Stanley Gold - the Florida trainer with the Midas touch

When Stanley Gold was 22 years old he was looking for a career as an accountant. Then, by chance, he opted instead to become a groom, having never even sat on a horse or been to a racetrack. Forty years later the Florida trainer has gone on to saddle Awesome Feather to win at the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs.

By Bill Heller

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

Do mares improve when racing in foal?

Every year, on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a number of fillies and mares that show significant improvement on the racetrack while racing in foal. Last season in Ireland was no exception as at least two in-foal mares achieved career-best performances.

By Clive Webb-Carter

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

Vitamin K – the forgotten vitamin

Vitamin K, which is classified as a fat soluble vitamin, has been present in racing rations for many years, both in forages and as one of a range of vitamins and minerals added to concentrate feed. To date, vitamin K has not been a fashionable vitamin, unlike vitamin C or vitamin E, which have received a lot of attention from a research perspective. Vitamin K is probably best known for its function in blood clotting, but more recently its role in bone metabolism has been highlighted in humans and horses. Here we will explain the role of dietary vitamin K in the context of racing and touch on some new research that has emerged in horses with respect to bone metabolism.

By Catherine Dunnett Bsc, Phd

First Published - (02 February 2011 - Issue 19)

Starting gate injuries - understanding the jump action

Electric starting gates were introduced to North American tracks in 1939 to avoid false starts and ensure a fair race. However, with their introduction came the increase of serious injury to the racehorse through both accidental contact with the stalls and the jump action.

By Samantha Ostridge

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: 19)

Overtraining the thoroughbred racehorse

Almost all trainers will have experienced a problem with individual horses, groups of horses, or sometimes even a whole barn where performance drops off for no immediately apparent reason. Blood tests, lameness examinations, clinical examinations, etc. reveal no apparent cause. The drop in performance is often put down to the fact the horse has “gone stale,” become “sour” or “gone over the top.” In human medicine we talk about chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) which can affect both athletes and non-athletes, but in athletes we may be more likely to talk about overtraining.

By Dr David Marlin

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: 19)

California dreaming - the hopes for 2011

Steve Schuelein asks Santa Anita and Del Mar racing secretary Rick Hammerle, trainer Howard Zucker, bloodstock consultant Gayle Van Leer, owner-breeder John Harris, and professional horseplayer-handicapper Jimmy Allard about their hopes for 2011.

By Steve Schuelein 


First Published: (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

The racing industry in Florida - the outlook’s getting brighter in the sunshine state

The dark cloud of bad economic news the last couple of years hit Florida Thoroughbred racing like a hurricane. However, the people in the Sunshine State are resilient to storms, and they know that hurricanes don’t last long. Most people in Florida have put the damage in the past to focus on how bright and sunny Florida really is.

By K.T. Donovan

First Published: (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

Texas - at the crossroads

It wasn’t that long ago, 1987 in fact, after the Texas legislature passed The Racing Act, that some pressbox wag in Louisiana said: “Last horseman out, turn off the lights.” That was the expectation in those days: that horses and horsemen from around the country would flock to Texas once the state allowed pari-mutuel racing. Texas, after all, was widely considered to be horse racing’s “promised land.”

By Gary West

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

The challenging diagnosis of bone bruising

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, Super Saver, the 3-year-old colt bred and owned by WinStar Farm, LLC, won the Kentucky Derby by 2 1/2 lengths under the watchful eye of trainer Todd Pletcher. Three races later, on August 28, Super Saver finished tenth in the Travers, beaten by over 7 lengths. What happened to this talented colt in less than four months?

By Stacey Oke DVM MSc

First Published (2 February 2011 - Issue 19)

Hard work ethic gives Mike Puype his reward

Hard work never scared Mike Puype. When he was 11, he had his own newspaper delivery route in Phoenix.While Puype earned a degree in business at Arizona State, he worked three jobs simultaneously, including training a couple of horses at Turf Paradise.He has never slowed down, helping to explain his rise to the top echelon on the Southern California circuit.
By Steve Schuelein


First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

Arnold Kirkpatrick Column - Variations on a theme

It’s a theme older than Aesop, who used it as the basis of his fable of The Four Oxen and the Tiger. It has been repeated frequently throughout the ages – as a foundation of the American Revolution, from George Washington to Patrick Henry, who cited it as the fundamental truth in last public speech, a fierce denunciation of the Kentucky Resolution – to today when, in a charming bit of irony, it appears on the state seal of Kentucky: “United we stand, Divided we fall”

By Arnold Kirkpatrick

First Published  (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Chris Englehart

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter award has been won by Chris Englehart. Englehart and his team will receive a selection of products from the internationally-acclaimed range of TRM supplements, as well as a bottle of fine Irish whiskey.

By Frances J Karon

First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue 19)