Australian EIPH report - new research on the impact of EIPH from an Australian perspective but with worldwide implications

By Guy Lester and Ellie Crispe

Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) is a common disease of racehorses. The precise cause of EIPH is yet to be fully determined, but a well-accepted theory is that lung blood vessels rupture in response to the extremely high blood pressure and low airway pressure experienced during strenuous exercise. The barrier that separates the airway from the blood vessels is ultra-thin to facilitate the efficient exchange of gases, but this predisposes to breakage. The condition is most frequently described in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses, but it has also been identified in racing Appaloosas and Quarter Horses, as well as horses involved in other high-intensity athletic activities, including showjumpers, 3-day eventers, barrel racers, steeplechasers and polo horses.

EIPH is not unique to horses and has been reported in human athletes, as well as racing greyhounds and camels. Our group at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia has had an interest in EIPH, which has led to three recent publications in the Equine Veterinary Journal.1-3

How common is EIPH?

Blood from both nostrils—also known as epistaxis—is the most obvious manifestation of EIPH and occurs between 1.5 and 8.4/1000 race starts, varying with racing jurisdiction. Epistaxis represents a severe manifestation of EIPH, and basing surveys on its presence vastly underestimates the true prevalence of lung hemorrhage. There are several techniques used to diagnose EIPH, but endoscopy of the trachea 30-120 minutes after racing or galloping is a common and reliable method. Occurrence and severity of pulmonary hemorrhage is typically graded using a 0-4 scale. Using endoscopy, we reported a prevalence of EIPH post-race in Australian Thoroughbreds racing on turf tracks of around 55%, with most positive horses having low to moderate volumes of blood in the trachea. EIPH is less common if horses are examined after trialing and reduced further if examined after track gallops. The prevalence of EIPH increases when horses are examined on multiple occasions after racing; and in fact, all horses in our research population that had seven monitored race-starts experienced EIPH on at least one occasion.

What is the effect of EIPH on race-day performance?

It is generally considered that EIPH has a negative impact on racing performance, but evidence for this assertion is surprisingly lacking. We performed 3,794 post-race endoscopy exams on over 1,500 Australian horses and reported that inferior race-day performance was limited to horses with severe EIPH (grades 3 and 4); this reflected only 6.3% of all examinations. Horses with the highest grades of EIPH (grade 4) were less likely to finish in the first three, finished further from the winner, were less likely to collect race earnings, were slower over the final stages of the race, and were more likely to be overtaken by other competitors in the home straight than horses without EIPH. Interestingly, horses with EIPH grade 1 or 2 were more likely to overtake others in the home straight, compared to horses without EIPH (grade 0). It is highly unlikely that low-grade EIPH (grade 1 or 2) confers an athletic advantage; a plausible explanation is that horses that are ridden competitively to the finish are functioning at their maximal physiological limit, compared to horses that are eased up and overtaken during the finishing stages of the race because they are not in prize contention or are affected by interference in the home straight. Another interesting finding was that horses with moderate to severe EIPH (grades 3 or 4) raced the early and mid-sections of the race faster than horses without EIPH. It is possible that these horses reach the breaking threshold of the small lung blood vessels at an earlier stage in the race compared to horses that start the race slower, compounding the severity thereafter. A study of barrel racing horses reported that horses with the most severe grade of EIPH were faster than horses without EIPH, a finding which may also reflect this rapid acceleration increasing the risk of EIPH. It may be wise for trainers to instruct jockeys riding horses with a history of moderate to severe EIPH to refrain from racing in this manner.  

What is the effect of a one-off diagnosis of EIPH over a horse’s career?

A pattern of increasing endoscopic EIPH severity over a racehorse’s career is suspected but has not been proven. Another Australian research group examined 744 Thoroughbreds post-race with endoscopy, looked back 12 years later and compared EIPH score to their career performance. There was no association between any grade of EIPH and career duration, lifetime earnings, or the number of wins or places. These observations led to the conclusion that a one-off diagnosis of EIPH is an unreliable predictor of overall career performance.

Is EIPH a progressive disease?

EIPH is typically described as a progressive disease, but again, evidence is lacking. In our Australian Thoroughbred population, EIPH scores were often erratic from one race start to the next, especially as the EIPH severity increases. We were able to identify factors which were associated with change in EIPH score from one race start to another and which might help manage horses that are prone to EIPH. Increasing the number of days between races was associated with a transition from a higher to a lower grade of EIPH and racing in cooler weather was associated with a transition from a lower to a higher EIPH grade at the next observation. There are also likely to be unmeasured intra-horse and race factors that could also account for the variation in EIPH scores from one race start to another. Although in individual horses, EIPH severity can differ from race to race, from a population perspective, we concluded that EIPH is a mildly progressive condition.

What are the risk factors for EIPH?

Several investigators have found an association between temperature and EIPH. Cold weather on race day increases the chances of diagnosing EIPH and increases the chances of diagnosing more severe grades of EIPH. Furthermore, for horses that previously had no or only mild EIPH, racing in colder weather was more likely to be associated with a worsening of EIPH grade at the next observation. The reason that EIPH worsens with cold weather is unknown, but this phenomenon could mimic cold-induced pulmonary hypertension reported in other species. It may reflect the ambient temperature during training rather than specifically the temperature at the time of the race. Avoiding cold weather during training or racing may reduce the risk of EIPH in horses with a history of moderate to severe EIPH.

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Mark Hennig - Profile

By Jeff Lowe

The launch of Mark Hennig's training stable in 1993 was a racing rarity with its immediate impact in major races. He parlayed a strong start into one of the most influential training jobs of a generation, helping to develop Edward P. Evans' stable into a powerhouse on the track and a feeder for a vaunted broodmare band.

As the tide began to change in the mid-2000s, Hennig had to rebuild with owners like Lee Lewis who supported him from the start but carried far fewer horses than the dozens he had received every year from Evans, and from developing new clientele even as the owner ranks contracted significantly in North America.

"I was very fortunate to have the kind of horses I did starting out," said Hennig, whose first stakes winner, Star of Cozzene, swept the Gr1 Arlington Million and Man o' War Stakes along with the Gr2 Caesar's International and Manhattan Handicap in 1993. "There are a lot of trainers and owners who are capable of picking out nice horses and training them too. It's all about having the access to them. I have had years when I didn't have the access to them and I think it's shown. It's no different than a basketball coach. It's a lot easier to coach a team with Lebron James on it than to coach a team with me on it."

Hennig, 54, always seemed to have at least one marquee horse he could count on, like Wesley, a striking gray who captured the Gr2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in 2008; and the fleet filly Merry Meadow, who clicked off four Graded stakes triumphs in 2014 and '15 in the filly and mare sprint division.

Little by little, depth and quality increased and Hennig, based at Belmont Park and Saratoga in the spring and summer and Gulfstream Park in the winter, now sits in a plumb position. His 2018 season was his best by purse earnings in 10 years and featured a return to the Triple Crown trail with the meteoric Strike Power, who sped to victory in the Gr3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park around one turn in just his second career start. He then finished a solid second in the Gr2 Fountain of Youth Stakes over a route of ground, only to struggle after getting caught up in an intense pace duel in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

In 2019, Hennig is back on the Triple Crown trail with Bourbon War, a colt with a resumé more similar to his trainer's previous classic runners Personal Hope and Eddington.

Personal Hope was one of the first horses Hennig received when he went out on his own in late 1992, after five years as an assistant to D. Wayne Lukas. Hennig was there for a nice stretch of heady days for Lukas Racing, with Hall of Famers Winning Colors and Lady's Secret and Horse of the Year Criminal Type all in the shedrow. Lee Lewis had horses with Lukas at that time, as did the Team Valor syndicate led by Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel, who were so impressed with Hennig that they presented him with an offer that would spark his own career. At age 27, Hennig became the private trainer for the Team Valor roster, with the caveat that he could also oversee six horses for other owners. Lewis sent him Personal Hope, who had started once for Lukas as a juvenile in 1992 before going to the sidelines with an issue.

Hennig also filled the half dozen "public stalls" with horses owned by Evans. Between the three sources—Team Valor, Lewis and Evans—Hennig got off to a momentous beginning. While Star of Cozzene starred in the turf division for older males, Personal Hope immediately landed a dirt maiden win at Santa Anita and would go on to glory in the Gr1 Santa Anita Derby in 1993 before finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby.

Star of Cozzene tore through that same season with six Graded stakes wins and developed an epic rivalry with Claiborne Farm's homebred Lure, who would beat the Team Valor runner into second in both the Gr2 Turf Classic on Derby Day and the Gr3 Dixie Handicap on the Preakness card, before Star of Cozzene turned the tables with victories over Lure in the Manhattan at Belmont and the Caesars International at Atlantic City. They were both entered for another showdown in the Arlington Million, but after a spate of heavy rain, Lure was scratched and Star of Cozzene strolled to a 3 1/4-length victory at 4-to-5 odds.

"Star of Cozzene was a real hard-trying horse," Hennig said. "When it was soft, there was no beating him. We had Star of Cozzene with Wayne and he was a nice horse, not beat far in the Breeders' Cup Mile. After that, Team Valor sent him to Francois Boutin in France, and when he came back it looked like it just didn't agree with him. He was light and had tailed off. It was an amazing turnaround once he got back here and started flourishing. The one winter we had him in California it rained a lot and that really got his season rolling. He went back East and had that great series with Lure. Where Lure was dangerous on firm turf, Star of Cozzene was just terrific on soft turf; and when he won the Arlington Million, it had just rained and rained, and he won it easily. We had a lot of fun with him."

Growing up in central Ohio, Hennig spent much of his high school years on the backstretch of Beulah Park outside Columbus, where his father, John, was a top-flight trainer who would occasionally make his presence felt at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and in South Florida.

The elder Hennig ended up with a barn at Churchill with a staff that not only included his son, Mark, but also eventual trainers Kiaran McLaughlin and George Weaver. It was there that McLaughlin met Mark Hennig's sister, Letty. They have been married for more than 30 years.

"Growing up, we would all work in the barn," Hennig said. "We would go in real early in the morning and, before I had my driver's license, I would get a ride home and get ready real quick and go to school. I would go back there after school and maybe run a few horses. The work ethic was instilled in all of us that way. It was about good horsemanship and working hard. When I went off to Ohio State for college and came back, my dad encouraged me if I was going to be in the horse business and wanted to train horses that I should work for some other outfits. I think that is the most unselfish thing any father could do for their son. He introduced me to Jack Van Berg, and I worked for him for a while and then I went to work for Wayne after that. I was so lucky to have that kind of foundation for my career."

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Niall Collum - Canadian trainer profile

By Alex Campbell

Trainer Niall Collum brings plenty of experience at the highest level of international racing to his training program. The 46-year-old native of Clonmel, Ireland, now based at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada, has worked for major European operations Coolmore and Godolphin, and has traveled with their horses to some of the biggest races in the world, including the Breeders’ Cup, the Melbourne Cup, and races in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Japan.

His journey in the sport of horse racing started off when he was a 12-year-old in Ireland, riding horses at a pony camp. At 14, Collum got his first job in racing as a work rider for Irish trainer Pat Flynn. Collum not only rode horses in the mornings during training but also performed work around Flynn’s yard. It was that first job that kicked off Collum’s now more than 30-year racing career.

“I was offered a job for the summer with Pat Flynn, and I ended up staying there,” Collum said. “I didn’t go back to school and stuck with the horses to my parents’ horror. Back then, it was different too because we did everything. We rode out and we mucked out. You didn’t just ride the horses and go home. We’d have to do everything first hand.”

Collum had aspirations to be a flat jockey, but eventually grew to a point where that career wasn’t going to be possible. Although the flats weren’t an option, Collum continued working with Flynn for a little while longer before making a move to England to pursue a career as a steeplechase jockey.

“A guy who I knew said I would do very well to go to England,” Collum said. “I went to Toby Balding in England. He was a big jump trainer at the time. He said if I put my head down and worked hard, I’d get on there, which I did. I rode a nice few winners for him over the jumps. I rode my winners and everything, but things weren’t really taking off for me.”

Collum returned to Ireland and flat racing, joining Aidan O’Brien’s stable as a work rider. Collum knew O’Brien after spending some time working for O’Brien’s father-in-law, Joe Crowley, and worked with O’Brien and horses owned by Coolmore at Ballydoyle.

“I went back to him and spent five years there working with the best horses in the world and got to travel the world to all the big races,” Collum said. “It was a great experience, and I loved every bit of it.”

Collum spent five years working with O’Brien before looking for his next opportunity. This time, it was Godolphin who was expanding its operations, and Collum took the chance to work with them in both the United Kingdom and Dubai.

“After five years, you’re looking for something to freshen up, and the opportunity came up with Godolphin to go to Dubai,” Collum said. “They were getting big at the time. I got offered the job to go with them, and I did. We would spend the winters in Dubai and the summers in England. I think it was the best thing I ever did to be honest with you because it opened up a whole new world for me.”

Collum was once again a work rider with Godolphin, but his connections in Dubai and his prior experiences in Ireland would help him get into training. Collum worked for Godolphin for six years before making the switch to training and caught on with Eddie Kenneally, serving as an assistant trainer at Belmont Park in New York. He worked for Kenneally for a year before deciding it was time to go off on his own. Collum set up a racing syndicate and purchased horses to train, but ran into an immigration issue that would throw his career into turmoil.

Collum had traveled with his then girlfriend and now wife, Andrea Dube-Collum, to Montreal, Canada for a weekend getaway. Following the trip, Collum was denied entry upon his return to the United States, putting his syndicate in jeopardy.

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Determining distance preferences

By Judy Wardrope

If we watch an international athletic track meet, we can easily discern structural differences in the athletes for various events. The body proportions differ (e.g., the shot putter has a much lower center of gravity than the high jumper). And, as we get more specific, we can even see that the sprinters differ from the middle-distance runners, who also differ from the long-distance runners. This is especially true at the upper level of sport. While all are built efficiently for their particular distance, those efficiencies differ from distance to distance.

We would not expect a marathon runner to win a sprint at the Olympics, would we? Why not? Likely because that marathon runner would be at a mechanical disadvantage for short distances no matter how athletic or how fit he or she was. Like humans, horses are best at the distances in which they are mechanically efficient. The more fitness a horse has, the better it will do, but horses, like humans, are always best at the distance that suits their underlying structure.

In this article we will look at horses that are built to run classic distances, horses that are built to be milers and horses that are built to sprint. We will not only examine them for distance preferences based on structure, we will also look at points for athleticism and soundness because those are also important factors in being a superior racehorse.

Justify

Although only started six times—all as a three-year-old—he was undefeated, earned $3,798,000 and won the Triple Crown. Many race fans were looking forward to him running in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but that was not to be.

The 16.3+ hand stallion was photographed in November 2018 at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, where I was told that the injury that halted his race career was to his right hind fetlock.

He is an imposing figure, and it is obvious that he is built to specialize in classic distance races. His lumbosacral (LS) gap, which is just in front of the high point of croup, is bisected by a line drawn from the top of one hip to the top of the other. This means he was able to transfer his power upward and forward without undue strain on his back. In other words, he is strongly coupled or had a good transmission, which is a definite factor for athleticism.

The rear triangle is of equal length on the ilium side (from top of hip to point of buttock) and the femur side (point of buttock to stifle protrusion), meaning that his rear spring matched and did not impede the natural range of motion of the hind leg. And what gave him such a great range of motion? A stifle protrusion that is well below sheath level. His hind leg was capable of reaching well under him and extending well back through the natural range of motion, providing a ground-covering stride.

A line extend up and down through the naturally occurring groove in his forearm (a.k.a. the pillar of support) emerges well in front of his withers—a factor for lightness of the forehand—and into the rear quarter of his hoof—a factor for soundness.

Considering that all parts from the top of the scapula to the knee function as one apparatus, we can see that when the top of his scapula rotates back, his point of shoulder rises, his elbow comes forward and his forearm follows, giving him excellent reach through the forequarters. This means that both his hindquarters and his forequarters had matching ranges of motion. That equates with efficiency of stride.

The rise of the humerus from elbow to point of shoulder gave him another factor for lightness of the forehand, and a base of neck well above the resulting high point of shoulder added yet another factor for lightness.

From a structural perspective, he was designed to excel at classic distances and stay relatively sound. My only knock against him, and it is a purely personal one based on observation regarding longevity, is that I tend to avoid horses whose fetlocks have a roundish appearance.

California Chrome

He won the first two legs of the Triple Crown among other Gr1 wins and was third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at three. He was second in the Dubai World Cup (Gr1) at four and won it at five, then was second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that same year. His racing career ended after a lone start at six. His totals: 27 starts, 16 wins and $14,752,650 in earnings.

He was photographed at Santa Anita Park the day after the 2016 Classic as he was preparing to ship out, which is why his legs are wrapped.

Although most people may not see California Chrome as resembling Justify, when we examine the underlying structure, we find that the two horses are remarkably similar.

Both have an LS gap that is in line from hip to hip, both are equal on the ilium and femur sides of the rear triangle, both have similar stifle placement (classic distance), both have a pillar of support that goes with lightness and soundness, and both have a humerus of similar length as well as a base of neck well above the point of shoulder. There is a slight difference in the rise of the humerus, with Justify having a steeper rise from elbow to point of shoulder.

I Want Revenge

He won the Gotham Stakes (Gr3) by 8 ½ lengths in record time plus the Wood Memorial (Gr1) as a three-year-old and was angled towards the Kentucky Derby, where he was the morning-line favorite; but injury to the right front fetlock forced him out of work for over a year. His final start, as a six-year-old, was in an ungraded stakes race that saw him finish second. His best races were at distances just over a mile, and he earned $928,000 from 14 starts.

He was photographed at the Keeneland Sale in November 2018, shortly before his untimely death due to a virus.

His LS placement provided him with strength and athleticism, and like the previous two horses, he displayed equal length in the ilium and femur sides of the rear triangle. However, his stifle protrusion is not as low as either of the classic winners. The level is just below the bottom of his sheath, which equates with a slightly shorter range of motion and a slightly quicker stride rate.

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Leonard Powell - the French trainer in California

By Ed Golden

“When I learn that a nation can live without bread, then I will believe that the French people can live without glory.”—Charles de Gaulle

Leonard Powell can live without neither, although with a workload that consumes the majority of his very existence, he still finds time for required sustenance and moments of exultation when they present themselves.

The 42-year-old Frenchman is a world-class horseman, weaned on Thoroughbreds from early youth, starting on his family’s 200-acre stud farm in Normandy followed by stops around the globe in Australia, England, Singapore and the United States, and calling California home since 2004.

When attempting to buttonhole him in person, however, an APB might come in handy. At Santa Anita, his base of operations, a sighting at the track’s popular early morning watering hole, Clockers’ Corner, is rarer than a Triple Crown sweep.

Leonard Powell is either sedulously conducting business at his barn, or high upon horseback supervising jogs, gallops and breezes on the track.

A former amateur jockey in France, where he rode in steeplechase races as well as on the flat, landing in the winner’s circle on occasion, his work schedule is Trumpian sans the tweets.

“I wake up at 3:45 and leave the house just after four,” Powell said explaining a typical day—his accent as thick as one of France’s nearly 300 varieties of cheese. “I get to the barn just after 4:30, check the horses and provide any medications as needed.

“The first set of horses goes out at 5 o’clock, so from 5 o’clock until 10 o’clock I’m on horseback, either on a Thoroughbred or a pony. At 10 we school horses if necessary, review their condition with a veterinarian or myself, check on the horses that worked the day before or that morning.

“That takes us to 11:30 or 12. Usually from 12 to about two I go over paperwork that needs to be done in the office. In the afternoon, we go to the races when we have horses running, or back to the barn feeding, walking or grazing them until 4:30.”

Powell’s day begins well before he arrives at the barn. He commutes from his West Hollywood home to the Arcadia track, a stretch of 25 miles.

“I was living in West Hollywood when I was stabled at Hollywood Park (which closed in December of 2013),” Powell said. “I have three daughters (Louise, 14, Blanche, 13 and Jeanne, 9) and they were going to a bilingual school that taught French and English.

“When I moved my barn to Santa Anita, the kids were doing very well, so I decided to make the commute instead of them. I didn’t want them to change schools.

“Actually, my commute in the morning is easy, because at 4 o’clock, there’s not much traffic. I can make it in 25 minutes going with the traffic. In the evenings, when I’m against the traffic, it can take 45 minutes.”

Married to Mathilde—his sweetheart from their days at Caen University—all their children enjoy racing, particularly Jeanne who rides and spends time with her father at the track on weekends.

Of the 25 head Powell has in training, by far the most celebrated is an 11-year-old gelding named Soi Phet. The tassel-haired trainer was not suffering from insipience when he made the claim for $16,000 at Hollywood Park on May 23, 2013.

Since then, the California-bred son of Tizbud has achieved success of mythic proportions, and after a recent freshening, is expected to resume his racing career.

“I’m going to take my time with him,” Powell said, “but I would expect him to return to the races at some point.”

When Soi Phet posted a 47-1 upset winning Santa Anita’s $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes by a head at age 10 in 2018, he was believed to be the oldest horse ever to win an added money event at the storied track, which opened on Christmas Day, 1934.

The Crystal Water was his 58th career start.

“At the time I claimed him, he had all his conditions,” Powell explained. “He had only won a maiden 20, he was a non-winner of two (races), he was a Cal-bred; it was the spring of 2013, and the Del Mar meet was coming up with very generous purses.

“When I took him, it was because he had conditions left, and I felt I could move him up.”

Wow and double wow! Eight stakes wins and a million dollars in earnings later, Powell now looks like the Nostradamus of trainers.

When he has occasion to give a leg up and pre-race instructions to jockeys Brice Blanc, Julien Couton, Florent Geroux, Julien Leparoux and Flavien Prat, fellow Frenchmen all, the bilingual Powell does what comes naturally.

“If the owner of the horse is there,” Powell said, “I speak English so that he can understand. But if it’s only me and the rider, we speak French.”

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Recruiting runners - The lengths that different tracks are going to maximize fields for their races

By Bill Heller

Remember the classic poster of Uncle Sam pointing at you saying, “I Want You” that was used to attract soldiers for World War I and II? Uncle Sam wanted you for the Army.

Picture a race secretary pointing at you exclaiming, “We Want You.” Not soldiers for the Army, of course, but shippers needed to fill their daily race cards.

The need has never been greater, thanks to a foal crop that has plummeted in the last two decades.

Asked if the New York Racing Association has had trouble filling fields, Martin Panza, NYRA’s Senior Vice President of Racing Operations, said in late February, “What racetrack in America doesn’t? The number of horses has greatly dropped.”

He’s not kidding. The Jockey Club reported that the foal crop has dropped from 40,333 in 1990 to 19,925 in 2018.

What makes those numbers even more impactful is that race tracks these days are trying to sustain year-round racing.

In response, several tracks have been offering incentives for shippers. And the leader of the pack is Del Mar’s Ship and Win Program—which is in a partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners of California—has been offering incentives since 2011. “We set the bar very high,” Del Mar Racing Secretary David Jerkens said. “It’s a lucrative program. It’s an attractive enhancement.”

And Jerkens said this year’s programs at both Del Mar meet in the summer and the fall and will be enhanced from last year when field size for the summer increased from 8.5 in 2017 to 8.7 in 2018. The amount of the increase in bonus payments was expected to be announced in April.

“Last year we had 107 horses participate just in the summer and 49 in the fall,” Jerkens said. “Any time you can add more than 100 horses to your inventory, that’s beneficial. Bigger fields create larger handle and larger purses.”

Here’s how it works...

When it began, Del Mar offered a $1,000 check for shippers making their first local start plus a 20% bonus on top of whatever purse money was earned in that first start. Those numbers grew last year to a $2,000 check and a 30% bonus. To qualify, a horse must have made his last start outside California and not raced in the state the previous 12 months. First-time starters are not eligible.

To date, more than 1,000 horses have participated in Ship and Win. According to Del Mar, those horses have made more than 1,500 starts at its track and more than 3,500 starts at other tracks in California.

Surprisingly, most of the benefactors of Del Mar’s program are local horsemen. “Seventy percent of our starters from Ship and Win have been local owners and local horses,” Jerkens said.

Trainer Bob Hess, whom Jerkens said is the “poster boy for the program,” has been on-board with it from day one. “This is a wonderful program,” Hess said. “I have horses at Gulfstream Park, and I try to bring at least 10 horses to Del Mar. It’s been great. It’s been a win-win. It’s obviously good for Del Mar, but it’s also good for Santa Anita because horses come here and stay here.”

Trainer Richard Baltas is another fan of Ship and Win. “The idea is to get them here,” he said. “I claimed a horse at Keeneland last year, then, after the meet was over, I brought him back here and he won twice. People transfer horses out here from back East. Obviously, it could always be better, but we definitely need something. A lot of trainers don’t have money to buy new horses. No horses mean small fields. It’s a problem in California.”

The program helps solve that problem. “The idea is to get horses to ship to California, and, hopefully, they stay in California,” Jerkens said. “So it benefits Santa Anita and Los Alamitos, too.”

To maximize that possibility, Santa Anita began offering its own “Ship and Stay” Program in 2017. Originally, the program offered non-California-bred horses who last started outside California and had not raced in the state the previous year a 20% bonus for the horse’s first start at Santa Anita and a 10% bonus of $1,000—whichever was higher—for a horse’s second and third starts. All that money was split between the horse’s owner and trainer.

The program has been tweaked, and this year bonuses will be given to the trainer only: 10% for a first start and 10% or $1,000—whichever is higher—for the horse’s second and third starts.

In any fashion, Santa Anita’s program strengthens the Del Mar program—a fact not lost on Panza, who was the Director of Racing at Hollywood Park before taking his job with NYRA. “I’d been in California and saw what Del Mar did,” Panza said. “It works at Del Mar. We did it at Hollywood Park. It’s a good idea. It makes sense.”

Accordingly, he had NYRA initiate its own shipping-incentive program in 2018, one it is continuing this year for shippers who come to race at either Aqueduct or Belmont Park. “We did Oaklawn and Gulfstream Park last year,” Panza said. “We did expand it a bit. I don’t think we have to do it. But it makes sense to get horses back in New York. It makes business sense. We just want to help the owners. This helps a bit. Give any owner some help with expenses.”

NYRA’s program this year offered incentive for horsemen based at Fair Hill Training Center, Oaklawn Park, Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs who raced during the Aqueduct Spring Meet from April 5 through April 20, or during the Belmont Park Spring/Summer meet from April 26 through July 7. Those horses’ owners will be credited with an $800 shipping stipend, excluding stakes races.

A first-time starter must have had their previous three works at Fair Hill to be eligible or display a pattern of workouts at Fair Hill, as determined by NYRA.

Additionally, horses who made their previous start at Oaklawn Park were eligible to NYRA’s Ship and Win Program, which offered a 30% purse bonus for their first two starts as well as a $1,500 shipping stipend for a start during the Aqueduct Spring Meet and the Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet, excluding stake races.

Shippers who made their previous start at Gulfstream Park or Tampa Bay Downs were eligible for a shipping subsidy for a start during the Aqueduct Spring Meet, excluding stakes races. Owners who shipped horses from either Florida track and made their first New York start from March 8 through the 31st received $2,000. Florida shippers making their first New York start from April 5 through April 20 were credited $1,500.

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Should all racehorses have a mandatory layoff?

By Denise Steffanus

Fatigue causes breakdowns. It's a scientific fact. If a horse's ability to repair its body cannot keep up with the accumulation of damage from training and racing, the risk of catastrophic breakdown greatly increases.

Human athletes allow their bodies to rest and recuperate during the off season, but horse racing continues year round. The British Horseracing Authority wrote two breaks into its 2019 fixture schedule just so jockeys could have a break. But a horse only gets time off when it has an injury or when its trainer decides it needs freshening. Thoroughbreds are stoic. The tougher the horse, the more likely it will shrug off pain when adrenaline fuels its competitive spirit. That's when disaster strikes.

Dr. Ebrahim Bani Hassan and his team at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, used an electron microscope to examine the legs of 83 Thoroughbred racehorses after they died or were euthanized, some for reasons other than catastrophic breakdown. The powerful microscope was able to reveal microfractures in the forelegs of 97.4% of the horses and Swiss-cheese-like cavities in the subchondral bone of the hind legs in 97.7% of them. (Subchondral bone, the layer of bone just beneath the cartilage, forms the critical support base for joints.)

Trainers don't knowingly send a horse to the track if it is at risk of breaking down. How many times have we heard trainers and owners say after a catastrophic breakdown, "The horse was sound. How could this happen?"

Apparent soundness is no guarantee that a horse does not have serious underlying problems. Bani Hassan wrote in the Australian Veterinary Journal, "Based on the information obtained from the race records and trainer and veterinarian interviews, many of the horses in this study were performing well and were not reported to be showing signs of lameness in the weeks prior to presentation."

Dr. Chris Whitton, a member of Bani Hassan's team, is the person charged to necropsy every horse that dies at racetracks in Victoria. In an interview with ABC News, Whitton said, "We think that racehorse deaths should be avoidable. The limb injuries that we investigate are predominantly due to accumulation of damage over time."

Bani Hassan suggested longer and better-managed breaks for racehorses during their careers.

“Rest may allow some reduction in the microscopic damage load, and the burden of damage in this population suggests that, in general, a greater proportion of time out of intense race training than is currently practiced is required for Thoroughbred racehorses in order to minimize the risk of subchondral bone injury," he concluded.

Mandatory layoff

Mandatory layoff of 30-60 days for horses in active training and racing for 12 consecutive months without a break could be one solution. Everyone interviewed about this topic agreed that horses need time off, but most were opposed to making it mandatory. Their argument: Good trainers already give their horses time off as part of their training regimen and racing strategy.

What about those trainers who don't? Some trainers press on with horses because their owners insist on results. Sadly, some trainers' priority is not the welfare of the horse. Some trainers don't know better. Racing commissions must adopt new rules when individuals fail to do what is proper.

The duration of 30-60 days seems to be the optimum to achieve healing without losing significant condition. During the first 30 days, a horse loses little cardiovascular condition, and it is ample time for microfractures to repair. Bone bruising at the bottom of the cannon bone, a common condition in active racehorses, typically takes 60 days to repair. Horses laid up longer than 60 days quickly begin to lose overall condition.

The type and quality of layoff is crucial to healing. Horses must be active during turnout to increase blood flow to areas that are damaged. Keeping the horse in a stall except for daily handwalking can allow bones to weaken further because bone remodeling—replacement of damaged bone with new, stronger bone—depends on physical demand. For trainers in areas with a predominance of farmland, finding suitable turnout is not a problem. But those at racetracks in metropolitan areas or the desert southwest may have nowhere to lay up their horses.

Is mandatory layoff a good thing?

"I’m not sure that a mandatory layoff is ideal because you have to tailor the horse’s schedule to what kind of training the horse can stand," said Dr. Larry Bramlage, renowned surgeon at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington and a member of the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee. "There are some horses that can handle anything you can throw at them. Then there are horses that can only take a few races, two or three, before they need to back down because they start getting behind. So I’m not generally for forcing a mandated layoff."

Instead, Bramlage advocates educating owners, trainers, and veterinarians that horses periodically need a break from heavy training to allow the horse's body to rest and repair.

Bramlage mentioned Wise Dan, trained by Charlie Lopresti, as a horse whose campaign is an example of good management. The gelding earned six Eclipse Awards in 2012-13, including two Horse of the Year titles, winning the Breeders' Cup Mile in both years.

Lopresti described Wise Dan's program, which he said is based on traditional training methods:

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Exercising Horse Sense Part II: Precautions and protections when hiring exercise riders

By Peter J. Sacopulos

This is the second article in a two-part series on managing legal and tax liabilities when hiring exercise riders. Part I examined recent incidents involving riders, how to assure a rider’s status as an independent contractor and hiring basics. This instalment focuses on insurance protection for trainers and riders, equine liability laws and proper safety procedures and equipment.

It Is Not Personal, It Is Business

This article addresses ways in which professional trainers may reduce their risks and limit their liabilities when hiring exercise riders. However, when it comes to discussing insurance to protect your training business, I must first broaden the topic in order to address some popular misconceptions regarding insurance in general. Whether you view insurance as a necessary evil or as a peace-of-mind protection that is worth the cost, the topic cannot be avoided, especially if you are a professional horse trainer.

The first thing a trainer must understand in insuring his or her training business is that there are clearly defined differences between personal insurance coverage and business insurance coverage. Personal insurance policies are designed to cover you and your family’s personal needs, such as your home, its contents, and vehicles that are not typically used for business purposes. Personal policies are not designed to provide insurance for businesses or business activities. Nor do they cover the property, vehicles, tools and equipment that are primarily used in the conduct of business. Those need to be protected by a commercial insurance policy, commonly referred to as business insurance. Unfortunately, many small business owners and other individuals fail to review the full details of their coverage and do not realize this until it is too late. Here are two examples:

The owner of a lawn-mowing business had his commercial-grade lawn mowers stolen from the garage of his home. He had stored the mowers there for years and assumed his personal homeowner’s insurance policy would cover the loss. However, because the mowers were used for business purposes, the insurer refused to pay the claim. Faced with the high cost of replacing the mowers, the man chose to shutter his lawn care business.

A college student decided to earn extra money by signing up to drive for an online-based meal delivery service. He was involved in an automobile accident while using his car to deliver restaurant lunches to an office building. No one was injured, but the student’s car was totaled, and another individual’s vehicle was significantly damaged. The student was found to be at fault. Both he and his parents assumed the family’s personal auto insurance policy would cover the costs. But the insurance company was not obligated to pay because the accident occurred while the vehicle was being used for commercial purposes. The family wound up paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to repair the other driver’s vehicle and then had to take out a loan to replace the student’s car.

As Kevin Lavin, a partner in Lavin Equine Insurance Services of Louisville, Ky., explains, equine professionals are not immune to overestimating the scope of their personal insurance coverage. “People may believe that because a horse lives in a barn on their property, their homeowner’s policy covers their equine business activity. That’s just not the case.”

Liability Coverage Matters

When purchasing insurance, it is important to understand the nature of liability coverage. Insurance claims are most often paid to the policyholder. If, for instance, you have business coverage on the saddles and tack that are used in the course of training and those items are stolen, your business insurer would reimburse you for the value of the lost items according to the terms of your policy.

Business liability coverage is designed to pay legitimate claims made against the business by third parties. (The insurance company and the insured being the first two parties.) For example, if you are backing up a truck and trailer at a gas station after a race and accidentally collide with and injure another customer, that gas station customer is a third party who has been injured in the course of your business. A commercial insurance policy on your vehicle and trailer would cover the injured person’s claim—up to the specific limits of the policy, minus any deductibles or shared payments—of paying for any necessary medical care for the person. Should the injured party file or threaten to file a lawsuit demanding more payment, the insurance company would investigate. If the demands are determined to be legitimate, the insurance company would work to settle those claims within the amounts specified by the policy to avoid the costs of going to court. Should the matter go to court, the insurance company would provide legal counsel and pay legal costs and judgments against your business up to the amounts specified by your policy.  

Equine Experience Matters

If you are an independent trainer, you should protect your business and its assets with a commercial insurance policy. It is a serious mistake to believe your personal insurance policy(ies) will do so. Consult with a qualified agent to be certain you have proper commercial coverage, including adequate liability protection.

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All about tying-up

By Catherine Rudenko

Tying-up or ER (exertional rhabdomyolysis) is a problem that every yard will encounter at some point in time with reports of 5-7% of the Thoroughbred population being affected. ER is the general term used to cover two main forms of tying-up, acute or recurrent. ER by definition relates to the breakdown of striated muscle fibers following exercise. These fibers connect to the bone allowing movement of the skeleton. Damage causes anything from mild stiffness to the inability to move.

With much still unknown about the condition, the focus falls on reducing risk and ongoing management of those affected with recurrent form. The main area for intervention and management relates to feeds and feeding practices—an area that can be directly controlled by the yard and adjusted as needed for the individuals most affected.

Acute Exertional Rhabdomyolysis

The acute form is typically caused through factors external to the muscle rather than there being an intrinsic muscle defect.

It is most commonly seen when the horse is adapting to a new level of work, and the intensity or duration is too strenuous. Where speed work is concerned, the most likely cause is a depletion of cellular high energy phosphates, the muscles’ energy supply, combined with lactic acidosis. Where endurance work is concerned, depletion of intracellular glycogen—the stored form of glucose often combined with over-heating and electrolyte imbalances—is the common cause.

The other key factor for an acute episode is dietary energy intake being excessive to the current level of work. The use of high-starch feeds to supply energy for horses in training is a common practice with grains (traditionally oats) forming the basis of such feeds. In the early stages of fitness work, an over-supply of energy relative to need, particularly when starch forms a large part of the diet, is a risk factor.

Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis

This form of ER—where episodes are frequent and often seen even at low levels of exercise—has led to the suggestion that much like humans, there is an inherited intrinsic muscle defect. Such defects would predispose the horse to ER. Documented defects relevant to Thoroughbreds include a disorder in muscle contractility or excitation contraction coupling, whereby muscle fibers become over-sensitive, and normal function is disrupted.  

Risk factors for ER in horses with the recurrent form include stress or high excitement during exercise, periods of jogging (10-30 minutes), infrequent exercise, and over-feeding of energy in a high-starch format relative to need.

Dietary Considerations for ER

The amount of energy fed and the type of energy fed are important considerations whether looking to avoid an acute feed-related episode or considering the management of a horse with the recurrent form.

Other nutrients often talked about when managing ER include vitamin E, selenium and electrolytes. Historically the inclusion of vitamin E and selenium were considered important for the prevention of further episodes; however, there is no evidence to support such use. A case of deficiency in either of these nutrients may well put the horse at a disadvantage and could perhaps create a state where occurrence is more notable; however, with the advent of fortified and balanced complete bagged feeds, such nutrients are normally supplied in more than adequate amounts. Their role as antioxidants, which function to “mop-up” damaging free radicals generated through training, is where their use can benefit any horse at this level of work. The use of additional vitamin E is also recommended when increasing the fat content of the diet—a common practice when feeding horses with recurrent ER.

Electrolytes do play an important role in normal muscle function, and any deficiency noted in the diet should be corrected. Identifying a need in the diet is more easily done than determining if the individual horse has a problem with absorption or utilisation of the electrolytes. A urinary fractional excretion test (FE) will highlight issues, and subsequent correction through the diet to return the horse to within normal ranges may offer some improvement. However, it is important to note that for horses with recurrent ER, where an intrinsic muscle defect is present, the research to date has shown no electrolyte imbalances or differences between such horses and unaffected horses.

Quantifying “Low-Starch and High-Fat” Feeding

The recommended practice for management of ER is a reduction in starch and an increase in fats. This practice has two ways of benefiting the horse: a reduction in “spookiness” or reactivity and a positive effect on muscle damage as seen by lower CK (creatine kinase) levels following exercise.

Positive effects on lowering CK levels were found when a higher proportion of the energy fed came from diets higher in fats and lower in non-structural carbohydrates (starches and sugars). The effect was noted when fed at 4.5kg/day—an amount easily reached and normally surpassed when feeding horses in training. The beneficial diet provided 20% of energy from fats and only 9% from starches and sugars, compared to the more traditional sweet feed diet providing 45% of energy from starches and sugars and less than 5% from fats.

Finding Fats

Top dressing of oils will increase fat in the diet—with a normal intake of up to 100 mls per day. Although the horse can digest higher amounts, palatability usually restricts a higher intake. Pelleted or extruded fat sources are increasingly popular as alternatives to oils for their convenience of feeding and palatability. Straight rice bran and blends of materials such as rice bran, linseed and soya are available from most major feed companies. Oil content will typically range from 18-26% providing 180g-260g of oil per kilogram as fed.  

Racing feeds will also provide oil in the diet; content is quite varied, typically from 4-10% providing 40g-100g per kilogram as fed. Hay and haylage also contains oil at a low level, typically 2% providing just 20g per kilogram on a dry matter basis.

Choosing Carbohydrates

Traditional feeding based on oats and other whole grains will have a higher starch content than feeds using a combination of grains and fiber. Levels of starch found in complete feeds and straights have a broad range from as low as 8% in a complete feed—specifically formulated to have a low-starch content—and up to in excess of 50% for straights such as barley and naked oats.

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PHBA - Mick Ruis and his secret stallions

By Emily Shields

Long-time horseman Mick Ruis was not only born and raised in California, but he also has homes there. He originally planned on having his broodmares and stallions there, too, but the lure of the Pennsylvania breeding program was too strong.

“When I found out about the program, it was a no brainer,” Ruis said. “I had to make a decision, and the decision was that I wanted to be a Pennsylvania breeder.”

What makes the program so appealing?

“The incentives they give make it a clear choice, business-wise,” Ruis explained. “And there are three tracks in the state and another seven or eight nearby you can run at. It made sense to spend more time on the East Coast.”

One of Ruis’ first Pennsylvania experiences came with The Critical Way, a PA-bred by Tizway bred by Blackstone Farm. In 2017, The Critical Way won the $100,000 Danzig Stakes in just his second start, shipping in from Santa Anita to score. “That’s what started me on it,” Ruis said. “There’s a lot of good races where you can make good money for a Pennsylvania-bred. I’m excited about that.”

Blackstone Farm, an operation shared by partners Christian Black, Mark Weissman, and Douglas Black, recently had a banner runner with Pennsylvania-bred Tom’s Ready, a millionaire who retired after the 2017 season. Blackstone sold him for $145,000 as a yearling. The farm is going to be an important part of Ruis’ expansion into the Keystone State. Ruis shipped 18 mares into the Pine Grove outfit, as well as two young stallions. Eleven of the mares were bred in California and will foal in Pennsylvania this spring.

And with the two stallions, War Envoy and Saburo, Ruis has much to anticipate.

War Envoy, by War Front – La Conseillante, by Elusive Quality, is royally bred. His dam was a stakes winner in France; she went on to produce a $750,000 yearling in Falaise—now an unraced sophomore—a $300,000 broodmare in Beychevelle, and a $150,000 juvenile in Kate’s Winnie. War Envoy himself won twice in 26 starts but earned $494,781 racing against some of the best of his generation. He started his career in England and Ireland, placing in multiple graded stakes, then came to America for the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (Gr1) at Santa Anita. War Envoy actually went favored that day, but finished well back.

After returning to Europe, War Envoy won a handicap at Ascot before moving to the United States permanently in 2015. He contested the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup (Gr1) in Barbados and finished third, then later was one of the runners in the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Gr1). War Envoy was retired in 2017 with 10 top three finishes to his name.

Saburo, a $600,000 juvenile, is by Medaglia d’Oro and out of the stakes placed Lemon Drop Kid mare Kid Majic. She produced 2015 Sovereign Award Champion Older Mare and Champion Female Sprinter Miss Mischief, a graded stakes winner of over half a million dollars. Second dam Call Her Magic, by Caller I.D., won eight of 14 starts, including two stakes races. She is also the dam of J P’s Gusto, a lightning-fast juvenile who won the Del Mar Futurity (Gr1) and $811,760. He ultimately sired Puerto Rican Gr1 winner Remember Willy and dual stakes placed Epic Journey.

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Alan Balch - Horsemanship 1a

Horsemanship 1a – by Alan F. Balch

Anyone who has witnessed the saga of racing at Santa Anita this winter needs no repeated recitation of the facts . . . to say that the sport as we have known it is jeopardized in California, and perhaps North America, is a gross understatement. It’s worth remembering that the very word—jeopardy—is derived from gaming; when a position in chess and other games is equally divided between winning and losing, there’s danger.

Just how endangered we are, only time will tell.

So, of course, The Jockey Club released “a major white paper.” But like all the other stakeholders, they couldn’t resist pointing at everyone else except themselves. Again we heard their self-serving, political, and self-destructive refrain that “race day” and other therapeutic medications are culprits for what ails us. They threw in unspecified “cheaters and abusers” for good measure, as though that’s the public face of racing we embrace! All this, despite the simple fact that in the same state, during the same months, with the same medication rules as at Santa Anita, with the same or worse weather, another track—under the same ownership—maintained its position as one of the safest courses in America. Doubtless it escaped The Jockey Club that the all-weather synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields was a principal factor in differentiating the two tracks!

But it hadn’t escaped anyone knowledgeable in California that main track and turf maintenance at Santa Anita beginning in January, as well as management of the racing program itself, may have been seriously flawed. And that the inherent issues are far greater than any isolated, dramatic spike in serious injuries at one place.

Therefore, it’s now essential, especially for the sport’s leadership, to go back to the objective, unemotional truths of basic horsemanship—not self-defeating posturing—to try to see where we stand throughout the world.

From the beginning of horses in sport, which is to say at the beginning of recorded history, the objective was to breed and train a swifter, stronger, better horse. For all this innocent animal’s many gifts to humankind, whether in work, commerce, war, exploration, sport, art, pleasure, or otherwise, horsemanship must begin with breeding. Responsible, logical breeding.  

Racing simply demonstrated who could breed a better horse. Glory followed. And later, riches. Racing stock is the proof of breeding stock.

The Jockey Club’s principal purposes are to improve the Thoroughbred breed and protect its integrity. It’s the breed registry. It sets the standard for breeding. At least it should. But that’s where our problems really begin, because the Thoroughbred breed is based on genotype, not phenotype. The genotype is the set of genes a horse carries, and our breed registry protects “integrity” by taking elaborate steps to be sure that there are no stray non-Thoroughbred genes in our horses. The way things are going, we might well need some!

The phenotype, on the other hand, is all of a horse’s observable characteristics—its conformation, quality, substance, and soundness. Who is guarding or enhancing the conformation, quality, substance, and soundness of our Thoroughbreds? Apparently not the breed registry! The next “white paper” we need to see from The Jockey Club about “reform” needs to take a deep, honest look at best practices for breeding, foaling, nursery, and every medication or veterinary practice that gets a Thoroughbred sold, whether or not in the auction ring and beyond. Any breed registry that permits, tolerates or encourages the breeding of unsoundness to unsoundness is not breeding a better horse, that’s certain. Nor should the registry turn a blind eye to any cosmetic or medicinal practice that could possibly compromise substance or soundness.

If the registry will concentrate on the true integrity of the breed—its soundness—it won’t need to waste nearly so much breath on the conduct of others.

Those of us who grew up in non-racing horse sport all remember The Sportsman’s Charter. It proclaims that sport ceases when it becomes a business only, something done for what there is in it. “The exploitation of sport for profit alone kills the spirit and retains only the husk and semblance of the thing.”  I believe this is exactly what’s been overtaking racing (killing it) for decades now.

There’s a reason that Keeneland and Saratoga and Del Mar succeed and inspire: their profits are turned back into the sport. They race limited seasons of the highest quality. They don’t exist for return on investment, except for the sport itself. But The Jockey Club boasts of its “group of commercial, for-profit subsidiaries and commercial partnerships.” Presumably those profits should benefit the sport. Do they, if protection of live cover, stud fees, auction prices, unsound pedigrees, and bloodstock profiting are weakening the breed? Do they, if their own professional journalists are muzzled? Do they, if their contributions to the U.S. Congress are wasted on the fool’s errand of banishing Lasix?

The for-profit racing associations and affiliated entities, whether public companies or private, exert the most pressure to exploit our once-great sport financially, all in the name of return-on-investment.  Consider this: At around 20,000 Thoroughbred foals a year these days, the foal crop is about where it was in 1966. In that year, Santa Anita raced 11 weeks. California racing had no overlaps between northern and southern dates (except during the summer fair season). The majestic colossus that is Santa Anita was dark from April until Christmas.  

Now, with the same number of foals as 1966, California has year-around racing throughout the state— north and south simultaneously. Santa Anita by itself races about 32 weeks. Can that much racing possibly be in the best interests of horses and the sport?

The collision between those interests and unrestrained financial gain is palpable. All those of us who have turned a silent or blind eye to this, including me, cannot avoid our own blame for what has happened. We have not put the interest of the horse or the breed first, as basic horsemanship would teach us to do.

Speaking of which, there’s another trumpeting elephant in our midst: the whip.

All those of us who can still remember our first serious riding lessons know we were taught not to get on without a stick. Then came the hard part: how and when to use it. Over the thousands of years of horses serving humans, understandings and opinions about this have evolved, to be sure. The humane, sensible use of the stick is probably more debated than ever before.

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