveness in comparison to similar races at home.

Marcel De Bruyne, MvG, Belgian Galop Federation, tells us, “Our showpiece—the Prince Rose, a National Listed Race over 2100m—will be run in Ostend in August with total prize money of €12,800, with €8,000 for the winner.

“This race is open for three-year-olds and older who have never been placed in the first five of a Pattern race. The weights are 52.5kg for three-year-olds and 56kg for four-year-olds and older. Horses that have won or been placed second or third in minor races will have to carry extra weight.

“Some other races can be interesting for foreign runners in Ostend. The four races I highlight each have a total prize money of €8,000, with €5,000 for the winner. Three conditions races in July and August are the Miler Cup, 1600m; the Prijs Half Oogst & BFG Galop, 1800m; and the Prijs BFG & Nymphenburger, 2200m. 

“They are for four-year-old horses and older without a handicap value or a value equal or lower than 30kg (66 lbs) and they carry 55kg (121 Ibs). Penalties for prize money received for wins and places since 1 July 2021 are 1kg per €1,000.

The Gr.3 Stockholm Cup - Sweden’s major race, run at Bro Park in September and worth 155000 Euros

“Then we have one handicap, the UAE Sprint Cup over 1000m in August for four-year-olds and older with a handicap value equal or lower than 30kg.”

See the the complete list of races and conditions here: www.bgalopf.be/Meetings.htm

Scandinavia offers a great deal of potential and Svensk Galopp highlights for foreign visitors the 2400m Gr. 3 Stockholm Cup—Sweden’s major race—run at Bro Park in September and worth €155,000. The Svensk Derby is worth €120,289, the Listed Zawawi Cup €48,282; and supporting races include the Listed Lanwades Stud Stakes, Listed Bro Park Sprint Championship and the 1400m Appel Au Maitre Svealandlöpning—the latter being Sweden's most important two-year-old race, often attracting foreign runners. Svensk Galopp is a rising star in the racing world with plans for another new course project in Skåne.

Norway’s Ovrevoll hosts the Norsk Derby in August with a value of 121970 Euros, and the Oslo Cup in Junne with a value of 53000 Euros

In Norway, the Norsk Derby at Ovrevoll in August has a value of €121,970 and the Gp.3 Oslo Cup in June a value of €53,000.

Spain is another country on our doorstep but perhaps off the radar. The Madrid Grand Prix over 2500m at the end of June is the major summer highlight, worth €60,000. They race most of the year, with a break from 29 December to 6 March. 

The autumn-winter season begins 11 September, the highlight being Champions Day 16 October. The Champions Day card includes the Gran Premio Memorial Duque de Toledo, over 2400m with a value of €68,000; and the Gran Premio Ruban, over 1200m worth €40,800; as well as a strong supporting card and lucrative added premiums of €5,000 for Spanish-breds.

The premiums are always a boost, and every European country contributing to the European Breeders Fund also hosts a wide range of races aimed to improve opportunities at a grassroots level. 

Rachael Gowland of the British EBF tells us, “If a horse finishes sixth or better in any of the EBF races in Britain, it will be eligible to enter for one of the two finals. Each final is run over 7f and has a value of £100,000, with prize money down to eighth place. 

“The colts’ and geldings’ final will be at York Friday 7 October and the fillies’ final at Goodwood Tuesday 6 September. The EBF is contributing £50,000 for each race, and we were very lucky that York and Goodwood both came back to us and offered to match our prize fund.

“The EBF is a cooperative, and all member jurisdictions benefit from a pool of international stallion registrations; an EBF-registered horse is qualified to run in EBF races in any member country.”

Simon Sweeting, chairman of the British EBF, explains, “With a reduction in racing in 2020, came a small surplus of funds for the British EBF. The trustees were keen to make sure that this money was re-focused to do the maximum good it could for the industry. This series not only provides tantalising prize money targets but also aims to add the EBF’s weight to encouraging owners to re-invest at the yearling sales. With no early closing stages and over 100 chances to qualify a horse, we hope that owners and trainers will support this new initiative.”

In Ireland, the Median Sires Series consists of 26 races each worth a minimum €25,000. The Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes is the showcase.

The Irish EBF Auction Series for two-year-olds bought at auction for €72,000 or less is worth a minimum of €20,000 per race and has two finals, the main one worth €120,000. The Connolly's Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series and Irish EBF Auction Bumper cater for the National Hunt horses in a similar fashion.

Vive La France - Why is France becoming the fashionable place to train?

By Katherine Ford

The French racing industry has always attracted an international profile of professionals and continues more than ever to do so in the 21st century. The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was once again crowned Longines World’s Best Horse Race for its most recent edition, and the very sport of horse racing as we know it was brought to the country by an English lord two centuries ago. 

Indeed Chantilly’s destiny as the headquarters of French racing was shaped in the 1800s by the arrival of British training families such as the Carter’s, Cunnington’s and Jennings’. Brothers Tom and Henry Jennings still hold the record for the number of wins in the Chantilly Classics with respectively 10 Jockey-Club successes for the former and nine Diane victories for the latter, whose family tree descends directly to Alec Head and his offspring Criquette and Freddy. 

While the Head family is now firmly “tricolore”, British influences continued until recently in Chantilly with Gp. 1 trainers such as Jonathan Pease, Richard Gibson and John Hammond. It is interesting to note that the only British-born trainer currently active in Chantilly is Andrew Hollinshead, although top jumps jockey James Reveley has purchased a yard in the town and declared his intention to train there once he retires from riding. 

Today, with the best prize money in Europe and top-class facilities, France has become a destination for trainers from all corners of the globe; and in Chantilly alone, the profession’s ranks span five continents and fifteen nationalities. 

Close neighbours Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium are represented by a number of professionals such as Carlos Laffon-Parias, Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez, former professional footballer Markus Munch and Andreas Schutz who chose the location at the end of his stint in Hong Kong. Other Europeans include recent Greek arrivals Giorgios Alimpinisis and Attilio Giorgi, and Scandinavian couple Pia and Joakim Brandt. The young and ambitious Irish pair Gavin Hernon and Tim Donworth have both chosen Chantilly to launch their respective careers, and the American continents are represented by former International Herald Tribune journalist-turned-trainer Gina Rarick and young Argentine handler Sebastian Caceres. Add to the mix Japanese duo Satoshi Kobayashi and Hiroo Shimizu, plus Tunisian Hedi Ghabri, and it must be near impossible to find a more cosmopolitan racing centre. 

Expat experiences

After generations of domination in Italy, the Botti dynasty spread to Newmarket with Marco in 2006, and two years later his cousin Alessandro set out in Chantilly, initially as assistant, then in a joint licence with father Guiseppe. 

Maisons-Laffitte

The popular Italian was all smiles after saddling a quickfire double in the opening two contests on a Chantilly all-weather card in February, in the process pocketing €32,720 in prize money and owners’ premiums. He remembers, “I spent time with my cousin in Newmarket before deciding to come here. I didn’t speak a word of French, but we thought it would be a good idea to have a Botti presence in France! To start with, everything was complicated. We were a Classic stable in Italy, but it wasn’t easy to adapt to the right level of horses, the organisation and of course the language. One of our staff members spoke French, so in the early stages he helped a lot with translating; but I had to learn French to take my trainers exams. I’m perfectly at home here now and after all, France is quite similar to Italy!” 

From a racing point of view, the prize money and prestige are in contrast to the current situation in Italy and crucial for attracting owners, which for Botti include some of football’s biggest stars such as Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti and top striker Javier Pastore. “I’ve had connections with the football world for a long time as the racehorse training centre at Milan is next to the stadium, but it’s much easier to attract footballers to racing in France where they find the whole package more exciting. Carlo Ancelotti has been an owner with us for 10 years, and now the challenge is to find him a horse to be as successful in racing as he has been in football!”

Parlez-vous anglais? 

Joint license holders Pia & Joakim Brandt’s Chantilly Stables

Another well-established European in Chantilly is Pia Brandt, who now operates as a joint licence holder with husband Joakim. Pia, who has won a pair of Gp. 1 victories in her adopted homeland (Grand Prix de Paris with Mont Ormel and Criterium de Saint Cloud with Mkfancy), remembers, “I came here at the end of 2005 because I wanted the best. An owner was supporting my move, and I could have picked any location in Europe. I chose Chantilly for the quality of the training facilities, the proximity to the airport, and of course the French prize money. I already spoke some French as I had spent time riding out here when I was younger, and the father of my son is French.” Pia says. “However my French wasn’t very academic, and I remember that utilities companies would often hang up on me when I asked if it was possible to speak in English! I think that things have improved in that aspect since then, and English is spoken more here now. At the time, the rules were that if you had had a licence for five years in another country in Europe, you didn’t have to take the trainers exam here, so I just had to follow a few modules at the racing school.” 

One unexpected complication for Pia Brandt was a succession of moves before taking the plunge to buy her own establishment with husband Joakim. “During the first 10 years, I was renting and moving stables seven times! At Chantilly, unlike at Maisons-Laffitte, all the stables are privately owned, so with changing requirements as my number of horses varied and owners selling the stables I was occupying, it was an unsettled time. We’re settled now since buying our yard, and although I have no regrets about coming to Chantilly, I am not sure that I would make the same decision if I had a second chance. It’s the most competitive and most expensive place in France to train. In a parallel world, if I had my chance again, maybe I would choose the French provinces or Deauville!”

The place to be

Tim Donworth with girlfriend Lavinia

A recent addition to the Chantilly trainers’ ranks, Tim Donworth saddled his first runners last September and ended the year with impressive statistics of five winners plus five placed horses for fifteen outings. 

The Godolphin Flying Start graduate and former assistant to Nicolas Clement and Jean-Claude Rouget is adamant that Chantilly is the best choice. “I have an international clientele, and this is where they want to be in France”, Tim says. However just a few years ago, the ambitious young Irishman had not even considered France, nevermind Chantilly. “It was all a bit of a mistake, or an accident in any case… I had spent time with Tom Morley in America during the Flying Start and loved it over there, so my aim was to go back. Christophe Clement offered me a role but he didn’t need me until six months later. He arranged for me to work for his brother Nicolas in the meantime, and that’s how I ended up in Chantilly.” Tim goes on to say, “The timing worked out well as while I was there, his assistant Laura Vänskä left [the Finnish national and Flying Start graduate is set to add another nationality to the Chantilly roster when she sets up in the town this spring], so Nicolas asked me to stay on. Wonderment had won a Gp. 1 in the same week, so he managed to twist my arm! 

“After a couple of years I decided to take the trainers course, although in all honesty I didn’t expect to pass. I tell people that it’s a fluke that I did pass, but to be honest I worked flat out for two months to prepare. The exams are definitely harder here in France than in Britain and Ireland; although I haven’t been through the process there, I have plenty of friends who have done. The language barrier is huge, but even for a fluent French speaker, the exam is hard. There are various subjects including the rules of racing, a big part on equine health, and then business planning which requires reams of Excel documents. The business plan is presented to a panel of assessors selected by France Galop stewards, including retired and active racing professionals, stewards etc.; and they give you a good grilling!”
Tim Donworth admits his French was “really shockingly bad” on arrival with Nicolas Clement, and although he progressed enough to pass the France Galop exams, he hit a real learning curve when deciding to further his racing education with Jean-Claude Rouget. “I thought that if I was going to train here, I should get more experience and see more of the country. I was in at the deep end as Rouget didn’t speak a word of English to me”, Tim says. “But I loved it at his yard in Pau—at the Cagnes sur Mer meeting and at Deauville—and got on really well with the boss as well as his assistants Jean-René Dubosc and Jean-Bernard Roth who I regularly ring for advice. I also met my partner Lavinia Brogi in Pau. She’s Italian, the sister of trainer Simone Brogi, and is a great help riding most of my gallops.” 

Despite enjoying this period in three of the four corners of France, Chantilly was where Donworth wanted to be, and he now rents part of Nicolas Clement’s yard plus boxes for his juvenile fillies in Pia and Joakim Brandt’s stable. “I’m really fortunate to have my horses stabled in two Gp. 1 yards. Nicolas is like family to me and is a great help. For instance, his head lad François works for me for an hour a day and is fantastic for keeping things in order. I did the trainers course with Joakim Brandt and was delighted when he and Pia offered me the space in their yard, which is just across the street and very convenient.” 

Tim Donworth is well on his way to becoming an adopted Frenchman, and his only reserve concerning his situation is opportunities for certain categories of horse. “The programme kills me for older horses, which have arrived from abroad. Those which aren’t up to stakes level are really difficult to place as you have to almost have a Listed horse to be competitive in Class 1 and 2 races. It’s tricky, but knowing the programme book is key to having winners.”

Results so far bode well, and Donworth has high hopes for the future. “I’m really pleased with my two-year-olds and I intend to run them early. They’ve been rocking and rolling for a while now, and I bought precocious ones as I haven’t many older horses and need to get the results to get noticed.”

Chantilly’s rising sun

One Chantilly trainer who has been noticed on the international stage already in 2022 is Hiroo Shimizu, whose Pevensey Bay came with a sweeping run to lift the Gp. 2 Cape Verdi Stakes at Meydan in January. The mare was one of a handful that the unconventional Japanese trainer inherited from the recently retired John Hammond, whose stable he now occupies. “I was present for the win in Dubai, but I don’t get excited or emotional. I soon move on to think about the next challenge.” 

Shimizu doesn’t fit the mould of your regular trainer. Dressed in scruffy, baggy trousers and sporting a thick woolly hat with earflaps, which looks more appropriate for Arctic exploration than nurturing blue-blooded thoroughbreds, he quietly indicates some of his Classic hopes turned out in the stable paddocks. 

When he arrived in France in 2008 to work as a stable lad for Pascal Bary and then Fabrice Chappet, making race entries—nevermind Classic entries—was far from his mind. “I knew [fellow Chantilly trainer] Satoshi Kobayashi and [Japanese specialist bloodstock agent] Patrick Barbe, which is why I chose to come to France; but I hadn’t considered training.” 

It was discussions with francophile Japanese training legend Katsuhiko Sumii—a regular in Chantilly whether with Arc runners or for a busman’s holiday which encouraged him to take the plunge, and contrary to many of his colleagues—he found the France Galop exams a mere formality. “They were very easy!” Shimizu admits. “I went to one of the best schools in Japan and so I am used to learning. I finished the exams with plenty of time to spare! When I first came to this country, I didn’t speak any French but now I can manage well with a Japanese accent. I think it’s a question of respect for the local population that expatriates should learn the language.” 

Hiroo Shimizu with jockey Gérald Mossé

In addition to the language, Shimizu has plunged into the programme book and specificities of the French racetracks. “In Japan all racecourses have similar ground conditions, whereas here, there is more diversity in the surface and track profiles. As for the programme, in Japan there are 2000m races for two-year-olds in June; but here you have to wait with longer distance types. In Japan people tend to be very disciplined and can sometimes lack initiative. I like the outlook here where you can do whatever you want!”

Back to school

Whatever you want… within reason and within a strict framework as far as the obtention of the official licence is concerned. France Galop delegates the organisation of the trainers’ course and exams to their educational arm, the AFASEC, and training coordinator Pierre-Henri Bas explains, “There are two sessions each year for applicants to obtain a professional licence. The training takes place during a five-week residential course, which includes 175 hours of lessons and terminates with three written exams and an oral and written presentation of the candidates’ business plan. The business module is a major part of the course and covers subjects such as management, accountancy and social legislation. We also study the rules and regulations of racing, matters concerning horses’ health, feeding and sporting performance and finally communication.”

With some general knowledge and English language thrown in for good measure, the procedure represents a real “back to school” experience for aspiring trainers who are expected to study hard. “Over recent years the success rate has been around 80%”, continues Bas. “Our aim is to evaluate the competences of individuals for the challenges involved in being a professional trainer. We have no interest in handing out licences for the trainer to fail just weeks or months later. Indeed we have a follow-up scheme whereby two of our representatives provide advice and guidance to newly qualified trainers, and they must complete an assessment after two years of activity.” 

As for trainers who hold a licence in another country and wish to transfer to France, Darius Zawiejski who is responsible for France Galop’s licensing department confirms, “These requests are examined on a case-by-case basis. We look at the professional’s CV and experience in his or her home country and some may be exempt from passing certain modules or parts of the exams. Derogations do occur, but they are quite rare; and foreign applicants, from whichever country, are treated in exactly the same way as French applicants.” So any trainers hoping to take advantage of France’s enviable prize money and excellent facilities should be warned: They will need to be willing to put their heads down and study, en français!

Always read the label – experts guide us through equine healthcare products

By Lissa Oliver

We all want what’s best for our horse and we are happy to pay a price for the benefit of a happy, healthy and peak-performing horse. But what if that price is a hefty fine, suspension or even serious health consequences for us and our staff? How much trust can we afford to place in the claims of manufacturers, and do we pay enough attention to instructions? 

Ultimately, the responsibility for what goes into our horses lies fully with us. In this article, we’ll focus on the nutritional product labelling as well regulation of products which are promoted to consumers.

Nutrition

Dr Corinne Hills is an equine veterinarian with more than 20 years’ experience in practice in Canada, the Middle East, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, leading her to develop Pro-Dosa BOOST, manufactured from her own purpose-built, GMP-registered laboratory in New Zealand. 

Ingredient listings 

“We all want to make good choices and support our horses in the best way we can, with the best use of our finances,” Dr Hills agrees. “Horsemen always ask me about ingredients, but nobody ever asks about quality management. Similar products might appear to contain the same ingredients, but if the quality of the ingredients is poor, they will provide no benefit. Think about what you are spending your money on, and learn to read labels critically.

“It’s important to know the nutrient content of your feed and forage. In a perfect world everyone would consult their nutritionist and have forage tested, knowing exactly what their horse requires, what it is receiving and what supplements, if any, are needed. Horsemen don’t always feed a ready-prepared balanced feed. If they are mixing their own, they should be analysing the components of their feed. It’s easy and inexpensive, and your vet will know where you can send samples for analysis. Good feed companies provide the service for free. 

“Simply reading the label of feed and supplements could save you quite a bit of money. In my experience most people way over-supplement. A balanced feed manufactured by a reputable company should provide all of a horse’s requirements. Adding supplements could disturb the balance of the nutrients being fed. It is worth taking the time to understand nutrition to effectively support equine health. You can go to your feed company and ask their in-house nutritionist to suggest a tailored balanced diet that will suit most horses in your stable. If the feed company doesn’t have a nutritionist, it might be worth looking around for a new feed supply.

“Metabolism is quite complex, requiring a broad range of essential nutrients to function optimally. A lot of one nutrient doesn’t make up for deficiencies in another. The balance between nutrients is important. Some nutrients are required for the uptake and function of other nutrients. Too much or too little of one nutrient may result in deficiencies or toxicities of other nutrients. Imbalances can adversely affect health, performance and recovery. At a minimum, imbalances in a feed or supplement can render a product ineffective.

“For instance, vitamin C is required for the absorption of iron from the gut. Without vitamin C, iron passes straight through the gut and out in the faeces. Vitamin E, on the other hand, has a negative interaction with iron. It binds with iron and reduces its absorption, causing much of it to be wasted. So, in order for horses to use dietary iron effectively, it must be administered with vitamin C and without vitamin E. Iron balance is also closely related to zinc, manganese, cobalt, and copper.”

Nutrients Ratio

Ca:P 1-2:1

Zn:Mn 0.7-1.1

Zn:Cu 3-4:1

Fe:Cu 4:1

“B vitamins are known to work better when administered in optimal balance with each other. Amino acids are another good example of how nutrient balance is important. The balance of amino acids in a feed is as important as the amount of protein. Imbalances in amino acids limit the amount of protein in a feed that is usable in the horse to produce proteins and muscle cells, and the wasted amino acids that can’t be used for protein synthesis create a load on kidneys, elevate body temperature and elevate heart rates.

“It is also important to adhere to the instructions on the label. If insufficient doses are given, then no impact or a negative impact on the overall health of horses may result. 

“If you are buying a supplement that doesn’t contain what the label says, then at best, it’s a waste of money. At worst, it could be detrimental to your horses’ health. Giving too much of some nutrients is dangerous.”

Reading the label isn’t always an easy fix, however, as Dr Hills points out.

“Standing in a feed store, I couldn’t easily choose a good one as I couldn’t work out what was in each one by just looking at the labels. I had to photograph the labels and then put the information into a spreadsheet, convert all the quantities and units to a single standard, and then compare those contents to equine nutrient requirements. 

“How many horsemen do that? And if they don’t know what they are feeding their horses, aren’t they worried?”

Dr Hills has one simple tip. “If labels are easy to understand so that you can tell at a glance what you are giving your horse, then the manufacturer is probably proud of their formulation and believe it will stand up to scrutiny.

“If you have to perform too many calculations to figure out what you are giving, there is a fair chance that the formulation isn’t great. Some companies don’t actually want you to know how much or little of each nutrient is in their product. Take the time to do the maths and make sure you are making a true comparison before picking the cheapest or prettiest product on the shelf.

“When reading labels, it is important to consider all aspects of the nutrient composition—including balance, form and dose—in relation to the nutrient requirements of your horse.

“I found a huge number of products listing different combinations of nutrients that were included in different forms. For example, calcium could be provided as calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, or calcium gluconate. They were also quantified with different units of measure, such as mg/kg, %, ppm, to name only a few. Then, they were to be given in different doses.

“The most confusing paste I found listed contents in terms of parts per million (ppm), percentages, and mg/kg. Then, the syringe was in pounds and the recommended dose in ounces.”

Quality control

“How do you know if a product is manufactured safely and meets label claims?” Dr Hills asks. “This information frequently isn’t on the label, but it’s just as important as the ingredients list; so it’s well worthwhile to make the effort to source the information. 

“You could look for a statement on the website about quality management, or you might have to ask the manufacturer some questions. Does the manufacturer have a quality management programme? GMP or ISO certification provides hard evidence of this.

“Be sure to ask every rep that visits your stable about quality management as they will almost certainly be the most readily available source for this information. Any rep that can’t talk competently about their company’s quality management programme probably represents a company that doesn’t have one.

“GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice, and this is a specific standard required for pharmaceutical producers. It is, however, voluntary for feed supplement manufacturers. A generic version of good manufacturing practice, abbreviated with small “gmp,” is a reference to a quality management system that is not government specified and inspected. It could be the same as GMP or it could be applied to a non-standardised or less complete quality system.

“If a company has either ISO or GMP certification, you can be sure that the supplements they produce will be safe, secure and generally meet label claims.

“Once you have selected a good quality, safe and healthy feed, then you can probably feed it to most of the horses at your stable. Spelling horses and smaller horses will need to eat less of it with more hay or grass. Racehorses or broodmares will need to eat more of it.”

Veterinary Medicines Directorate

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the regulator of veterinary medicines in the UK. Louise Vodden and James Freer, from the Enforcement Department of the VMD, guide us through the draft documentation outlining the legislation behind the manufacture, sale and labelling of equine health and welfare products.

Guidance for advertising non-medicinal veterinary products

When advertising a non-medicinal veterinary product, it must not, by presentation or claims, suggest that it is medicinal. 

This applies to any advert—be it in magazines, online, at trade events or through client meetings and listing materials—that is aimed in part or in full at a UK audience. It is the responsibility of anyone engaged in marketing activities to comply with the VMD.

A veterinary medicinal product is legally defined as:

• Any substance or combination of substances presented as having properties for treating or preventing disease in animals.

• Any substance or combination of substances that may be used in, or administered to, animals with a view either to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action, or to making a medical diagnosis.

Medicinal by presentation

The first part of the definition above covers products that indicate they have a beneficial effect on an animal’s state of health. This is known as “medicinal by presentation”.

Prevention

This includes the destruction of parasitic infestations on an animal that may cause a medical condition, such as flea allergic dermatitis; hence, products that kill fleas on an animal are also classified as medicines.

Disease

This is considered to cover a broad range of conditions ranging from those caused by bacterial, viral or parasitic infections, to disorders resulting from various systemic dysfunctions, or deficiencies of substances essential for survival. We generally use the catch-all term “adverse health condition” for something wrong with an animal’s state of health. This includes injuries that pose a significant risk to wellbeing or would require more than the most superficial of management.

Medicinal by function

The second part of the definition covers two further aspects. The first relates to products containing substances with a recognised medicinal effect, commonly referred to as “medicinal by function”. The second covers the purpose of putting something in, or on, an animal to effect a change (restoring, correcting, modifying) in the way a bodily system works.

Restoring

This covers claims of restoration of function in any system within an animal that, for any reason, is not functioning within the normal range for an animal of good health. Even if there is no claim, be careful not to present before and after treatment expectations in your advert. For example, in one picture the dog can barely walk, and in another the same dog scampering along apparently healed. Such an advert would be considered medicinal by presentation.

Correcting

This covers any product used to address any deficiency or dysfunction in an animal’s systems. This includes issues like nutritional deficiencies in an animal, hormone imbalances, immunomodulation to address allergic reactions and correction of digestive dysfunction.

Modification

This includes any effect that changes the way an animal functions that is not covered by restoration or correction effects. In most cases, these tend to be enhancement claims such as “boosting”, “better”, “stronger”. Where such claims are made, the immediate question is, “better than what?” If the answer is, “better than normal,” then the product is considered medicinal by presentation. If the answer is, “better than an animal with condition X,” then it is considered as claiming to be medicinal by function.

Making medicinal claims

Non-medicinal products cannot claim to treat, prevent or control any adverse health condition. Nor can it refer, expressed or implied, to the treatment or prevention of a disease or adverse condition, or to improving the state of health of the animal treated.

For example, medicinal claims include a reference to the treatment or prevention of scours, colic, footrot, laminitis, sweet itch or pathological nervous conditions—or any other condition which is not the normal state of a healthy animal. This includes references to symptoms or any indication that the product is for use in an animal which is not in a normal healthy state.

References to the nutritional maintenance of a healthy animal, healthy digestive system or healthy respiratory system would not normally be regarded as medicinal claims. Though this does not extend to claims for preventing the occurrence of an adverse health condition or its symptoms.

Any implication that the product for use in an unhealthy animal and is intended for purpose of, or has the consequential outcome of, preventing a detrimental health state in an animal would predispose the product for a medicinal purpose for which it would require a marketing authorisation. Exceptions to this include particular nutritional purpose feeds, however, there are also specific restrictions on the claims these products can make.

Things to avoid in the advertising of non-medicinal products

• These products can only be presented for the maintenance of health in healthy animals.

The basic premise is that the purchaser of the product has a healthy animal and will be using it to support their animal’s state of health. Health maintenance does not include attempting to halt or slow the progression of a detrimental health state.

• Association with an adverse health condition

Narratives may not be used to suggest some terrible disease will or may happen, nor using statements like “4 out of 5 get” to present the product as the solution. This is considered a medicinal claim. Occasionally this approach is prefaced with the overtly medicinal company statement of intent that “we believe prevention is better than cure”.

Reference to specific diseases may be made in the form of a safety warning where use of the product may pose a risk, for example “WARNING: Not to be fed to horses with PPID”.

• Comparisons and presentation of equivalency to authorised medicines

A product not authorised as a veterinary medicine must never be presented, in any capacity, in comparison to any form of authorised medication. Marketing material for a non-medicinal product must not indicate or imply that the product can, or is intended to, be used as a substitute for authorised veterinary medicines. Nor should the use of a non-medicinal product be presented as resulting in the reduction of the use of any authorised medication. To do so is considered a medicinal claim for the product.

Disclaimers do not provide a remedy to the misrepresentation of a product in a medicinal capacity.

• Testimonials, quotes and endorsements

If customer testimonials are used in connection with the marketing of a product and report results containing medicinal claims, the claims will be regarded as those of the company marketing the product.

Claims made by a third party, such as magazine reviews or articles published by independent analysts, will be regarded as those of the company marketing the product where evidence confirms that the third party has a connection to the marketing company via solicitation, endorsement, sponsorship or funding.

If, for example, a vet who has been using a product for years expresses an opinion that is not being given in support of marketing a product, then it would just be an opinion. Any material published in support of marketing the product is considered to be marketing material. Whether that material is based on professional opinion, peer review studies, customer feedback, folkloric tradition or an “everybody knows”claim is not relevant. It must still adhere to the rules governing marketing material.

Herbal or “natural” products

Herbal products, “nutraceuticals”, or any products sourced in a way generally described as “natural” are treated like any other products. A natural origin provides no exemption from these requirements; they require authorisation if they are medicinal by function or presentation.

Biocides, insecticides and repellents

The following are always medicinal products requiring a marketing authorisation due to their use on animals:

• Veterinary product that contains substances that kill insects or external parasites (e.g., pyrethrins, pyrethroids or organophosphate compounds) as they are medicinal by function

• Veterinary product claiming to have, or which has, the function and  control of internal parasites

• Veterinary product claiming to treat or prevent a disease caused by a viral, bacterial or fungal infection

The following do not require an authorisation, provided they do not claim to treat or prevent disease:

• Product containing a repellent, such as diethyltoluamide or ethylhexanediol, provided it claims only to repel external insects

• Product applied only to housing or bedding

• Topical disinfectant applied to intact skin provided it does not claim to treat or prevent disease, including infection prevention (e.g., shampoos)

The marketing of these products is covered by legislation on biocides.

For further information regarding non-medicinal products, email enforcement@vmd.gov.uk or call +44 (0) 1932 338308 or +44 (0) 1932 338410

Probiotics – The key to a well-balanced equine gut

By Kerrie Kavanagh

It is no surprise that the health maintenance of the racehorse is a top priority for trainers. And probiotics can be used as a treatment modality to manipulate the gut microbiome to improve or maintain health. Equine studies to date have shown that probiotic strains can offer an advantageous approach to minimising disturbances in the gut microbial populations, repair these deficiencies—should they occur—and re-establish the protective role of the healthy gut microbiome. Other probiotic-associated health benefits include reducing diet-related diseases such as colic and laminitis, preventing diarrhoea, conferring host resistance to helminth infection, improving stress-related behavioural traits (e.g., locomotion) and even promote the development of an effective gut-brain communication pathway. 

Probiotics have been used by humans for more than 5,000 years with their development closely linked to that of dairy products and fermented foods. Today, probiotics are seen as an excellent non-pharmaceutical way to improve the health of both humans and animals, and there are a plethora of products to choose from. But what exactly is a probiotic, and how do they work? Why would your horse need one? What types of probiotics are available for horses? These are all questions that horse trainers ask frequently, which we will attempt to answer here. 

The Equine Gut Microbiome

Probiotics and the equine microbiome can benefit from a valuable symbiotic relationship; probiotics are seen as a restorative treatment modality for the gut, to re-establish the bacterial populations there and also to re-establish the protective role that the health gut microbiome confers to the host. But when we discuss the equine microbiome, what are we really talking about? 

The gut microbiota/microbiome can be categorised by anatomical location such as the oral microbiota/microbiome in the mouth and the intestinal microbiota/microbiome in the intestines, etc. Therefore, the gut microbiome pertains to the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract. This population of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa) is referred to as the ‘microbiota’ of the gut, while the term ‘gut microbiome’ refers to the genetic material associated with these microorganisms. The microbiome can be defined as the sum of the microbes and their genomic elements in a particular environment. If we look at the definition of the microbiome having the propensity to an equation, then any equation must be balanced; to maintain that balance is key. If the microbial community exists in an environment in a balanced state, then any upset or disturbance to the microbial populations will cause the balance to shift (known as dysbiosis). To maintain the balance, we need to firstly understand the way the microorganisms exist within their community (i.e. their microorganism-to-microorganism interactions and also microorganism-to-environment interactions) and secondly, their functioning role. If we can understand their (microorganism) position and role, then we can maintain the balance or re-establish the balance if a shift occurs.  

Fig. 1 Factors that can lead to gut Dysbiosis

The human intestinal microbiome is now recognised as an organ and likewise, the equine intestinal microbiome is deemed an ‘organ’ of the body and is vital for the breakdown of complex food and subsequent release of energy, protection against the pathogenic bacterial colonisation and in regulating the immune system and metabolic functions. There has been much debate regarding the content of the healthy equine microbiome, and even to deduce what ‘healthy’ or ‘normal’ is requires a level of understanding of the microbiota associated with healthy horses. This question has been posed by many researchers and frankly has yet to be answered with certainty. There are many reasons why the ‘normal’ microbiota keeps eluding us; and this can be attributed to the many reasons as to why the gut microbiota (of a healthy horse) can be affected (see Figure 1). It is thought that the diversity of the human gut microbiota and the general assembly of microbial communities within the gut (with the dominant phyla being classed as belonging to Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) is a shared hypothesis across most species (i.e., humans and animals share a similar gut microbiome structure). Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes have been shown to constitute the main dominant phyla in equine, bovine, canine and feline gut microbiome studies indicating the cruciality of the role they play in the maintenance of a healthy microbial ecology in the gastrointestinal tract. Several studies do agree that dominant phyla of the equine gut microbiota are obligate anaerobes: the gram-positive Firmicutes and the gram-negative Bacteroidetes; other phyla are identified as Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Actinobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Fibrobacteres and Spirochaetes. Ninety-five percent of the  Firmicutes phyla contains the Clostridia genus in addition to genera related to gut health such as Lachnospiraceae, Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcaceae. The other main dominant phyla, Bacteroidetes, on the other hand contains a large variety of the genus. 

Role of the Equine Gut Microbiota

The role of the gut intestinal microbiota serves to protect and prevent disease. The gut microbiota has several purposes: prevention of pathogen colonisation by competing for nutrients, enrichment and maintenance of the intestinal barrier—their ability to renew gut epithelial cells and repair damage to the mucosal barrier, the breakdown of food and releasing energy and nutrients, such as synthesising vitamins D and K and also conserving and restoration of the immune system by the formation of antimicrobial metabolites and blocking access to the binding sites of the mucosal wall. The gut microbiota is also thought to play some role of influencing the neuro-active pathways that affect behaviour. It is not surprising to see that gut disorders and gastrointestinal diseases can arise when gut dysbiosis occurs. The role of the gut microbiota may have even more importance than is realised and may have a role to play with developing illness or disease later in life.

The microbial colonisation of the intestinal tract begins at birth. The foal begins its colonisation through contact with the microbiota of the mare’s vaginal and skin surfaces plus the surrounding environments to which the foal is exposed and reaches a relatively stable population by approximately 60 days in age. It is perhaps a fight for dominance to achieve establishment in the gut among the bacterial populations that sees the foal’s microbiota as being more diverse and quick to change when compared to that of the older horse. The subsequent colonisation of the intestinal tract will reflect the foal’s diet, changing environment, introduction to other animals, ageing and health.

What exactly is a probiotic?

Beneficial bacteria can be isolated and harvested to prepare a bespoke probiotc

The word ‘probiotic’ is of Greek origin meaning ‘for life’ and the WHO/FAO have defined probiotics as ‘live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host’.  People have long believed that exposure to non-pathogenic microorganisms can benefit the health of humans and animals. The thinking behind this is that daily consumption of sufficient numbers of ‘good’ microorganisms (either bacteria or fungi) can maintain a healthy population of microorganisms in the gut and benefit overall health.  

Probiotics are used to manipulate the bacterial populations of the gut in order to re-establish the delicate microbial balance there which, in turn, confers health benefits on the host. As the benefits associated with some of the ‘good’ bacteria within the gut became known, these were referred to as probiotic bacteria. 

How do probiotics work?

There are 4 main mechanisms by which probiotics are thought to exert their effects.

1. By inhibiting pathogen colonisation in the gut through the production of antimicrobial metabolites or by competitive exclusion; in other words, they prevent the ‘bad’ bacteria from growing in the gut.

2. By protecting or re-stabilising the commensal gut microbiota, probiotics can be a means to re-establish the balance of the gut microbial populations.

3. By protecting the intestinal epithelial barrier, they maintain the health of the intestinal wall.

4. By inducing an immune response, probiotics can boost the immune response and help prevent disease.

If we consider the definition of a probiotic as ‘live non-pathogenic microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host’, then this reference to ‘adequate amounts’ must be emphasised, and the dose administered is critical to ensure that the probiotic has the desired effect. For horses, we must consider the route through the digestive tract that the probiotic strains must travel to arrive at their destination is a distance over 15 metres long. It is a race for survival! The gastrointestinal system has many obstacles along the passage such as the acidic stomach environment and the dangers of exposure to bile and digestive enzymes, in which they must survive. The initial dose of ‘live’ probiotic strains is therefore crucial to ensure survival in the gut. Prebiotics are ingredients such as carbohydrates and fibre, which promote the growth of these probiotic bacterial/yeast strains in the gut. Prebiotics are essentially the food for the probiotic strains and can help form a symbiotic relationship with the probiotic to improve the overall health status of the horse. 

Why would you need to give your horse a probiotic?

Gut dysbiosis is a fluctuation or disturbance in the population of microorganisms of the gut, which may be linked to a wide range of diseases in horses. Gut dysbiosis can be caused by many factors ranging from dietary changes, antibiotics, disease, intense exercise and training, age, worms, environment, travel, or even minor stress events—resulting in major consequences such as colic. Dysbiosis is generally associated with a reduction in microbial species diversity. 

Diet is one of the major factors contributing to gut dysbiosis. Unlike the ruminant cattle and sheep that use foregut fermentation, horses are hindgut fermenters. The large intestine is the main area where fermentation occurs. The horse utilises the microbial enzymes of the hindgut microbial population in the colon and caecum to break down the plant fibres (cellulose fermentation) sourced mainly from grasses and hay. The horse itself does not possess the hydrolytic enzymes that are required to break the bonds of the complex structures of the plant carbohydrates (in the form of celluloses, hemicelluloses, pectins) and starch; so therefore, it strongly relies on the microbiota present to provide those critical enzymes required for digestion. The main phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes possess enzymes capable of breaking down the complex carbohydrates (such as starch and cellulose). Research has shown that forage-based diets (grasses and hay) promote the most stable gut microbiomes, but ultimately the equine athlete requires far more energy than a forage-based diet can supply. Supplementing the diet with concentrates containing starch such as grain, corn, barley and oats can affect the number and type of bacteria in the gut. Optimising diet composition is so important as carbohydrate overload—as seen with high-starch diets (>1g/kg body weight per meal)—can change the populations of bacteria in the gut, alter pH, upset digestion and the gut environment, and ultimately result in diseases such as colitis, colic and laminitis. The correct diet is essential for maintaining the delicate balance of bacterial populations. Probiotics can be used to either replace the bacteria missing in the gut and/or can help maintain the delicate microbial balance even in the face of adversity such as abrupt dietary changes, antibiotic treatment and stress.

What types of probiotics are available for horses?

There are several probiotic products on the market, and most are in powder or liquid form. There are two main categories of probiotics: generic and autogenous. Generic probiotics are off-the-shelf products that contain specific strains of bacterial or yeast, singularly or in combination. The Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families, Enterococci and yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisae and boulardii are the most common equine probiotic strains. Advantages of generic probiotics are that they are widely available, easy to administer, and they may be beneficial to horse health (if the strains are alive in sufficient numbers). Autogenous probiotics are specifically formulated using bacteria obtained from the horse’s own faecal sample and, as such, are uniquely adapted to that individual animal. These host-adapted bacteria are more likely to survive in the gut than non-adapted generic strains and can quickly replenish absent or low levels of bacteria unique to the individual horse, thus maintaining health.

TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter - Gavin Cromwell

The TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter award has been won by Gavin Cromwell. Cromwell will recieve £1000 worth of TopSpec feed, supplements, and additives as well as a consultant with one of their senior nutritionists

By Lissa Oliver

Like many a trainer who has started life via the veterinary college route, County Meath-based Gavin Cromwell was a farrier prior to taking out his licence in 2005. His superb training operation at Danestown, Balrath, includes a 500m round sand and fibre gallop, a 700m circle sand gallop, a schooling strip with both hurdles and fences, a sand ring, schooling ring, horse spa, walkers and plenty of turnout space all year round in both grass and rubber paddocks. The peaceful location provides a relaxing atmosphere for the horses, yet is central for all of Ireland’s racecourses and within easy travelling distance for his frequent British and French raids.

Cromwell’s big race wins include back-to-back Grade 1 wins with Jer’s Girl, in the Mares Novice Hurdle Final and Champion Novice Hurdle; Welsh Grand National with the veteran Raz De Maree; Gr1 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham with Espoir D’Allen; and on the Flat, the Gr2 Queen Mary Stakes with Quick Suzy, Gr2 Prix De Royallieu with Princess Yaiza and the Irish Cambridgeshire with Sretaw. 

It is for his achievements at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, however, that he has been awarded Trainer of the Quarter, successfully bringing back the far from straightforward Flooring Porter to retain his crown in the Gr.1 Stayers Hurdle and only just missing out on a Festival Grade 1 double when Gabynako ran second to Edwardstone in the Gr.1 Arkle Challenge Trophy.

Speaking of the successful plan for the repeat Stayers Hurdle win, Cromwell tells us of Flooring Porter, “Rewind to last year, he had run in a Class B handicap hurdle at Navan in early December and not by design he made all the running, which turned out to suit him. He had his own ideas about things and tried to break the start and ended up going to the front and he won quite impressively by 12 lengths. 

“He went up quite a bit in the ratings as a result, so we decided to let him take his chance in the Gr.1 Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown and he romped home again. From there he went straight to Cheltenham, where he did the same. 

“After that we went to Punchestown, but it didn’t work out for him, he got very lit up pre-race and again at the start, and he doesn’t go right-handed quite as well as he goes left-handed, so he just didn’t run his race.

“Going forward, we tried to keep him left-handed and the whole plan was to go for Cheltenham again, so he was trained accordingly. He went to Navan for the Gr.2 Lismullen Hurdle and was unfortunate there, as he was going well when he fell. Then on to Leopardstown for the Christmas Hurdle again and he got left at the start and could never get on terms after that, but he was only beaten a couple of lengths in second. The plan was to go straight to Cheltenham after that and the plan came off.”

Returning to Cheltenham with a previous Festival winner brings with it its own problems, as Cromwell reveals. “There was a little bit more pressure, with him being the reigning champion, but knowing that he hasn’t been straightforward in the past, in the past few months I’ve seen him maturing a lot and I have a lot more confidence in him.

“The immediate future, all being well, he’ll go to Aintree, then he has the option of Auteuil for the French Champion Hurdle 21 May, which we’ll review after Aintree. He won’t go to Punchestown.

I’m also quite excited about Gabynako. After he ran second in the Gr1 Drinmore Novice Chase and third in the Gr1 Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick I took the decision to supplement him for the Arkle Trophy. He finished second and now he’s in the Gr.1 Gold Cup at Fairyhouse, but the Gr.1 Novice Chase at Punchestown is more likely.”

How do you maximise Equine health and performance?

QUANTIFY TRAINING WORKLOAD In association with Arioneo

One of the primary goals of any trainer is to establish a suitably high workload to develop the desired qualities, while controlling the amount of exhaustion caused by the training. Indeed, an excessive amount of fatigue might lead to the threshold associated with injury. Therefore, measuring a horse's training helps to develop competitiveness while respecting the physical and mental integrity of the horse.

How to adapt an untrained racehorse’s training?

An undertrained horse has never been trained with a workload for what is required during a race as their body would be unable to keep up with the effort. To detect an under-trained horse, the analysis of physiological parameters coupled with the analysis of sports parameters provides a good key to analysis. Indeed, a horse for which exercise has been easy will not reach its maximum heart rate (HR) and its HR curve will drop immediately after the rider stops exercising.

CONCRETE EXAMPLE

In the following example, Monsieur Arion is a Group horse that arrived in October 2020 at his new trainer’s stable. As an Equimetre user, he was able to track Monsieur Arion’s training from the minute he arrived to begin developing his database.

After winning many races, Monsieur Arion’s trainer discovered that his blood results were low after a race. As a result, training was put on hold for a while.

Monsieur Arion continued training after his recovery, but he never achieved the fitness he had before to his racing success.

Here we can see the decrease in fitness level.

Indeed, based on the statistics shown above, Monsieur Arion’s recovery ability has worsened slightly for a same degree of training: his heart rate after exercise is 166 BPM, up from 114 BPM when he came in October. This is also true for his recovery 5 minutes after the effort ends.

 The trainer was also able to evaluate the differing fitness data. By interviewing Monsieur Arion’s previous trainer, he was able to confirm that his training intensity had decreased because of their different training approaches. He decided to increase the training workload by increasing the distance and intensity.

We can see on the data below that thanks to this training individualisation, Monsieur Arion’s fitness has improved: heart rate 5mins after the effort has decreased.

Here we can see the fitness improvement, with better recovery parameters.

With this method, Monsieur Arion’s fitness improved, and it led to another GR 1 victory.  

About Equimetre – Racehorse Monitoring system

Developed specifically for racing professionals, the sensor and the analysis platform allow trainers to collect and analyze their horses’ data simply and quickly.

The X Factor - Growth spurts in young horses: What can we learn from 'human' research into growth and maturation in sport and exercise?

By Alysen Miller

Ask anyone to list five famous Belgians, and odds are that Kevin De Bruyne’s name will make an appearance. The Manchester City midfielder is widely regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation. Yet you might not have heard of him at all were it not for an innovative talent development scheme in his home country that could influence the way we select, train and manage racehorses.

Traditionally young footballers, like racehorses, are grouped age. By contrast, bio banding is the process of grouping athletes on the basis of attributes associated with growth and maturation, rather than chronological age. “Whether you mature earlier or later has quite a lot of bearing in sport, where greater speed, strength or power can be important,” explains Professor Sean Cumming, an affable Orkney Islander based at the University of Bath who studies growth and maturation. “When you look at children in sport, we group them by age for competition and for training. And while age groups are great in so far as it allows you to match kids of similar cognitive development, motor skills and experience, the challenge is that kids can vary hugely in terms of their biological maturity.” Although the effect of this ‘maturity bias’ doesn’t kick in until pubertal onset at around 11 or 12 years of age, the variance in biological maturity can already be anything up to five or six years by that point.

The concept that relative age can play a determinative role in future sporting success is not new. It explains why broodmares are covered in spring to produce foals in February and March. A winter-born colt running in the Derby in early June of its three-year-old year may be up to 10% of its life older than a spring-born animal—an unquestionable advantage. Or is it?

Indeed, it’s not only in horse racing where the orthodoxy around the so-called ‘relative age effect’ holds sway. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell notes that a disproportionate number of elite Canadian hockey players are born in the earlier months of the calendar year. 

The reason, he posits, is that since youth hockey leagues determine eligibility by calendar year, children born in January are pitted against those born in December. Because the earlier-born children are likely to be larger than those born later (at least until somatic factors kick in), they are often identified as better athletes. 

This, in turn, gives them more exposure to better coaching, and the gap between the two groups widens. Sociologist Robert K. Merton has dubbed this the ‘Matthew Effect’ after a verse in the Gospel of Matthew: "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him, that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

But, cautions Professor Cumming, this only tells part of the story: “What even a lot of the academics get wrong is that relative age and maturity are not one and the same. In fact, our data shows that only about 8% of the relative age effect in academy football can be explained by physical maturity. It’s quite possible to be the oldest kid in the age group but also the least mature, or the youngest kid in the age group but also the most mature.” 

The focus on relative size and strength alone, in other words, can create a bandwagon effect. “If you’re looking to identify and develop the most talented young athletes, then it’s going to cloud your vision. It’s going to make some kids look fantastic and some kids look quite poor.” Perhaps tellingly, the last January-born Derby winner, Pour Moi, came in 2008. The youngest winner of the last 10 years, Anthony Van Dyck, was born in mid-May.

Machester City and Belgium superstar midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is the Royal Belgian Football Association’s Programme of the Futures’ most famous graduate

Enter De Bruyne. The Royal Belgian Football Association’s Programme of the Futures, as it is known, allows late-developing players to hone their skills by playing mostly friendly matches against teams of the same physical maturity level, irrespective of age. De Bruyne is the scheme’s most famous graduate. Other members of the late-developer club include Dries Mertens, Thomas Meunier and Yannick Carrasco. By deliberately creating a climate in which late-maturing players get a second bite at the cherry, a country with a population of just 11 million has become a global footballing superpower. Unsurprisingly, other nations are starting to catch on, and several similar programmes have sprung up across the UK and Europe.

Every professional football club has a story about the one who got away—the player that was cut from their programme for being too physically small, from Jamie Vardy (released by Sheffield Wednesday at 15) to Harry Kane (the now 6’2” striker was released by Arsenal at the age of nine). But the consequences are more far-reaching than just missing out on the next footballer superstar. There is compelling evidence to suggest that tailoring the training load to the stage of the athlete’s biological maturity can reduce injuries. The amount of time spent off through injury during an athlete’s formative years is thought to be one of the single biggest factors that determines future professional success. 

Since overuse injuries and stress fractures all peak when the athlete is going through their pubertal growth spurt, it is important to identify when an athlete is entering this phase and adjust the load accordingly. As Professor Cumming explains, “Because we know the growth spurt typically takes off at around 85-86% [of the athlete’s predicted adult height] and peaks at around 90-91%, as soon as they move into that phase we can change the training prescription to more developmentally focused stuff—coordination, balance, core strength—all things that are going to help the child transition to a phase when their body is changing rapidly, when they’re more at risk of certain types of injuries.” Early evidence from clubs using the method has pointed to a 72% reduction in injuries.

Daniel & Claire Kubler have been bio-banding their horses using knee x-rays, among other metrics, to determine when to increase a horse’s workload

And it’s not just football clubs that are starting to understand the benefits of bio-banding. Daniel and Claire Kübler have been bio-banding their horses using knee x-rays, among other metrics, to determine when to increase a horse’s workload. “We back most of our own horses and train them away to where they can canter relatively comfortably at a normal speed,” says Daniel. “Once a horse can canter away, that’s when we go in and do that first set of x-rays.” The horses are given a grade based on the degree of fusion in the growth plates in the knee, with A being an open growth plate, B being partially closed and C being a closed growth plate. “Those really open ‘A’ horses, you might say, ‘OK, there’s no point—give it a break,’” says Daniel. The C’s, likewise, tend to be easy cases. “It’s really the B horses that are the interesting ones, where you have to make a bit more of a decision,” says Daniel. “What we don’t want to be doing is increasing the workload on a horse that’s relatively immature.”

Although the growth rate in horses varies somewhat by breed, most horses do not reach full physical maturity until around six years of age, with larger breeds like draft horses still growing until eight years of age. A two-year-old horse is an adolescent; it has reached approximately 97% of its mature height by 22 months but critically, its bones will not fully fuse for another four years. 

@Equine partnership - equinepartnership.ie

Like humans, horses grow distal to proximal—that is, from the feet up—with the pasterns developing first, fusing at around six months, followed by the cannons at around the one-year mark. The pelvis and spine fuse last. It is during the horse’s two-year-old year that the major leg bones—the radius, ulna and tibia—will fuse. It is therefore important to understand when a horse is entering its growth spurt and tailor its regime accordingly. “It’s about injury reduction,” argues Daniel. “Young athletes are highly susceptible to injury, and by recognising and identifying the growth spurt, you’re massively reducing the injury rate by adapting the training load.”

“The knees are the most delicate bit,” he goes on. “That’s where most of your injuries occur that can cause problems down the line. When you’ve got one with poor grading on its knees, it’s being pre-emptive in your training,” he continues. “You would train that horse a bit more conservatively and not push it quite as hard. You might spend more time on an incline gallop, or you might introduce swimming into the horse’s routine so that you’re putting a bit less concussion through those joints. And hopefully you’re getting the benefit down the line, because they haven’t been pushed too hard, too young.”

Joint licence-holders Daniel and Claire have long advocated for the role of science in training racehorses. “We’re not scared of it,” says Claire, who holds a degree in physiology from Cambridge University. “Having the additional awareness of it gives you a greater understanding,” she asserts. Coming from a non-racing background, meanwhile, has allowed Daniel to approach training with something of a fresh perspective: “It’s the critical questioning. A lot of things in racing are done because that’s the way they’ve always been done, and you can work backwards and find that the reason they work is because, scientifically, it stacks up. But there’s other things where you actually go and look at the science, and it doesn’t make any sense to do that.”

“I love reading about human sports science and listening to podcasts to get ideas,” he explains. “Essentially we’re all mammals, and although there are some differences, there are also a lot of similarities.”

Following the science has not only allowed the Küblers to produce happy, healthy horses—“I’d like to say our horses are very sound and durable,” notes Claire—it has helped them manage owners’ expectations. “Owners enjoy the insights and better understanding themselves as to how the horses progress and develop,” she says.

Feedback from work riders is just as important as the science and can provide and can provide as much insight into the horse’s state of growth as an x-ray

“As a trainer, sometimes you can look at a horse and you can see it’s backwards and it needs time,” says Daniel. “What’s helpful about having the knee x-rays is that it’s a very visible thing to show to someone who doesn’t necessarily understand horses particularly well or isn’t used to them. It’s a simple way to say, ‘Your horse is immature.’ That’s a helpful tool as a trainer in terms of being able to communicate very clearly with your owners.” Posting regularly on social media, meanwhile, has attracted interest from outside the sport—including from Professor Cumming himself, who reached out to Daniel through Twitter. 

The science is certainly compelling. But, emphasises Daniel, you cannot rely on data alone. “You can’t solve the challenge of training racehorses purely with numbers in the same way that I don’t think you can solve it purely just by looking anymore, because you’re not looking at bits of information. It’s an example of using a scientific, data-driven, analytical approach to enhance the welfare and time the horse’s development in the right way for that individual,” he says.

“The numbers don’t lie, but still you need the horsemanship,” agrees Claire. Feedback from the work riders, she says, can provide as much insight into a horse’s state of growth as an x-ray. “They can pick up on the horse, whether it’s still maturing and doesn’t quite mentally understand what it’s doing. Then you can come up with ideas together as a team,” she says.

In a climate where racing, and equestrian sport in general, is the subject of increasing scrutiny—both from outside the sport and from within—t is submitted that any sports science techniques that can deliver tangible welfare benefits to the horse should be embraced.

“At the end of the day, they have to go out and race, and they all have to be sound enough to do that,” says Daniel. 

“You’re always trying to find ways to help get an edge on the track—to get more winners,” agrees Claire. “But you also just want to do the best for the horse so you’re getting a sound horse to achieve its optimum best.”

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How to adapt the race distance to win

In association with Arioneo

How often have you heard that a horse is bred to race a certain distance? That may be accurate, but sometimes stride length and frequency data say otherwise. Some research shows the interest in modelling a horse’s race distance using locomotion data. Thus, we could theoretically use the measurement of a horse’s stride frequency to determine his ideal distance.

Although it may not appear to be a big deal, extending 100 or 200m to the regular race distance might help a horse’s season in specific circumstances.

Madame Arionea’s story – Concrete example

·        4yo filly that we will call Madame Arionea

·        During her 2yo season, she raced over 1100m (5.5f) and ran well

·        During her 3yo season, she didn’t show any progress even though she showed good fitness abilities during training

Why did this promising mare fail to advance in her three-year-old season over 1100m (5.5f) while demonstrating strong physical ability in training?

1.      Assessing her fitness

To begin analysing Madame Arionea’s underperformance, we will review her cardiac data from her three-year season.

We can evaluate Madame Arionea’s recovery and thus quantify her fitness level by studying the evolution of heart rate and speed at the same time. If it is insufficient, this may explain her poor performances.

Heart rate and speed curves from the Equimetre platform

Madame Arionea recovers rather effectively after her effort, as seen by a fall in the heart rate curve at the same time as the decrease in the speed curve.

Analytics - Equimetre platform

The data in this table shows the various exercises performed at speeds greater than 60km/h. This enables us to assess recovery capability and its progression following a high-intensity activity.

The data provided above allow us to confirm that Madame Arionea is in excellent physical condition.

Indeed, her recovery ability is classified as normal both immediately after the activity and 15 minutes afterwards.

About Equimetre – Racehorse Monitoring system

2.     A better understanding of the stride profile

Following this discovery, another type of data should be investigated: locomotion. Stride length and stride frequency analysis has been suggested as a technique for modelling a racehorse’s preferred distance. Thus, by quantifying a horse’s stride frequency, one may possibly determine the race distance over which he performs best.

Good to know

·        According to the theory, a large stride length paired with a less remarkable stride frequency correlates to a miler or stayer stride profile. A profile that combines a very high stride frequency with a less spectacular stride length, on the other hand, belongs to a sprinter.

·        It is important to remember that horses are living beings and high-level athletes, and that these principles on the pair stride length/frequency pair do not represent a precise science but provide valuable references.

To assess Madame Arionea’s stride abilities, we shall examine her stride frequency and length at a speed of 60 km/h rather than at top speed. This enables us to make appropriate comparisons between training sessions and investigate this parameter under the same settings.

From the above data, we can define Madame Arionea’s stride profile.

Because her stride frequency does not enable her to compete with horses with the profile of a Sprinter, this mare would be better comfortable at a distance slightly longer than 1100m (5.5f).

3.      Madame Arionea’s acceleration strategy

Let’s have a look at Madame Arionea’s acceleration strategy to round up this examination. This involves measuring her change in stride length and stride frequency during the training’s acceleration phase. This technique enables us to objectively assess Madame Arionea’s acceleration.

Madame Arionea reaches her maximum speed by increasing of her stride length (green curve) first. What does this tell us? Her acceleration time will be longer, but this will allow her to save her energy since the heart rate is based on the horse's stride rhythm. In a longer stride, she breathes longer, and inhales a greater volume of air.  Thus, the race distance chosen should allow Madame Arionea to take the time necessary to reach her maximum speed during the final sprint.

WHAT DECISION DID THE TRAINERS MAKE REGARDING THIS ANALYSIS?

Given Madame Arionea’s positive 2-year-old season over 1100m and her locomotion data, the trainers decided to progressively increase her racing distance and attempt her over 1300 / 1400m (6.5f / 7f).

Madame Arionea was not monitored throughout her two-year-old season, but we can make the following assumptions. The mare’s locomotion changed once she gained strength and endurance. Her stride length grew while her stride frequency decreased. As a result, for her to perform successfully, her racing distance needed to be increased to provide her time to accelerate.

Madame Arionea won her first race over 1300m (6.5 f), and never race again under 1300m. 

The gait of a horse can change as he ages. For example, even if a horse had a good sprint season as a two-year-old, his locomotion evolution must be quantified. You may check that the distance chosen for future races is adequate for his locomotor profile this manner.

Remembering Sunday Silence and his lasting global influence

By Nancy Sexton 

For over a quarter of a century, there has been an air of inevitability within Japanese racing circles. Sunday Silence dominated the sire standings in Japan for 13 straight years, from 1995 to 2007—his last championship arriving five years after his death. He was a true game changer for the Japanese industry, not only as a brilliant source of elite talent but as a key to the development of Japan as a respected racing nation. Any idea that his influence would abate in the years following his death was swiftly quashed by an array of successful sire sons and productive daughters. In his place, Deep Impact rose to become a titan of the domestic industry. Others such as Heart’s Cry, Stay Gold, Agnes Tachyon, Gold Allure and Daiwa Major also became significant sires in their own right. Added to that, Sunday Silence is also a multiple-champion broodmare sire and credited as the damsire of 203 stakes winners and 18 champions. “Thoroughbreds can be bought or sold,” says Teruya Yoshida of Shadai Farm, which bought Sunday Silence out of America in late 1990 and cultivated him into a global force. “As Nasrullah sired Bold Ruler, who changed the world’s breeding capital from Europe to the U.S., one stallion can change the world. Sunday Silence is exactly such a stallion for the Japanese thoroughbred industry.”

Sunday Silence ant Pat Valenzuela winning the 1989 Kentucky Derby

Sunday Silence has been dead close to 20 years, yet the Japanese sires’ table remains an ode to his influence. In 2021, Deep Impact landed his tenth straight sires’ championship with Heart’s Cry and Deep Impact’s rising son Kizuna in third and fourth. Six of the top 11 finishers were sons or grandsons of Sunday Silence. Deep Impact was also once again the year’s top sire of two- and three-year-olds. Against that, it is estimated that up to approximately 70% of the Japanese broodmare population possess Sunday Silence in their background. All the while, his influence remains on an upswing worldwide, notably via the respect held for Deep Impact. A horse who ably built on the international momentum set by Sunday Silence, his sons at stud today range from the European Classic winners Study Of Man and Saxon Warrior—who are based in Britain and Ireland—to a deep domestic bench headed by the proven Gp 1 sires Kizuna and Real Impact alongside Shadai’s exciting new recruit Contrail. In short, the thoroughbred owes a lot to Sunday Silence.

Inauspicious beginnings

Roll back to 1988, however, and the mere idea of Sunday Silence as one of the great fathers of the breed would have been laughable. For starters, he almost died twice before he had even entered training. The colt was bred by Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds Ltd in Kentucky with appealing credentials as a son of Halo, then in his early seasons at Arthur Hancock’s Stone Farm. Halo had shifted to Kentucky in 1984 as a middle-aged stallion with a colourful existence already behind him. By Hail To Reason and closely related to Northern Dancer, Halo had been trained by Mack Miller to win the 1974 Gr 1 United Nations Handicap.

It was those bloodlines and latent talent that prompted film producer Irving Allen to offer owner Charles Englehard a bid of $600,000 for the horse midway through his career. Allen’s idea was to install Halo in England at his Derisley Wood Stud in Newmarket; and his bid was accepted only for it to be revealed that his new acquisition was a crib-biter. As such, the deal fell through, and Halo was returned to training, with that Gr 1 triumph as due reward.

Queen Elizabeth II meets Halo

Would Halo have thrived in England? It’s an interesting question. As it was, he retired to E. P. Taylor Windfields Farm in Maryland,  threw champion Glorious Song in his first crop, Kentucky Derby winner Sunny’s Halo in his third and Devil’s Bag—a brilliant two-year-old of 1983—in his fourth. Devil’s Bag’s exploits were instrumental in Halo ending the year as North America’s champion sire. Within months, the stallion was ensconced at Stone Farm, having been sold in a deal that reportedly valued the 15-year-old at $36 million. Chief among the new ownership was Texas oilman Tom Tatham of Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds. In 1985, Tatham sent the hard-knocking Wishing Well, a Gr2-winning daughter of Understanding, to the stallion. The result was a near black colt born at Stone Farm on March 26, 1986.

It is part of racing’s folklore how Sunday Silence failed to capture the imagination as a young horse—something that is today vividly recalled by Hancock.

“My first recollection of him was as a young foal,” he recalls. “He was grey back then—he would later turn black. 

“I was driving through the farm, and I looked into one of the fields and saw this grey colt running. The others were either nursing or sleeping, but there was this colt running and jumping through the mares. 

"We had a number of foals on the place at the time, and I wasn’t sure which one it was, so I rang Chester Williams, our broodmare manager. I said, ‘Hey Chester, who is this grey foal in 17?’ And he told me it was the Wishing Well colt. He was flying—he would turn at 45 degree angles and cut in and out of the mares. And I remember thinking even then, ‘Well, he can sure fly.’

“Then on Thanksgiving Day later that year, he got this serious diarrhea. We had about 70 foals on the farm, and he was the only one that got it; we had no idea where he got it from. Anyway, it was very bad. I called our vet, Carl Morrison, and between 9 a.m. and midday, we must have given him 23 litres of fluids. 

“We really thought he was going to die, but Sunday Silence just wouldn’t give up. Obviously it set him back some; he was ribby for a few weeks. But I have never seen anything like it in a foal during 50 years at Stone Farm, and at Claiborne before then; and I remember thinking then that it was a spooky thing for him to get it and then to fight through it the way he did.”

Arthur Hancock

As Hancock outlines, Sunday Silence was very much Halo’s son—not just as a black colt with a thin white facial strip but as a tough animal with a streak of fire. Halo had arrived from Maryland with a muzzle and a warning. Confident that a muzzle was an overreaction, Stone Farm’s stallion men worked initially without it, albeit against Hancock’s advice. It wasn’t long until the muzzle went back on. Not long after his arrival, Halo ‘grabbed the stallion man Randy Mitchell in the stomach and threw him in the air like a rag doll.’

“Halo then got on his knees on top of Randy,” recalls Hancock, “and began munching on his stomach. Virgil Jones, who was with Randy, starts yelling at Halo and hitting him with his fist. Halo let go, and they managed to get him off. “After that, the muzzle stayed on.”

Sunday Silence possessed a similar toughness. Indeed, that mental hardiness is a trait that continues to manifest itself in the line today, although not quite to the danger level of Halo.

“Sunday Silence had a lot of guts and courage, even then,” remembers Hancock. “I remember being down at the yearling barn before the sale and hearing this yell. It was from one of the yearling guys, Harvey. Sunday Silence had bitten him in the back—I’d never had a yearling do it before then and haven’t had one since.”

He adds: “When he came back here after his racing days, we had a photographer come to take some shots of him. Sunday Silence was in his paddock, and we were trying to get him to raise his head. I went in there and shook a branch to get his attention. Well, he looked up, bared his teeth and started to come after me—he was moving at me, head down like a cat. And I said, ‘No you’re ok there boy; you just continue to graze’ and let him be.

“He was Halo’s son, that’s for sure, because Wishing Well was a nice mare. Sunday Silence had a mind of his own, even as a yearling. I remember we couldn’t get him to walk well at the sales because he’d pull back against the bit all the time.”

It was that mental toughness and the memory of Sunday Silence flying through the fields as a young foal that remained with Hancock when the colt headed to the Keeneland July Sale. Then an individual with suspect hocks—a trait that still sometimes manifests itself in his descendants today—he was bought back on a bid of $17,000.

Staci and Arthur Hancock

“I thought he’d bring between $30,000 and $50,000,” he says. “So when it was sitting at $10,000, I started bidding and bought him back at $17,000. I took the ticket to Tom Tatham out the back of the pavilion and said, ‘Here, Tom, he was too cheap; I bought him back.’ And Tom said, ‘But Ted Keefer [Oak Cliff advisor] didn’t like him, and we don’t want him.’ 

“I remember we had another one that was about to sell, so I just said, ‘Ok Tom,’ put the ticket in my shirt pocket, walked away and thought, ‘Well, I just blew another $17,000.’ 

Another scrape with death

Hancock then tried his luck at the two-year-old sales in partnership with Paul Sullivan. The colt was sent to Albert Yank in California and catalogued to the Californian March Two-Year-Old Sale at Hollywood Park, again failed to sell—this time falling to World Wide Bloodstock (aka Hancock)—on a bid of $32,000, well below his owner’s valuation of $50,000.

“I told Paul and he said, ‘Well, I’ll take my $16,000 then,’” recalls Hancock.

So the colt was loaded up for a return trip to Kentucky. Then more ill-luck intervened. The driver suffered a fatal heart attack while on a north Texas highway, and the van crashed, killing several of its load. Sunday Silence survived but was injured.

“Sunday Silence was in the vets for about a week,” says Hancock. “He could hardly walk, and then Carl Morrison rings me and says, ‘Arthur, I think he’s a wobbler.’ I said, ‘What are you going to do?’ He said that all he could do was leave him in a paddock and see what happened. 

“So he left him out there, and about a week later, he rings me and says, ‘You need to come to barn 16 and see this Wishing Well colt.’ It was unbelievable. I went down there, and there he was, ripping and running around just like he was a foal. It was a miracle—a spooky thing.”

Therefore Sunday Silence had already lived a pretty full life by the time he joined Charlie Whittingham in California. A true master of his profession, Whittingham handled over 250 stakes winners during his 49 years as a trainer, among them such champions as Ack Ack, Ferdinand and Cougar alongside the European imports Dahlia and Exceller. Appropriately, Cougar would go on to stand at Stone Farm, where he sired Hancock’s 1982 Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol.

“Charlie Whittingham had seen Sunday Silence in California and rang me to ask about him,” says Hancock. “I told him I’d sell him half to $25,000. And he said, ‘But you bought him back for $32,000.’ Well the year before, we’d had Risen Star [subsequent winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes] go through Keeneland for $250,000. Charlie had asked about taking half of him, but we had wanted $300,000, so said, ‘Sure you can buy half for $150,000.’ And he had declined. 

“I reminded him of that, and he chuckled and said, ‘Well, I’d better take it this time.’”

He adds: “Charlie was a brilliant horseman with a lot of experience. He was very smart. He had a sixth sense about horses. And he had great patience, like those great trainers do. Without Charlie, I don’t think Sunday Silence would have reached the level that he did. He just took his time with him.” 

Whittingham paid Hancock $25,000 for a half share in the colt and later sold half of that share to a friend, surgeon Ernest Galliard. Within no time, that looked like a good bit of business. 

It is a fine reflection of the trainer and his staff, in particular work rider Pam Mabes, that Sunday Silence’s temperament was successfully honed. In Jay Hovdey’s biography of the trainer, the colt is likened to ‘Al Capone singing with the Vienna Boys Choir’—his morning exercise routinely punctuated by bad behaviour.

“They’d take him out every day before dawn,” recalls Hancock. “I remember he had a thing about grey lead horses. Every time he saw one, he’d just go after it. 

“Charlie called me one morning—4 a.m. his time; he’d always get to the barn at 4 a.m. I answered, thinking, What’s he doing calling me at this time? I said, ‘Hey Charlie, what you doing?’ He said, ‘Just waiting on the help.’ I knew he had something on his mind. Then he said, ‘You know what, this big black son of a bitch can run a little’—Charlie was a master of the understatement.’” 

Brought along steadily by Whittingham, Sunday Silence romped to a 10-length win second time out at Hollywood Park in November 1988. And after running second in an allowance race, he returned at three to win his first two races: an allowance and the San Felipe Handicap.

While he was emerging as a potential Classic candidate on the West Coast, Ogden Phipps’ homebred Easy Goer was laying down the gauntlet in New York. A handsome red son of Alydar with regal Phipps bloodlines trained by Shug McGaughey, Easy Goer was evoking comparisons with Secretariat, capturing the Gr1 Cowdin and Champagne Stakes at two before running out the 13-length winner of the Gotham Stakes in a record time early on at three. To many observers, he appealed as the likely winner of the Kentucky Derby, if not the Triple Crown. Indeed, theirs would become an east-west rivalry that would enthral racegoers during the 1989 season.

The pair met for the first time in the Kentucky Derby. Sunday Silence, partnered by Pat Valenzuela, was fresh off an 11-length win in the Santa Anita Derby. Easy Goer, though, had won the Wood Memorial in impressive style and was therefore the crowd’s choice. Yet on a muddy track, Sunday Silence had the upper hand, winning with authority over an uncomfortable Easy Goer in second.

“Of all his races, the Kentucky Derby stands out,” says Hancock. “We’d been fortunate enough to win it with Gato Del Sol, and I’m a Kentuckian; so to win it again meant a lot. “It was an extremely cold day, it was spitting snow, and Sunday Silence was weaving all the way down the stretch. Yet he still won.” 

With many feeling that the track had not played to Easy Goer’s strengths, he was fancied to turn the tables in the Preakness Stakes. However, once again, Sunday Silence emerged as the superior, albeit following an iconic, eye-balling stretch duel. Easy Goer did gain his revenge in the Belmont Stakes, making the most of the 1m4f distance and Belmont Park’s sweeping turns to win by eight lengths. The Triple Crown was gone, but Sunday Silence would later turn the tables in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where his ability to deploy tactical speed at a crucial moment turned out to be a winning move against his longer-striding rival.

Charlie Whittingham and wife Peggy with jockey Pat Valenzuela after winning the 1989 Preakness Stakes

“The Breeders’ Cup just sealed everything—champion three-year-old and Horse of the Year,” says Hancock. “It was the great showdown. Chris McCarron was able to use him at just the right time and Easy Goer, with that long stride of his, was closing. It was a great race.” Crowned Horse of the Year, Sunday Silence underwent arthroscopic knee surgery which delayed his four-year-old return to June, when he won the Californian Stakes. A head second to Criminal Type in the Hollywood Gold Cup next time out brought the curtain down on a spectacular career.

No takers

Sunday Silence in the paddock at Belmont Park

Plans called for Sunday Silence to join his sire Halo at Stone Farm. A wonderful racehorse who danced every dance, there were grounds for thinking that Sunday Silence would be an asset to the Kentucky bloodstock landscape. But breeding racehorses even then also adhered to commercial restrictions, and as a cheap yearling with suspect hocks and an underwhelming female line, he did little to spark interest. This was in contrast to Easy Goer, who retired to much fanfare at Claiborne Farm.

“We tried to syndicate him and called people everywhere—Kentucky, England, France, and the answer was always the same,” says Hancock. “It became apparent very quickly that people wouldn’t use him.

“It was spread around the industry that he was a fluke, another Seabiscuit or Citation who could run but that would be no good at stud. It was said that he was crooked, which he wasn’t, and that he was sickle-hocked, which he was as a young horse but grew out of. He was an ugly duckling that grew into a swan.

“We had three people on the books to take shares and two that would send mares. Then I spoke to my brother Seth at Claiborne, and he had 40 contracts to send out for Easy Goer. 

“At the same time, [U.S. President] Ronald Reagan changed the tax laws, and land became worth a lot less, as did shares in horses.”

The Yoshidas had already bought into the horse and suddenly, Hancock was left with little choice.

“At the same time, I got a call from a representative of Teruya Yoshida saying that Shadai would be interested in buying the whole horse,” he says. “They were offering $250,000 per share. I talked to a number of people about it—Bill Young at Overbrook Farm, Warner Jones; and they all said the same thing: that it was a no-brainer to sell. 

“At the end of the day, I had two contracts and three shares sold. I owed money. I had to sell.

“The day he left, I loaded him up myself; and I don’t mind admitting that when that van went down the drive, I cried.”

He adds: “Basically, the Japanese outsmarted everybody.” 

An immediate success

Out of a first crop of 67 foals, Sunday Silence sired 53 winners. A total of 22 of 36 starters won at two, led by champion two-year-old Fuji Kiseki, whose success in the Gr1 Asahi Hai Futurity set the scene for events to come. A tendon injury restricted Fuji Kiseki to just one further start when successful in a Gr2 the following year. Yet that failed to stop the Sunday Silence juggernaut. 

Genuine and Tayasu Tsuyoshi ran first and second in the Japanese 2,000 Guineas and later dominated the Japanese Derby, with Tayasu Tsuyoshi turning the tables. Dance Partner also landed the Japanese Oaks. As such, Sunday Silence ended 1997 as Japan’s champion sire despite the presence of only two crops.

That first crop would also come to include Marvelous Sunday, who led home a one-two for his sire in the 1997 Gp 1 Takarazuka Kinen. In no time at all, Sunday Silence had sealed his place as a successor to earlier Shadai heavyweight Northern Taste.

“I believe Sunday Silence was a stallion that possessed the potential to be very successful anywhere in the world,” reflects Teruya Yoshida. “We were just lucky to be able to introduce him to Japan as a stallion. 

“He changed the Japanese breeding industry completely, especially as he sired successful sons as race horses and stallions. Those sons have again sired successful grandsons.

“It is extraordinary that one stallion continued to produce good quality stallions over three generations. Today, it is said that approximately 60-70% of the Japanese broodmares have Sunday Silence in their female lines.”

Another top two-year-old, Bubble Gum Fellow, emerged from his second crop alongside a second 2,000 Guineas winner in Ishino Sunday and St Leger hero Dance In The Dark. Stay Gold, Sunday Silence’s first real international performer of note by virtue of his wins in the Hong Kong Vase and Dubai Sheema Classic, followed in his third while another Japanese Derby winner followed in his fourth in Special Week, also successful in the Japan Cup.

And so it continued. In all, his stud career came to consist of six Japanese Derby winners (Tayasu Tsuyoshi, Special Week, Admire Vega, Agnes Flight, Neo Universe and Deep Impact), seven 2,000 Guineas winners (Genuine, Ishino Sunday, Air Shakur, Agnes Tachyon, Neo Universe, Daiwa Major and Deep Impact), four St Leger winners (Dance In The Dark, Air Shakur, Manhattan Cafe and Deep Impact) and three 1,000 Guineas winners (Cherry Grace, Still In Love and Dance In The Mood). While a number of those good Sunday Silence runners became fan favourites, there’s no doubt that the best arrived posthumously in the champion Deep Impact. A member of his penultimate crop and out of the Epsom Oaks runner-up Wind In Her Hair, Deep Impact swept the 2005 Japanese Triple Crown and another four Gp 1 races, including the Japan Cup and Arima Kinen, at four. One of Japan’s most popular horses in history, he also ran third in the 2007 Arc.

Fittingly, Deep Impact was also quick to fill the void left at Shadai by his sire’s death from laminitis in 2002.

International acclaim 

The Japanese bloodstock industry during the mid-1990s was still relatively isolated from the rest of the world, better known certainly in Europe as the destination for a slew of Epsom Derby winners. Sunday Silence would change all that.

As word of his dominance at stud grew, so did international interest. Teruya Yoshida was swift to capitalise. In 1998, he sent his homebred Sunday Silence filly, Sunday Picnic, to be trained in Chantilly by André Fabre. It was a successful endeavour as the filly won the Prix Cleopatre and ran fourth to Ramruma in the Oaks. By that stage, Shadai had also entered into a partnership with John Messara of Arrowfield Stud with the principal idea of breeding mares to Sunday Silence on southern hemisphere time. Again, the move proved to be a success. Out of a limited pool of Australian-bred runners, Sunday Silence threw the 2003 AJC Oaks heroine Sunday Joy, who would go on to produce eight-time Gp 1 winner More Joyous and Listed winner Keep The Faith, subsequently a Gp 1 sire.

Sheikh Mohammed also joined the fray, notably by sending a relation to Miesque, the Woodman mare Wood Vine, to Sunday Silence in 1998. The resulting foal, the Irish-bred Silent Honor, was trained by David Loder to win the 2001 Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket. Silent Honor was the opening chapter of a successful association for the Sheikh with Sunday Silence that also came to include Godolphin’s 1,000 Guineas runner-up Sundrop, a JRHA Select Foal Sale purchase, and homebred Gp 3 winner Layman. Layman was foaled in the same 2002 crop as the Wertheimer’s high-class miler Silent Name. Initially trained in France by Criquette Head-Maarek, Silent Name was a dual Listed winner before heading to the U.S., where he won the Gr 2 Commonwealth Breeders’ Cup for Gary Mandella. Similarly, patronage of Sunday Silence also reaped rewards for the Niarchos family as the sire of their influential producer Sun Is Up, subsequently the dam of their top miler Karakontie. At the same time, several Japanese-trained horses were advertising the stallion to good effect on a global scale, notably Zenno Rob Roy, who ran a close second in the 2005 Juddmonte International, and Heart’s Cry, who was third in the King George a year later.

Sunday Silence at Shadai Stallion Station, Japan

Sire of sires

Meanwhile, it was becoming very apparent just how effective Sunday Silence was becoming as a sire of sires. Shadai was initially home to plenty of them, including the short-lived Agnes Tachyon, who left behind a real star in champion Daiwa Scarlet, and Fuji Kiseki, the sire of champions Kinshasa No Kiseki and Sun Classique. Stay Gold’s successful stud career was led by the household names Orfevre, who ran placed in two Arcs and is now a proven Gp 1 stallion for Shadai, and Gold Ship. Japan Dirt Derby winner Gold Allure became a leading dirt sire—his record led by champions Copano Rickey, Espoir City and Gold Dream. Manhattan Café is the sire of five Gp 1 winners. As for Special Week, he sired champion Buena Vista and Gr 1 winner Cesario, now regarded as something of a blue hen. 

Those sons still in production are entering the twilight years of their stud career. The death of Deep Impact in July 2019 robbed Japan of its international heavyweight stallion. Similarly, the announcement that fellow Shadai stallion Heart’s Cry would be retired ahead of the 2021 season removed a very able substitute. Often in the shadow of Deep Impact, Heart’s Cry evolved into an exceptional sire for whom an international profile consisted of the British Gp 1 winner Deirdre, American Gr 1 winner Yoshida and Japanese champion Lys Gracieux, the 2019 Cox Plate heroine. 

However, another Shadai stallion, Daiwa Major, remains in service at the age of 21. Well regarded as a fine source of two-year-olds and milers, he earned international recognition in 2019 as the sire of Hong Kong Mile winner Admire Mars, now also a Shadai stallion. Neo Universe, best known as the sire of Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa, and Zenno Rob Roy are also proven Gp 1 sires as is Deep Impact’s brother Black Tide, the sire of champion Kitasan Black. The latter is also now based at Shadai and the sire of Gp 2 winner Equinox out of his first crop of two-year-olds.

As such, even without Deep Impact, Sunday Silence’s influence as a sire of sires would have been immense. Deep Impact, however, took matters to another level. To date, he is the sire of 53 Gp 1 or Gr 1 winners. As far as Japan is concerned, they cover the spectrum, ranging from Horse of the Year Gentildonna to the 2020 Triple Crown hero Contrail—one of seven Japanese Derby winners by the stallion—and a host of top two-year-olds. Significantly, Deep Impact had been exposed to an international racing audience when third past the post in the 2007 Arc and that played out in a healthy level of outside support when he retired to Shadai for the 2008 season. 

For the Wildenstein family, that reaped major rewards in the form of their Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Beauty Parlour, her Listed-winning brother Barocci and French Gp 3 winner Aquamarine. That early success, as well as his growing reputation in Japan, helped to pique the attention of Coolmore. The Irish powerhouse began sending mares in 2013 and were swiftly rewarded by the 2,000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, now part of the Coolmore roster in Ireland, and the Gp 1-placed September out of a limited pool of foals. The Prix de Diane heroine Fancy Blue followed in 2020. 

Yet better was to come in 2021 in the top three-year-old Snowfall. Bred by Coolmore in Japan out of Best In The World, a high-class Galileo sister to Found, the filly made giant strides from two to three for Aidan O’Brien to sweep the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks. Her wide-margin victories in those summer highlights placed Snowfall in rarefied company while further illustrating just how well Deep Impact clicked with some of those high-flying Galileo mares. The same cross has one final chance to shine through the stallion’s last, small crop which includes two-year-olds out of the top Ballydoyle race mares Rhododendron, Minding and Hydrangea. Aidan O’Brien’s yard also houses a brother to Saxon Warrior who is out of the top two-year-old Maybe. Similarly, the Niarchos family, who patronised him from the outset, bred Le Prix du Jockey Club hero Study Of Man, whose Classic campaign in 2018 coincided with that of Saxon Warrior’s. Indeed, Deep Impact was at the height of his international powers when succumbing to a neck injury at the age of 17 in the summer of 2019.

Global exposure

While Deep Impact would build on the global foundations laid by his sire, there was a determination during the intervening years between Sunday Silence’s death and Deep Impact’s own success to expose the blood to a global audience. Chief among them was French-based agent Patrick Barbe, who sourced a number of sons to stand in France, and Frank Stronach, who purchased Silent Name to stand at his Adena Springs Farm. Barbe was the force behind importing an eclectic group of Sunday Silence horses to stand at Haras de Lonray during the mid-2000s. They were invariably priced towards the lower end of the market, yet Barbe was rewarded for his foresight, in particular through the addition of Divine Light, whose first French crop yielded the 1000 Guineas and Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Natagora.

“I have worked with Shadai for over 35 years,” he says, “and I thought it would be interesting to bring the Sunday Silence bloodline to Europe—it hadn’t been tried very much at the time. It can be difficult to educate breeders about different blood, but people had already had slight exposure to Sunday Silence, so it wasn’t too bad. 

“Rosen Kavalier was one of the first we brought over. Then we imported Divine Light. Teruya Yoshida had mentioned to me that he thought he was going to do well at stud, as he had been an extremely good sprinter. But he covered only nine mares in his first season in Japan. So we brought him to France, and in his first crop, he sired Natagora.”

As fate would have it, Natagora’s true ability came to light in the months following his sale to the Jockey Club of Turkey. Divine Light left behind just under 100 foals from his time in France and went on to enjoy further success in Turkey as the sire of champion My Dear Son.

“Divine Light was a good-looking horse,” says Barbe. “He was out of a Northern Taste mare and was compact—very similar to Northern Dancer.” He adds: “Sunday Silence was a phenomenal sire, but he also had a pedigree that was similar to Northern Dancer. I feel that was the reason that he did very well with Northern Taste, who was obviously also inbred to Lady Angela [the dam of Nearctic] himself.”

Divine Light wasn’t the only success story out of the French Sunday Silence experiment. While Rosen Kavalier was compromised by fertility problems, Gp 3 winner Great Journey sired several smart runners, while Gp 2 winner Agnes Kamikaze left behind a clutch of winners.

“Great Journey was a very good racehorse and became a consistent sire,” says Barbe. “He did well as the sire of Max Dynamite—a very good stayer—and Soleil d’Octobre, who won two Listed races.”

Today, the sole son of Sunday Silence available in either Europe or North America is Silent Name. Now 20 years old, he has found his niche within the Canadian market as a source of durable, talented runners—in a nutshell, what we have come to expect from the sireline.

Silent Name

Despite never standing for more than C$10,000, Canada’s three-time champion sire is responsible for over 30 black-type winners, making him the nation’s leading sire of a lifetime of stakes winners. They include champion sprinter Summer Sunday, Brazilian Gp 1 winner Jaspion Silent and last year’s Gp 1 Highlander Stakes winner Silent Poet. So although entering the veteran stage of his stud career, momentum behind the stallion continues to remain robust at a fee of C$7,500, as Adena Springs North manager Dermot Carty explains.

“Silent Name started out with us in Kentucky, but in 2008, we decided to bring him to Canada along with Sligo Bay,” he says. “He got three good books off the bat. At the same time, he shuttled to Brazil, and then just as his first Kentucky crop hit, he was sent to New York [where he spent two seasons with McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds]. 

“I pleaded to bring him back to Canada. People were starting to buy them, they were liking them, and the smaller trainers were doing well with them. 

“He’s a really good-looking horse—strong, a little bit sickle-hocked but with good bone. And he’s a tough horse, as tough as they go.

“When we bought him, he was really the only big horse in the pedigree, but it’s a typical Wertheimer family, and it’s improved a lot since then.” In fact, Silent Name is a half-brother to Galiway—a current rags-to-riches story of the French scene whose early crops include last year’s Qipco British Champions Stakes winner Sealiway.

“He’s out of a Danehill mare who is out of a Blushing Groom mare who is out of a Raja Baba mare,” adds Carty. “They’re all big influences.

“A lot of them can run on Polytrack, but they also excel on turf.

“He was the leading sire in Canada for three years straight; the last horse to do that was Bold Executive. Frank has sent a pile of mares to him in recent years and done very well. He’s going to get you a tough horse—people who like to race like him.”

Walmac Farm in Kentucky also made an early foray into Sunday Silence blood with the acquisition of Hong Kong Gp 1 winner Hat Trick in 2008. Latterly based at Gainesway Farm, Hat Trick threw top French two-year-old Dabirsim in his first crop and in turn, that horse sired Albany Stakes winner Different League out of his own debut crop. Noted for siring stock that comes to hand quickly, Dabirsim remains popular at Haras de Grandcamp in Normandy, also home to Deep Impact’s talented son Martinborough. Hat Trick died in 2020 and today, Kentucky representation of the Sunday Silence line relies on the young WinStar stallion Yoshida. A son of Heart’s Cry, he was sourced out of the JRHA Select Sale and went on to land the 2018 Woodward Stakes. He was popular in his first season at stud in 2020, covering 145 mares; and his first foals sold for up to $150,000 at the Kentucky winter breeding stock sales.

Fruitful experiment

Meanwhile, the retirements of Saxon Warrior to Coolmore in Ireland and Study Of Man to Lanwades Stud in Newmarket provide European breeders with quality access to Deep Impact blood. Saxon Warrior’s first crop sold for up to €540,000 as yearlings last year and are now in the yards of Aidan O’Brien, William Haggas and Mark Johnston among others. 

The first crop of Study Of Man are yearlings of 2022. As would be expected from a Niarchos homebred who stands at Lanwades Stud, he is being well supported by his powerful connections, as highlighted by the stud’s owner Kirsten Rausing in a piece with The Owner Breeder magazine last June. 

STUDY OF MAN

“I have sent him all my best mares,” she said. “I have nine from the Alruccaba family and a number of others from different families, including a very nice filly out of [Gp 1 winner] Lady Jane Digby and others out of Cubanita [a dual Gp 3 winner] and Leaderene [dam of current Australian stakes winner Le Don De Vie].

“It’s early days, but he looks to be a true-breeding bay. I would also say that a few of them look to have a bit of Sunday Silence about them.”

From the Niarchos’ point of view, utilising Study Of Man allows them to tap into inbreeding to his granddam, the family’s excellent miler and blue hen Miesque. Hers is one of the finest families worldwide and it is indicative of the high regard in which the Niarchos held Sunday Silence that they chose to support him with several members of the family.

“The relationship between the Niarchos family and Shadai dates back to when they bought Hector Protector from us,” recalls Alan Cooper, racing manager to the Niarchos family. “We had breeding rights in the horse, and we said, well we better send some mares to Japan and use him, which worked out well as we went on to breed [champion] Shiva. 

“And that led us to using Sunday Silence. The Sunday Silence adventure was very fruitful. It was lovely to get some fillies by him, and we’re still benefitting today from them.”

Among the mares sent to Sunday Silence was Miesque’s Listed-winning daughter Moon Is Up. The resulting foal, Sun Is Up, never ran but went on to throw Karakontie, whose three Gp 1 victories included the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Breeders’ Cup Mile. Study Of Man is out of Miesque’s Storm Cat daughter Second Happiness while another mare, Metaphor, foaled the Listed-placed Celestial Lagoon, in turn the dam of Dante Stakes runner-up Highest Ground.

“We also obviously had a lot of success breeding from Deep Impact through Study Of Man,” says Cooper. “We also have a filly named Harajuku, who won the Prix Cleopatre last year. Another Deep Impact that we bred, Dowsing, is now at stud in Indiana. 

“It’s been a very good experience breeding in Japan. The Sunday Silence line seems to have a bit of character, but I think as with anything to do with Halo, if they’re good, they’re very, very good.”

The Niarchos family are also in the privileged position of owning a two-year-old from the final, small crop of Deep Impact. The filly in question is out of the Listed-placed Malicieuse, a Galileo half-sister to Arc hero Bago.

In Kentucky, meanwhile, the Niarchos family have also thrown their weight behind Karakontie at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. The son of Bernstein is emerging as one of the most versatile stallions in North America, thanks to a clutch of early stakes winners that range from Princess Grace, a Graded stakes winner on both turf and dirt, to Del Mar Derby winner None Above The Law. Interestingly, Princess Grace is the product of a Silent Name mare, meaning that she is inbred to Sunday Silence. Indeed, she is the first stakes winner outside of Japan to carry his inbreeding.

Too much of a good thing?

Can there be too much of a good thing? In Sunday Silence, the Japanese racing scene has been dominated to such a degree—through both his sons and daughters—that outcrosses aren’t always easily available. And when such an animal does retire to stud in Japan, quite often their success is a reflection of their ability to cross effectively with Sunday Silence-line mares—the likes of Lord Kanaloa and Harbinger being notable examples.

In addition, successful inbreeding to Sunday Silence has taken time to gain momentum. However, in recent years, the tide has started to change.

Aside from Princess Grace, one recent major flag bearer has been the Japanese Fillies Triple Crown heroine Daring Tact. Efforia, who defeated Contrail in last year’s Gp 1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), is another fine advert among a group of 19 stakes winners from a pool of close to 4,000 named foals. 

One of the greatest

Sunday Silence might be receding in pedigrees, but his influence has never been stronger. Many of the line remain easily distinguishable with their dark coat and rangy stature; for the most part, they are hardy runners with a physical and mental toughness to them. 

“All these horses—they ran forever,” says Barbe. “They’re tough, train on and they’re sound. Whatever their level, they are consistent horses with a longevity to them.”

Granted, those descendants of Sunday Silence now coming through at stud in Japan aren’t always helped by having to compete with each other. But at the same time, the omens remain good, particularly in relation to Deep Impact’s own legacy as a sire of sires, which already includes the successful Shadai sires Kizuna and Real Impact. The latter became the first son of his sire to be represented by a Gp 1 winner when Lauda Sion won the 2020 NHK Mile Cup while Kizuna ends 2021 a top-four Japanese stallion, thanks to the exploits of the recent Gp 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Akai Ito and the Prix Foy hero Deep Bond. 

Another young son, Silver State, is Japan’s second leading first-crop sire of 2021; only a minor four-time winner himself, he has already exceeded expectations by throwing the Gp 1-placed Water Navillera in his first crop.

The presence of Saxon Warrior and Study Of Man in Europe and other Gp 1 performers such as Satono Aladdin, Staphanos and Tosen Stardom in Australasia fuels the idea that this branch of the line is only going to become more powerful on a global scale. In short, international respect for the sireline is also at an all time high.

“Thanks to Sunday Silence, the Japanese racehorses earn respect from horsemen around the world today,” says Yoshida. “In return, breeders tend to find good broodmares to send to good stallions—Japanese breeders today buy a lot of good broodmares in the international markets. 

“This enables Japanese breeding to keep developing. So you can imagine how strong Sunday’s impact is to our industry.”

Water treadmills – what can they offer our racehorses?

By Carolyne Tranquille, Dr Kathryn Nankervis & Dr Rachel Murray

Issue 71 of European Trainer (January - March 2021) included an article titled “Understanding hydrotherapy and the benefits of water-based conditioning.” In this issue, we examine the best practices for using water treadmills as part of a training programme.

Water treadmill (WT) exercise is increasingly being used as a routine part of the training of sport horses and now racehorses. However, the research detailing their effects on our equine athletes has only emerged in the last 5-10 years. A WT allows the trainer to provide a pre-determined, very precisely controlled piece of work for the horse. With the addition of water, we can then overlay this most basic piece of work with additional tools due to the properties of water itself: drag and buoyancy. The combined effect of these two forces can yield movement patterns for our horses that are beneficial in supporting training programmes. The million-dollar question then is, how exactly do you select depth and speed of belt to achieve what you want within a training programme?

Contrary to popular belief, heart rates of horses walking in water are not necessarily increased as water levels rise, with horses merely adapting their gait pattern to accommodate for increased drag. Indeed, WT exercise never elicits heart rates of over 120-140 beats/min nor does it elevate blood lactate levels, even when carrying out what might be considered to be the ‘hardest’ type of exercise which is trotting in high water. So, the benefits of this modality clearly aren’t in its ability to act as a substitute for fast work; its benefits are in the responses it can bring about in the horses’ movement pattern and the consequent muscle adaptation that can be provided when horses use it on a regular basis.

In 2019, an international equine hydrotherapy working group produced a WT user guideline document. The following sections highlight the recommendations from the group to obtain the best out of a WT exercise session for our racehorses.

General best practice in water treadmill exercise

• Follow manufacturer guidelines for correct machine operation, water care and cleaning of the machine; and seek help from an experienced user to supplement the initial training received by the manufacturer.

• Handlers should wear personal protective equipment (e.g., hard hat and gloves) during a WT session, and two handlers should be present.

• Horse loading and unloading procedures should be specific to the make and model of the machine, and the environment in which the treadmill is located, with procedures devised to avoid the handlers being directly in front or behind the horse. Loading and unloading of naïve horses seems to present the greatest risk to the handlers.

• To help keep the water clean, the horse should be brushed and/or hosed off to remove superficial dirt, the feet are picked out and the tail wrapped.

• WT exercise should be avoided for horses with any skin lesions, cuts or abrasions that might be below the water level or for a horse that had received a distal limb joint injection within four days.

• If the horse is shod, the shoes should be secure. Shoes with road nails could damage the belt, and large extensions which may affect the flight of the foot in water should be avoided.

• Horses can be worked on a WT in a headcollar, chifney or bridle, provided the natural movement of the head and neck are not restricted.

• Leg protections should be avoided.

• Once the session is complete, the horse should be hosed and dried off, especially the feet, to avoid foot problems.

Introducing horses to the exercise

• Horses habituate to WT exercise more readily if they are given several short sessions (up to 15 minutes) on consecutive days.

• Sufficient time should be allocated to avoid rushing the horse and ensuring he has a positive experience. The horse can be prepared for the belt moving by asking him to step back and forth a few times; then start the belt as the horse takes a step forward.

• The water depth should be increased with each session, provided the horse remains relaxed. Water should be kept at fetlock depth during the first session.

• If a light amount of sedation is going to be used for the first session, this should only be done under the direction of a veterinary surgeon.

• Horses are considered habituated once a relaxed and rhythmical gait is reached.

Correct posture and movement patterns during water treadmill exercise

What is the correct posture, and how should a horse move during WT exercise?

• The horse should be in line with the treadmill and not leaning or rolling from side-to-side.

• The horse should be able to move its head, neck and forelimbs without being obstructed by the front of the treadmill.

• The horse should be able to maintain position in the middle of the belt without falling to the back.

• The horse’s face should be just in front of the vertical.

• The head and neck should be largely still.

• The horse should have a rounded lumbar spine.

• The horse should be ‘pushing’ from the hindquarters.

• A regular rhythm to the footfalls should be heard.

What should a horse not look like and not move during WT exercise?

• The horse’s face should not approach the horizontal.

• There should not be excessive movement of the head and neck (the chicken walk).

• There should not be extension of the thoracic and lumbar spine.

• The horse should not ‘pull’ from the forehand. 

• An irregular rhythm to the footfalls should not be heard during a WT session.

Factors influencing selection of speed, water depth and duration of exercise

• Speed should decrease as water depth increases.

• Walking more slowly than overland is recommended.

• Belt speed should be horse-specific, and a suitable speed for the horse should be found before water is introduced into the chamber.

• The horse should work in a correct posture (as discussed above).

• The benefits of WT exercise can be achieved without trotting. To ensure safety of horse and handler, horses should only trot in the WT once they are confidently walking at various water heights.

• Water depth should be training or rehabilitation goal-specific.

• The best combination of speed and water depth will vary between horses and should be judged according to the individual horse’s response.

• Individual horse fitness, stride length, joint range of movement and capability may change during an individual session or over multiple sessions.

• It is important to monitor movement patterns closely and to observe the horse throughout the session and how movement alters in response to changes in speed or water depth and whether these changes are indicative of fatigue. This is relevant at any given water depth.

Benefits of water treadmill exercise for racehorses

• Reduction of impact shock 

• Increased muscle development of the hindquarters

• Increased joint range of motion of the limbs and the back

• Increased hindlimb range of motion 

• Controlled straight line exercise without the added weight of the rider

• Improved aerobic capacity  

Conclusions

This article summaries the best practice for WT use based on the recommendations of the Equine Hydrotherapy Working Group and the Water Treadmill User Guidelines. WT exercise has many potential benefits if the correct protocols are used, and if the horse is in a correct posture and moving optimally when on the WT. Monitoring horse posture and movement patterns throughout the session are essential to assess whether or not the horse is working optimally. The final published guidelines can be found here: tinyurl.com/water-treadmills

International Horse Movement - under the spotlight

At the annual European Horse Network / MEP’s Horse Group Conference in Brussels

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opened the conference held in Brussels 16 November 2021 with a message of support. Paull Khan, secretary-general of the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation, then spoke on international horse movement and, in specific, in the context of the three political and legal factors of Brexit, the EU Animal Health Law and the review of Animal Welfare regulations, particularly the Transport Regulation.

Khan looked at things primarily through a “thoroughbred lens,” but also included other relevant equine sectors. Explaining why horse movement is so important to our sector, Khan pointed out, “Horse racing is not only a serious sport, it is a serious business. We estimated last year that the economic impact of racing in Europe is some €23bn per annum, and the sector directly employs over 100,000 people, mainly in rural areas. 

“Horse racing is widespread across the EU. Seventeen of our European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation members are EU member states—the same for our sister organisation, the European Trotting Union; and movement of thoroughbreds is central to this industry.”

While other agricultural animals will typically only move internationally once, if at all, usually for slaughter, horses, particularly racehorses and sports horses, frequently move between countries for reasons other than slaughter. Khan stressed the importance of repeating this to those outside our sector: “As legislators may have in their minds ‘travel for slaughter,’ when they think of international travel of horses and other animals.” Almost 90,000 equines in a normal year travel internationally within, or to and from, the EU; and it is estimated that nearly 60% of these movements are not for slaughter.

“For thoroughbreds, it starts at the very beginning—at their conception,” said Khan. “So the movement of mares to visit stallions is essential. And it is vital, for the improvement of the breed and in order that Europe retains its competitive pre-eminence in this area, that mare owners are able to select from a broad panel of stallions, which may be based in other countries. There are growing concerns in the Stud Book community about inbreeding. Limiting the geographical footprint is an obvious way to restrict that gene pool.”

He went on to point out that during the horse’s racing career, the better it is, the more likely it will travel internationally to contest the best races. “Again, this process is critical to the improvement of the breed. The performances of a racehorse within any given country are only truly validated when that horse is tested by racing the best in other countries.”

Moving on to the issues posed by Brexit, Khan reminded us that the three countries with the largest thoroughbred industries—France, Ireland and Great Britain—had relied on the former Tripartite Agreement to allow for largely free and unrestricted travel within this bloc. There were over 26,000 international movements of thoroughbreds annually between these three nations alone. Now, movement between Great Britain and EU countries requires blood tests, the involvement of official vets for health certification, further health-check on entry, pre-notification of the movement, both outbound and return, Customs paperwork (four sets for a return trip) and the payment of value added tax. “The burden in terms of cost, time and hassle of moving a horse has risen starkly,” Khan illustrated.

“There are also welfare issues here,” he continued. “World Horse Welfare tell me that the requirements are impacting compliant traffic but not non-compliant traffic. We have heard of people choosing to send horses from France, destined for Britain by the long sea route to Ireland, then traveling up to Northern Ireland and finally across to mainland Britain, all in order to avoid all this. Clearly not in the horses’ welfare interests. And we know of delays of several hours at Border Control Posts (BCPs)  and of horses—most recently a nine-month-old foal, which was sent back to the UK on its own because of a technicality of the paperwork.”  

What is frustrating is that so much of this is unnecessary. Khan said, “Taking the health certification requirements first, they are not serving to solve any existing bio-security problem—there were no issues arising out of the movement of horses to and from the UK throughout the 50 years before Brexit. But putting that aside, the requirement to complete lengthy paperwork is unnecessary, given the existence of a digital alternative.

“And secondly, in respect of the VAT, the vast majority of racing and sport horse movements are return journeys—the horse travels to compete, or breed, and then returns. But even though VAT is not ultimately payable in the case of temporary movements, there is the need for connections of the horse to pay the VAT, or put up security against its value and then reclaim it. This is time consuming, not only for the connections of the horses but also for the revenue officials collecting the money who then have to spend time in repaying that money to the connections when the horse has gone home. Repayments are reportedly typically taking five months from some countries. This is a pointless waste of time and effort for horsemen and officials alike.”

What effect has all this had on movement numbers to and from Great Britain? “It’s very difficult, of course, to split the effect of COVID from that of Brexit; but what we can see very clearly is that, in combination, Brexit and COVID have had a downward impact on thoroughbred movements,” Khan reflected. 

“It is clear that racing movements, i.e. international runners, suffered badly in the first year of COVID, roughly halving from 2019, whether between Britain and the EU or the rest of the world. It is true that, since Brexit, rather than seeing a further deterioration, we have witnessed a recovery. Racing movements this year, despite Brexit, have been higher than in 2020—24% higher to and from the EU, and 59% higher to and from the rest of the world. But, while we must be optimistic that the worst effects of COVID are behind us, we cannot be so confident about Brexit. We just don’t know how owners’ and breeders’ behaviour will be modified in future years by the stark reality of their experience in this, ‘Year One’. Now that they know what the final bill added up to and how long it took for them to receive their VAT repayments, it is not unreasonable to surmise that they may choose not to repeat the exercise in the future.” 

Even given this year’s recovery, he noted that international runners between Britain and the EU have fallen by one-third against 2019 levels, and those with the rest of the world are down by 13%.

“This means that EU owners and trainers have had fewer opportunities to test their horses against those in Britain, and races on both sides of the water have been weakened, both in their appeal to the public and as international testing grounds.

“This could have a long-term damaging effect in an area where Europe leads the world. No fewer than 38 of the world’s top 100 races are run in Europe—more than Asia which has 23, Australasia 26 and the Americas 13. I mentioned the economic impact of European horse racing over €23bn per annum; much of this is linked to the quality of the races that are run here.” 

“Tracing a very different pattern have been non-racing movements (excluding Ireland), which were far more resilient to COVID than were racing movements but which have suffered post-Brexit in a way that racing movements have not. Movements for breeding and other purposes outnumber racing movements by around six to one. 

“Looking at movements between Britain and Continental EU—we don’t have these figures for Ireland because Britain and Ireland share a common Stud Book—we see they have more than halved, from 4,283 to 1,964. An indication of the ‘Brexit effect’ can be inferred from the fact that movements between Britain and the rest of the world only reduced by 13%, despite COVID.

“Non-racing movements to and from Ireland have held up remarkably well, being within 4% of 2019 levels. Overall, thoroughbred journeys between Britain and the EU are one-third down on two years ago.

“This isn’t just affecting racing. The European Equestrian Federation have told me that they have seen reduced numbers, both of British competitors at European events and Europeans travelling to Britain. And, taking the perspective of Ireland, we see a very similar picture. Non-racing movement of thoroughbreds between Ireland and the rest of the EU has fallen from 3,951 to 2,407—a 39% fall.

“Overall movements to and from Ireland would appear to be down by one-quarter—less, therefore, than the one-third fall to and from Britain. As in Britain, racing movements have shown a recovery this year, whereas non-racing movements, except those too and from Britain which have been static, have continued to fall.”

Animal Health Law was the next major issue to be examined in detail by Khan, although as he pointed out, the AHL has only applied since April; and member states are at different stages of their practical implementation. “In brief, it is too soon to gauge its impact on horse movement,” he warned. 

“The new requirements for the registration of operators and establishments, the registration of the place where a horse is habitually kept, the need to record all arrivals and departures, etc., will create additional work. And it could be argued that the problems these measures are being brought in to address are largely absent in the race and sport horse sectors; and they come at a time when the equine sector is already reeling from the impact of COVID.

“What I would say, however, cautiously, is that, from the soundings I have been making, my impression is that, at least in our sector, there are no widespread concerns over the impact of this new legislation per se on horse movements.”

He then moved on to the third piece of legislation, the Animal Transport Regulation. “Here, we’re concerned that some of the recommendations of the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry, ANIT, do not eventually become law.”

Subsequent to the Conference, ANIT produced its final report in early December, and Khan has provided us with an update on the current situation.

“We are pleased that a number of the points we and our sister organisations made appear to have been heeded. There was the threat of a blanket ban on transport of live horses to third countries, but this has gone, as has a requirement for a vet to be present at all loadings and unloadings. The fact that mares need to travel to visit stallions in order to conform with the global ban on artificial breeding methods in the thoroughbred world has also been acknowledged. It would seem, too, that the hard-won derogation from the journey limit of eight hours has been retained.

“What we need to concentrate on in the coming months, and make representations to the Commission as appropriate, includes the proposed ban on travelling horses outside of the range -5 degrees to +30 degrees, and ensuring that travel of horses by horsebox on roll-on/roll-off ferries is differentiated from travel by sea vessel. I’m sure our colleagues in the breeding world will also want to ensure that there is a derogation from any ban on travelling unweaned foals even if they are accompanied by their dams, and the proposed ban on animals travelling when in the last third of gestation.” 

Returning to the questions posed at the conference, Khan provided advice on how decision makers can support the industry. “Taking Brexit first, it is the unanimous view of all 26 EMHF member countries, that an easing of movement between the EU and the UK will benefit the whole of the European thoroughbred industry. We need to address avoidable areas of friction, which are only likely to worsen when the UK introduces its own BCPs to mirror those in EU countries. And I come back to the two things I mentioned earlier: unnecessary paperwork and unnecessary VAT payments. We’re hopeful that the newly formed Sanitary & Phytosanitary Committee can help here and we hope that there will be some expert input from the equine sector on that Committee.”

He also called for a commitment to embrace digital technology to replace the current antiquated paper-based systems. “The use of equine e-passports for equine identification is already providing welfare and health benefits through the eradication of tampered and fraudulent passports and improved traceability through real-time validation and audit trails. These digital passports, which have been built by both the sport horse and racehorse sectors—all Thoroughbreds in Ireland and Britain have them—comprise identity, vaccination and veterinary records, movement and ownership. We need governments to work with us to enhance this existing technology through interoperability with the systems of relevant government agencies: vets, Customs, revenue, etc. This will reduce cost, reduce time, reduce the risk of error and fraud. It will also cut down waiting times and workloads at Border Control. Vets at BCPs have many other, far more pressing tasks from which checking high health horses is currently just a distraction; and this can be stopped. 

“Of course, acceptance of e-passports from selected third countries will be necessary to address the Brexit issue, and current EU Law precludes this.

“More generally, we seek the introduction of a system which recognises that, where high health status of a horse population can be demonstrated, the regulatory burden imposed on the movements of such horses should be appropriately reduced. Such an evidence-led, risk-based approach— such as the High Health Breeding “HHB” concept, which the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders have advocated and is now being examined by the chief veterinary officers (CVOs) of Ireland, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries, or the similar High Health Horse concept which the racing and sport horse sectors proposed to the Commission some four years ago—would make best use of stretched veterinary and administrative resources, [would] give much-needed respite to the equine sector and benefit horse welfare.

“We also call upon the revenue authorities in member states and the UK to adopt the flexibility, which it is within their gift to do, in agreeing sensible exemptions from the requirement to make payments in relation to value added tax in the case of temporary movements of horses. The racing industries in the most affected countries are all engaging with their respective revenue authorities on this question. Support from MEPs would be very valuable.

And on the Transport Regulation, we ask that our legitimate concerns are taken into account and that we avoid additional provisions in law which would unnecessarily seriously damage the equine sector further.”

Khan concluded on a positive note by pointing out, “I’d just like to underline that those in the racing and breeding community are passionate about their horses. We have long worked closely with World Horse Welfare and others, and we are fully behind their efforts and those of MEPs towards improving conditions for horses.”

MOVEMENT OF HORSES 2021 TABLES

OVERALL THOROUGHBRED MOVEMENTS

GB / IRE BREEDING MOVEMENTS INFERRED FROM COVERING STATISTICS

Showing totals as reported at end-November 2021

Click to view the tables:

OUTBOUND MOVEMENTS FROM GB
GB-TRAINED RUNNERS (RACE STARTS) IN EU/SWI & RoW

RACING MOVEMENTS - INBOUND MOVEMENTS TO GB

IRISH NON-RACING MOVEMENTS

NON-RACING MOVEMENTS - Excludes movements between Great Britain and Ireland

Horse Bedding: Beware the Marketing Hype

By Jo Warrilow

The performance of any racehorse is dependent on a number of factors, but a high standard of stable management and an overriding commitment to the delivery of an exemplary care regimen are paramount if a horse is to remain healthy and in peak condition, enabling it to hopefully enjoy a successful racing career.  

Due to the intense fitness and exercise routine that racehorses are exposed to, a comfortable stable is essential to ensure they are able to rest adequately. 

The choice of bedding is an important consideration for those responsible for running a yard. Not only is bedding used in the stable, but it is also often used when travelling, which of course, is a regular requirement for any competing racehorse. Traditionally, the original choice of bedding was straw, but like so many aspects of stable management, this has evolved dramatically. Now there are a plethora of choices in terms of the different types available. The million-dollar question is, which bedding to choose?  While a deep, luxurious bed may look aesthetically pleasing, does the bedding type represent the best-in-class when addressing factors influencing the horse’s health?

A recent in-depth study by equine scientist Dr David Marlin explored the most popular bedding types (sawdust, flax straw, cardboard, barley straw, straw pellets, miscanthus, hemp, wood fibre, rape straw, wheat straw, wood pellets and shavings) and the findings revealed that when the products are put under scientific scrutiny, the claims made on pack rarely match up to reality.

Dust-free or Dust-y?

An earlier survey in January 2021 indicated that shavings and wood pellets were deemed to be the most popular choice of bedding, with wood shavings clearly leading the way. The appeal of this bedding type is largely attributed to the dust-free claims that many brands make, and Dr Marlin’s lab testing proved that the majority of brands in this sector scored highly in terms of the dust criteria (although technically a dust-free bedding is impossible to achieve)—but not all. Two popular shavings brands earned the top score, but at the same time, another well-known shavings brand and a wood pulp fibre bedding product performed badly in this area. Equally, a natural hemp brand, regularly marketed as a dust-free bedding was found to earn the dubious title of being the dustiest. Three brands of bedding, which carried the marketing claim of being dust-free, were in fact found to be low-dust, moderately dusty and in the case of the hemp-based product included in the study, very dusty.

Hygienic quality

The hygienic quality of various bedding types was also put to the test. On a positive note, all were found to be free of Aspergillus, the major mould species guilty of causing respiratory disease in horses. However, other moulds and bacteria (which are a source of endotoxin and implicated in equine asthma, causing or worsening respiratory health) were identified. These were used as an indicator of how ‘clean’ the bedding was. The worst offender against this marker was once again a hemp-based bedding, followed by a shavings brand which boasts the claim of being ‘ultra-hygienic’ and a fine woodchip bedding brand. 

Absorbency

Absorbency is of course a natural requirement to ensure the comfort of the horse and can also be a key factor influencing foot health. Absorbency may be especially important where only a limited amount of bedding is being used for example, if bedding is laid on top of rubber matting or in situations where a horse may be drinking excessively. The findings here were fairly predictable with the top three performers for absorbency being represented by popular pellet-type beddings. One of these was proved to actually absorb over five times its own weight of water. However, the hemp-based bedding option, which boasts the claim that it is ‘probably the most absorbent bedding money can buy’ once again highlighted the importance of not always believing the marketing hype, lagging behind in eighth place, out of the 12 beddings tested. Equally, one of the shavings brands marketed as ‘super absorbent’ came in third from the bottom (in 10th place), while the worst performing bedding in terms of absorbency—a fine woodchip—carries the promise of being ‘highly absorbent’.

Bedding coverage

A coverage measurement was reviewed, which provides guidance on how much bedding would be needed to make up a bed. The most generous coverage was delivered by two of the pellet brands, closely followed by a fine woodchip bedding. However, this result came at a price, with the top performing pellet brand also representing the most expensive. This should be viewed alongside the fact that while there would be an initial high outlay, the ongoing maintenance with this product was extremely cost effective. Four shavings brands offered the best value options to lay a brand-new bed.

And the winners were …

The research provides a detailed breakdown of the performance of all 12 popular brands. Taking into consideration the requirements for cleanliness, low dust and absorbency, the study pointed to the winners tied between a straw pellet and a pine shavings brand, with further shavings products also offering a good option at an improved value for money price point. 

Commenting on the findings, Dr David Marlin said, “This research proves that once again, many horse owners or those involved in making buying decisions in relation to the management and care of horses are being duped by spurious marketing claims which are not substantiated by scientific data. Some brands are a little shy of the truth, while others are frankly bordering on dishonesty. Not only is this practice unethical and unacceptable, but it can also have a potential detrimental impact on a horse’s health. I’d urge any horse owner or care provider, reviewing the many bedding options available to them, to invest time in reading our comprehensive study prior to committing their hard-earned cash to prevent making any costly mistakes.” 

How the survey was conducted

New, unopened bales of bedding were purchased either directly from manufacturers or approved stockists. Bales were opened, and 1kg samples were removed. Bales were chosen to represent a range of types, prices and popularity based on an online survey of 1885 owners who rated 2,776 beddings which DrDavidMarlin.com carried out in 2021. 

The following techniques were used to analyse the bedding:

Dust

100g samples of bedding were placed in a plastic box 43 x 38 x 28cm -  total volume 45.8 litres. An airtight lid was fitted, and the box was rotated mechanically at 1 revolution per second for 60 seconds. The peak total particles (count per litre) and peak PM2.5 (ug/m3) and PM10 (ug/m3) were recorded at a height of 20cm inside the box (internal height 26cm) with the bedding at the bottom of the box (M2000 2nd generation, Temtop, San Jose, CA 95131, USA). The lab background PM2.5, PM10 and particle count were measured before and after each sample test and subtracted from the value measured for the bedding. The box was then cleaned, vacuumed and wiped before the next sample. Samples were measured in triplicate and the mean reported. 

Hygienic quality

Samples were submitted to an accredited laboratory for measurement of total viable count (TVC) at 30°C, which measures all living organisms in the bedding (i.e., bacteria, moulds, yeasts, protozoa, etc.) as an indicator of hygienic quality. Samples were also analysed for Aspergillus species – a mould commonly associated with equine asthma. 

Absorbency

50g samples of bedding were placed in 25 x 35cm sealable plastic bags. 500ml of water at 15-18°C was then added to the bedding, and the bag hung vertically for 30 minutes. At this time holes were made in the bottom of the bags and the samples allowed to drain to remove excess water for 3 minutes after which the bag was weighed. The final weight minus the initial weight (50g) was expressed as a fold increase over the initial weight (i.e., if no water had been absorbed, the value would be 0; and if all the water had been absorbed the maximum value would be 500/50 = 10-fold increase). Samples were tested in triplicate and the mean reported. 

Spread volume/coverage

The density of each bedding was measured by weighing a fixed volume of bedding. If the bedding was compressed, then it was broken up to represent the form in which it would be used to form a bed. The amount of bedding in kg that would be required to cover one square metre to a depth of 10cm (~4in) was then calculated. 

Raceday Stewards - What can racing learn from other sports who employ professional officials?

By Lissa Oliver

There is an argument in British and Irish racing that all stewards should be professional. The idea of stewards presiding over the sport on a voluntary basis is considered, by some, to be outdated. Yet others would argue that voluntary stewards are incorruptible, giving their time not for financial personal gain but for a genuine love of the sport and desire to support racing.

How would we feel if our politicians and government ministers were unpaid? Would we be more trustworthy if their position was a vocation rather than just an employment choice? Or anxious that lack of salary left them open to bribery? There is no definitive answer, and much depends on the individual holding that position of power.

So how do other sports police their participants? Some have ‘in-play’ referees who are participating alongside the sporting contestants, but there are many sports, like our own, policed from observers on the side-lines. In all cases, with one notable exception, the world’s major sports are overseen by professional panels; although it was only in more recent years that football referees joined those professional ranks. 

The exception is motorsport. Formula 1 racing is policed from a race day control room by marshals who are volunteers and unpaid. Fitness and passion are the only prerequisites, and just a minimum of a year’s experience at motor club level is expected of Formula 1 marshals. 

If we look at other equestrian sports, judges have a training programme in place designed to help them progress their career and all officials must attend an officials’ training event every two years. The average annual salary is said to be around €51,000 / £43,400.

In football, British referees became professional in 2001, and basic annual retainers vary from €35,000 / £30,000 for Premier League assistant and video assistant referees, to €82,000-€235,000 / £70,000-£200,000 for the official referee, plus match fees of €998-€1,800 / £850-£1,500. The restructuring from amateur to professional aimed to improve the overall standard of refereeing and enable officials to go full time. Former FIFA referee Roger Milford observed at the time, “I am sure this will mean more consistency from the officials on points of law which cause controversy. The fact that the referees will meet regularly for training sessions means they will sit down together and watch videos of incidents which have caused controversy.”

Elite cricket umpires receive around €2,400 / £2,000 per match, plus significant payments by tournament sponsors. There is a strict qualification route requiring at least 10 years of experience, with a series of examinations along the way. Meanwhile, following training and a written examination on the rules of tennis, top tennis umpires can command €35,000-€70,000 / £30,000-£60,000 a year and are required to attend and pass yearly certification school.

Although most rugby unions don’t reveal how much they pay their professional referees, a World Cup bonus can boost top referees to €94,000 / £80,000 a year, with match fees around €500 / £425. As with other sports, there is a structured training programme in place, coupled with length of experience. 

American football boasts seven NFL officials on the field per game, rather than observing from off the field, with specific roles and responsibilities. The NFL’s officiating development programme continuously develops a robust talent pool, as well as grassroots clinics and programmes designed to introduce young people to football officiating. Although NFL referees and officials are part-time employees, without work in the closed season, they can earn an average of €181,000 / £154,000) for the season. This is comparable to baseball umpires—with four officiating per game—and similar training and pay brackets exist; although according to Bleacher Report, baseball umpires make more per year than officiating staff from the NFL. Likewise, golf referees in North America command similar salaries.

It is interesting to note that in unifying the rules of golf worldwide—generally viewed as a self-policing sport, it is seen to start at referee level. In Britain, the Official Referee Qualification was launched in February 2021 to establish a clear pathway for aspiring golf officials. Grant Moir, director of rules at golf’s administrative body The R&A, said of the introduction, “We believe that individuals aspiring to become referees and tournament administrators will benefit greatly from this enhanced rules education programme that culminates in an official qualification which will be recognised internationally. We will work closely with our affiliated national federations around the world to introduce the new Referee Qualification and together encourage future officials to take advantage of the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the rules and develop the skills required to apply them in a competition environment.” 

2021 saw an initial pilot of the programme being run in Australia, Chile, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden, in order to gain feedback and make refinements to the programme ahead of a full roll-out in 2022.

These, then, are just some examples that racing authorities might look to if seeking to update race day officiating. It is quite clear throughout that in other sports, officials are salaried and, more importantly, a clear pathway of education is in place, including continuous professional development and training. The switch from amateur to professional football referees to create a greater level of consistency would certainly have pricked a few ears within racing, while the international focus of the new Golf Referee Qualification is definitely something our industry should be paying attention to.

Of course, the race day stewarding system in place differs from one horseracing jurisdiction to the next, and some have already embraced the trend set by other sports. This only serves to highlight the gulf still to be bridged in globally unifying the rules of horseracing.

If we revert back to football, as well as the move from amateur to professional officials, more recently we have seen the introduction of VAR (Video Assistant Referee). Despite early teething problems, VAR has been held up by some trainers as the way forward for race day stewards. The idea of a central office occupied by a panel of full-time professional stewards who can view racing remotely is far less outlandish now that we have all adapted to Zoom and other online platforms. Enabling the same stewards to view each day’s racing, covering more than one meeting, would surely allow for greater consistency in their interpretation of the rules.

Interestingly, this concept has already been trialled in Australia by Racing Victoria. As a result of the operational review led by Robert Cram, Racing Victoria chairman of stewards, the control room has been established as a centrally located race day hub that remotely supports the stewards officiating at a race meeting. It will be interesting to see how successful this may become and whether it will be adopted by other Australian bodies, or indeed by other nations.

Marc Van Gestel, general manager of Integrity and Chairman of Stewards at Racing NSW, tells us, “The NSW model for stewarding is based on the entirety of stewards being professional and full-time. We do not employ honorary staff.  

“Given the geographics of NSW and oversight of approximately 100 racecourses, Racing NSW has the state divided into 10 regions whereby there are full-time stewards based in those regions who report directly to me from our central Sydney office. All stewards operate from Racing NSW offices in those regions. Conferences are held annually and policies, rules updates and important changes to prohibited substance protocols are disseminated to all stewards when changes are made. Stewards also officiate in regions that border their own base, to provide further transparency with our processes. 

“The majority of stewards working for Racing NSW, including myself, have been developed through our traineeship system whereby trainees complete a certificate IV in racing administration (stewarding). This course provides all stewards with a fundamental base to commence their career in the industry. There is also a significant amount of on-the-job training that is provided to all stewards along with formal training sessions.

“The model we have in place provides consistency with decisions made throughout this jurisdiction and in my opinion is best practice.”

Former Racing NSW Deputy Chairman of Stewards Greg Rudolph sets out quite clearly the recruitment process and career path of potential stewards. “The formative years of cadetship are quite tough as they are paid an apprenticeship wage, starting out at $50,000 (€31,600/£27,000) per year. While that can be challenging, it is easier once you move up in rank. Once you move into the senior ranks, it becomes a package with a car and phone package as well as a six-figure salary. The higher positions are well paid, but you have to work your way up the ladder.”

The Hong Kong Jockey Club also provides an apprenticeship pathway into stewarding, with cadet stipendiary stewards. The HKJC Racing Control Department has a team of stipendiary stewards to administer the Rules of Racing and monitor the conduct of industry participants. Cadets are required to have a degree in a subject applicable to the responsibilities of a stipendiarysteward and must complete the Stewards Training Programme. They are also expected to have an active involvement with horses, including the ability to ride, although it is not essential. Salaries are not publicly available but are said to range from €26,000 to €148,000 (£22,000-£126,000) according to the level of appointment, qualifications and experience.

In the USA, stewards are professional and on average can earn between €33,000 / £28,000) and €56,000 /£48,000. The Racing Officials Accreditation Programme (ROAP) is a collaborative effort of industry organisations, supporting the common goal of ensuring the integrity of the horseracing industry. The ROAP works in close collaboration with the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Programme and the University of Louisville Equine Industry Programme to oversee the accreditation of racing officials.

The minimum experience qualifications for Flat Racing Accreditation at the basic level is at least 225 race days of experience as a licenced racing official (in any recognised capacity). A rigid structure dictates that licenced trainers (and similarly licenced jockeys) may receive credit for days of experience for the years where they had 100 or more starts as a licenced trainer. For example, five to nine years equates to a credit of 75 days, leaving them to complete only 150 additional days.

Graduates with a bachelor's degree from an affiliated university receive credit for 100 days of experience, and participants in the ROAP Apprenticeship Programme receive credit for up to 60 days of the apprentice programme. To maintain accreditation, all accredited US racing officials, stewards and judges must attend a continuing education session approved by the ROAP, totalling at least 16 credit hours every two years. 

The concept of professional stewards is not alien to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) or to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB). Both jurisdictions employ a combination of unpaid volunteers and paid stipendiary stewards who collectively oversee the integrity of racing and enforce the Rules of Racing. But the role of stipendiary stewards is largely intelligence gathering and monitoring, while it’s the volunteers who form the disciplinary panel and interpret the Rules of Racing on race day.

As volunteers, there is no specified criteria for training or experience, but British and Irish stewards are supported with relevant training and must know the Rules of Racing. IHRB senior stewards serve for a period of two years, following a two-year period as deputy senior steward. Current Senior Steward Harry McCalmont said of his role, “Having spent my life in the business, it’s good to be putting something back and trying to help whenever possible. Stewards have a thankless task, but there is an enormous amount of work done voluntarily which people don’t see, and there is no recompense whatsoever. People do that because they love the sport.”

France also relies upon voluntary stewards, but in a 2019 poll by Jour de Galop, 61% of respondents voted in favour of professional stewards. France Galop Steward Robert Fournier-Sarvolèze told Jour de Galop of his concerns at the average age of the 850 stewards volunteering throughout France. “We note that the age band is getting higher and higher. We have some concern about this. In two years, many men and women will have to stop. The age limit is set at 75 for race stewards.”

He agreed that finding volunteers was not easy but didn’t necessarily believe offering professional positions would help, pointing out that the remuneration would be a major factor. Though not personally in favour, he felt a fixed salary for stewards employed on a year-round basis, rather than a one-off race day payment, might provide a solution. He did not, however, believe a mix of voluntary and professional stewards was workable.

Like McCalmont, Fournier-Sarvolèze acknowledged, “It is a pity that a lot of people do not know all the work done by the stewards.” However, reflecting back on the Racing Victoria remote control room and arguments in favour of a horseracing VAR, Fournier-Sarvolèze made the point, “This may be one of the faults of volunteering—it is not possible to be present every day.”

Stephanie Daburon has been a France Galop steward for 15 years and, like McCalmont, says of her voluntary role, “I have been passionate about horse racing from a young age. Becoming a steward has allowed me to participate in the life of racing in a different way.”

There are arguments both for and against professional stewards, but an important element in stewarding is integrity and the need to preserve the independence of the stewards, while ensuring that their judgment is not affected by any conflict of interest. Remuneration does not enter into that. What it can provide, however, is the stability of a full-time position and consistency. Isn’t lack of consistency in interpreting the rules our greatest bugbear?

There is one final point to note, however. We have been given, where possible, average salaries across all sports and racing jurisdictions. For those racing bodies who do not yet employ professional stewards, can they afford the cost? And where will that additional expense come from?

Scandanavian Horse Racing Breaks New Ground with Common Rules Book

By Dr. Paull Khan

A refrain that can be heard with relentless regularity across the racing world is the call for common rules of racing. I know of no one who does not hold to the view that it would indeed be a great improvement if—like golf, tennis or any number of other sports—racing had a harmonised global rules book. However, with one or two notable recent exceptions, advances towards this prize have been depressingly absent. Racing Authorities are, after all, sovereign in such affairs and, frequently, the attitude that ultimately prevails is “we are absolutely in favour of harmonisation—as long as we don’t have to change our rules.” 

It is, then, all the more heartening to be able to report on an initiative which has overcome such national pride and prejudice and successfully claimed this elusive prize. Since 1 June, the racing industries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark have been governed by a common set of rules encompassing registration and licencing, anti-doping, infection control, raceday equipment and guidelines for sanctions.  

Not that it has been a quick or easy fix. Discussions have been held since before the turn of the century on dovetailing such aspects of racing administration of the three countries. Five years ago, EMHF’s Honorary Life President Bjorn Eklund carried out an exercise to map the differences between the three rules books.

Then, in November 2020, the Swedish Horseracing Authority’s administrative manager, Helena Gartner, was asked to lead a push finally to get the concept over the line. Two representatives were nominated from each of the three countries, with Gartner as project manager. Weekly meetings were held throughout the first half of 2021, paving the way for the June launch.

In part, the recent acceleration of progress can be attributed to COVID as one of the pandemic’s few benefits. Nicolas Cordrey, Danish Jockey Club representative on the group, explains: “There is no doubt that COVID, and the need to use video conferencing on a daily basis, helped in getting the three countries together. It made the process much easier and quicker. We were also lucky to have Helena as project manager, who was always one step ahead.

“Although we are operating in a relatively small market,” explains Gartner, “there is a high degree of international traffic. In 2020, for example, a quarter of the horses that raced in Sweden were trained outside the country—the great majority of them from Denmark and Norway. The same jockeys are riding across Scandinavia. So it is important to have the same procedures and penalties.” 

Exact equivalence of all the Rules has not yet been achieved. Some remain distinct, most obviously Norway’s famous banning of the whip. Gartner again: “I have a list of rules which still differ. While Denmark and Norway use stalls tests; Sweden has qualifier races, for example. Norway has equipment that Sweden and Denmark would not allow: flexible blinkers and ear plugs that can be removed during the race (as are often used in trotting in Scandinavia). I would say that we either succeeded to harmonise quickly or we had to put it on the list, which we have to work with in the future. For Sweden and Denmark there will be more restrictive rules for the use of whip in 2022, which we are discussing at the moment. How close we get to the Norwegian rules is still to be decided.”

These loose ends aside, the experience has been undeniably positive. “Enhanced cooperation between the countries has benefited us all. We share experiences more frequently now and learn from each other. I hope that decisions made by the Stewards will become more and more homogeneous. Now we share members of Appeal Bodies among our countries. We also had a common education for Stewards led by (the British Horseracing Authority’s) Brant Dunshea and Cathy O´Meara in October, which was a big success. I also would like to add that all countries have agreed to let the Swedish Trotting Disciplinary committee decide about violations against the antidoping rules for horses.”

The secret to success down this pioneering route would appear to be compromise and pragmatism as well as acceptance that this is an iterative process, where the countries move closer towards full harmony over time. 

Have the changes been generally accepted by the stakeholders? “Yes, I would absolutely say so,” answers Gartner.

There is a bigger strategic prize that has been an impetus for the project. Establishing a joint Rules Book has been identified as a necessary precursor to technological convergence, with all the synergistic benefits this promises. Gartner again: “Common rules is the first step on our way towards a common Scandinavian database and IT system, and that work has also started!”

The Norwegian Jockey Club’s Liv Kristiansen, also an EMHF Executive Council member, has represented Norway on the project. She elaborates on its perceived advantages:

“As it works now, the three organisations do the same job three times, whether that be registering horses and their breeding, registering owners, licencing or recording race results.”

Cordrey concurs: “One common database, instead of three, will save a lot of administrative time between the three countries and will be much better for our owners, trainers and gamblers. Looking for information and statistics in one place and entering and declaring in one system will make life much easier for a lot of people living in or off racing.”

Kristiansen adds that the system will also address a long-standing inequity. Today, as generally around the world, if a rider incurs a penalty in one country and a second in another country, the first will not be taken into account in any ‘totting-up’ calculations. Top riders can, therefore, move from one jurisdiction to another, free from such concerns. “With our common rules, if a jockey gets fined or suspended for an offence in Norway one day, and then does the same in Sweden the following day, this would be considered a repeat offence.”

Such international cooperation makes sense on so many levels. Common rules are, in and of themselves, to the benefit of all participants and fans. In addition to which, looking beyond one’s own country to outsource certain administrative functions not only increases the talent pool, but also reduces the risks of conflicts of interest. And finally, merging IT systems reduces duplication of work and creates ongoing cost savings. 

Maybe this Scandinavian experiment will act as a beacon for other Racing Authorities to follow suit. 

Photo: Caption: Outgoing IFHA Chair Louis Romanet with EMHF Secretary-General Paull Khan.

BIG CHANGES ON THE WORLD STAGE

4 October 2021 marked the end of a remarkable era in global racing administration. Louis Romanet retired after 27 years as the first and only chair of our global body, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, thus ending a period of over a century during which the Romanet dynasty has been central to the sport’s development. It was Louis’ grandfather, René, who, as secretary-general of the Societe d’Encouragement (the then French racing authority), chose the name the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for a new prestige race, which made its debut in 1920 shortly after the conclusion of the First World War. Both Louis and his father, Jean, headed the Societe d’Encouragement, and it was Jean’s international outlook and vision that led to the creation of the IFHA. Brian Kavanagh, EMHF chair, has gone as far to say, “Without the Romanet family’s influence in racing, I don’t think racing would be the global sport that it is today.” 

Louis has been a towering figure in world racing for so long, and it was both a relief and a pleasure that we were able to wish him a bonne retraite in person.

Chairmanship of the IFHA passes to Asia, and to Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, who has been CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the past 15 years. (We in Europe, though, can of course claim Engelbrecht-Bresges as one of our own—having run Germany’s Direktorium for six years in the 1990s). There will be no loss of continuity or experience, however, since he steps up to the top post having been, for several years, one of the IFHA’s three vice-chairs.

This was but one of many changes at the IFHA, which followed both a strategic and a governance review. Perhaps the most far-reaching of these is the decision that the federation’s executives will run affairs from their respective bases around the world, in Lexington, Paris and Hong Kong. Just as COVID provided impetus to the Scandinavian rules project, so it seems to have contributed to the acceptance that organisations no longer need to have a single physical headquarters.

Paris will retain a special place within the workings of the IFHA. The 55-year tradition of holding the annual conference there, following the ‘Arc’, will continue. And European interests will continue to be well represented on the IFHA Executive Council, commanding four of the 11 votes. EMHF Chair Brian Kavanagh remains a vice-chair and is joined on the ‘ExCo’ by France Galop’s Olivier Delloye and new recruits Julie Harrington (CEO of the British Horseracing Authority) and Paull Khan, (EMHF secretary-general, representing the region’s ‘developing’ racing nations). Harrington will chair the Governance Committee, and Delloye the new Commercial and Marketing Committee. In addition, EMHF Executive Council member Henri Pouret will become a director of the new global Executive Office.

In terms of focus areas, it is noteworthy how issues of sustainability and climate change have moved centre stage. At this year’s IFHA Annual Conference, alongside the familiar themes of technological advances and horse welfare was a powerful piece from the Chair of Sport and Sustainability International on the challenges faced by racing and breeding in achieving net zero emission. This came hard on the heels of a talk at this year’s Horseracing Industry Conference in Britain whose strapline was 'Future-Proofing the Racing Industry: Protecting People and the Planet’ and featured an address by the CEO of the British Association for Sustainable Sport. 

In his address to the virtual IFHA Conference, Engelbrecht-Bresges stated, “The time has now come for racing to fully commit to addressing the challenge of climate change” and announced the creation of a new IFHA Committee on sustainability, bolstered by external experts. He expressed confidence that racing could play a leading role among sports on this issue, just as it has in the areas of commercial development and integrity. It seems clear that, from now on and increasingly, the agendas of racing’s leaders will be tinged green.

On the EMHF front, 2020 was, sadly, another year without an in-person meeting. We fervently hope we will be able to meet up for next year’s General Assembly in Warsaw in May 2022. 

This year we welcomed our first two associate members: Romania and Lebanon. The Romanian Jockey Club has hopes of restoring racing in Romania to its former glories. Lebanon no longer stages thoroughbred racing but is hopeful that this can be resurrected in future. Lebanon has moved from a full member to an associate member. Regrettably, we have seen the demise of racing in Lithuania, which is no longer an EMHF member.

On our EMHF Executive Council, Will Lambe has left the BHA and replaced as the vice-chair representing non EU European countries by Julie Harrington. Spain’s Paulino Ojanguren Saez was also elected to the ‘ExCo’ in a four-way contest for the space created by the retirement of Turkey’s Behcet Homurlu.  

Racehorse Bone Health: From a Nutritional Perspective

By Louise Jones

Strong, healthy bones are the foundation for racehorse soundness, but unfortunately skeletal injuries are an issue that every trainer will face. There are many factors involved in the production of strong bones; however, two key factors that we can influence are training and nutrition. 

Every trainer knows how important exercise is to ‘condition’ the bones, and we are constantly striving to improve training programmes so that sufficient strain is applied to signal an increase in bone development, whilst not straining the bones to the point of fracture; this is a difficult balancing. Perhaps more fundamental to this is the role of diet in supporting bone density, strength and repair.  Even minor nutrient deficiencies or imbalances can mean that the horse doesn’t receive the nutrients it requires for healthy bones and thus increases the risk of potential problems down the track.

Understanding how bone is formed and adapts in response to training, alongside the critical role optimal nutrition plays in these processes, can help to ensure skeletal soundness and minimise the risk of bone-related injuries.

Bone formation & remodelling

Bone formation occurs by a process of endochondral ossification; this is where soft cartilage cells are transformed into hard bone cells. Bone consists of three types of cells and an extracellular matrix. This extracellular matrix is made mainly from the protein collagen, which makes up to 30% of mature bone and is a key element in connective tissue and cartilage. The three types of cells in bone are:

• Osteoblasts: These are the cells that lay down the extracellular matrix and are responsible for the growth and mineralisation/hardening of bone.

• Osteoclasts: These cells are involved in the breakdown of bone, so that it can be replaced by new stronger bone. 

• Osteocytes: These cells work to maintain and strengthen when a bone requires modelling or remodelling.

Bone mineral content (BMC) is a measure of the amount of mineral in bone and is an accurate way of measuring the strength of a bone. Interestingly, about 70% of bone strength is due to its mineral content; calcium being the most notable and accounting for 35% of bone structure. A horse’s bones do not fully mature until they are about 5-6 years old. So, whilst a horse will have reached 94% of their mature height when they are a yearling, they will have only reached 76% of their total BMC. 

Although it may seem like mature bone is inert, it is in fact a highly dynamic tissue, and BMC is constantly adapting in response to exercise and rest by a process called remodelling.zBone remodelling is a complex process involving several hormones and nutrients. Essentially when mature bone ages or is placed under stress, such as exercise, small amounts of damage occur. This results in the osteoclast cells removing the old or damaged bone tissue. In turn, this triggers osteoblasts and osteocytes to repair the bone by laying down collagen and minerals over the area, thus strengthening the bones. It’s estimated that 5% of the horse’s total bone mass is replaced (remodelled) each year. It should be noted that during the remodelling process, bone is in a weakened state. Therefore, if during this period, the load applied to the bones exceeds the rate at which they can adapt, injuries such as sore shins can occur.

Bone strength & exercise

When galloping, a horse places up to three times its body weight in force on the lower limbs. The more load or pressure put on a bone, the greater the bone remodelling that will need to take place. Ultimately, this will result in new, stronger bones being formed. 

Studies have shown that correct exercise can increase bone density in the cannon bone, the knee and sesamoid bones; and this can help reduce the likelihood of skeletal injury. However, the intensity of training is key; low intensity exercise (trotting), whilst essential for muscle development, has been shown to only result in small change in cannon bone density. Whereas training at high speeds for a short amount of time (sprinting), rather than repetitive slow galloping, has shown to result in a significant increase in bone density. This is highlighted in a study using a treadmill where short periods of galloping at speeds over 27mph (43 km/hour) were associated with a 4-5% increase in the density of the cannon bone.

Whilst exercise clearly plays a pivotal role in bone density, doing too much too soon can be disastrous and result in issues such as:

• Sore/buck shins: This is a common injury in young racehorses. It is caused by excessive pressure on the bones resulting in tiny fractures on the cannon bone, which may not have fully mineralised (strengthened and hardened). This results in the periosteum (a fibrous membrane of connective tissue covering the cannon bone) becoming inflamed. 

• Bone chips: Another common skeletal injury in racehorses, mostly seen in joints, particularly in the knee. This is when a tiny fracture occurs in the joint, weakening the bone and ultimately resulting in a ‘chip’ of the bone becoming separated. 

When trying to maximise skeletal strength, periods of lower intensity exercise or rest are just as important as gallop work, as they give the bone a chance to remodel. However, prolonged rest will have a negative effect on skeletal health.  Research has looked at the loss of BMC in the cannon bone when horses were placed on box-rest (with 30 minutes on the walker) and found overall BMC was reduced. Therefore, even horses returning to work after a short period of 1-2 weeks of box-rest could potentially have a significant decline in bone density and thus be at increased risk of skeletal injury once exercise recommences. 

It’s also important to bear in mind that when a young horse starts training, it is normally coming from a 12–24-hour turnout. This is where the horse has the ability to gallop and play. However, once training begins, they are typically stabled from long hours with short intervals of low intensity training. Consequently, bone demineralisation can occur. In addition, during this early stage of training, bone will undergo a significant degree of remodelling in response to exercise. Initially this process makes the bone more porous and fragile before it regains its strength. As a result, research has shown that horses can have reduced bone density during the first few months of training, with bones being at their weakest and the horse more prone to issues such as sore shins between day 45–75 of training. 

It should be noted that even when training is carried out slowly, conditions such as sore shins can still happen as bone remodelling occurs at different rates in every horse and is influenced by factors such as track surface and design. While there is some information on exercise and bone development from which to make inferences, a definitive answer as to the perfect amount of exercise to support optimal bone development has not yet been found.

Nutrition & bone health

Exercise is essential to bone health, but nutrition plays an equally important role. Bone is continuously being strengthened, repaired and replaced. And if we can aid bone remodelling with good nutrition, we can decrease the likelihood of skeletal injury. The essential nutrients for bone health are protein, minerals and vitamins, including calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), zinc (Zn) copper (Cu), vitamins A, D and K. 

Protein: Collagen is a protein and forms the bony matrix on which minerals are deposited. Feeding sufficient high-quality protein, rich in essential amino acids such as lysine and methionine, is therefore a key factor in the development of strong healthy bones. When selecting an appropriate feed for horses in training, both the level and quality of the protein it provides should be carefully considered; not all protein is equal.  

Calcium & Phosphorus: It is well documented that these essential minerals are the foundation of strong and healthy bones, making up 70% of the BMC. The ratio of calcium and phosphorus in the diet is also very important for bone mineralisation. This is because imbalances in the Ca:P ratio can result in the removal of calcium from the skeleton and may lead to bone demineralisation. The minimum Ca:P ratio in the diet should be 1.5:1, with the ideal ratio being at least 2:1 for young horses. It is important to note that adding other feedstuffs such as chaffs or cereals to the horse’s feed can alter the Ca:P ratio in the overall diet. For example, adding oats, which are high in phosphorus, will reduce the calcium to phosphorus ratio and this may adversely affect calcium absorption. On the other hand, including some alfalfa, which is high in calcium, can help to increase the Ca:P ratio if required. 

Copper & Zinc: Copper is an important mineral for bone, joint and connective tissue development. Lysyl oxidase is an enzyme that requires copper. It is responsible for cross-linking of collagen, and therefore copper plays an important role in the formation of new bone which requires a collagen matrix. Similarly, zinc is integrally involved in cartilage turnover; and research has shown that horses supplemented with zinc, as part of a complete mineral package, have increased bone mineral density compared to horses fed an unsupplemented diet. Copper and zinc are frequently found to be low in forage and therefore must be provided in the form of a hard feed or supplement. 

Vitamins: A number of vitamins play essential roles in skeletal health. For example, vitamin A is involved in the development of osteoblasts—the cells responsible for laying down new bone—whilst vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption. More recent research has also shown that feeding vitamin K improves the production of osteocalcin, the hormone responsible for facilitating bone metabolism and mineralisation. Furthermore, research in two-year-old thoroughbreds suggests that feeding vitamin K may help increase bone mineral density and thus potentially be beneficial for decreasing the incidence of sore shins. Although standard feed manufactures include vitamin A and D in their feeds, a few also now include vitamin K.

Supplementation for bone health

Young horses in training, those recovering from injury or returning to work following a rest will benefit from additional nutritional support targeted at maintaining improving bone health. In these situations, supplementing with elevated levels of calcium and phosphorus will help improve bone health. Look for a supplement containing collagen, which is rich in type I and II collagen, proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans—all of which aid the bone remodelling process and help to maintain bone health. Choosing a supplement that also contains chelated copper and zinc, as well as vitamins A and D, will also help support bone mineralisation. 

In summary, skeletal injuries have a huge adverse effect on the racing industry and are a common cause of lost training days. Undoubtedly, adapting our training regimes, modifying our gallops and improving our management practices will all help to reduce the risk of bone-related injuries. Equally, the role of nutrition in bone health should not be overlooked. A balanced diet, rich in nutrients, minerals and vitamins, can contribute significantly to bone density and strength. Proper nutrition is an essential parameter of skeletal health, participating in both the prevention and treatment of bone diseases.  To achieve a strong, sound skeleton, you must feed the bones.

The Importance of forage testing

Forage (hay/haylage) is an important source of nutrients for horses in training. However, the levels of minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and copper present can vary enormously and depend on factors such as the species of grass and the land on which it was grown. It is recommended that you regularly test the nutritional value of your forage. This will highlight any mineral excess/deficiencies and allow for the ratios of certain minerals such as calcium and phosphorus to be assessed. In most cases, any issues identified can be corrected through using an appropriate hard feed and/or supplement.