Is it time to change the way stakes are scheduled?

Graded stakes scheduling across the country has become farcical in recent years, says Sid Fernando, with too many races for the same types of horses clustered together to make them meaningful events in their own right, on many levels.

By Sid Fernando

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 20)

FAIR HILL - A training center success story

The 300-acre, 17 barn, two-track training facility has had its ups and downs during its 28-year history, but it is now regarded as one of the country’s most thriving Thoroughbred establishments. And that’s down to the people who have worked there for many years.

By Joe Clancey

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: ISSUE 20)

Sports nutrition - Horses and humans - What parallels can we draw?

Nutrition significantly influences athletic performance – at least this is what a recent international olympic Committee (ioC) statement on human sports nutrition has stated. they have also advised that all athletes should adopt specific nutritional strategies before, during, and after training and competition to maximize both their mental and physical performance and recovery. this may not seem earth shattering, but perhaps the significance is that nutrition is held in such high regard as a factor that helps athletes attain optimum exercise performance. Within horseracing, we have tended to regard nutrition as being ‘the icing on the cake’ and perhaps not fundamental to performance. So are there any pointers that we can draw from the approach to sports nutrition in human athletes?

By Catherine Dunnett Bsc, Phd

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue 20)

Building on the night racing brand

Some people would say the Marx Brothers had it right when they called it A Day at the Races and left evening entertainment to A Night at the Opera.However, a lot has changed in our beloved sport in 70 years, and while racing lends itself to appreciating athletic activity in the sunny outdoors, nowadays working people make up the core racing audience of the 21st century.

By K.T. Donovan


First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 20)

The French Model - Keeping ahead of the racing game

“The best system in the world” has been one of the many compliments used to describe the success of the French model by professionals and enthusiasts across the globe in recent times.

By Isabel Mathew


First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 20)

The Whip Debate

Whipping offenses are arguably the most controversial part of horseracing when it comes to opinion of a non-racing public, to whom hitting a racehorse is strictly a punishment and a cruelty as opposed to a safety tool or a reminder to keep a horse’s mind on task. At North American Trainer, we were interested in how this topic is viewed across some of the major racing countries and compiled thoughts from writers based in Australia, the United States, and Europe.

By Mitchell Lamb, Gary West, Colin Mackenzie

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue 20)

Is it all in the genes? A trainer's knowledge of a horse’s genetics might influence its training program

Is knowledge of the basic genetic make-up of a yearling the future? Genetic tests might be used to make decisions about which sire and dam to breed together. Once born, a genetic test may decide which foals should be sent to the sales and which to keep and race. As a trainer knowledge of a horse’s genetics might influence its training program and the direction of its racing career. Until recently, such genetic tests have not been available, but now this area of technology is changing fast.

By Dr David Marlin

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue 20)

Piroplasmosis: Is the tick the most feared insect in horse racing?

Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc discusses why a tiny, blood- loving, parasitic protozoan is making such a huge impact

on horses and the racing industry.

By Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue 20)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Jeff Bonde

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

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 20)

Popular “Mr. Cho” enjoys big results from his small stable

Aplethora of thoughts and emotions will flood trainer-owner-breeder Myung Kwon Cho when he watches the Kentucky Derby from his California home on television this year. Cho will remember the excitement of his first two trips to the Run for the Roses with a pair of longshots. He will agonize briefly over what might have been with Premier Pegasus, a homebred colt who was considered a leading contender before being sidelined with an injury a month before the race.
By Steve Schuelein

First Published
 (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: 20)

The Arnold Kirkpatrick Column - History Lesson

UNLIKE most people of my vintage, I consider memory loss to be one of the benefits of the aging process.  Unfortunately, though, my memory just isn’t going fast enough for someone who loves the Thoroughbred game and cares about the future of racing the way I do.
By Arnold Kirkpatrick

First Published (20 April 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 20)

Stanley Gold - the Florida trainer with the Midas touch

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

By Bill Heller

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

Do mares improve when racing in foal?

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

By Clive Webb-Carter

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

Vitamin K – the forgotten vitamin

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

By Catherine Dunnett Bsc, Phd

First Published - (02 February 2011 - Issue 19)

Starting gate injuries - understanding the jump action

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

By Samantha Ostridge

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

Overtraining the thoroughbred racehorse

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

By Dr David Marlin

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

California dreaming - the hopes for 2011

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

By Steve Schuelein 


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

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

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

By K.T. Donovan

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

Texas - at the crossroads

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

By Gary West

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

The challenging diagnosis of bone bruising

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

By Stacey Oke DVM MSc

First Published (2 February 2011 - Issue 19)