How the gut-brain connection affects the performance of horses

Diligence is the mother of good luck. –Benjamin Franklin

Article by Scott Anderson

Trainers are always looking to gain an edge in performance. At a minimum, they make sure their athletes get proper nutrition and exercise. Horses require muscle and stamina to compete, so they need to be in top physical condition. But what about their mental state? Are they jittery, distracted or disinterested? No matter how strong the horses are, their heads must be in the game to succeed.

Surprisingly, much of that mental attitude is driven by gut health, which in turn depends on the collection of microbes that live there, called the microbiota. In a horse, the microbiota is a tightly packed community of about 100 trillion microbes, composed of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa. It colonizes the entire GI tract but is largely concentrated in the hindgut, where it works to ferment the prebiotic fiber in forage. The microbial fermentation of fiber into fatty acids produces 70% of the animal’s energy requirements and without it, the horse couldn’t get sufficient energy from simple forage. Intriguingly, byproducts of that fermentation can affect the brain. 

It is easy to be skeptical about this gut-brain connection, but over the last decade, research has made it clear that gut microbes have an outsized influence on mood and behavior. Microbes that improve mental state are called psychobiotics, and they may completely change the way you train and manage your horses. A horse’s health – and consequently its performance – starts in the gut.

Inflammation

When the microbiota is unbalanced by stress, diet or sickness, it is said to be dysbiotic. It loses diversity, and a handful of bacterial species compete for domination. Without the pushback of a diverse population, even beneficial bacteria can become pathogenic. Surprisingly, that can affect the brain. Multiple studies in various animal models have shown that transmitting fecal matter from one animal to another also transmits their mood. This demonstrates that a dysbiotic microbiota can reliably cause mental issues including anxiety and depression, thereby affecting performance. 

An important function of the microbiota is to fight off pathogens by outcompeting, starving or killing them. However, a dysbiotic microbiota is less diligent and may permit pathogens to damage the gut lining. A degraded gut lining can leak, allowing bacteria and toxins into the bloodstream. The heart then unwittingly pumps them to every organ in the body, including the brain. This makes the gut the primary source of infection in the body, which explains why 80% of the immune system is located around the intestines. Over time, a leaky gut can lead to chronic systemic inflammation, which weakens the blood-brain barrier and interferes with memory, cognition and mood. 

Inflammation is a major component of the gut-brain connection, but not the only one.

Neurotransmitters and hormones

Horses and humans use neurotransmitters to communicate between nerve cells. Brains and their attendant nerve bundles constitute a sophisticated network, which makes it somewhat alarming that microbes also produce neurotransmitters. Microbes use neurotransmitters to converse with each other, but also to converse with their host. The entire gut is enmeshed in nerve cells that are gathered up into the vagus nerve that travels to the brain. Microbial neurotransmitters including serotonin and dopamine thus allow certain microbes to communicate directly with the brain via the vagus nerve. We know this happens with specific bacteria, including Lactobacillus species, because when the vagus is severed, their psychobiotic effects disappear. 

As well as neurotransmitters, hormones are involved in gut-brain communications. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis controls the stress response in animals. The hypothalamus is located low in the brain and responds to stressors – such as a lurking predator – by producing hormones that stimulate the neighboring pituitary, which then triggers the adrenal gland to produce cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol acts as a threat warning and causes the horse to ramp up glucose production, supplying the energy needed to escape a predator. This is the same hormonal circuit that trainers exploit for racing.

The HPA axis produces cortisol in response to stress. Cortisol inhibits the immune system, which in combination with a leaky gut allows pathogens to enter the bloodstream. Subsequent systemic inflammation and vagal feedback lead to stereotypies.

The production of these hormones redirects energy to the heart, lungs and muscles at the expense of the immune system. From an evolutionary point of view, the tradeoff makes sense: first escape the predator and deal with infections later. After the danger has passed, cortisol causes the HPA to return to normal – the calm after the storm. 

However, continued stress disrupts that cycle, causing anxiety and diminishing the brain’s ability to store memories. This can dramatically interfere with training. Stress can also induce the release of norepinephrine, which promotes the growth of pathogenic bacteria including Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria, Helicobacter pylori and Salmonella. Prolonged high cortisol levels can increase gut leakiness, potentially leading to infection and further compounding the situation. In the long term, continued stress leads to systemic inflammation, which is a precursor to problematic behaviors.

Short-chain fatty acids

When microbes consume proteins and fiber, they break them down into their constituent molecules, such as amino acids, fatty acids and sugars. These are the metabolites of the microbes. As well as neurotransmitters and hormones, the gut-brain conversation is mediated by metabolites like butyrate  – an important short-chain fatty acid that plays multiple roles in the body. 

In the gut, butyrate serves as a preferred nutrient for the cell lining. It encourages the differentiation of stem cells to replenish gut cells that are routinely sloughed off or damaged. It plays an important role in the production of mucus – an essential part of gut protection – which coats the gut from mouth to anus. In the muscles, butyrate boosts the growth of skeletal muscle, which is crucial to athletic performance, as well as for inducing the production of glucose  – the primary muscle fuel. One-quarter of systemic glucose is driven by butyrate. In its gut-brain role, butyrate passes through the blood-brain barrier, where it nourishes and enhances the growth of new brain cells. 

These factors make butyrate a star player in the gut-brain connection. They also highlight the benefits of prebiotic fiber, especially when high-energy, low-fiber feeds are provided.

Starting a microbiota

We’ve explored the major pathways of the gut-brain connection: inflammation, neurotransmitters, hormones and fatty acids. Some of these pathways are at odds with each other. How does such a complicated system come together?

As mentioned, the microbiota is an animal’s first line of defense against pathogens, attacking and killing them, often before the immune system is even aware of them. That means a healthy microbiota is an essential part of the immune system. However, the immune system is designed to attack foreign cells, which includes bacteria. For the microbiota to survive, the immune system must therefore learn to accept beneficial microbes. This lesson in tolerance needs to take place early in the foal’s development, or its immune system may forever fight its microbiota.

There are multiple ways nature ensures that foals get a good start on a microbiota that can peacefully coexist with the immune system. The first contribution to a protective microbiota comes from vaginal secretions that coat the foal during birth. After birth, microbes are included in the mare’s milk. These microbes are specially curated from the mare’s gut and transported to the milk glands by the lymphatic system. The mare’s milk also includes immune factors including immunoglobulins that help the foal to distinguish between microbial friends and foes. An additional way to enhance the microbiota is through coprophagia, the consumption of manure. Far from an aberration, foals eat their mother’s manure to buttress their microbiota. 

Microbes affect the growth and shape of neurons in various brain sites as the foal develops, a remarkable illustration of the importance of a healthy early gut microbiota. 

The cooperation between the immune system and the microbiota is inevitably complex. Certain commensal bacteria, including Clostridiales and Verrucomicrobia, may be able to pacify the immune system, thus inhibiting inflammation. This is a case where microbes manage the immune system, not the other way around. These convoluted immune-microbial interactions affect the mental state – and consequently the behavior – of the horse, starting at birth.

Stereotypies

A 2020 study of 185 performance horses conducted by French researchers Léa Lansade and Núria Mach found that the microbiota, via the gut-brain connection, is more important to performance than genetics. They found that microbial differences contributed significantly to behavioral traits, both good and bad. A diversified and resilient microbiota can help horses better handle stressors including stalling, training and trailering. A weakened or dysbiotic microbiota contributes to bad behaviors (stereotypies) and poor performance. 

The horses in this study were all carefully managed performance horses, yet the rates of stereotypies were surprisingly high. A kind of anxiety called hypervigilance was observed in three-quarters of the horses, and almost half displayed aggressive behavior like kicking or biting. The study found that oral stereotypies like biting and cribbing were positively correlated with Acinetobacter and Solibacillus bacteria and negatively correlated with Cellulosilyticum and Terrisporobacter. Aggressive behavior was positively correlated with Pseudomonas and negatively correlated with Anaeroplasma. 

Some of these behaviors can be corrected by certain Lactobacillus and Bacteroides species, making them psychobiotics. That these personality traits are correlated to gut microbes is truly remarkable. 

Intriguingly, the breed of a horse has very little impact on the makeup of its microbiota. Instead, the main contributor to the composition of the microbiota is diet. Feeding and supplements are thus key drivers of the horse’s mental state and performance. 

The gut-brain connection and training

How might the gut-brain connection affect your training practices? Here are some of the unexpected areas where the gut affects the brain and vice-versa:

High-energy feed. Horses evolved to subside on low-energy, high-fiber forage and thus have the appropriate gut microbes to deal with it. A high-energy diet is absorbed quickly in the gut and can lead to a bloom in lactic acid-producing bacteria that can negatively impact the colonic microbiota. High-energy feeds are designed to improve athletic output, but over time, too much grain can make a horse antisocial, anxious and easily spooked. This can damage performance  – the very thing it is trying to enhance. Supplementary prebiotics may help to rebalance the microbiota on a high-starch regimen.

Changing feed regimens quickly. When you change feed, certain microbes will benefit and others will suffer. If you do this too quickly, the microbiota can become unbalanced or dysbiotic. Introducing new feeds slowly helps to prevent overgrowth and allows a balanced collection of microbes to acclimate to a new regimen. 

Stress. Training, trailering and racing all contribute to stress in the horse. A balanced microbiota is resilient and can tolerate moderate amounts of stress. However, excessive stress can lead, via the HPA axis, to a leaky gut. Over time, it can result in systemic inflammation, stereotypies and poor performance.

Overuse of antibiotics. Antibiotics are lifesavers but are not without side effects. Oral antibiotics can kill beneficial gut microbes. This can lead to diarrhea, adversely affecting performance. The effects of antibiotics on the microbiota can last for weeks and may contribute to depression and anxiety. 

Exercise and training. Exercise has a beneficial effect on the gut microbiota, up to a point. But too much exercise can promote gut permeability and inflammation, partly due to a lack of blood flow to the gut and consequent leakiness of the intestinal lining. Thus, overtraining can lead to depression and reduced performance.

Knowing how training affects the gut and how the gut affects the brain can improve outcomes. With a proper diet, including sufficient prebiotic fiber to optimize microbiota health, a poor doer can be turned into a model athlete. 

References

Mach, Núria, Alice Ruet, Allison Clark, David Bars-Cortina, Yuliaxis Ramayo-Caldas, Elisa Crisci, Samuel Pennarun, et al. “Priming for Welfare: Gut Microbiota Is Associated with Equitation Conditions and Behavior in Horse Athletes.” Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (May 20, 2020): 8311.

Bulmer, Louise S., Jo-Anne Murray, Neil M. Burns, Anna Garber, Francoise Wemelsfelder, Neil R. McEwan, and Peter M. Hastie. “High-Starch Diets Alter Equine Faecal Microbiota and Increase Behavioural Reactivity.” Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (December 9, 2019): 18621. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54039-8.

Lindenberg, F., L. Krych, W. Kot, J. Fielden, H. Frøkiær, G. van Galen, D. S. Nielsen, and A. K. Hansen. “Development of the Equine Gut Microbiota.” Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (October 8, 2019): 14427.

Lindenberg, F., L. Krych, J. Fielden, W. Kot, H. Frøkiær, G. van Galen, D. S. Nielsen, and A. K. Hansen. “Expression of Immune Regulatory Genes Correlate with the Abundance of Specific Clostridiales and Verrucomicrobia Species in the Equine Ileum and Cecum.” Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (September 3, 2019): 12674. 

Daniels, S. P., J. Leng, J. R. Swann, and C. J. Proudman. “Bugs and Drugs: A Systems Biology Approach to Characterising the Effect of Moxidectin on the Horse’s Faecal Microbiome.” Animal Microbiome 2, no. 1 (October 14, 2020): 38.

Alan Balch - Awake yet?

Article by Alan F. Balch

I don’t know about you, but as for me, a couple of years ago when I started hearing about being “woke,” and since then have been relentlessly pounded with the expression, I hadn’t a clue what that meant.

I’m not sure I entirely understand it now . . . but I did some research.

At just about the time of his commemorative holiday in January, I learned that the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last Sunday sermon prior to his 1968 murder was entitled, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.”  Dr. King referred to the tale of Rip Van Winkle, who had been asleep for 20 years, dozing off during the reign of King George III of England, and awakening during the presidency of George Washington.  He literally slept through the American revolution.

King preached that his congregations needed to awaken to the injustice still all around them, and demand meaningful change.  He exhorted them "to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”

If I had fallen asleep in 1990, when I had major responsibilities at both Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita, and awakened today, I would recognize the San Francisco Bay and the San Gabriel Mountains immediately.  But I would have slept through a different kind of revolution than Rip did.

Given the ages and longevity of racing’s community of trainers – in California and elsewhere – is it any wonder that the era of critical change our sport has faced and continues to undergo feels threatening, daunting, and sometimes even overwhelming?

While racing has perennially (ever since its modern conception in the 1930s) been the most heavily regulated of all professional sports, by far, recent additions of a new federal regulatory structure, added to various and sometimes inconsistent state and track rules, have made for an even heavier burden on all those responsible for the welfare of horses.  Each new straw on this camel’s back can seem like a tree.

If the trainers and veterinarians need to be wide awake, so too do the owners, regulators, media, and track managements!  The impetus for Congressional action and federal regulation of racing, on its surface, was to harmonize and improve oversight of the sport.  Wasn’t it?!  Not to mystify and complicate it any further.

Training a horse . . . and horsemanship itself . . . are infinitely complex by themselves.  To begin with.  There are plenty of books about these subjects, but no manuals.  The rules governing training have sometimes been conceived, enforced, and praised, by individuals whose experience doesn’t include even one working minute in a stall or shed-row, and who couldn’t begin to persuasively define horsemanship.  And who then wonder why morale on the backstretch isn’t positive?!

All of us in racing or non-racing equestrian sport, worldwide, have been raised with the mantra that the welfare of the horse is paramount.  But actions speak louder than words.  With all the attention to elaborate rules and regulatory structures, where is the corresponding attention to and investment in backstretch conditions, for both human and equine residents?  In track conditions and the latest surfaces and technologies?

We hear a great deal today about equestrian sports’ “social license to operate,” that the treatment of animals must match the public’s expectation of proper welfare practices.

“Well,” I’ve always been tempted to say, “let’s bring the public to the horses, where they live, so the public will see how well they are treated.”  At Santa Anita, we did that for years, and very successfully.  But when I see many of today’s backstretches, as opposed to how they looked when I went to sleep 30 years ago, I’m appalled.  If regulators and track managements expect the professionals who care for the horses to bear the burden of more onerous requirements and regulations for behavior than ever before, shouldn’t the conditions under which the horses live/train and the professionals (including veterinarians) practice their trades be at the highest levels of expectation as well?

In all the “social license” and horse welfare discussions, it’s appealing but wrong to ascribe human characteristics to horses – as animal “rights” groups consistently do.  We who love horses, as horses, must do better, in our own language, to avoid the traps the enemies of sport with horses are setting for us, whether consciously or not.  Two-year-old colts or fillies (or even foals and weanlings) should not be referred to as “babies.”  They aren’t.   We shouldn’t call males or females “boys or girls,” either.  They aren’t.  We shouldn’t say, “he loves being a race horse.”  He doesn’t know what that means.  The concepts of “love,” or even “happiness,” are human, not equine.  He probably does “love” carrots or sugar; actually, he doesn’t, because he doesn’t think like we do.  But a good trainer knows when a horse is content, satisfied, happy . . .  or nervous, upset, and unhappy!  Even though the horse is not those things in human terms, but instead in the context of being an equine.  An animal. 

In 1824, William Wilberforce, member of the British Parliament, was a founder of what became the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the very first animal welfare organization in the world.  He was among the most wide-awake of all humans at the time, and maybe ever:  he was the leading English advocate for the abolition of slavery.  He was a man of conscience, rather than party.  He led his peers in advocating new ideas, remained vigilant, and unflinchingly faced the challenges of necessary change.

He knew the differences between humans and animals, and that real animal welfare can only be achieved and maintained by humans. 

State Incentives 2023

Article by Annie Lambert

The bad news is, North American inflation has substantially increased expenses in Thoroughbred racing. The good news is, U.S. purses in 2022 were up nearly 11% from 2021. Also, states and farms are working to provide owners and breeders an opportunity to counter those growing costs with healthy incentive opportunities. 

State Pluses

U.S. inflation rose to a shuttering 9.1% last year, but it has dropped to the current 6.5%. Canada’s most recent number was 6.8%. Both numbers, although improved, still leave horsemen pushing higher outlays across the board. Breeders, owners and trainers can help buffer inflated costs with readily available incentive programs.

Mary Ellen Locke, registrar and incentive program manager for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, cited there are no changes to that state’s programs for the current year. As one of the most successful state organizations, the CTBA has seldom tried to fix what is not broken.

“I think [our program] has helped sustain our numbers through Covid and the economy being down,” Locke pointed out. “The numbers of Thoroughbred foals are down all over, but we are holding our own in California.”

The association’s definition of a Cal-bred is one thing helping California retain those foal numbers. Cal-breds are those foals dropped in the state after being conceived there by a California stallion. Or, “any Thoroughbred foal dropped by a mare in California if the mare remains in California to be next bred to a Thoroughbred stallion standing in the state” will be classified as Cal-bred. If the mare cannot be bred for two consecutive seasons, but remains in California during that period, her foal will still be considered a Cal-bred.

The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association is offering a new race series for two-year-olds in 2023, according to Brian Sanfratello, the group’s executive secretary. The Pennsylvania-bred series offers three stakes for fillies and three for colts.

“The first two races will feature purses of $100,000 to be run during Pennsylvania Day at the Races at Parx Racing,” Sanfratello offered. “The second set will have purses of $150,000 and will also be held at Parx the day of the Pennsylvania Derby; and the third in the series will feature $200,000 purses at a track to be determined.”

Trainers of the top three earning horses will be rewarded with bonuses of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000.

In addition, Penn National has increased their owner bonus to 30%. The racetracks in that state pay for owner bonuses. 

Virginia has been on a roll since passing their historical horse racing legislation in 2019. Last year, according to Debbie Easter, executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association (VTA), Colonial Downs averaged $612,000 in daily purse monies.

The Virginia Racing Commission approved an additional nine days of racing for the current year. Colonial Downs, the only live racing venue in the state, will run Thursday through Saturday from July 13 to September 9.

“Thanks to Historic Horse Racing (HHR) machines in Virginia, breeding, raising and racing Thoroughbreds has never been better,” according to Easter. “In 2023, the Virginia Breeders fund should double to over $2 million thanks to funds received from HHR.

Virginia breeders currently earn bonuses when Virginia-bred horses win a race anywhere in North America. If pending legislation passes the Virginia General Assembly, breeders will have an update for 2023. They will earn awards for horses placing first through third in North America.

“Because of budget constraints that limit the Virginia-Certified program to $4 million in both 2023 and 2024, we have made changes to our very successful program that pays 25% bonuses to the developers of Virginia-Certified horses that win at Mid-Atlantic region racetracks, which includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia in addition to Virginia,” Easter added. “The plan is to increase funding for the program once Colonial Downs adds more HHR locations and machines, hopefully in 2024 and 2025.”

Iowa and New Mexico may not produce the largest annual foal crops in North America, but they each had Breeders’ Cup contenders last year. 

Tyler’s Tribe (Sharp Azteca) headed to Keeneland undefeated in five starts in his home state of Iowa to contest the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). Unfortunately, the then two-year-old gelding was eased into the stretch after bleeding. He did regroup to finish third at Oaklawn Park just a month later in the Advent Stakes.

After challenging the inside speed during the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), New Mexico-bred Slammed (Marking) finished out of the money. Although the now five-year-old mare has not run since, her previous earnings of $557,030 (13 starts, 9-1-0) give her credibility as a broodmare prospect.

With the majority of Breeders’ Cup contenders raised on Kentucky bluegrass, mare owners may want to start watching for options in Iowa and New Mexico.

Bonus Bucks

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners launched in the fall of 2011. Their ability to acquire, manage and develop runners and put together partnerships is quantified by their gross earnings of $42,561,789.

Eclipse President, Aron Wellman, sees the value of state-bred incentives and makes use of them, although his first order of business is finding the right horses.

“We are going to buy a horse because we like the horse,” Wellman confirmed. “If we buy something eligible for regional programs, we take advantage of them.”

The group’s Chief Financial Officer, Bill Victor, notices incentive earnings on his bottom line. “Breeder incentive programs are important to any stable.”

Spendthrift Farm continues to enjoy their fruitful and much copied programs. This year, Safe Bet will feature Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) standing at $5,000. If Coal Front does not produce at least one graded or group stakes winner by December 31, from his first two-year-old crop the mare owner will owe no stud fee. If he produces a stakes winner, the normal fee will be owed.  

Share the Upside features Greatest Honour (Tapit) for 2023. The breeder sends a mare to this stallion, has a live foal and pays the $10,000 fee. That foal entitles the mare owner to a lifetime breeding to Greatest Honour, an annual breeding share, with no added costs. Greatest Honour is, however, sold out for this year.

Both these Spendthrift programs minimize risks and offer great value, especially to smaller breeders.

Canada continues its successful Ontario Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) with a current budget of $800,000. 

The province’s Mare Purchase Program (MPP) provides breeder incentives to invest in and ship mare power into Ontario. Foal mares—purchased for a minimum of $10,000 (USD), with no maximum price, at a recognized auction outside of Ontario, but produce 2023 foals in the providence— are eligible for a rebate. The rebate is for 50% of the purchase price up to $25,000 (CAD) with a limit of $75,000 (CAD) per ownership group. Mares bred back to a registered Ontario Sire in the 2023 breeding season are also eligible for a $2,500 (CAD) bonus.

The Mare Recruitment Program (MRP) incentivizes mare owners who bring an in-foal mare to Ontario to foal in 2024. Owners will receive a $5,000 (CAD) incentive for each in-foal mare brought to Ontario. The mare must not have foaled in Ontario in 2022 or 2023. MRP is for mares purchased at an Ontario Racing accredited sale in 2023 and must have a minimum purchase price of $5,000 (USD).

Breeders of record are eligible for additional bonuses through TIP. Specific details on the MPP and MRP programs criteria are outlined in the applicable criteria book.

The Struggle Is Real

Minnesota’s only Thoroughbred racetrack suffered a low blow recently when their 10-year marketing agreement with the nearby Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community expired without renewal. The track will be racing fewer days this year to keep purse amounts competitive without the additional funds.

The former agreement forbad Canterbury from supporting additional gaming legislation in the state; they are now free to push for sports wagering and slots of historical horse racing machines. 

Canterbury Park’s Thoroughbred 2023 stakes schedule will feature twenty-four races totaling $1.65 million in purses.

Texas Thoroughbred has one of the most innovative breed associations in the United States, especially for a state that has suffered setbacks over the decades. Their plan to promote Texas racing through public relations was a great success last year and will continue through this year.

“A series of events are conducted at Sam Houston Race Park, Lone Star Park and in connection with the Texas Two-Year-Old in Training Sale and the Texas Summer Yearling Sale,” said Texas Thoroughbred Association Executive Director Mary Ruyle. “Last year, this initiative resulted in forty-two new, first-time Texas Thoroughbred racehorse owners, equating to slightly more than $300,000 through participation in the Texas Thoroughbred Racing Club and private purchase connections set-ups.” 

Due to Texas’ stance on the Horseracing and Integrity Act (HISA), the Texas Racing Commission does not send out their racing signal unless it is out of the United States. When HISA was enacted July 1, 2022, they only had 14 days of the meet remaining. This year it has hindered their purse structure and the Accredited Thoroughbred Awards, according to Ruyle.

To resolve the problem, they have begun running races earlier in the day, rather than in the evenings, to draw more spectators and handle. They also made a deal with Woodbine to export their signal to Canada.

“At this moment, the purses are essentially the same,” Ruyle said. “As we get into the meet, we’ll see if we are able to sustain that.”

All Thoroughbred racing states within the United States, along with provinces in Canada, have some deals to incentivize breeders. Researching states of interest can provide the means to fend off these inflationary times in North America.

Growth spurts in young horses

The X-Factor

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

Article 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.

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.

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. 

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.

“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.”

Bing Bush - Abbondanza Racing and Philip Shelton - Medallion Racing

Article by Bill Heller

In racing partnerships, do opposites attract? If they’re successful, who cares? 

Bing Bush’s Abbondanza Racing and Philip Shelton of Medallion Racing have been cranking out graded stakes winning fillies the last six years, including Going to Vegas, who won consecutive runnings of the Gr. 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes in 2021 and 2022. 

“Bing is great—absolutely a first-class human being, a good friend,” Shelton said. “He’s got a lot of energy. I’m low key. It’s a good partnership.”

Bush agrees: “It’s been a sensational partnership. Phil is manager of Medallion. He’s extremely knowledgeable—a wonderful partner.”

They both started in Lexington, Kentucky, before traveling different roads to reach the same destination: the winner’s circle after major stakes in California.               

Bush, an incredibly affable fellow, remembers long mornings at his family’s five-acre farm: “Every morning: getting up, eating Cheerios, feeding the horses, cleaning the stalls, feeding the chickens, (in the winter) making sure the ice was broken, changing my clothes and getting on the school bus. I was usually up by 4:30 a.m.”

Bush and his close friend Glenn Graetz rode in 4-H and the pony club, hunters and jumpers. In his senior year at Lafayette High School, he galloped Thoroughbreds for trainer John Ward. He also galloped for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. “I think the best I ever got on was Polish Navy,” Bush said.

He didn’t stay on Polish Navy for long. “I thought I had a clock in my head,” Bush said. “The first time I breezed him was the last time I breezed him. I thought I went in :37 and change at Keeneland. He went so, so easily. I’m walking him back on the outside rail. I saw Shug walking to me. He said, `What the hell are you doing? You went in :35.’” 

Bush also galloped horses for Rusty Arnold but decided to become a lawyer, attending the University of Kentucky Law School. “After my first year, I didn’t know if I wanted to be a lawyer anymore,” Bush said. “I went to San Diego to see my sister. Her boyfriend had broken up with her. She was sad. I drove to her home. In one day, my whole life turned around. I went to La Jolla. I saw the cliffs. The water was blue. The sky was blue. I’ll never forget my next thought: `Oh, my god, I’m an American. I can move here.’”

He did, and he began galloping horses at the San Luis Rey Training Center. “After about a year, I was getting on 20 horses a day,” Bush said.

It was hard labor. “I was in the jacuzzi every day,” Bush said. “I thought I had to get back to law.”

Bush did, returning to the University of Kentucky, graduated and moved to San Diego: “I think it’s very special. I can walk to Del Mar. My favorite is going to the morning workouts. I just feel so blessed.”

His law career has flourished, winning cases in California, Arizona and Kentucky. His success allowed him to start Abbondanza Racing in 2012.

In 2016, Bush partnered with Nathan McCauley.  They had immediate success with their gelding Free Rose, a horse McCauley had bred who captured the 2016 Gr. 3 La Jolla and the Gr. 2 Del Mar Derby back-to-back. In his next start, he was second by a half-length in the Gr. 2 Twilight Derby. “Free Rose put us on the map,” Bush said.

On its website, Abbondanza Racing says it is committed to three things: bringing friends to experience and admire top-level horses racing together; economic sustainability for you and everyone involved, and giving back at least 1 percent of all purse money won to charity.

Abbondanza means ‘abundance” in Italian. Bush picked the name to honor his wife Jewels, who was half-Italian. “She was the love of my life,” Bush said. “She got cancer in 2019, and passed away in May. I was devastated. In November, I had a heart attack and nearly died.”

He survived and has fallen in love again. “I majored in philosophy in college, and I got a call from my philosophy professor,” Bush said. “It turned out, he had his niece, Aseel, visiting from Washington, D.C. She’s an architect. She’s beautiful, inside and out. We spent some time together. We saw each other a couple of times. When Covid hit, I convinced her to move to San Diego, where her family is. I truly believe Jewels sent her. This heart had been shattered into pieces. She is now my fiancée. It’s special. I really had a miracle in my life.”  

In that same year, he hooked up with McCauley, Bush teamed up with Shelton, who had begun Medallion Racing as an offshoot of Taylor Made Farm. Taylor Made will always be special to Philip, he began working there as a senior in high school in Lexington and periodically at the sales for them while in college.

His father, an attorney, owned a few cheap horses, exposing Shelton to horse racing. “I liked the gambling,” he said. “We’d go to Keeneland. When I was 12 or 13, I won a couple hundred dollars at the track. I started getting the Blood-Horse. I was already hooked.”

Later, he abandoned a career as a teacher and swimming coach to launch Medallion Racing on the advice of his wife, Taylor. Her maiden name was Keene, as in Keeneland, and their three-year-old son is named Keene. “She said, if I never pursue horses full-time, I’m going to regret it,” Shelton said.

He took her sage advice and began Medallion Racing. Abbondanza Racing advertises packages for new owners as low as $500. Medallion is different. “Our goal is to bring people into the highest level of racing,” Shelton said. “We’ve had 300 starts over the last six years, and about 23 ½ percent have been in Gr. 1’s. In 2021, we had four Breeders’ Cup starters: Bella Sophia, Going to Vegas, Horologist (also co-owned with Abbondanza) and Charmaine’s Mia. (Charmaine’s Mia was third in the Turf Sprint, and Bella Sophia fourth in the Filly & Mare Sprint). Last year, we just had Going to Vegas (she was 11th and 12th in the Filly & Mare Turf in 2021 and 2022). Bing is primarily in California. Our goal is to be nation-wide.”

Or international. “We took 22 clients to Royal Ascot,” Shelton said. “We want to leverage all the resources of Taylor Made to create an unmatched experience for all our partners.”

Trips to the winner’s circle after stakes races is a good inducement, and Bush and Shelton hit it out of the ballpark with their first horse in partnership: the Irish filly Goodyearforroses. She won three straight stakes beginning with the $90,000 Robert Frankel Stakes by 5 ¼ lengths on New Year’s Eve in 2016. She added on victories in the $79,000 Astra Stakes, and the Gr. 2 Santa Anna Stakes. After finishing fifth by 1 ¾ lengths in the Gr. 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, she returned to California, finishing second by a half-length to superstar Lady Eli in the Gr. 1 Gamely Stakes. “She’s in Lady Eli’s win photo,” Bush said. “I was never prouder to finish second.”

Going to Vegas has continued the partner’s success, winning nearly a million dollars through 2022.

“We focus on fillies and mares,” Shelton said. So far, their focus has been just fine.

Does Jockey Gender Make a Difference?

Experts from the University of Nottingham have found that the sex of a jockey doesn’t influence any aspect of racehorse physiology and performance.

Article by Charlotte Schrurs and David S. Gardner

Charlotte Schrurs

The findings of the study, presently published as a preprint at Research Square, offer a new perspective on the possible balance of elite male and female jockeys on the start line of races.

Studies assessing the effect of the sex of a rider on racehorse performance and physiology during training have not been reported, mostly due to the lack of available data for female participants within the sport.

David S. Gardner

The racing of Thoroughbred horses has a tradition dating back to the 18th century in the UK. However, it was not until the mid-late 20th century that the first ladies’ race was held. In the present day, more than 90% of participating jockeys, in most racing nations, are men. This is likely an unconscious bias toward male jockeys being, on average, physically “stronger,” able to push horses harder, and thus performing better in races than female jockeys.

In horse racing, male and female jockeys compete against each other in the majority of races. This is because the competitive advantage is less on the physical attributes of the rider but more on skill level or ability to partner with an animal. Indeed, racing requires quick reaction time and agility from the jockey while being able to navigate the horse with dexterity across the peloton at peak speeds often exceeding 37mph. This decade has seen a marked increase in participation of female jockeys at an elite level in the racing industry. In 2021, the Irish jockey — Rachael Blackmore — made history by winning several high-profile races. This year, she continued her remarkable rise by becoming the first female jockey ever to win the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.

Success stories like this are shaping global betting behaviors on the racetrack and challenging the public’s confidence in the ability of male or female jockeys to win big races. In the UK and Ireland, previous research had suggested an underestimation of the ability of female jockeys to win races, as recorded in betting behavior.

In racing, a competitive advantage may lie in the ability of a jockey to control the horse, and/or less weight carried by the horse (i.e. weight of jockey plus saddle). Experts from the University of Nottingham have found that the sex of a jockey doesn’t influence any aspect of racehorse physiology and performance.

Researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham (UK) worked with Scientific Director Guillaume Dubois, PhD, at Arioneo Ltd — a company that developed a bespoke exercise tracking device for horses; and an Equine Sports Medicine specialist (Dr. Emmanuelle van Erck-Westergren, PhD; Equine Sports Medicine Practice, Belgium) to answer some of these questions.

They monitored 530 Thoroughbred racehorses, ridden by 103 different work riders, which were randomly allocated to a horse (66 male, 37 female) over a total of 3,568 workouts (varying intensity from slow/med/hard canter to gallop) at a single racing yard (with varying tracks – all weather, dirt and turf ) (Ciaron Maher racing) in Victoria, Australia. Variables such as speed, stride length and frequency, heart rate and rate of recovery were recorded with a validated fitness tracker (the ‘Equimetre©’). This tracker was specifically designed to monitor horses during their daily exercise routine with advanced data analysis services (www.arioneo.com).

An average racehorse weighs ~1,100-1,300lbs, an average jockey, ~108-121lbs. Yet, a few ounces extra on the back of a racehorse has been shown to influence race performance. Therefore, weight carried by the horse (jockey, plus saddle and added weights where necessary) is used to further equalize any perceived performance advantage. This allows horses of varying levels to participate in so called “handicap” races. In such races, each horse is attributed a predetermined weight to carry determined by the racing regulatory board.

Horses with better racing records are allocated higher weights in order to further equalize any perceived performance advantage. Hence, jockeys are weighed in before and weighed out after races.

All being equal, would a racehorse during race-pace workouts perform any differently when ridden by either a female or male jockey? Would that racehorse be more or less likely to win a race?

The research monitored 530 Thoroughbred racehorses, ridden by 103 different work riders, which were randomly allocated to a horse (66 male, 37 female) over a total of 3,568 workouts.

WHAT IT IS COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY?

Computed tomography (CT) helps veterinarians make diagnoses and trainers make decisions. CT scanners take hundreds of x-ray images rotating around the target and create an exact 3D digital rendering. The diagnostic power is in the ability to scroll through the 3D rendering slice by slice, at any angle you choose.

What can it do?

• Small stuff: Tiny P1 fractures and early condylar and coffin fractures: scrolling slices one at a time the tiniest cracks, even bone sclerosis patterns that precede cracks, become clearly visible.

• Hard to see spots: Small bones of the knees and hocks, the suspensory origin, non-displaced cracks in the sesamoids: difficult to evaluate properly on radiographs but clear on CT. CT is also far superior for finding and correcting abnormalities of the skull, teeth and sinuses.

• Cartilage: Arthroscopic surgery has typically been required but by injecting the joint with radio-opaque contrast (sometimes called “dye”) we can see cartilage lesions on CT.

• Fracture prognosis: Two simple condylar fractures may have vastly different outcomes based on trauma unnoticed on plain radiographs. CT enables more accurate prognostication critical for planning the horse’s future.

• The neck: It is shocking how many abnormalities are visible with 3-dimensional imaging of the neck. Nerve compression is visible even when it comes from the side; previously undiagnosable with regular radiographs.

• Surgery: CT guidance enables accurate fracture reconstruction and precise placement of screws in difficult locations.

When to use it?

Think of CT as a microscope; use it when you know where the problem is, but you just can’t see it on radiographs. If you cannot localize the issue, you probably need a bone scan (scintigraphy).

What sets the Mid-Atlantic Equine CT scanner apart?

Image quality and a standing horse.

Two main types of CT: cone beam (x-ray beam is a cone, producing image distortion) and fan beam (beam is a thin blade).

Image detail is far superior with fan beam; the main reason Mid- Atlantic Equine moved to it from the robotic CT. Most fan beam CT units are small and require general anesthesia. The CT scanner at Mid-Atlantic Equine is a Canon large bore CT mounted on a computer controlled platform, allowing true CT imaging in a standing horse (foot to forearm or gaskin, nose to base of the neck C5/6 or 6/7). Under anesthesia imaging of elbows, shoulders, chest, thoracic spine, back, pelvis, SI, hips and stifles can be obtained. Medical care so advanced it almost makes you wish you were a horse. We offer every type of medical care your four-legged athlete could ever need. With board-certified specialists in all fields we provide everything from upper airway, arthroscopic and laparoscopic surgeries, to internal medicine, complex fracture fixation and advanced diagnostic imaging, including bone scans and MRIs — all in one place.

It’s enough to make a human jealous.

Contact:

Tel. 800.724.5358 Address: 40 Frontage Road Ringoes, NJ 08551

Web: www.midatlanticequine.com

What We Need to Know from HISA

Keeping up with the legal evolution of HISA is like playing monopoly onboard a ship in pitching seas—the players, tokens and money are strewn all over the deck.

Article by Annie Lambert

When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) went into effect on July 1, 2022, few people involved with the Authority or stakeholders operating under the new rules could have predicted the political path the statute would trudge down.

Specifically, HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) rules, which were to go into effect January 1, 2023, were put on hold. If/when enacted, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) will handle daily operations and administration of the ADMC. Drug Free Sport International will conduct the drug testing.

Multiple legal challenges from multiple entities in multiple jurisdictions snarled any further implementation of HISA. There were cheers from those opposing the new rules and jeers from those looking forward to implementing national uniform safety rules and anti-doping and medication control rules for Thoroughbred racing in the United States.

Race trackers took issue with the fact that they had little to no input in the rules and implementation of HISA. The Authority responded by creating the Horsemen’s Advisory Group (HAG). The group is composed of 19 owners, trainers and veterinarians along with representatives of racing offices, backside employees, farriers and aftercare enterprises. They began meeting monthly last November and will serve one- to two-year terms.

While the HAG may have settled some issues for horsemen, the legal suits continue. HISA appears confident that their legislation—which was written by legal experts specifically adept in constitutional law—will remain intact. 

The Politics

Dating back to early 2021, the lawsuits against HISA have been detailed ad nauseam. While the courts have knocked down some suits, a few remain standing at this time. All challenges include some variations of the constitutionality of the legislation regarding specific regulations, with others challenging the assessment formula, definitions, search and seizure regulations and/or FTC enforcement and other specifics. 

In mid-November, just six weeks prior to implementation of the ADMC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled HISA to be unconstitutional. The court felt that the legislation delegated unsupervised government power to a private entity. HISA rules are authorized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which the court felt should provide closer supervision and have more input into the legislation.

Judge Joseph Hood, of the Sixth District Court, sided with the federal government on December 7 2022, suggesting the legislation established clear boundaries on HISA’s power, including a requirement that all rules be approved by the FTC. There is no timetable set for the court’s final decision.

On December 12, the FTC disapproved of proposed ADMC rules as submitted. The designated, independent enforcement agency of the ADMC program (HIWU) was prepared to enforce anti-doping and medication rules on January 1, 2023, if approved by the FTC. 

The FTC denied approval of the program rules “without prejudice” due to pending legal uncertainties. HISA will be resubmitting the ADMC rules. During the interim, state law will govern medication issues. The suspension of the ADMC also puts a hold on assessments that would be used to fund the program.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell wrote a quick, short-worded clarification of HISA that was submitted with the recent Omnibus bill and passed the Senate on December 19 2022. The fix gives the FTC the power to “abrogate, add to, and modify the rules” of HISA as they see fit. The Omnibus bill passed the House of Representatives the following day, and President Biden signed it into law on December 29.

Legal wranglers for HISA have since asked a federal appeals court to set aside its ruling that declared the Authority unconstitutional in light of the legislation’s rewrite by Senator McConnell.

The Assessments

Much of life seems to come down to money; it may not be the root of all evil, but it does guide a lot of policy.

When the FTC did not accept HISA’s proposed ADMC in mid-December, state-owed payments due to fund the Authority were put on hold. Roughly $58.1 million in payments for 2023 are currently pending legal outcomes. The majority of those assessments pertain to the launch of the anti-doping program that has also been put into a holding pattern. Assessments already incurred for 2022 are required to be paid by the state commissions and the racetracks.

HISA’s total budget for the current year (2023) is slightly north of $72.5 million. That number includes nearly $37.4 million for operating the HIWU and drug testing work to be done by Drug Free Sport International.

A staff of 35 full-time employees will be in place by the end of this year, charged with implementing sound collection protocols and working to maintain continuity with existing collectors. They will also work on testing operations, compliance, quality assurance, education and industry outreach, good relations with state racing commissions and collaboration with laboratories, investigations and technology. 

The budget for 2023 provides $18.7 million for lab and research expenses toward implementing the ADMC program. 

State racing commissions received their assessed HISA operational expenses last October. Using a methodology set by HISA and approved by the FTC, the formula is calculated from total starts and the percentage of purses paid of total United States purses, other than the Breeders’ Cup World Championship races. 

States given the top assessments by HISA are New York ($8,660,471), Kentucky ($7,445,145), California ($7,344,139), Pennsylvania ($6,611,479) and Florida ($6,445,226). Payments are due in monthly payments; and if state commissions do not pay their assessments, their expense is passed to the racetracks. In states with multiple tracks, each track will be charged with a portion of the obligation based on a proportionate share of starts.

State racing commissions are able to reduce their assessments if they negotiate with HISA and HIWU and choose to provide sample collection personnel and investigative services in compliance with new ADMC program rules. HISA has provided $23 million to fund these racetrack contributions.

The Strikes

The HISA crop, or whip, regulations have created some turmoil. The consequences for overuse during a race can be stringent. 

Crop regulations (which also apply to exercise riders during morning workouts) have been in effect since July 1 2022 as part of the Integrity and Safety Authority. The main source of contention regarding the rules is striking a horse during a race more than six times. 

For seven to nine strikes during a race, jockeys face a one-day suspension plus a fine of either $250 or 10 percent of their share of the purse, whichever is greater. But strikes exceeding nine are punishable by more severe consequences. Those infractions do not alter the pari-mutuel payouts but can lead to a horse losing its total share of the purse money distributed to the owner, jockey and trainer. 

Ten to 13 strikes results in a $500 fine to the rider or his share of the purse, whichever is greater, plus a three-day suspension. At 10 or more strikes, the horse is also disqualified.

Graded stakes, including Breeders’ Cup races, are no exception. A recent Breeders’ Cup jockey struck his mount seven times – just one strike over – and received a one-day suspension and was assessed three points on his license as an additional penalty.

HISA rules created a point system for multiple violations by repeat offenders that will eventually have penalties compounded. Riders with 11 to 15 points on their license would receive an additional seven days of suspension in addition to the newest penalty. Riders with 16 to 20 points receive an additional 15-day suspension. With 21 or more points, a jockey could get a full 30-day “vacation.”

Points expire over six to 12 months post-violation; expirations are decided on a sliding scale based on the violation class assigned to those infractions.

Riders have acknowledged that keeping an accurate count of their hits can be difficult. And there are situations when use of a crop might keep a horse from causing a dangerous situation, e.g., drifting in or out. Several top jockeys have also noted that the extreme penalties give them cause to be more cautious of the regulations.

One jockey, who was listed in the standings where he was riding, was given a 30-day suspension when stewards said he showed a lack of effort, a “lackluster” finish, not consistent with his usual riding style. It sounded like a cloaked suggestion that he had pulled his mount. The rider, who did not appeal, reported that he thought he had reached his six-strike limit.

The National Jockeys’ Guild filed litigation against HISA, which they have recently dropped. There are purportedly ongoing negotiations with concern on rules, which HISA seems willing to negotiate to some degree. 

Whip violations are handed out after the race card is over. The stewards review race video prior to issuing the rulings. Both jockey and owner will have an opportunity to appeal.

The Contraband

There are two basic lists of drugs within the ADMC rules: “banned substances” and “controlled medications.” The FTC, of course, has not approved this portion of HISA, and there are only guesses as to when it will be put to use. 

During the interim, state regulators will continue to be responsible for medication rules, drug testing and enforcement.

In the past, trainers and veterinarians have relied on suggested withdrawal times to decide how far ahead of a race to give a particular drug. The new rules do not rely on withdrawal times. Federal laws, as written, require the Authority and HIWU to base medication rules on international standards for racehorses.

Foreign countries base their medication rules on the International Federation of Horseracing Authority guidelines, which do not provide withdrawal times. Instead, they provide “detection times.”

Detection times are based on peer-reviewed studies of a drug. In the study, a sample of horses are all given a drug and tested at periods of time afterwards. The detection time is the first time point at which all the horses in the study were negative for the drug given.

Due to variations in how drugs are metabolized in individuals, the detection times are a starting point for vets and trainers to decide when to withdraw a drug. Based on the individual horse, dosage and how it was administered the connections to the horse must be aware the outcome may change due to the variables.

If the lines between legal dosages and overages are so fine, it could lead one to assume racing officials would prefer horsemen not use the drug at all.

One trainer was suspended for seven calendar days, fined $3,000 and assessed two points on the Association of Racing Commissioners International scale for multiple medication violations for a lidocaine positive. Testing showed the horse had tested above the allowed amount of a “permissible medication.”

The involved horse was disqualified from the Maiden Special Weight race win and the purse redistributed. 

Shoeing regulations have been a big issue with trainers and farriers from the get-go. The initially approved shoe dimensions were not manufactured, and those dimensions eventually changed several times. It left horsemen confused.

The federal regulation that prevents the use of toe grabs on front shoes became an issue again when connections of a second-placed horse in a Gr. 2 stake questioned if the winner had front grabs. It was determined the winner was shod legally. The finish stood.

Horses are commonly trained in different shoes than those they run in. Blacksmiths and examining veterinarians who see horses with prohibited shoes in the morning are said to be making trainers aware there would most likely be a problem if the horse were to race as shod. 

The voided claim is another regulated area that was foreign to some racing jurisdictions, while a state like California has been practicing for some time. 

HISA policy requires claims be voided if a horse is unsound in the test barn, experiences bleeding or has a post-race medication violation. These rules are in addition to policies many tracks had in place to void claims, such as a horse dying on track or having to be vanned off. To date, most voided claims were a result of post-race unsoundness or horses that bled.

In spite of legal frustrations and rules that horsemen feel are too restrictive and not beneficial to the Thoroughbred racing industry, HISA marches on. More horsemen being involved should help, but the learning curve seems too long for everyone in racing.

Prohibited Substances Overview

• Banned substances prohibited at all times, such as anabolic agents and diuretics or masking agents

• Banned methods prohibited at all times, such as chemical castration or immunocastration

• Controlled medication substances prohibited during the race period, such as analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

• Controlled medication methods prohibited during the race period, such as the use or administration of an alkalinizing agent

• Prohibited substances and methods may be included in the prohibited list by general category or with specific reference to a particular substance or method. 

The prohibited list will be updated yearly.

Lazarus’ Lessons Learned

Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), pointed to the importance of sport-wide unity within the United States racing industry. Lazarus spoke during the Global Symposium on Racing held in early December at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

A year after taking her position with HISA, Lazarus pointed to 10 lessons she has learned:

1. Racing’s strength is the diversity of viewpoints, which creates a lot of debate among industry leaders.

2. Participants in the industry have a role in making HISA better, even those groups that have been critical of the Authority. That was her reason for adding the Horsemen’s Advisory Group to include all viewpoints in the rulemaking process.

3. Criticism is expected and welcomed from the people who make a living at the track with skin in the game. 

4. Stakeholder’s engagement, even criticism, is welcomed and will help make HISA and the industry better. 

5. The vulnerability of jockeys, who must trust that the system has reduced the risk of injury to horses and riders, will be able to depend on jockey health initiatives via the racetrack safety program.

6. Despite robust debate regarding the Authority, the racing industry has wanted uniform medication regulation for years. Racing participants who compete fairly deserve to know their competition is also competing fairly.

7. The sport of racing has tried independent regulation because a voluntary system has not worked.

8. Uniform rules must be accompanied by uniform implementation to work successfully.

9. The Authority’s regulators should not be the focal point for the sport. They should be operating in the background to root out those with bad intentions, leaving the industry a focus on integrity.

10. The Authority has incredible people who are committed to doing what is best for the industry. The intent is not to complicate people’s lives, but to help grow the industry through uniformity.

Alfredo Marquez: Raised at the Racetrack

Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

Being “raised at the racetrack” takes on the true meaning of the phrase when one is referring to trainer Alfredo Marquez. The California conditioner, now 75, was introduced to the backside of a racecourse when he was just a month old. 

Article by Annie Lambert

The old Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, has tethered Alfredo Marquez to Thoroughbred racing and his roots in Mexico for a lifetime. He spends off days from his California training barns at his home in Tijuana, a gated community literally built in an area where Caliente’s old barns once stood.

“That’s where I still live,” Marquez affirmed. “I still live basically in the barn area. We have a gated community where they tore out like six barns; there is a fence between the other barns and our homes. Most of the old barns are still there. They got bears, lions, tigers, elephants and a few Andalusian horses…all the barns are occupied by different kinds of animals.”

The “old” Caliente hosted Thoroughbred horse racing between late 1929 until the early 1990s, a golden era for the racecourse. Greyhound racing seven nights a week now satisfies the live racing obligation needed to continue their simulcast signal.

But, how did wild animals come to replace racehorses in the old stable area?

Jorge Hank Rhon was raised in Mexico by his wealthy, powerful German immigrant parents. Before taking over the Agua Caliente track in 1984, he moved to Tijuana from Mexico City where he had been an exotic animal trader. Rhon owned nine pet shops, six veterinary clinics and a dolphin show.

Before moving, he sold his businesses—many of which were paid for in part with exotic animals: rhino, leopards, cougars, panthers, tigers and even the Andalusians. During the evening horse races, Caliente spectators were able to watch some of the menagerie roaming on the infield.

Rhon still owns Grupo Caliente, Mexico’s largest sports betting company.

What does Rhon do with the animals? “Feeds ‘em,” Marquez said with a laugh. “It’s like a small private zoo for the owner of the track. He’s an animal lover.”

Rearview Mirror

The Marquez family has been a part of Caliente’s storied history—as well as California tracks—for several generations; nearly every Marquez family member is or has been a racetracker. They worked at tracks like Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Golden Gate, Bay Meadows and mostly Del Mar “because it’s only a jump from Tijuana.”

Marquez’s brother, Saul Marquez, is currently a jockey valet for Juan Hernandez (current leading rider at Santa Anita), Franklin Calles and Ricardo Gonzalez at Santa Anita. Saul’s son, Saul Jr., was a jockey agent for a long time and worked sales at horse auctions. He now runs his own business as an independent trucker. A nephew, Victor Garcia, is the son of former jockey Juan Garcia and is also a trainer at Santa Anita.

“A lot of my Tijuana family, most of them, worked at the track,” Marquez said. “They were grooms, trainers, assistant trainers, pony boys, exercise riders and jockeys.

From an early age, Marquez,  worked within the Thoroughbred racing industry in many capacities. His one wish from the beginning was to own a racehorse. 

“My main goal was to own horses,” Marquez said. “That was it from day one, since I was born. I had a horse when I was young. My dad bought me a horse for my birthday when I was seven. I sold it when I was eight. It was a riding horse, a filly. In those days [in Tijuana], there were no cars. You walked to school, which was not too far from home, and you walked to the racetrack.”

 Marquez claimed his first horse for $1,000 in 1964, at the age of 16. He took a horse named Social Book off Wes Cain and the owner, Mrs. Morton. Those connections claimed the horse back just three weeks later for $1,400.

“They sent him up north, and he made like $50,000,” Marquez said of Social Book.

His second claim was Cahill Kid, trained by then leading trainer, C.L. Clayton.

“That was a very, very nice horse—a stud,” Marquez recalled. “I ran him six times and had four wins, a second and a third. I lost him for $1,600. I think all together I made about $7,800 in three months, which was a lot of money then and a lot more nowadays.”

“I bought a Chevrolet Impala in Mexico with the money,” Marquez added. “I also bought property—a lot that I built apartments on later—like in 1968, I finished building.”

While he was claiming his first horses, Marquez worked for trainer L.J. Brooks until he was “17 or 18,” before going to work for a smaller trainer with only a couple of horses. Marquez remembers one really nice gray horse he handled, The Roan Clown—a two-time winner at Pomona.

Motivos & More

The English translation for motivo is “a reason for doing something, causing or being the reason for something.” Motivos was a horse perfectly named to become the young trainer’s favorite horse—a horse he owned himself.

“I had Motivos, a Mexican bred,” Marquez explained. “He ran twice in California, then I took him back to Mexico, to Tijuana. In one year, he was Sprinter of the Year, Miler of the Year and Horse of the Year. In the 1980s, he took everything—running from 5 ½ furlongs, a flat mile, a mile and an eighth and mile and a quarter.”

“What I admired about that horse was, when he goes short, he goes to the lead and they never catch him,” the trainer added. “And when you go a mile or more, he breaks on top, and he lays back second or third; he doesn’t go past, then he makes a run. He’s just like a human. I’ve never seen any horse like him, ever. He was amazing—amazing—and he was so smart.”

Motivos even ran second in the $250,000-added Clásico Internacional del Caribe (Caribbean Derby), the most important Thoroughbred black-type stakes race in the Caribbean for three-year-olds. The Caribe is for the best colts and fillies from the countries that are members of the Confederación Hipica del Caribe; the race rotates between those countries each year.

In 1988, the Caribe was held at Caliente. Marquez ran Don Gabriel (MEX) and Joseph (MEX), both colts owned by Cuadra San Gabriel. “Don Gabriel won it, and Joseph ran second,” Marquez said. “Nobody had ever run one-two before.”

With Equibase earnings of $8,384,323, Marquez has trained multiple graded-stakes winners over the years.

Melanyhasthepapers (Game Plan) was purchased as a yearling for $40,000 out of the Washington sale at Emerald Downs by owners Ron and Susie Anson. They named the colt after Melanie Stubblefield who handled all the registration papers at Santa Anita for decades.

Melanyhasthepapers

“I bought the colt off the Ansons for $40,000 when they retired from owning horses,” Marquez remembered. “He ended up being a stake horse.”

Melanyhasthepapers earned $311,152 between 2003 and 2006 including five wins; the horse won the Cougar II Stakes at Hollywood Park, ran second in the All-American Handicap (G3) at Golden Gate and third in Santa Anita’s Tokyo City Handicap (G3).

Tali’sluckybusride

The Ansons also purchased Tali’sluckybusride as a yearling out of the 2000 Washington sale for $23,000. The Delineator filly went on to win the Oak Leaf Stakes (G1) and was third in both the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) and Las Virgenes Stakes (G1). She ultimately earned $245,160.

Ron Anson obviously had an eye for a runner. “Ron was pretty good at claiming horses and buying them privately,” Marquez said. “He died last year.” 

Marquez-trained stakes horses include: Martha and Ray Kuehn’s - Irish (Melyno (IRE)) that won the Bay Meadows Derby (G3); Anson’s - Irguns Angel (Irgun) topped the A Gleam Handicap (G2), ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye; and their gelding, Peach Flat (Cari Jill Hajji), was triumphant in the All-American Handicap (G3).  

 “We claimed Peach Flat up north at Bay Meadows for $20,000—his second start,” Marquez pointed out. “We won seven races with him.”

Tali’sluckybusride

The Border & Beyond

Marquez used to check on sales yearlings at Gillermo Elizondo Collard’s Rancho Natoches in Sinaloa, Mexico. In 1989, between inspecting sales yearlings, he spotted a mare with a baby at her side that caught his eye.

“It’s a big, beautiful farm,” Marquez pointed out. “I’m checking those horses, and I see this mare with a little baby—probably five months old. The owner bought the mare at Pomona in foal to La Natural; this is that baby.”

When Marquez inquired about buying the La Natural, the owner informed him that the colt was Mexican-bred, not Cal-bred. The trainer wrote a check for what had been paid for the mare – he thinks $6,000 – and asked that the baby be delivered to him at Caliente as a two-year-old.

“I waited almost two years,” Marquez said. “I got him and two other horses [for training] delivered to quarantine at Caliente Racetrack. I broke him at Caliente along with the other two.”

The La Natural colt, named Ocean Native, made his first start for Marquez at Del Mar in 1991 in a $50,000 maiden-claiming race with Kent Desormeaux riding. The dark bay gelding won going away first time out. Less than three weeks later, Desormeaux rode him back for a second win in the Saddleback Stakes at Los Alamitos.

After running up and down the claiming ranks, Marquez lost Ocean Native on a win for a $25,000 tag at Del Mar in 1993. The durable gelding was hardly finished, however. He ultimately ran fourth in his last race with a $3,000 tag in 1999 at Evangeline Downs. Ocean Native ran 77 times, won 12 races and earned $155,194.

One of the babies that arrived at Caliente with Ocean Native was a Pirate’s Bounty named Tajo. Marquez remembered the colt as “a really nice horse that broke his maiden at Del Mar; and he also won an allowance at Hollywood Park second time out.” 

The Anson’s Lord Sterling (Black Tie Affair [IRE]) took his connections on a two-week trip to Tokyo, Japan, for the very first running of the Japan Cup Dirt (G1).  

Lord Sterling

In late 1998, Marquez claimed Lord Sterling from Jerry Hollendorfer at Golden Gate, in just his second out for $50,000. The horse had run second his first out there in a $25,000 maiden claimer. 

Over the next two years, Lord Sterling won four additional races for Marquez including a listed stake at Santa Rosa. In October of 2000, the horse finished second in the Meadowlands Cup Handicap (Gr.2) as the longest shot on the board. That effort punched his ticket to Japan.

 “We were invited and almost won the race,” Marquez recalled with enthusiasm. “[Lord Sterling] ran a big, big third in a $2.5 million race. We went back the following year with another of Anson’s horses, Sign of Fire.”

Sign of Fire (Groomstick), a graded-stakes placed runner, unfortunately bled and ran out of the money. 

“Tokyo is like five racetracks in one,” Marquez said. “They got turf, dirt, a bigger turf and steeplechase. They only ran Saturday and Sunday. But, like on Friday, you see hundreds of people sleeping on the sidewalk so they can go into the races. They limit it to, I think, 100,000 people. They gamble, and I mean they really gamble…

“You know what’s really amazing? When the horses come out of the gate, everybody gets quiet until the race is over; it is total silence.”

Love & Compassion 

Marquez commutes between his Tijuana home and Southern California tracks—roughly a three-hour drive to Santa Anita. He spends a few days each week in Mexico, depending on his schedule—a routine that has sustained him for 40 years.

He and his wife, Angela, a certified public accountant, have four children. His son and three daughters were not encouraged to pursue racetrack careers, according to their father. The kids are smart, educated and on the road to bright futures.

“I wanted them to buy property instead of horses,” Marquez explained. “Real estate—that’s where the money is. Horses are fun, and when you race, you enjoy as much as possible; but you can’t win every time.”

Marquez’s son Jonathon graduated from San Francisco State University. He and Angela  recently traveled to Boston to see Jonathon receive his Masters Degree in speech therapy. Their daughter Brenda graduated from Grand Canyon University of Phoenix with a Masters in Education and is teaching. Daughter Georgette teaches in San Diego and another daughter, Yvette, evaluates autistic children. 

Although Marquez encouraged his children to pursue education and positive careers, he loves “everything racetrack,” especially training and owning horses. He also takes compassionate aftercare of his trainees.

Marquez claimed Starting Bloc (More Than Ready) in the spring of 2018 for $50,000 out of the Richard Mandella barn. The colt ran 15 times for Marquez, picking up 11 checks, including three wins. 

When his horses show signs of being at the end of their careers, Marquez has a solution.

“We’ve still got Starting Bloc up at the ranch in Nevada,” Marquez said. “My owner, Robert Cannon’s son, Michael, has a big, 5,000 head cattle ranch up there. [Retired horses] have a whole big field. It’s their home for life.”

Lil Milo (Rocky Bar) is another of Marquez’s horses headed to the ranch for life. “He won the Clocker’s Corner Stakes the last time he ran,” the trainer pointed out. “His owner Dr. [Jack] Weinstein died right after the horse won, like a month later.”

Most of his career, Marquez trained a barn of 40 to 45 horses. Most of his owners became like family; and as they aged and drifted out of the horse business or passed on, Marquez also slowed down.

“When they retired, I retired,” he explained. “Right now, I’ve got the smallest barn as possible—only six to eight horses. But I’m going to stay in business until I drop. You have to have your mind working all the time. I don’t want to stop.”

Marquez recalls all of the many great horses he has trained with enthusiasm and can rattle off stories of every one. As he says, “I’ve been so lucky to own horses. They are still in my memory, in my heart.”

Tim, Mark and Linda Cohen - Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal

Article by Bill Heller

Just one month after the Cohen family lost 89-year-old patriarch Jed Cohen, Dicey Mo Chara brought them back to the winner’s circle at Santa Anita, capturing the Gr. 2 San Gabriel Stakes. It was a familiar scene. Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal were the leading owners of the 18-day Santa Anita Autumn Meet with five victories. They were also the leading owners of the 2022 Santa Anita fall and winter meets, and dead-heated for first at the 2022 Del Mar meet with Nicholas b. Alexander.

California truly lost an impactful force when Jed passed.

“The San Gabriel was our first stakes win since he died,” Jed’s son Tim said. “It was really emotional—more than I thought it would be. You miss a good business partner. When he’s your father, it’s deeper. I know Jed would be happy for everyone.”

Tim’s grandfather, Harry, would have been happy, too. Harry, who lived in Long Beach, New York, would take Jed to the track. “He was just a fun-loving guy,” Tim Cohen said. “I was maybe 15 before he passed.”

Tim said his grandfather began betting at the track with three friends, who each chipped in fifty cents to make a $2 bet. “He’d go along with other people,” Tim said.

Tim’s father graduated from NYU with a law degree, but decided he didn’t want to be a lawyer. He had uncles living in California, and ventured there, becoming a successful investment banker. “He worked his way up,” Tim said. “He had a different perspective on things. He was a salmon. If everyone goes downstream, he was going up. That’s how he made a difference in investments.”

Jed was an advisor to Walter Heller, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors from 1961–64 who was an influential advisor to President John F. Kennedy.

Jed did well enough in business to follow through on his passion for horses and pass it forward to his sons, Tim and Mark, and his daughter Linda. In 1999, they purchased the historic, beautiful and multi-faceted 6,000-acre farm Rancho Temescal in eastern Ventura County—45 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Temescal is one of the oldest neighborhoods in North Oakland. The farm was founded on September 13, 1871.

The Cohens use it not only for Thoroughbreds, but also as a vibrant fruit farm, with 100 acres of avocado trees producing a million pounds of fruit a year— 100 acres of citrus trees yielding a half-million pounds of lemons and countless rows of blackberry vines. Another part of the farm is used for movie, TV and commercial locations, which has been used in the 2022 movie Babylon starring Brad Pitt, the TV series Westworld and CSI, and boasts a guest book that Tom Cruise once signed. As if that wasn’t enough, the family owns and operates a pizza restaurant in nearby Piru. “It keeps me busy,” Tim laughed. “Every now and then, I get to go to the races.”

Tim, who is 56, switched careers nearly 25 years ago. “I used to manage luxury hotels and restaurants. Now I manage luxury horse facilities,” he told Dan Ross in his March 4, 2019 story in the Thoroughbred Daily News. “What I knew about water and dirt was don’t bring the dirt in the house, and water went well with Scotch.”

Tim elaborated: “I went to school for business, Northern Arizona, that had a hotel and restaurant program. I did that for 15 years. I worked for Hilton and the Kimpton Group.”

How happy is he now that he changed careers? “I’m extremely glad we did it,” he said.” I always enjoy new tasks, new adventures. This was an opportunity to do something significant. It worked out well.”

And he got to see Tom Cruise, who was filming a movie, and Brad Pitt. “Our staff is always with them,” Tim said. “It’s a little disruptive. I always say it’s like your mother-in-law. You’re glad they came, but you’re happier when they leave. It can be a lot of work.”

Hard work never deterred his dad. “He ran hard,” Tim said. “He enjoyed his life. He was passionate. He was loyal.”

Then he got tired after battling diseases in his final years. “Most people would have given up years earlier,” Tim said. “His will kept him going longer than most. He was a fighter. He eventually wore out.”  

Riley Cofer was Jed’s first trainer. “He was his trainer for a long time,” Tim said. “Then Darrel Vienna. When Darrell retired (in June, 2016), I basically stepped in and took over the management and acquisition for horses.”

When Jed passed on November 27, Vienna shared his thoughts with Thoroughbred Daily News: “He was the perfect owner. If a horse needed rest, he absolutely was, `Let’s do the best by the horse.’ After I retired from training, we kept in close contact. We spoke regularly about life and politics. I’ll miss having access to his wisdom and his kindness. He was an exceptional listener. He was always paying attention. He was just a unique, extraordinary person. He’s a big loss to horse racing but an even bigger loss to anyone who knew him.”

Dicey Mo Chara’s trainer Leonard Powell was touched by Jed, too: “Jed Cohen was a patriarch. Jed always gave you confidence you were doing the right thing. He was always pushing you to do better. His trust was very satisfying. We really felt like we were working as a team. Tim and his family are continuing what Jed was doing. They love the game, and, hopefully, we have continued success.”

The Cohens use five trainers to handle their 65 horses: Powell, Jeff Mullens, Mark Glatt, Phil D’Amato and Michael McCarthy.

Tim will carry on his father’s legacy. “I love it,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful bonding experience. We’ll carry on in some form.”

The bar has been set really high. Their top horses include newly turned three-year-old Packs a Wahlop, who won the Gr. 3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf and the Gr. 3 Zuma Beach Stakes by 2 ¾ lengths on October 9. Previously, they have campaigned Gr. 1 winners Janet, River Boyne and two-time Gr. 1 winner Dr. Schivel.

Tim was asked what his grandfather might think of all their success and their spectacular Rancho Temecula: “I think he would shake his head and wouldn’t believe it.”    

What Does It Take to Become a Jockey?

Article by Ken Snyder

Getting on a 1,100-pound Thoroughbred to race in traffic takes far more than diminutive size, weight and out-sized courage. 

It is telling that when asked if the Ortiz brothers, Jose and Irad, showed ability when entering Puerto Rico’s famed jockey school, the director, Ana Velázquez, responded “Not really,” adding they were at the same level as most of the other students. 

Yes, courage and natural athleticism must transfer to riding, but the skill to succeed as a race rider, as in the case with not just the Ortiz brothers but all aspiring jockeys, is learned…either on the job or, alternately and fortunately for some, in jockey schools. Velázquez expresses it succinctly but with dead-on accuracy: “It’s more than climbing on a horse and you go.”

Three schools in Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. are prominent in training jockeys. In fact, they are the only jockey schools in those countries. They are the Escuela Vocacional Hípica (the Vocational Equestrian School of Puerto Rico ((VES)) at the Hipódromo Camarero racetrack in Canóvanas; the “Professional Racetrack Exercise Rider/Jockey Program” at Olds College in Canada (in partnership with Horse Racing Alberta); and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College’s (BCTC) Equine program in Lexington, Kentucky, founded by Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron in 2006. 

Future jockeys at each school don’t come from where you would think and most surprisingly, in the case of VES in Puerto Rico, don’t have the background you would expect. 

“Students have to have a solid foundation as riders because of our short course [fifteen weeks],” said Theresa Sealey of Horse Racing Alberta, who directed the Olds program for sixteen years through last December. 

That doesn’t always mean, however, a solid foundation in horsemanship.

In the past, rural kids showed horses or barrel raced, according to Sealey. “Now we’re getting urban kids that have maybe taken a lesson here and there, learning how to ride—that kind of thing,” she added. 

“When we first started the program, we assumed [that] if you could ride a horse, you knew how to take care of it and knew something about injuries, feed, grooming, and wrapping legs. Now, lots of these kids go and take a lesson and never do any of that…never even tacked a horse.” 

Amazingly, Kendall said some students entering the BCTC Equine program have “little to no riding experience.

“I’ve had several students come in, and they just have a natural seat to them; they’re natural athletes so they breeze past the fitness part of the tryout, they score perfectly, and then they kind of muster their way through the basic riding. They actually get into the class, and some of them have gone on to do very, very well.”

Corinne Andros is a professional jockey who has riden in Abu Dhabi, Poland, and the U.S. as a graduate, she is now an Olds College instructor.

The biggest surprise is that Ana Velázquez at VES disregards a riding background altogether. “They know how to ride sometimes, but it’s not required. 

“Sometimes they bring with them things that belong to other horse disciplines.

“We like them more if they don’t know anything. We start from scratch,” she said.

Student size varies between the three programs. BCTC accepts only six students into its riding program and Olds, a maximum of fifteen students. The current class at VES is nineteen students in the jockey program. 

The students, of course, need horses. VES has eleven stabled in the school’s own barn at Hipódromo Camarero, and at Olds, Horse Racing Alberta loans each student a horse for training. BCTC Equine maintains twelve horses at The Thoroughbred Training Center outside Lexington and complements that string with six Equicizers, including the only MK10 racing simulator in the U.S. that tests rider balance—a critical factor in race riding. 

Literal size is a discriminator in whom each school accepts, as might be expected. BCTC Equine specifies a weight no greater than 145 pounds to accommodate students who might choose exercise riding over a jockey career.

VES has tougher requirements matching what will be required on the racetrack as a professional. “The apprentices will have to ride with 109 pounds, including equipment,” said Ana Velázquez. “The equipment will weigh around three pounds, so they have to be no more than 102 or 103.” This weight allows for some extra pounds gained as students add muscle from riding daily and becoming fit.

While Olds’ program is the shortest, both BCTC Equine and VES conduct two-year programs. 

Each school starts students off with introductions to the Thoroughbred breed and the racing industry before any student sits astride a Thoroughbred. “They will learn everything from nutrition to anatomy—internal and external; the type of lameness that horses get; the injuries that they might encounter and how to identify those; and types of illnesses,” said Sealey. The Olds program begins with four-week remote learning from home to introduce and orient students—some of whom, amazingly, have never been to a racetrack.

 “That first piece is also about the racetrack, which includes things like the behaviors of horses— why they do what they do. That’s something they can study online. 

“When they get to us that first week,” referring to in-person training on the Olds campus in the school’s indoor arena, “we can jump right into what they learned in their curriculum.

“They don’t just learn to ride; they learn how to care for the horse and its health from the inside out.”

In the final five weeks, instruction moves to Horse Racing Alberta’s Century Mile Racetrack and Casino at nearby Nisku and a portion of the curriculum called “Earn and Learn.”

“They work in the morning for the trainers, exercising the horses—working with some mentors—and then they come for class in the afternoon,” said Sealey. Century Mile has a classroom facility on its grounds.

“It’s kind of a neat thing for them to be able to get on horses every day, look after them, get to know them, and then see them race during the season,” she said.

VES’s two-year program is broken into four, six-month phases. The first is horse care, grooming and balance training using drums mounted on springs. Next, students ride horses in a round pen and become familiar with entering and breaking from a starting gate. They progress from there to a small track used by the school and riding school horses before moving to the main track at Hipódromo Camarero. They continue with school horses until proficient to breeze and race (yes, race) trainers’ horses stabled there.

In the BCTC program, at minimum, students take Equine Care Lab, Training Principles and Practices, and Intro to the Racing Industry. “Those classes are prerequisites or corequisites because they have to take them at least the same semester as Racehorse Riding Skills 1; and they have to pass all of those classes to move forward to Racehorse Riding Skills 2,” said Kendall.

“Exercise Rider” are key words in the Old’s program title, as an overwhelming percentage of students aspiring to be jockeys gravitate to this on the racetrack. BCTC Equine and VES also offer a separate exercise riding “major” as an alternative to jockey training. After schooling and some experience on the racetrack, however, that percentage changes drastically. “By the time they leave the program, only five to ten percent actually pursue being a jockey after six months or so,” said Sealey.

For Kendall at BCTC Equine, the percentage is higher for those who want a jockey license. “I would say we’re probably around twenty-five percent.” 

“As they get into the industry and start to understand the comforts that come with a salaried position as an exercise rider, many kind of lean away from the jockey pathway,” she added.

Upon admission, VES divides students between those wanting to be jockeys and those wanting to be exercise riders. While some students, especially those who enter the school at age 16 to be jockeys, might outgrow the jockey course, students in the one-year exercise rider program who weigh in the 110-pound range often switch to the jockey program and the second year of that program. 

The regimen with BCTC Equine is not for the faint of heart or more accurately, for those who might faint—period. Students will spend two to four hours a day on an Equicizer or on horseback. The kicker is that they are encouraged to do physical training outside the program.

“I have a graduate who is now a personal trainer, and she does a lot of fitness work with our riders,” said Kendall.  

“This last group that I had, they would actually go through fitness training with her at 5 a.m., be at the barn by 8 a.m. to make sure their stalls were cleaned and their horses were groomed, and then we’d be in the barn riding sets till about two or three o’clock in the afternoon.”

Kendall’s program culminates with 12-week internships that can launch careers in racing. “We place them with quality trainers that are going to help take their careers to the next level.  

“When they’re getting ready to start having those conversations about getting their license, they’re connected with the right trainers to help them along,” said Kendall.

Joe Sharp was one of those trainers. BCTC Equine grad Erica Herrforth won in her first race, riding Sharp’s horse, Carry On, last May at Churchill Downs. 

“They need the connections more than anything to be able to take those next big steps,” said Kendall. 

“We really kind of serve more as agents,” she added.

Sealey recognizes both the traditional route to becoming a jockey—exercise riding first—with the limitations of any school.

“We can’t teach anyone to be a jockey in fifteen weeks; I don’t care how good you are,” Sealey said.

That’s not to say that the school hasn’t produced top jockeys. Olds has graduated three Sovereign Award Outstanding Apprentice Jockeys: Omar Moreno, Scott Williams, and Sheena Ryan. Moreno also won an Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.

At VES, the goal is full-fledged jockeys ready for an apprentice license at the end of schooling. According to Ana Velázquez, most students will have agents coming out of school, and 80% will migrate to the U.S. for more opportunities and larger purses.

If there is a “Harvard” of jockey schools, it is VES. Four of the top 10 jockeys last year, according to Equibase, were graduates: the Ortiz brothers, John Velazquez, and Manny Franco. The impetus for the school, which opened in 1975, came from Puerto Rican jockey legends Angel Cordero and Eddie Belmonte who inspired Agustín Mercado Reverón to establish VES.

Ana Velázquez points to the school’s location inside Hipódromo Camarero as the principal reason for the school’s success. What it provides students—full-scale race riding—is of inestimable value in training future jockeys. Students will race against each other in ten races out of the gate, roughly every two weeks during mornings after workouts at Hipódromo Camarero. Perhaps more beneficial and definitely more exciting, the students compete against each other another ten times a year in the racetrack’s last race of the day. The preparation and atmosphere are exactly what they will experience as licensed apprentice jockeys.

“The only thing we don’t have is betting on these races,” said Velázquez. All practice races, morning or afternoon, are at five furlongs except for the last race in the school’s curriculum, which is a mile. Races serve as breezes with a plus for Hipódromo Camarero trainers with horses gaining valuable experience running in company in full fields.

“We have a prize, a trophy, flowers, and all that,” she added.

The school’s outstanding reputation extends also to exercise riders. 

“I talk to Todd Pletcher every winter,” said Velázquez. In her last conversation Pletcher told her that of seventeen exercise riders on his payroll, fifteen were from VES.

It's a safe bet that more Ortizes will come along from VES, but also more Carol Cedenos, who graduated from the VES in 2006 and who has earned more than $30 million in her career. In fact, more female than male riders might be expected in the future. Four of this year’s VES students are women, but that is nothing compared to Olds or BCTC Equine.  

Sealey at Olds said the ratio of male-to-female students is “one boy to ten girls.” At BCTC Equine, it is 80% female-to-male currently, according to Kendall, who added that in 2020, the class was all female.  

Move over Emma-Jayne Wilson. For that matter, watch out, Irad and Jose Ortiz. Competition’s coming.

#Soundbites - if you ran racing, what would you do?

Article by Bill Heller

Kenny McPeek

Kenny McPeek

I’d make it easier for fans to watch. I just think it’s very difficult. You have to open an account or have a credit card or get a satellite dish. The restrictions are constricting our ability to grow the sport. If you don’t live in one of 38 racing starts, [you] can’t open an ADW account. We make it too difficult for the fans.

Tom Amoss

Wow. I would make mandatory, random blood testing for all stables and barns; and I would do that immediately. What I’m saying is that the problem with racing today is we only test on race day. We’re not catching people who break the rules. We have to test the barns other days.

Kathleen O’Connell

Kathleen O’Connell

Stop the overkill with rules and regulations. Some of them don’t even make sense. The federal government stepped in. It’s too much. It needs to be more organized and organized by horse people. Say a horse ships in to me from another state. The racetrack wants the serial number for the vaccine from the other state. Some of these things are impossible. It’s just going to cause more trauma. The other thing is that licensing has become so difficult for owners. Fingerprints from every state. It puts a damper on things. My owners are not happy with the bookkeeping system. They’re chasing people from the business by putting a bad taste in their mouths. I would definitely change that.

Jamie Ness

That’s a tough one. Obviously, the horses come first. To me, the bettors and the owners are the people who put this sport on. These are the people we have to take care of. I think we’re regulating ourselves out of business—more rules, more rules, more hoops. And the people holding the bag are the owners and the trainers. I have a couple new owners. The license process is difficult. They can’t claim a horse if they haven’t run one. How do they get into the business?

John Servis

John Servis

Wow. I think I’d have to hit the lottery to afford doing everything I wanted to do. Random testing across the board. I think I would try to make it a little bit more friendly for the fans: less takeout, maybe some more gimmicks. They seem to be doing very well.

Al Stall

I would make adjustments according to the declining foal crop. It seems like horse populations are getting cannibalized by overlapping races and overlapping dates. It’s simple math. Twenty-five years ago, we had close to 30,000 foals; and now we’re below 20,000 roughly. That would help the horses, which is the most important thing; then the horsemen and owners.

Mitch Friedman

It’s a good question. I would listen to the horse people—ask trainers for their opinions more. Ask the trainers what you think of the track every day. I would give more input to people who are on the backside every day with the horses. More input for exercise riders, grooms, clockers and vets, every day. Then meet every week with management and have them discuss that.