The Team That Owns Hard Not to Love

The ownership team of Hard Not to Love stretches from West Point Thoroughbreds in New York to Dottie Ingordo Shirreffs, the wife of trainer John Shirreffs, in California. This one-eyed wonder captured the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes December 28 by 2 ¼ lengths and the Grade 2 Santa Monica February 15 by 3 ½ lengths with a magnificent three-wide sweep past horses she couldn’t even see with her lone right eye. On her latest start, she ran a gallant second behind Ce Ce in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita. 

The ownership team also includes Shirreffs’ son David—an accomplished pinhooker in Kentucky, F. Steve Mooney—an owner of a mine company in Denver, Ed Moody—a video gaming designer in Las Vegas, and Scott Dilworth—a pinhooker in Texas.

They are united by the accomplishments of their amazing four-year-old filly, a half-sister to 2018 Queen’s Plate winner Wonder Gadot, whose only loss in six starts was a third in a stakes as a two-year-old in May 2019. Hard Not to Love may not have the immense talent of the Sherriffs’ massive 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta—the horse of a lifetime who won 19 of 20 starts—but she may be getting just as much love with plenty of racing left despite losing her left eye in a training accident after the ownership group purchased her for $400,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in September 2017. She was one of six purchases the group bought at that sale. Two of the other five are Carressa, who won the Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes, and Blue Norther Stakes victor Giza Goddess in her turf debut.

     David Ingordo

Asked if he’s getting tired of people asking him about Hard Not to Love, David Ingordo laughed, “If I get tired of talking about her, I should be out of the business. To have a horse like her is an honor. It’s what everybody in the business works for.”

Now 43, he began working at the racetrack on his 14th birthday as a hotwalker for Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel through a special license his parents procured. His late father, Jerry Ingordo, was a jockey agent for Laffit Pincay Jr., Sandy Hawley and Patrick Valenzuela. “He passed away when I was 21,” David said. “We were very close.”

David is also close to his stepfather. “I introduced my mother to John Shirreffs,” he said. “I chaperoned her first date with him. We’re all very close.”

David became the youngest assistant trainer in the country when he was 18, then attended the University of Kentucky while working mornings at Juddmonte Farms. He worked for Walmac International for five years, quickly becoming the head of their bloodstock development before opening his own management and acquisition agency, Ingordo Bloodstock Services.

Among the horses he has purchased are Zenyatta for Jerry and Ann Moss, Stellar Wind, Honor Code, Ball Dancing, Gormley, Wicked Style, Majesticperfection, Personal Rush, Crisp, Switch, Mona de Momma and Uncle Mo.

He patched the Hard Not to Love group together. “We were looking to put a group together,” he said. “A few people said, `Give us a chance.’ People want to have horses for John Shirreffs. It’s a rare thing for people like us to put in their own money to support John. There is no better horseman in the country, in the world, than John Shirreffs. Bobby Frankel said to me, that John is the best trainer in the world. He’s patient. He doesn’t have the super stable, but he’s a tremendous horseman. The horse is first. If he can’t do it, nobody can. He’s that gifted. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. He’s involved with the horse at a different level, but he’s very humble about it. Zenyatta was too big to stay in training. She had too many problems. John is a brilliant guy.”

He also admires his mother: “She was one of the first female racing managers. She’s a brilliant woman. We’re all individuals. There’s no nepotism in our family. If you don’t cut it, you can go work for Starbucks.”

Scott Dilworth

Born in San Antonio and raised on a ranch, Scott Dilworth made his name in livestock insurance before turning to pinhooking in 2005. “I’m a trader, and I love to trade,” he said.

He ran into David at Saratoga. “We talked about creating a partnership together and buying some fillies, with hopefully getting stakes horses, then reselling them,” Scott said. “I really wasn’t that interested in racing them. I was interested in selling them.”

That changed. Hard Not to Love became his first Gr1 stakes winner. “When you win a Gr1, you’re going to like racing,” Scott said. “She was a handful at the sale. She’s always been pretty fractious. The McKathan brothers did a heck of a job getting her ready. She would freeze on the track. They finally got her off to John Shirreffs. John is the only person in the world who could get her to where she is today. John had a ton of patience with her. It was quite an experience.”

It still is. “Three of the six horses we purchased are stakes winners,” Scott said. “All credit to David and John.”

Steve Mooney

Mining has been F. Steve Mooney’s livelihood; horses have been his passion. “My wife Gayle and I have been involved in horses for a long time,” he said. “My daughter showed horses.”

After graduating from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in geological engineering, Steve worked for the Utah Mining Company, the U.S. Borax Corporation in New Mexico and then with the Gulf Oil Corporation for 18 years, becoming an executive vice president. After Gulf merged with Chevron, he joined Cyprus Minerals Company, becoming president. He formed the Thompson Creek Metals Company, Inc. and is currently the CEO, living in Denver. Among many honors, he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Medal by the Colorado School of Mines and won the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal.

His business success has allowed him to own Thoroughbreds. “Through a mutual friend, we got to know Will Farish,” he said. “We’ve had some mares at Lanes End, gone through selling yearlings and kept a couple.”

One of his keepers was one of David’s major sales, Ball Dancing. She gave Steve his first Gr1 victory by taking the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 11, 2015. The horse who finished third in the race was Hard Not to Like.

Steve went from beating Hard Not to Like to owning Hard Not to Love. “We’ve got involved with the Shirreffs and David four or five years ago through our contact with the Farishes,” Steve said. “It’s a great story. I think John Shirreffs ought to get Trainer of the Year for bringing her along the way he did. I give all credit to John for that. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know John and Dottie.”

          Ernie Moody

Born in Elizabeth, N.J., and now living in Las Vegas, Ernie Moody is a video game designer. “I designed video poker and invented Triple Play Poker,” he said. ”I got a patent on that, and I was making so much money, I needed a way to get rid of excess cash.”

Hello horse racing. “I did a great job of getting rid of that excess cash,” he laughed.

Ernie races in the name of Mercedes Stable, named for his girlfriend, Mercedes. They’ve been involved in some major partnerships, including Madeleine Paulson on Rock Hard Ten and former New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre on Game On Dude. “He won the Santa Anita Handicap three times,” he said. “Unfortunately, he was a gelding.”

Hard Not to Love is a filly. “We just got involved with John,” Ernie said. “She is an amazing horse.”

      Dottie Ingordo

How did Dottie go from teaching third and fourth grades to becoming a racing manager? “I’ve been around the business my entire life,“ she said. “David’s father was a jockey agent, so that was our whole life. We used to have handicapping contests at our house. I’d get the Form and start handicapping.”

Dottie and Jerry Ingordo became close friends with Bobby Frankel, who told Harry Silbert—Bill Shoemaker’s longtime agent—that he needed help with his stable. So Harry asked Dottie, who told him she had a career in teaching. But she and her friend Allison developed a job-sharing program and suddenly, her workload wasn’t the same. 

“After about two or three years of asking, I became Bobby’s racing manager,” Dottie said. Then, on a Saturday morning at Del Mar, Dottie got a call from owner Jerry Moss. Moss needed help with his stable, and as Dottie put it, “One thing led to another.” She became Moss’ racing manager, “It was a little intertwined,” she said.

She had no idea how intertwined her life would become. Jerry wanted to hire a new trainer. John Shirreffs’ biggest client, John Mabee, had died. David called up his mom and suggested interviewing John. “Jerry and I interviewed John in 2000,” she said. 

That must have been one hell of an interview. Dottie not only hired John but wound up marrying him in 2003. “We laughed at how many times we were in the paddock without knowing each other,” she said.

Dottie had a wonderful time watching Zenyatta become one of the greatest horses in racing history. “Zenny—she was a blessing,” Dottie said. “She came at a time when the sport needed her. John was the right one for her. He’s incredibly patient.”

He had to be with his huge filly: 17.2 hands and 1,217 pounds named for the album Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police, who were signed to A&M Records by Jerry Moss. She was 19-for-19 before losing her final start of her career by a short head to Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic, a year after she became the lone filly to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Zenyatta’s nuances were nothing compared to the impairment of Hard Not to Love. “We love her—are you kidding?” Dottie said. “She’s very special. She had a little glitch at the training center. These people tried everything to save her eye. It caused her to make adjustments of course. She’s handled it with such grace. You have to be patient with her.”

And inventive. “John has a mirror in her stall,” Dottie said. “She thinks she’s with another horse. John came up with it. It’s a very clever idea. She travels with it. It’s comforting. You have to do a lot of things.”

Her groom, Martin, walked her all the way out on the track for her last start. “He started crying,” Dottie said. “He loves her. I think she’s symbolic for racing. It shows that in life, things can happen. It’s how you handle it.”

How does Dottie handle being partners with her son? “He’s a great partner,” she laughed. “Fabulous. It’s cute. It’s a lot of fun. We have a lot in common. It’s great when your child becomes your friend. We never run out of things to talk about. We have a lot of fun.”

        John Shirreffs

Asked about this ownership group, John said, “It’s a very diverse group. We’re having a lot of fun with Hard Not to Love. Everybody has been pretty patient. You never know what the boundaries are with Thoroughbreds because they’re such athletes. They can do so many things.”

Alan F. Balch - Just a few questions, please?

One of the few upsides of having months to worry and reflect about where we all are in our lives and our sport, is that we have time to reflect.

And ponder the fundamentals.

So here are some impertinent questions we should consider, and should have considered seriously and resolved long before now, not just rhetorically, if horsemanship and our sport are really to have a prosperous future.  Or any future.

Are breeders who breed unsoundness to unsoundness, or unproven to unsound, or unproven to unproven, likely to be breeding a better, sounder, more durable race horse?  Which will, in turn, further improve the breed?

Does it really make sense to “surgically correct” conformation defects in weanlings?  For racing soundness?  For future breeding soundness?  For soundness, period?  Is a surgically corrected yearling actually “sound,” in the sense of correct horsemanship?  Are conformation defects that have been corrected surgically likely to disappear magically when a corrected horse enters the breeding shed?  Is it possible that “corrected” conformation defects are actually genetically compounded and multiplied during future generations of breeding?

Should surgical corrections to weanlings and yearlings be disclosed to potential buyers?  To the breed registry?  If not, why not?  Is there any way to become aware of such procedures other than through “the honor system”?

Should The Jockey Club, as the breed registry, take responsibility for the proper phenotype (conformation) of the Thoroughbred, as well as for the genotype (genetic composition as determined through DNA testing)?  If so, how, and if not, why not?

Given the economic Regression that is undoubtedly upon us now – note the use of that word instead of “recession” or “depression” – can or should or will this economic disaster present us some unavoidable opportunities to address these questions sensibly?  The foal crop is already at 1965 levels.  Given the delays that have been evident following previous economic calamities, will it be a year or probably two or more years from now that the foal crop numbers decline even more precipitously?

At some point, is it inevitable that the number of races conducted annually will finally begin to coincide once again with the supply of horses?

Will demand for durable, sound, substantial race horses ever reappear and return us to observing the maxim that racing is the proof of breeding?  Where, when, and at what surviving tracks?

And just how can a track survive in the years to come?   A breeder? A trainer?  An owner?  Where do any of them find the will to survive?  On what basis?

Haven't common sense, as well as recent events, finally confirmed that our historic approach to testing for drugs and medications is desperately in need of thorough re-examination and restructuring?  With unfathomable millions being spent on routine testing concentrated on therapeutic medications as it always has been, shouldn't we consider other approaches?  Can correct, careful random testing of races going forward release necessary resources for concentrating on research, development, and sophisticated, expensive surveillance to discover and test for contemporary methods of cheating and abuse?

Is it likely that the ongoing collision of the profit-motive with the superior motives of enhanced horsemanship and respect for the breed itself – and the real reasons for breeding – will finally result in an heretofore unfathomable contraction of the sport in the aftermath of which those superior motives might again be asserted and respected?  Weren’t those superior motives once the foundation of the sport, that enabled its growth and elaboration and the public support some of us can still remember, however dimly? 

Isn’t it time, or is it already too late, to distinguish publicly between animal welfare and animal rights?  Clearly to separate the two, which are very different?  To understand that believing in animal “rights,” a fantasy requiring that any animal provide its “informed consent” to participating in any activity, is actually contradictory to our long-held beliefs in the importance of animal husbandry, animal welfare, the humane treatment of animals, and even owning pets?  Isn’t it true that all those worthwhile practices contradict the “rights” doctrine that every species of animal – whether poultry, fish, livestock, equine, canine, feline, or human – is literally equal to any other in the natural order?

Will it fall to the leaders of our sport to organize any and all humane activities involving animals – whether the infinite variety of equestrian sport, pet ownership, zoos and aquaria, wildlife conservation practices, nurturing of livestock, poultry, and fish for human consumption – and tell the public how threatened these activities are by vegan extremists who seek to impose their lifestyles and beliefs on everyone else?  Who use their freedom of speech and comment in the public square to advocate against the freedom of others to choose their own lifestyles?  And who condemn racing’s behaviors relentlessly while countenancing the wholesale and heartless, intentional kills of countless rescued pets and other animals?  Isn’t that extremist behavior not only unethical, but hypocritical?  Shouldn’t we be saying so?

I’m not sure whether these questions are actually impertinent – rude, insolent, and impolite – but I’m confident they’re necessary to answer clearly and intelligently.  Forcefully.  And seriously.

Karl Broberg - Profile

By Bill Heller

On his way to becoming the nation’s leading trainer in victories for the third straight year, Karl Broberg was living his dream—one begun when his dad pried him out of elementary school to go to the track—until he received a phone call the night of May 13, 2016. Then a second call. And the third—the worst one, telling him his wife had fallen overboard on a cruise she was on...a Mother’s Day gift with some of her gal pals...and was never seen again. She had drowned.

“I was at Prairie Meadows,” Broberg said. “I got a call from one of her friends on the trip. `We can’t find Samantha.’ Your mind goes crazy. You say, `She’s on a cruise ship. She’s fine.’ And then I got another call a couple hours later. They still can’t find her. Later that night, they gave me a call that they reviewed a video that showed her falling off. She was never seen again.”

How did he go on?

“You don’t have a choice,” he said. “The first thing you have to do is hold the family together. It was the toughest thing in my life. I came home and had to share what happened. My girls were seven, eight and 11. You grieve. Life is short. You never know. You have to enjoy every day.”

Two days later at Lone Star Park, less than seven miles from his home in Arlington, Texas, Broberg took his three daughters with him to saddle one of his horses. “There were some people who were critical to me—that I took my daughters to the track two days after it happened,” he said. “I wasn’t going to sit home with them and cry. We won with the very first horse that night. The girls were in the winner’s circle. They’re crying. The jockey, C.J. McMahon, was crying. Everybody was crying. Me, too.”

Asked if work was a welcome diversion from his tragedy, he said, “One hundred percent.”

But suddenly, the number of calls he’d get from owners wanting to claim horses diminished. “It’s understandable,” Broberg said. “Everybody knew I had primary custody of all my girls. After my wife passed, I could immediately tell the client personnel was shrinking. There’s natural trepidation that he’s not going to be able to keep this going.”

He kept it going. In 2019, he led trainers for the sixth consecutive year with the unworldly total of 547 victories from 2,130 starts, 79 less than Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen needed to finish second with 433 victories. Broberg’s win percentage, 25.7, is outstanding by any measure.

Broberg also cracked the Top Ten in earnings for the second consecutive year, finishing 10th with a career-best $9.2 million, evidence that he’s improving the quality of his stable while he races primarily at tracks in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“He works harder than anybody I’ve ever met in my life, and I’m a hard worker,” his friend and occasional horse partner Mike Franklin, said. “His mind never shuts off. He never stops handicapping. It’s phenomenal. He sees things in the Racing Form others don’t see. I don’t know how he does it. He never sleeps. He’s a workaholic. He loves it.”

Franklin, who owns a car dealership in Houston, Texas, was a trainer for 10 years before giving it up five years ago. He met Broberg when Broberg claimed one of his horses. “That’s the first time we met, at Delta Downs in 2010,” Franklin said. “Then one day, we both had horses in a $5,000 claimer two stalls apart. I think mine ran third; his horse was second. Neither got claimed.”

After the race, Broberg said to Franklin, “I’ll sell you mine for $3,000.” Franklin said, “Okay.” Anxious to see his new horse, Franklin immediately went to Broberg’s barn, where Broberg’s assistant, Christie, unaware of their deal, “ran me out of the barn,” Franklin said. He called Broberg, and they laughed. Franklin took the horse anyway, and later they owned several horses together. “They did well,” Franklin said.

Broberg’s stable has grown to 180. He owns roughly half of them, racing in the name of End Zone Athletics, the same name as the advertising firm he started in 2003, as he continues to claim hundreds of horses a year. “When you have a stable this size, you always have your phone on,” Karl said.

His ambition has grown, too.

“The goal was to be king of the cheap stuff,” he said, but he added, “New York is a dream. I don’t know how realistic it is. Kentucky is the next viable option. I’d like to get a small foothold there. Florida has year-round racing. It’s on the radar as well. I’m going to go wherever the clients want me.”

He’s happy sharing his life now with Breezy, the woman he’s been living with the past two years.

Here’s the fun part. At the age of 49, he’s only been training since 2009, when he won with two of his first three starts. The following year, he won 197 races from 916 starts, earning just under $2.5 million. Not bad for a guy who worked at a factory manufacturing grocery carts, as a gas retailer running convenience stores and as a district manager of a dozen ice cream stores. “I had a bunch of bad jobs,” he said.

There’s only one job he ever wanted—the one he has now. He’s been in love with horses his entire life. He was born just outside Chicago, where his dad, Lloyd, worked a multitude of jobs, including one at a water treatment plant, and remains an avid horse racing fan. Broberg’s mom, Jean, was a skilled artisan, making jewelry. They’re both retired and living in Springfield, Mo., where his lone brother, Kirk, is a detective. “He did everything right,” Karl said. “Went into the military. Graduated college. Somehow, we’re like polar opposites.”

Karl didn’t graduate from high school. He preferred the track. “I’d go along with my dad to Arlington,” Karl said. “We’d go there fairly regularly. I remember him taking me out of school a multitude of times. I was young—five or six. I’d get a double dip: skip classes and go to the track. Everything about it I loved: the pageantry of it, the horses. We would just go up there and sit on the rail. You could hear the thundering hooves coming down the stretch. The call from Phil Georgeff.”

Georgeff was a broadcasting legend, with his signature call, “Here they come spinning out of the turn.” 

When Karl was 14, he won a contest by draw to call a race at Remington Park. “I used, `Here they come spinning out of the turn,’” Karl said. “That was the only thing I got right. I enjoyed it immensely.”

He continued, “My love for horses was always there. My entire youth was spent wondering how an outsider can get into the sport. I loved handicapping. I thought I was better than anyone at it.”…

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Factors for racing ability and sustainability

By Judy Wardrope

Everyone wants to be able to pick a future star on the track, ideally, one that can compete at the stakes level for several seasons. In order to increase the probability of finding such a gem, many buyers and agents look at the pedigree of a horse and the abilities displayed by its relatives, but that is not always an accurate predictor of future success. When looking at a potential racehorse, the mechanical aspects of its conformation usually override the lineage, unless of course, the conformation actually matches the pedigree.

For our purposes, we will examine three horses at the end of their three-year-old campaigns and one at the end of her fourth year. In order to provide the best educational value, these four horses were chosen because they offer a reasonable measure of success or failure on the track, have attractive pedigrees and were all offered for sale as racing prospects in a November mixed sale. The fillies were also offered as broodmare prospects.

Is it possible to tell which ones were the better racehorses and predict the best distances for those who were successful? Do their race records match their pedigrees? Let’s see.

Horse #1

This gelding (photographed as a three-year-old) is by Horse of the Year Mineshaft and out of a daughter of Giants Causeway, a pedigree that would suggest ability at classic distances. He brought a final bid of $275k as a yearling and $45k as a maiden racing-prospect at the end of his three-year-old year after earning $19,150. His story did not end there, however. He went back to racing, changed trainers a few times, was claimed and then won a minor stakes at a mile while adding over $77k to his total earnings. All but one of his 18 races (3-3-3) were on the dirt, and he was still in training at the time of writing.

Structurally, he has some good points, but he is not built to be a superior athlete nor a consistent racehorse. His LS gap (just in front of the high point of croup) is considerably rearward from a line drawn from the top point of one hip to the top of the other. In other words, he was not particularly strong in the transmission and would likely show inconsistency because his back would likely spasm from his best efforts.

Horse #1

His stifle placement, based on the visible protrusion, is just below sheath level, which is in keeping with a horse preferring distances around eight or nine furlongs. However, his femur side (from point of buttock to stifle protrusion) of the rear triangle is shorter than the ilium side (point of hip to point of buttock), which not only adds stress to the hind legs, but it changes the ellipse of the rear stride and shortens the distance preference indicated by stifle placement. Horses with a shorter femur travel with their hocks behind them do not reach as far under their torsos as horses that are even on the ilium and femur sides. While the difference is not pronounced on this horse, it is discernable and would have an effect.

He exhibits three factors for lightness of the forehand: a distinct rise to the humerus (from elbow to point of shoulder), a high base of neck and a pillar of support (as indicated by a line extended through the naturally occurring groove in the forearm) that emerges well in front of the withers. The bottom of his pillar also emerges just into the rear quarter of his hoof, which, along with his lightness of the forehand, would aid with soundness for his forequarters.

The muscling at the top of his forearm extends over the elbow, which is a good indication that he is tight in the elbow on that side. He developed that muscle in that particular fashion because he has been using it as a brake to prevent the elbow from contacting the ribcage. (Note that the tightness of the elbow can vary from side to side on any horse.)

He ran according to his build, not his pedigree, and may well continue to run in that manner. He is more likely to have hind leg and back issues than foreleg issues.

Horse #2

This filly (photographed as a three-year-old) is by champion sprinter Speightstown and out of a graded-stakes-placed daughter of Hard Spun that was best at about a mile. The filly raced at two and three years of age, earning $26,075 with a lifetime record of 6 starts, one win, one second and one third—all at sprinting distances on the dirt. She did not meet her reserve price at the sale when she was three.

Horse #2

Unlike Horse #1, her LS gap is much nearer the line from hip to hip and well within athletic limits. But, like Horse #1, she is shorter on the femur side of her rear triangle, which means that although her stifle protrusion is well below sheath level, the resultant rear stride would be restricted, and she would be at risk for injury to the hind legs, particularly from hock down.

She only has two of three factors for lightness of the forehand: the top of the pillar emerges well in front of the withers, and she has a high point of neck. Unlike the rest of the horses, she does not have much rise from elbow to point of shoulder, which equates with more horse in front of the pillar as well as a slower, lower stride on the forehand. In addition, the muscling at the top of her forearm is placed directly over her elbow… even more so than on Horse #1. She would not want to use her full range of motion of the foreleg and would apply the brake/muscle she developed in order to lift the foreleg off the ground before the body had fully rotated over it to avoid the elbow/rib collision. This often results in a choppy stride. However, it should be noted that the bottom of her pillar emerges into the rear quarter of her hoof, which is a factor for soundness of the forelegs.

Her lower point of shoulder combined with her tight elbow would not make for an efficient stride of the forehand, and her shorter femur would not make for an efficient stride of the hindquarters.

Her construction explains why she performed better as a two-year-old than she did as a three-year-old. It is likely that the more she trained and ran, the more uncomfortable she became, and that she would favor either the hindquarters or the forequarters, or alternate between them.

She did not race nearly as well as her lineage would suggest.

Horse #3

This filly (photographed as a three-year-old) is by champion two-year-old, Midshipman, and out of a multiple stakes-producing daughter of Unbridled’s Song. She raced at two and three years of age and became a stakes-winner (Gr3) as a three-year-old, tallying over $425k in lifetime earnings from 12 starts. Although she did win one of her two starts on turf, she was best at 8 to 8.5 furlongs on the main track. She brought a bid of $775k at the sale and was headed to life as a broodmare.

Horse #3

Her LS gap is just slightly rearward of a line drawn from hip to hip and is therefore well within the athletic range. Her rear triangle is of equal distance on the ilium and femur sides, plus her stifle protrusion would be just below sheath level if she were male. She has the engine of an 8- to 9-furlong horse and the transmission to utilize that engine.

Aside from all three factors for lightness of the forehand (pillar emerging well in front of the withers, good rise of the humerus from elbow to point of shoulder and a high base of neck), the bottom of her pillar emerges into the rear quarter of her hoof to aid in soundness.

Although she shows muscle development at the top of her forearm, the muscling does not extend over her elbow the way it does on the previous two horses. Her near side does not exhibit the tell-tale muscle of a horse with a tight elbow, and thus, she would be comfortable using a full range of motion of the forehand.

Proportionately, she has the shortest neck of the sample horses, which may be one of the reasons she has developed the muscle at the top of her forearm. Since horses use their necks to aid in lifting the forehand and extending the stride, she may compensate by using the muscle over her humerus to assist in those purposes.

Of the sample horses, she is the closest to matching heritage and ability.

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Fast or Slow - examining different training methods

By Bill Heller

Bill Heller talks to Jason Servis and Bob Baffert about fast versus slow training methods. 

Just hours apart, trainers Jason Servis and Bob Baffert saddled Gr1 winners on Saturday, December 7. 

Jason Servis

Servis’ outstanding three-year-old colt Maximum Security captured the Gr1 Cigar Mile easily at Aqueduct off three extremely slow workouts.

Twenty-eight hundred miles away at Los Alamitos, where he also won the Gr2 Los Alamitos Futurity for two-year-olds with Thousand Words, Baffert’s Bast won the Gr1 Starlet for two-year-old fillies. Both two-year-olds had fast works, as most of Baffert’s horses do.

These two trainers couldn’t be more different regarding published workouts, yet their success in 2019 was eerily similar. Through late December, Servis ranked eighth nationally in earnings ($10.9 million from 563 starts). Baffert was ninth with $10.0 million from just 317 starts.

“Jason and Bob—they’re completely different,” Servis’ brother John, who trained 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, said. “Jason has a whole different way.”

Even with the same client. Baffert and Servis each trained Kentucky Derby three-year-olds for Gary and Mary West, who own Maximum Security and Baffert-trained Game Winner, last year’s Two-Year-Old Champion. Each three-year-old’s works for the Derby reflected their trainers’ different approaches. 

Slow works versus fast. Two schools of thought: Horses don’t need fast works in the morning to run fast in the afternoon, or, horses must run fast in the morning to run fast in the afternoon.

The great majority of trainers fall somewhere between those two extremes. But to Servis and Baffert, they aren’t extremes; rather, it is what they have come to believe is the best way to prepare Thoroughbreds for a race. They didn’t reach that opinion overnight but rather through decades of watching and training Thoroughbreds.

Jason said, “There are so many people that train for speed.” He does not. He prefers timed two-minute gallops. “That doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong,” he said. “That’s how I do it.”

Baffert said, “In California, it’s different. You go fast. Your horses have to be sharper. If I trained on the East Coast, I wouldn’t train the way I do. The tracks there are sandier and deeper.”  

Given their ongoing huge success, why would either trainer want to change the way they’ve been prepping their horses? 

Servis and Baffert have vastly different backgrounds and experiences. Servis, 62, didn’t begin training until he was 43, sending out a single horse for one start. The following year in 2002, he won 14 races from 71 starts.

Baffert, who turned 67 on Jan. 13, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009—years before he trained Triple Crown Champions American Pharoah (2015) and undefeated Justify (2018).

Servis was born into the business in Charles Town, W. Va., where his father, Joe, rode for 11 years and won more than 500 races before becoming the manager of the Jockey Guild and a steward at Charles Town. He was inducted into the Charles Town Hall of Fame in 2010.

Growing up, Jason and John would play in a nearby farmer’s field, trying to rope Shetland ponies and ride them.

 “Charles Town—that’s where I cut my teeth,” Jason said. “No money. But they were the good old days. My dad made me. I learned the straight and narrow. Work hard. Keep your nose clean.”

At the age of 15, Jason became a jockey, riding at Shenandoah Downs, just outside Charles Town. He didn’t last long, conceding to his increasing weight and height and switching to exercise riding. “I did it for a lot of years before I started training,” he said. “I galloped horses for a lot of people: Gene Jacobs at Gulfstream Park in the early ‘70s, Cy Butler, Stan Hough, Alan Goldberg—a lot of good people. I had seen a lot. It was a very good education for me.”

Servis eventually settled at Monmouth Park, where he worked as an exercise rider in the mornings and a jockey’s valet in the afternoon. Eventually, he worked as an exercise rider and assistant trainer to Peter Fortay. “I was with him for 10 years,” Servis said. “When I finally made my transition, it wasn’t by design. He passed away. Before, when he was sick, I was basically doing it on my own. The last five years, I was open-galloping. I started two-minute clips. I just got into that groove, especially after claiming horses. Get the weight on them. Keep your horses happy. Once they’re fit, stay out of their way.”

When Fortay passed, one of his owners, Dennis Drazin, asked Servis a fateful question. “He said, `Why not go to New York with a couple horses I own and train them?’” Servis said. “I was taking care of my two kids, Garrett and Evan. They were 10 and 12. I was galloping horses, $10 a head. Colts Neck (New Jersey) in February in the cold. So I did it. We claimed a couple horses. Did some good. Dennis helped me with the payroll.”

Servis quickly got a call from Jimmy Croll. He asked Servis, “Are you training?” When Servis said he was, Croll asked, “Why’d it take so long? I’m sending you two horses.”

They won. Soon Servis was receiving plenty of phone calls. He was claiming horses and winning at a high percentage. “I’ll claim horses, and I’ll gallop them a mile in 2:05.” He said. “Get them down to 1:57 or 1:58, depending on the horse. If it’s a filly, I’ll go 2:07 or 2:08 at first. My riders are good. They wear watches. Guys who have been with me for 15 years.”

In 2017, Servis finished 23rd in the country in earnings—his highest rank ever. The next year he jumped up to 12th, and in 2019, he cracked the Top Ten with more than $10 million in earnings for the first time.

Maximum Security

Maximum Security, his horse of a lifetime, debuted on Dec. 21, 2018, at Gulfstream Park in a maiden $16,000 claimer, winning by 5 ¾ lengths at 5-2. “I can’t believe he ran the horse for $16,000,” Baffert said.

No harm, no foul. Maximum Security wasn’t claimed and proceeded to win a pair of allowance races by 6 ¼ and 18 ¼ lengths. That led to his step up to the Gr1 Florida Derby. Servis gave him one published workout at Palm Meadows Training Center, four furlongs in :52 4/5, the slowest of 64 horses who worked the morning of March 22, eight days before the Florida Derby. He won the Florida Derby by 3 ½ lengths.

For the Kentucky Derby, Maximum Security had three published workouts at Palm Meadows, four furlongs in :54 4/5, slowest of 51 works; three furlongs in :42, slowest of 15 works and four furlongs in :53 4/5, slowest of six.

Servis was more concerned with the open gallops Maximum Security had heading into the Derby. “I wanted him to gallop a 1:57 or 1:58 mile every nine, 10 days,” he said. “Before the Derby, my rider screwed up. He went 2:02, then 2:01. I was really upset. That rider is no longer with me. So, on Derby Day, I blew him out in :23. It was the 12th race that day (post time 6:50 p.m.). He worked at a quarter to six. He cooled off, laid down and took a nap. The clockers had it. Blowouts aren’t for every horse.”

Unless you’ve been on Mars, you know that Maximum Security won the Derby by a length and three-quarters but was disqualified and placed 17th. Regardless, there’s little debate who were by far the best horses on that memorable afternoon, which resulted in the first disqualification of the Derby’s long history.

Maximum Security returned to finish second by a length in the ungraded Pegasus stakes before sweeping the Gr1 Haskell by a length and a quarter, the Gr3 Bold Ruler Stakes against older horses by a length and three-quarters, and again against older horses, the Gr1 Cigar Mile by 3 ¼ lengths, cementing his three-year-old championship.

For the Bold Ruler, his first start in three months, Maximum Security worked four furlongs in :54 4/5, slowest of 74, and four furlongs in :52 4/5, second slowest of 50. For the Cigar Mile, he worked three furlongs in :40 4/5, slowest of six; four furlongs in :52, 26th fastest of 31, and three furlongs in :42 1/5, slowest of 14.  

“Would Maximum Security have won those races with fast works?” Servis mused. “He probably would have. He’s a great horse.”

His trainer didn’t hurt his chances. Servis’ win percentage in 2019 was 29. For his career, it’s 25 percent. He just may know what he’s doing.

While 2019 was a breakthrough year for Servis, for Baffert, finishing 10th in earnings was only the second time since 2009 he hadn’t finished in the top three—he was fourth in 2016. He probably couldn’t care less, nor should he.

Baffert, who was closing in on 3,000 victories in January, won 24 percent of his races in 2019 and has a career winning percentage of 25.

Winning two Triple Crowns after being voted into the Hall of Fame? That’s rarified air—success he couldn’t possibly have dreamed of growing up on a ranch in Nogales, Ariz., where his family raised cattle and chickens. When he was 10, his father purchased a few Quarter Horses, leading Baffert to riding them. He won his first race at the age of 17 in 1970.

Baffert graduated from the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He soon began training Quarter Horses before moving to Los Alamitos and eventually mirroring Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who was a force in Quarter Horse racing and became one of the greatest Thoroughbred trainers ever.

Trainers have fewer options with Quarter Horses than with Thoroughbreds. “At Los Alamitos (for Quarter Horses), you had to qualify running 350 yards from the gate, hand-timed,” Baffert said. “They had to be fit, ready and in good form.”

Bast

When he switched to Thoroughbreds, he became particularly adept at having his three-year-olds ready for the Triple Crown races. Baffert nearly won three consecutive Kentucky Derbies when Cavonnier lost the 1996 Derby by a nose to Grindstone and then his Silver Charm and Real Quiet won the next two runnings, as well as the Preakness both years. The elusive Triple Crown was finally nailed by Baffert in 2015 when American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, and unbeaten Justify went from first-time starter to Triple Crown Champion in an astonishing 111 days before retiring.

“Once Justify got into the Belmont, he was in top, top shape,” Baffert said. “Before, he was a little heavy. He had some baby fat. I think we ran him into shape. I’d rather run them than train them.”…

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Kevin Attard - Profile

By Charlie McCarthy

As a boy growing up in Ontario, Kevin Attard yearned to make his own mark in the family business. The son and nephew of trainers hoped to follow another uncle’s path. “My initial dream was to be a jockey,” said Kevin, whose uncle Larry became a Canadian Hall of Fame jockey. “But I quickly ate my way out of that.” Enjoying a good meal didn’t stop Attard from carving out his own place in Thoroughbred racing.

That’s evidenced by the fact he was the second-leading trainer in earnings at Woodbine Racetrack in 2019 and enjoyed the best year in his nineteen seasons as a trainer. When 2020 began, Attard owned a 475-485-380 record in 3,067 career starts and $20,687,570 (USD) in earnings according to Equibase.

“I’m happy. We’re headed in the right direction,” Attard said recently after arriving in South Florida for Gulfstream Park’s winter meet. “I have a good crew with a lot of guys who have been with me a long time, and I think that’s very important. I couldn’t do it without them.”

In all likelihood, he wouldn’t be where he is without his forebearers, either. Joseph Attard and wife Connie emigrated to Canada from Malta in the 1950s. They later were followed by Joe’s brothers Larry, Tino and Sid. Joe, Tino and Sid all became trainers. Larry also began training after his tremendous riding career. At 68, Joe died from cancer in 2001. Tino, Kevin’s father, still has a few horses but also assists his son. Sid has compiled more than 2,000 career wins and remains a strong presence at Woodbine, where he often trains horses that compete against those of his nephew. “It’s hard to walk around Woodbine without bumping into someone who’s an Attard or related to an Attard,” Kevin says with a smile. Kevin began helping his father as a youngster on the family farm in Tottenham, Ont., about 35-40 minutes north of Woodbine. It was there Tino first took notice of his son’s ability with horses. “When he was nine years old, he used to walk a tough horse named Fozzie Bear,” 72-year-old Tino recalled. “It showed me Kevin had a lot of heart and loved to work. ”It was while working for his father years later that Kevin, then 24, was injured seriously in the stall of a horse named Undue Influence. The bay gelding kicked the right side of Attard’s face, causing major facial damage and a concussion. “He just spun around and double-barreled me in the face,” said Attard, now 44. “I was lucky. A doctor told me, ‘If he kicked you a little more in the center of your face, you might not even be here.”

After recuperating for several months, Kevin Attard returned to the stable. While working as an assistant trainer for his father in 2001, Frank Stronach called to offer him the job of farm trainer for young horses at Adena Springs North in Ontario. “My first year of training actually was just a barn full of two-year-olds for the Stronach Group,” he said. “...training off the farm, shipping into Woodbine, working and prepping them that way. ”Kevin Attard’s first career win came courtesy of a two-year-old bay named Jade Eyed in a $42,000 maiden claiming race at Woodbine on July 12, 2001. Little more than two weeks later, the filly won the Nandi Stakes at the same track. El Soprano, a two-year-old son of El Prado (IRE), gave Attard his first graded stakes win in the Gr2 Summer Stakes at Woodbine that September under Gary Stevens.

“The horse had a horrendous trip, and he still won the race,” Attard said. “If you watch the replay, you’re in awe. For a young horse to have that kind of trip and win… that’s a race I remember really well.”

Attard’s success in 2001 would prove to be hard to build on. “The next year, I went to Fort Erie for (Stronach), the B track,” he said. “I didn’t want to be labeled a ’B track trainer,’ but obviously it was a good outfit, so I decided to give it a crack. I was sent there, had a great year. As the year went on, we were kind of getting down in numbers; I took outside clients.“It was a strong year, but my heart wasn’t at Fort Erie—I wanted to be at the A circuit.” Fire Rock Stable’s Megan's Appeal won the Shady Well Stakes for Attard at Woodbine in July 2003.

Then things got really tough. “It was hard to get horses,” he said. “In Canada that year, there’s only a select pool of owners. It’s not like in the U.S. where you have horses coming from everywhere. ”Attard’s earnings surpassed $600,000 in 2001 but then decreased each year until 2005, when his runners earned just $55,757 and won just four races. Clearly, being part of a Canadian horse racing dynasty didn’t make Kevin Attard immune to the struggles many trainers face. As a husband with a wife, a toddler, a baby and a mortgage, Attard took steps to secure an income. He had a degree in accounting from Humber College— coincidentally located five minutes from Woodbine.

“I was ready to pack it in,” he said. “I actually had sent out resumes ... for anything.”

That’s when Larry called to offer his nephew a training lifeline saying that Knob Hill Farms owner and Toronto businessman Steve Stavro desired to get back into racing in a strong way and wanted a private trainer. “He said, ‘Kev, are you interested?’ Kevin said, ‘For sure!’”…

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95



ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95



Colic – effects of inflammation

By Dr. Zofia Lisowski

Overview of colic

Colic is a term used to describe the display of abdominal pain in a horse. It is the most common emergency in horses with four to ten out of every 100 horses likely to experience at least one episode of colic each year. It is also the single most common cause of equine mortality. In the U.S., one study showed that Thoroughbreds were more likely to develop colic1 than other breeds. It is of great welfare concern to horse owners, and with the estimated costs associated with colic in the U.S. exceeding $115 million per year2 and the average cost of a horse undergoing colic surgery requiring a resection being approximately $8,3703, it is also a significant economic issue for horse owners. 

Horses with abdominal pain show a wide range of clinical signs, ranging from flank watching and pawing the ground in mild cases, to rolling and being unable to remain standing for any significant period of time in more severe cases. There are numerous (over 50) specific causes of colic. In general, colic occurs as a result of disruption to the normal function of the gastrointestinal tract. This may be attributable to mechanical causes such as an obstruction (constipation), distension (excess gas) or a volvulus (twisted gut). It may also have a functional cause, whereby the intestine doesn’t work as normal in the absence of an associated mechanical problem; for example, equine grass sickness is associated with a functional derangement of intestinal motility due to loss of nerves within the intestine. 

Management of colic depends on the cause and can necessitate either a medical or surgical approach. Most horses with colic will either improve spontaneously or with simple medical treatment alone; however, a significant proportion may need more intensive medical treatment or surgery. Fortunately, due to improvements in surgical techniques and post-operative management, outcomes of colic surgery have improved over the past few decades with up to 85% of horses surviving to discharge. Crucially for the equine Thoroughbred racehorse population, several studies focused on racehorses that had undergone colic surgery and survived to discharge, reporting that 63-73% returned to racing. Furthermore, surgical treatment did not appear to negatively impact athletic performance. A similar finding was also seen in the general sport horse population.

Despite significant advancement in colic surgery per se, complications following surgery can have a significant impact on post-operative survival and return to athletic function. Common post-operative complications include:

1. Complications at the site of the incision (surgical wound)

Infection: Infections at the surgical incision site are relatively common. Antibiotics are usually administered before surgery and after surgery. Infections are not normally severe but can increase treatment costs. Horses that develop infections are at greater risk of developing an incisional hernia.  

Hernia: Incisional hernias occur when the abdominal wall muscles fail to heal, leaving a “gap.” Hernia size can vary from just a few centimeters, up to the full length of the incision. Most hernias will not require further treatment; but in more severe cases, further surgery may be required to repair the hernia.

1. Complications within the abdomen

Hemoperitoneum: A rare complication where there is blood within the abdomen from bleeding at the surgical site.

Anastomosis complications: The anastomosis site is where two opposing ends of intestine that have been opened are sutured back together again. It is important that at this site no leakage of intestinal contents occurs. Leakage or breakdown at this site can lead to peritonitis, which is inflammation or infection within the abdominal cavity and is a potentially life-threatening complication. 

Adhesions: Scar tissue can form within the abdomen following abdominal surgery. Occasionally this may cause further colic episodes.

Further colic episodes

Further colic episodes can occur following surgery. These can occur days to months following discharge.

Endotoxemia

In some rare cases, horses may develop sepsis in response to toxins released by damaged intestines.

Diarrhea 

This is a rare complication. It can develop as a result of infections with C. difficile or Salmonella. As a consequence, some horses may need to be treated in isolation to ensure infection doesn’t spread to other horses or humans.

Post-operative ileus 

Post-operative ileus is one of the potential post-operative complications that can lead to a significant increase in hospital stay duration, increased treatment costs and is also associated with reduced survival rates. Post-operative ileus is a condition that affects the muscle function in the intestinal wall. The intestine is a long tube-like structure that has a muscular wall throughout its entire length from the esophagus to the anus. The function of this muscle is to contract in waves to mix and move food along the length of the intestinal tract, within which digestion occurs and nutrients are absorbed, terminating in the excretion of waste material as feces. In post-operative ileus these contractions stop and thus intestinal contents are not moved throughout the intestinal tract. In most cases, it is transient and lasts for up to 48 hours following surgery; however, in some cases it can last longer. A build-up of fluid develops within the intestine as a result of the lack of propulsion. This stretches the intestines and stomach, resulting in pain and the horse’s inability to eat. Unlike humans, the horse is unable to vomit; consequently, this excess fluid must be removed from the stomach by other means, otherwise there is a risk of the stomach rupturing with fatal consequences. Post-operative ileus may occur in up to 60% of horses undergoing abdominal surgery and mortality rates as high as 86% have been reported. Horses in which the small intestine manipulated is extensively manipulated during surgery and those that require removal of segments of intestine are at higher risk. Despite the significant risk of post-operative ileus following colic surgery in horses, there is a lack of studies investigating the mechanisms underpinning this condition in horses; consequently, the precise cause of this condition in horses is not fully known. 

What causes the intestine to stop functioning? …

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Taylor Cambra - Tall in the Saddle

By Annie Lambert

Exercise rider Taylor Cambra has set his sights on training horses; natural talent, professionalism and a quirky personality will likely help him attain that goal.

When he was very young, exercise rider Taylor Cambra wanted to be a jockey. Growing up around the racing industry and riding horses, Cambra soon changed his career goal to training racehorses. That was due, in part, because he just kept growing and growing. The well-spoken, 22-year-old now towers at 6’2” and realized early on that a training career better suited his physique. 

Cambra has galloped horses since he was a teenager and hopes to keep his weight down a bit longer. Along the way, he aspires to get more experience as an assistant trainer before establishing his own training business. He has worked for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella since the fall of 2018 and has the honor of galloping Omaha Beach (War Front x Charming by Seeking The Gold, LTE $1,651,800), winner of the Rebel Stakes (G2), Arkansas Derby (G1), Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1) and Malibu Stakes (G1).

 “I’m very happy to gallop horses right now,” Cambra said. “I know it won’t last too much longer, with me filling out and stuff, but I’m enjoying it while I can.”

Breezing Track Ponies

Cambra’s father, Billy Cambra, was an outrider in Northern California for 35 years. Being a rambunctious kid, with a lot of nervous energy in school, made it hard for Taylor to sit still in class. Billy’s solution was to take him to the track before school and let him ride off his excess spunk.

“When Taylor was about seven years old he was riding all my outriding horses,” Billy recalled. “One day he asked to ride ‘Snoozer’ in the Pavilion. About 45 minutes later the track man called me and said Taylor was breezing that pony.”

“He was breezing him, getting down low, switching sticks and everything,” he added with a laugh. “He was still young and small and always could ride a horse. He had real good balance and everything.”

Taylor started riding the ponies of Billy’s good friend, trainer Michael Larson, when he was just three. It was also Larson that gave him his first job, where he worked until he was about 17 and began to participate in high school rodeo events. 

“[Larson] was the guy who taught me a lot of patience, taught me to give and take,” Cambra noted. “You can’t learn everything overnight, and you can’t teach everything overnight. Mike was a big influence on me, not only with the horses, but in life too. He and my dad together made a huge impact on my life. I’m very grateful for both of them.”

The Rodeo Life

Diana Cambra, Taylor’s mother, was never thrilled with his rodeo aspirations, but like her husband, was ever supporting. Her son was a good enough cowboy to be offered a rodeo scholarship to Colorado State University. Taylor chose to turn it down as he wasn’t sure about which major to pursue and knew deep down a racetrack career was his ultimate destination.

“When I turned 18 I went ahead and got my [Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association] card, which was pretty neat,” explained Cambra. “I rode saddle broncs and got to go and travel with some of those big guys. I mostly rode on the West Coast—all over in California, Arizona and Utah.”

The rodeo road was not pain free for Cambra, but his wrecks could have been worse. Diana recalled his first injury and one of the worst at the Clovis Rodeo in California.

“He had his head cracked open,” Diana said with a grimace. “The ambulance offered to take him to the hospital, and he didn’t want to pay a lot of money. I told him he had insurance and to go to the hospital. I still worry when he does [rodeo]; it is just so hard for me to watch.”

Cambra remembers that bronc ride well.

“I got bucked off over the front of the horse, landed on my hands and knees, then the horse jumped over in front of me,” he said. “When he double barrel kicked, he got a hold of me pretty good. I think I got 13 staples in the top of my head.”

Back on Track

As much as he loves the rodeo world, Cambra was drawn back to where his future career loomed. He had been working for trainer Ari Herbertson at Golden Gate Fields on and off. After he was injured he began working for him as a full-time assistant and exercise rider. It was the first time Cambra was more than just an employee; Herbertson gave the then 19-year-old more responsibilities and the ability to make decisions on his own.

“One of the biggest things I took away from working from Ari was his giving me the opportunity to kind of help run the barn and run my own organization,” Cambra noted. “That helped me realize where I needed to get stronger and make improvements.

“You can watch it every day, but when the reins are actually handed over to you it is kind of different. You have more responsibilities, not just the work you’re assigned to, but making sure all the employees are good, making sure all the horses are getting the right medication and making sure that everything goes smoothly every day.”

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Ryan Exline and Justin Border AND Robert Donaldson

By Bill Heller

Ryan Exline and Justin Border (Storm the Court)

Ryan Exline will never forget the feeling after he bought his first horse at the 2013 Ocala March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale for himself, his dad and three friends who had decided to take a shot and buy their first Thoroughbred. “I remember sweating profusely in an Uber heading to the airport,” he said. There was a good reason. The group had agreed to budget $50,000. On the advice of bloodstock agent Marette Farrell, Exline spent $100,000 to purchase Sheza Smoke Show, who had worked a furlong in :10 flat.

“I called the others and said, `Congratulations, we bought a horse. We spent a little more than we wanted,’” Exline said. “We gave them the option of going in or not. Every single person went in.” 

Justin Border was one of the friends he called. “I’m following along the sales online. Obviously, it was a shock. I was fine, once I got up from falling down on the floor,” he laughed. “We were just two guys getting into this crazy game.” 

Ryan Exline and Justin Border

They’re two guys who are 50-50 partners in Exline Border Racing, which did just fine with Sheza Smoke Show. “Thankfully, she went on to win a Gr1 at Santa Anita,” Exline said. “She earned $150,000 racing. And we sold her for over $200,000 at a broodmare sale. We had to retire her a little early because of injuries.”

Exline, 38, is a senior living management administrator who was born in Oklahoma, moved to Indianapolis with his family when he was three, and ultimately moved to San Diego in 2006. He’d watched the Kentucky Derby on TV but never attended a racetrack.

That changed when some high school friends who had moved from Indiana to San Diego decided to go to the track—Del Mar—near Exline’s condo. “I’d never been before,” he said. “We all went. It seemed like we couldn’t lose a race. I said, `Wow, it’s an easy way to make money.’”

He quickly learned that bettors can lose too, but his fascination with the sport had taken root. “I started researching it and studying it,” he said. “One day, I decided I wanted to own a horse. How do you do that? I needed to surround myself with people who are smarter than me. I got referred by a friend to Marette.”

Border, a 45-year-old occupational therapist from Northern California, had been raised around horses in Brentwood, a small town near San Francisco. He learned to ride at the age of five on a Quarter Horse named Red Bert Bailey. Unfortunately, the horse died when Border was seven. “It was a life lesson for a little kid, but it certainly didn’t put me off loving horses and wanting to take care of them,” he said.

He met Exline through work at a senior rehab facility in San Diego. “Immediately, I saw he had a lot of Indianapolis Colts paraphernalia, so I knew he was into sports,” Border said. “A big Colts fan, he had gone to the Super Bowl. We got talking about sports then about work. We became fast friends from there.”

Now they’re partners. And, after purchasing their first Thoroughbred, they needed a trainer. “We knew we needed a trainer who would have patience with us,” Border said. “Peter Eurton was highly recommended by another trainer. I said, `I think we have our guy.’ Ryan took the lead on reaching out to Peter. He called him and said, `Peter you don’t know us, but we have a horse, and we want to go into your barn.’ He saw the video from the sale, looked up the page in the catalog and said, `That’s a pretty nice filly.’”

Since then, Exline Border Racing has mostly hit home runs. After spending $100,000 to buy Bayonet—a Colonel John filly who didn’t make money on the track and became a broodmare—they campaigned the hard-hitter Giant Expectations, a winner of four of 23 starts including a pair of Gr2 stakes. He will race as a seven-year-old this year. “He’s been a special horse for us,” Exline said.

So was their brilliant 2016 Two-Year-Old Filly Champion Filly Champagne Room, who won the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly at 33-1; and Storm the Court, a two-year-old they purchased at Ocala in April 2019, for $60,000 who gave them their second Breeders’ Cup victory in the 2019 Juvenile.

“It’s been the stuff of dreams,” Border said. “Then again, it’s the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of great people helping us—a trainer like Peter and an agent like Marette. It’s a reflection of their talent and their expertise, and that the horse always comes first. We’re very humbled by the success we’ve had in such a short time.”

Before Storm the Court became “the stuff of dreams,” Exline, Border and their other partners on the horse, Dan Hudock, Susie Wilson and David Bernsen, had to survive a frightful moment in the Gr1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 2. Just a few steps out of the gate, Storm the Court was knocked sideways by Eight Rings when he ducked inside. Both horses lost their jockey, Flavien Prat and Drayden Van Dyke.

“We had the rail,” Border said. “We were happy with the break. We felt fine. Then all of a sudden, here comes Eight Rings looking like he was turning to go into the infield. We see our jockey went down. Storm was running loose on the track. With a two-year-old, that’s just a nightmare. We were looking back to see if the jockey was okay. We were looking at our horse. An outrider finally caught him on the turn. We walked on the track—a really upsetting moment at least. Flavien got up. The horse came off the track okay, not hurt, not lame.”

In his first race back, Storm the Court finished third by 8 ¼ lengths to Eight Rings in the Gr1 American Pharoah Stakes Sept. 27. Then Storm the Court won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile wire-to-wire by a neck at odds of 45-1. “Maybe two steps before they hit the finish line, all the blood left my body,” Border said. “There was this rush, knowing he had done it. Everybody exploded. Couldn’t find enough people to hug.”

He knows which horse to hug. “We love our boy,” he said.

Asked how he can possibly not dream about the 2020 Kentucky Derby, Border said, “It’s impossible.”

***************************************

Robert Donaldson (Spun to Run)

From left to right: Spun to Run trainer Carlos Guerrero, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and owner Robert Donaldson.

Nearly 50 years after they jump-started their continuing love affair and marriage by jumping the fence at Garden State Park to watch the last race at the age of 14, Robert Donaldson and his wife, Sue, had an interesting afternoon on May 18, 2018. Previously, with the approval of Sue (a teacher), Donaldson (a 62-year-old retired pharmaceutical executive) had been racing claimers. 

That changed that afternoon when Donaldson called his former trainer, Carlos Guerrero, to inquire about a possible claim. Guerrero happened to be at the Timonium Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale in May. “I had spent time with that catalog,” Donaldson said. “I grabbed a sales book. I told him, ‘I want you to possibly buy a horse.’ I called to get a credit line for $100,000. They were on No. 43. I told him, `No. 50 is a Hard Spun.’ I said, `Carlos, have you seen him?’ He said, `He’s a good-looking colt. He texted me, `How much do you want to spend?’ I said, `$70,000.’ They were at $60,000, once, twice, three times; and Carlos bid $64,000.”…

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

The importance of stable ventilation

By Alan Creighton

First published in European Trainer this article examines how stable ventilation can affect a horse’s performance.

Over the past 20 years the Irish Equine Centre has become a world leader in the design and control of the racehorse stable environment. At present we monitor the stable environment of approximately 180 racing yards across Europe.

The basis of our work is to improve biosecurity and the general environment in relation to stable and exercise areas within racing establishments. This is achieved by improving ventilation, yard layout, exercise areas and disinfection routines, in addition to testing of feed, fodder and bedding for quality and reviewing how and where they are stored.

Racehorses can spend up to 23 hours per day standing in their stable. The equine respiratory system is built for transferring large volumes of air in and out of the lungs during exercise. Racehorses are elite athletes, and best performance can only be achieved with optimal health. Given the demanding life of the equine athlete, a high number of racehorses are at risk of several different respiratory concerns. The importance of respiratory health greatly increases in line with the racehorse’s stamina. Therefore, as the distance a racehorse is asked to race increases, so does the importance of ventilation and fresh clean air.

Pathogenic fungi and bacteria, when present in large numbers, can greatly affect the respiratory system of a horse and therefore performance. Airborne dust and pathogens, which can be present in any harvested food, bedding, damp storage areas and stables, are two of the main causes of RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction), EIPH (Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, also known as bleeding), IAD (irritable airway disease) and immune suppression—all of which can greatly affect the performance of the racehorse. Yards, which are contaminated with a pathogen of this kind, will suffer from the direct respiratory effect but will also suffer from recurring bouts of secondary bacterial and viral infections due to the immune suppression. Until the pathogen is found and removed, achieving consistency of performance is very difficult. Stable ventilation plays a huge part in the removal of these airborne pathogens.

What is ventilation?

The objective of ventilation is to provide a constant supply of fresh air to the horse. Ventilation is achieved by simply providing sufficient openings in the stable/building so that fresh air can enter and stale air will exit.

Ventilation involves two simple processes:

1. Air exchange where stale air is replaced with fresh air.

2. Air distribution where fresh air is available throughout the stable.

Good stable ventilation provides both of these processes. One without the other does not provide adequate ventilation. For example, it is not good enough to let fresh air into the stable through an open door at one end of the building if that fresh air is not distributed throughout the stable and not allowed to exit again. With stable ventilation, we want cold air to enter the stable, be tempered by the hot air present, and then replace that hot air by thermal buoyancy. As the hot air leaves the stable, we want it to take moisture, dust, heat, pathogens and ammonia out as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

It is important not to confuse ventilation with draft. We do not want cold air blowing directly at the horse who now has nowhere to shelter. Proper ventilation is a combination of permanent and controllable ventilation. Permanent ventilation apart from the stable door should always be above the horse’s head. It is really important to have a ridge vent or cowl vent at the very highest point of the roof. Permanent ventilation should be a combination of air inlets above the horse’s head, which allows for intake of air no matter which direction the wind is coming from, coupled with an outlet in the highest point of the roof (shown in Figure 2). The ridge vent or cowl vent is an opening that allows warm and moist air, which accumulates near the roof peak to escape. The ridge opening is also a very effective mechanism for wind-driven air exchange since wind moves faster higher off the ground. The controllable ventilation such as the door, windows and louvers are at the horse height. With controllable ventilation, you can open it up during hot spells or close it down during cold weather. The controllable ventilation should be practical and easy to operate as racing yards are very busy places with limited time. 

Where did the design go wrong?

Figure 2

The yards we work in are a mixture of historic older yards, yards built in the mid to late 20th century and yards built in the early 21st century. The level of ventilation present was extremely varied in a lot of these yards prior to working with the Irish Equine Centre. Interestingly the majority of the yards built before World War I displayed extremely efficient ventilation systems. Some of the oldest yards in the Curragh and Newmarket are still, to this day, considered well ventilated. 

In parts of mainland Europe, including France, the picture is very different. In general, the older yards in France are very poorly ventilated. The emphasis in the design of yards in parts of France appears to be more focused on keeping animals warm in the winter and cool during the summer. This is understandable as they do get colder winters and warmer summers in the Paris area, for example, when compared to the more temperate climate in Ireland and the UK. When these yards were built, they didn’t have the quality of rugs available that we do now. Most of the yards in France are built in courtyard style with lofts above for storage and accommodation. When courtyard stables are poorly ventilated with no back or sidewall air vents, you will always have the situation that the only boxes that get air exchange are the ones facing into the prevailing wind at that time. In this scenario, up to 60% of the yard may have no air exchange at all.

In the mid to late 20th century efficient ventilation design appears to have been overlooked completely. There appears to be no definitive reason for this phenomenon with planning restrictions, site restrictions in towns like Newmarket and Chantilly, cheaper builds, or builders building to residential specifications all contributing to inadequate ventilation.

Barn and stable designers did not—and in a lot of cases still don’t—realize how much air exchange is needed for racehorses. Many horse owners and architects of barns tend to follow residential housing patterns, placing more importance on aesthetics instead of what’s practical and healthy for the horse.

Many horses are being kept in suburban settings because their owners are unfamiliar with the benefits of ventilation on performance. Many of these horses spend long periods of time in their stalls, rather than in an open fresh-air environment that is conducive to maximum horse health. We measure stable ventilation in air changes per hour (ACH). This is calculated using the following simple equation:

Air changes per hour AC/H

N = 60 Q

         Vol

N = ACH (Air change/hour)

Where: Q = Velocity flow rate (wind x opening areas in cfm)

Vol = Length x Width x Average roof height

Figure 3

Minimum air change per hour in a well-ventilated box is 6AC/H. We often measure the ACH in poorly ventilated stables and barns with results as low as 1AC/H; an example of such a stable environment is shown in Figure 3. When this measurement is as low as 1AC/H, we know that the ventilation is not adequate. There will be dust and grime buildup, in addition to moisture buildup resulting in increased growth of mold and bacteria; and there will also be ammonia buildup. The horse, who can be stabled for up to 23 hours of the day, now has no choice but to breathe in poor quality air. Some horses such as sprinters may tolerate this, but in general it will lead to multiple respiratory issues.

Simply put, the objective in any well-designed barn and stable is to get fresh air to the horse and eliminate stale air before it accumulates. Good ventilation is, ideally, designed into the original barn plans or stable and takes advantage of natural wind, air currents and thermal buoyancy. Often, people experiment with mechanical ventilation using fans instead of using good ventilation design, which takes advantage of free wind ventilation…

TO READ MORE -

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

Odds Makers - Odds require an even hand

By Ed Golden

“Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes.”—Oscar Wilde.

When it comes to making morning line odds for a racing program, experience assuredly is beneficial, but with the main being a singularly subjective endeavor, it is rarely fully achieved.

The morning line has been described as “probable odds on each horse in a race, as determined by a mathematical formula used by the track handicapper who tries to gauge both the ability of the horse and the likely final odds as determined by the bettors.”

It is a system in which bettors do not compete against the track or a casino but among each other. It is known as pari-mutuel, a form of wagering originated in 1865 by Frenchman Pierre Oiler where all money bet is divided up among those who have winning tickets after taxes, takeout and other deductions are made.

(Oiler called his system “parier mutual” meaning “mutual stake” or “betting among ourselves.” As this betting method was adopted in England, it became known as “Paris mutuals,” and soon after “pari-mutuels).”

The “deductions,” better known as the “take” or “takeout,” is a commission deducted from mutuel pools, which are shared by the track, horsemen (in the form of purses) and local and state governing bodies in the form of tax.

The takeout generally falls between 22 and 26 percent, and each of the final odds posted on the tote board or television monitors upon completion of a race represents a mathematically established percentage of the total mutuel pool formulated by the bettors. Rounded off, it can range from 81 percent (1-5 odds) to 3 percent (30-1).

In other words, the morning line is not merely rendered randomly. For example, even money comprises 50 percent of the mutuel pool: 8-5 odds (38 percent); 9-2 odds (18 percent), 15-1 odds (6 percent) and so on.

In a hypothetical six-horse field, the odds could be 6-5 (45 percent), 5-2 (28 percent), 7-2 (22 percent), 8-1 (11 percent), 10-1 (9 percent) and 12-1 (7 percent) for a total of 122 percent—100 percent of the money wagered by bettors, plus 22 percent takeout. Prior to and upon completion of each race, the total percentage, based on the individual odds of each horse when added up, should fall between 122 and 126.

No one strives harder for accuracy in making morning line odds than Jon White. Fastidious, meticulous, conscientious, punctilious—pick any adjective—they apply to the Spokane, Wa. native whose 46-year racing career includes being one of the youngest stewards in history at age 24 when serving in that capacity for the Washington Horse Racing Commission at Yakima Meadows in 1979.

 He has been morning line maker at several tracks, and since 2009 at Santa Anita, where he has made the morning line odds for the Breeders’ Cup the last six times the championship event has been run there.

 “I had the correct favorite in 70 percent of the 2019 Breeders' Cup races at Santa Anita,” White proudly points out, adding, “I also was pleased at how my morning line odds compared to the winner's final odds in all 14 of the Breeders' Cup races (noted below).”

 ML     Final  Winner (Race)

Jon White

  4-1     9-2    Vino Rosso (Classic)

  9-5     1-1    Bricks and Mortar (Turf)

  6-1     8-1    Blue Prize (Distaff)

  7-2     7-2    Uni (Mile)

  9-5     9-5    Mitole (Sprint)

  8-1   13-1    Iridessa (Filly & Mare Turf)

  6-1     9-1    Spun to Run (Dirt Mile)

12-1   14-1    Belvoir Bay (Turf Sprint)

  2-1     3-2    Covfefe (Filly & Mare Sprint)

20-1   45-1    Storm the Court (Juvenile)

12-1   13-1    Sharing (Juvenile Fillies Turf)

  7-2     5-2    British Idiom (Juvenile Fillies)

  5-1     5-1    Structor (Juvenile Turf)

  3-1     3-2    Four Wheel Drive (Juvenile Turf Sprint).

White continued: “In making the morning line, I am trying to predict what the betting public is going to do, not how I think the betting should be. 

“Back in the 1970s, the line was submitted early in the morning on race day. Hence its name, but nowadays the morning line has evolved into an advance line in that it’s submitted two or more days before race day.

“In the 70s, I almost always would have a race add up to anywhere from 123 percent to 125 percent. Currently, the morning line has to be submitted well in advance of race day in order to appear in the Daily Racing Form, so now I generally go with 127 or 128 percent, mainly because so many things can change prior to race day, such as late scratches, weather conditions, etc.

“The morning lines I made for the 2019 Breeders’ Cup were issued on Monday, well in advance of the races that would be run the following Friday and Saturday. Not only that, but for the first time in the many years I’ve been making morning lines, I had to submit my odds for all the Breeders’ Cup races BEFORE the draw for post positions.

“If I learn from the racing office or a reliable source that a horse almost certainly is going to be scratched on race day, I will treat that horse the same as an also-eligible. An also-eligible’s odds are not included in the race’s total when adding up the percentages.

“And if I know that ‘Horse A’ is almost certain to be scratched on race day, I do not include that horse when adding up the percentages in a race, which means I can have a race sometimes go very high, like 145 or thereabouts. But when Horse A ultimately is scratched on race day, the race then adds up to a normal 127 or 128.

“I handle probable race-day scratches that way when making the morning line because I think it’s in the public’s best interest. Whether I’m making a morning line or working in TV or as a steward, I do whatever I can to help the public. And if I know it’s a virtual certainty that Horse A is going to be scratched, it is better for those wagering to have more realistic odds submitted for the morning line even if the percentages add up something like 145.”

Suffice it to say, White eats, sleeps and breathes horse racing. He takes little or nothing for granted when producing the morning line, which these days is always subject to censure, as the world is rife with invidious social media junkies who bask in their own opinions.

“Making a morning line—especially a good one—is a real challenge,” White said. “I put a lot of hard work into every single horse in every single race on every single card, generally four to six hours including prep work, which includes going through the past performances with a fine-tooth comb . . . That’s why it does hurt when there is criticism. However, the reality is criticism does come with the territory. It’s sort of like being a referee or an umpire. It sure is easy for someone to knock a morning line when they haven’t even taken the time to add up the percentages in a race.

“The bottom line is it’s much easier for a person to criticize a morning line than to put their neck on the chopping block and actually have to do it.

Russell Hudak

“But it’s gratifying whenever I’ve made the right favorite, and the final odds end up being in the same ballpark as the morning-line odds. But even after a race has turned out okay from a morning line perspective, I am always—and I mean always—holding my breath in terms of the next race hoping that it will turn out well.”

Like White, Russell Hudak is a paragon of his pastime although perhaps somewhat less obtrusive in his philosophy.

 “The primary purpose behind the morning line is pointing out the direction wagering will take, providing bettors with an indication of which horses will be most heavily backed and which figure to be longer prices,” notes Hudak, the morning line maker and timer at Del Mar and the Thoroughbred morning line maker and timer at Los Alamitos Race Course.

Hudak, 67, was born in Jersey City, N.J., raised on the Jersey shore, and in 1985 became the morning line maker (and later head clocker) at Hollywood Park, which closed in December 2013.

He was introduced to racing while attending Rutgers University earning a BA in sociology and labor studies. “I attended the races at Monmouth Park with my dad on a break and took an immediate interest in the tote board activity,” Hudak said…

TO READ MORE -

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95



Alan Balch - Trainers’ rights?

By Alan F. Balch

Justice—and injustice—are as old as humanity. Our contemporary ideas and standards of fairness trace all the way back to the very beginnings of recorded history, whether in Egypt, Greece or Rome.

“Lady Justice” appears at courthouses and law schools almost everywhere, although few of us take the time to see what she symbolizes. The scales of justice connote impartiality, the weighing and balancing of the sides to any issue. The sword, usually unsheathed, commands respect, and means there’s no justice without enforcement of a decision. A double-edged blade protects the innocent as well. The blindfold—a relatively contemporary addition—stands for objectivity and is a barrier to connections, politics, fame or wealth influencing an outcome.

The evolution and role of justice in racing are more ambiguous. Even though King Henry VIII (or possibly Lord George Bentinck) famously declared that “all men are equal on the turf, and under it,” such an opinion has rarely if ever applied to the discipline or behavior within our sport’s community. It’s probable, in fact, that the description of the lowly being “called on the carpet” originated in racing:  when the grand poohbahs or stewards of the Jockey Club in England confronted an offender to the regular order of behavior who deserved a scolding. Or worse.    

In my own time, dating back only 50 years, I’m ashamed to say we in track management used to laugh that the Constitution of the United States applied everywhere except within a race track enclosure. For better or worse (and in the earliest years of modern racing during the Great Depression, it may well have been for the better), to speak of “rights” for anyone other than the track ownership and stewards was anathema. But in those early days, as the only organized sport or activity with state-sanctioned and legal betting on the outcomes, amidst a sea of economic deprivation, hardship and blossoming organized crime, preserving racing’s integrity seemed to demand draconian rule.   

In California, one steward was appointed by management—one by the State of California—and those two selected a third. Needless to say, the track had the upper hand in all decisions and discipline. It was the mid-1970s before things started to change, gradually at first. Still, when the major tracks had multiple applications from horsemen for every available stall, and many major owners still had private trainers, we weren’t living in a “civil rights” paradise for anyone—whether customers, horsemen, or backstretch denizens.

By its nature, with enormous sums of money involved, in betting, purses, real property and bloodstock values—not to mention public economic impacts and multipliers far beyond any individual track or farm—racing required (and still requires) meticulous statutory and regulatory oversight. The law is there, and the rules are there to protect and enhance the public interest, including the economy. In California, that means the Horse Racing Board (CHRB) is empowered to supervise all of it. Politics may enter, of course, because the governor appoints its commissioners. But until the 1970s, CHRB had only three members . . . increasing politicization came during years of expansion and labor strife as it grew from the original three to five to the current seven appointees.

Nowadays, trainers everywhere, not just in California, are justifiably concerned with methods of rule enforcement and their legal protections (or lack thereof) as they prepare and race horses under greater public scrutiny than ever before. Are they entitled to meaningful fair procedures when their conduct is questioned or criticized, not just in the rule enforcement process, but generally? Can they be protected from scapegoating in a sport that is fundamentally reliant on risk, and inherently hazardous, involving precious animals?

TO READ MORE -

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.95

#Soundbites - Is turf racing safer for horses than dirt?

By Bill Heller

With ongoing concerns about equine welfare and speculation in the industry about reintroducing synthetic tracks to replace dirt tracks, we asked trainers, “Is turf racing safer for horses than dirt?”

*****************************************

Christophe Clement

I don’t like the question. You can compete on a safe turf course or an unsafe turf, a safe dirt or an unsafe dirt. I don’t think one surface is safer than the other. With synthetics, they shouldn’t have dirt or synthetic tracks; they should have dirt and synthetic. And turf, too. Why not have all three?

*****************************************

Peter Miller

Peter Miller - Yes. Synthetic and turf are safer; they mimic each other. Both are safer than dirt racing. Statistically, it’s safer. I would imagine the reason is that they stay on top of it, instead of going four to six inches into it. There is less pressure on the joints. And there’s more bounce to it, like running on grass instead of sand. It’s more forgiving.

*****************************************

John Servis

Statistically yes, but there are a lot more dirt races. I don’t necessarily think turf is safer.

*****************************************

Brian Lynch

Brian Lynch - I would say for sure. It might be a lot more forgiving. You see a lot of eight and nine-year-olds running on turf and you don’t see that on dirt—those long-tenured horses running in big races. I’ve had a lot of luck keeping grass horses around longer and keeping them going. I’ve had a lot of experience on the poly, but what keeps horses around for a long time, I’d say, is turf.

******************************************

Joe Sharp

I think absolutely that turf racing is safer than dirt. It’s more consistent. Statistically, the numbers show they are much safer, and to me, personally, I think turf is much safer.

***************************************

Peter Eurton

That’s a hard question to answer. To be honest, I really don’t know. I haven’t had too many bad accidents on turf or dirt, knock on wood. I’ve had more on dirt obviously because I race more on dirt. I’ve had accidents on turf and dirt. I’ve had turf horses get hurt on dirt while training.

***************************************

Barclay Tagg

Michael Stidham

No question that turf is safer, especially on a firm course vs. a yielding or a soft turf. On firm turf, as long as it’s not too firm, they’re going over the top of the turf. On a soft or yielding course, they sink down into it. And I’m a big believer in synthetic tracks because I believe they are safer to train on it. And the numbers back it up. Some horses might not race well over it. They should have three surfaces: turf, dirt and synthetic.

****************************************

Barclay Tagg

My answer would be definitely. And I’m a firm believer that they don’t bleed as easily on turf. I do believe that. From our experience, Robin (Smullen) and I both believe that turf racing is easier on the horses.

TO READ MORE —

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD -

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.99

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE -ONLY $24.95



Susan and Charles Chu

Susan Chu fell in love with horses long before she saw her first horse race. A native of Taiwan, which she describes as a “beautiful but small country,” she discovered horses after her children decided they loved them and wanted to ride them. “I took them to the mountains to see horses, but I never had a chance to touch one,” she said. “My kids wanted to ride, so I started sending them to camp at horse farms to ride little ponies. They so enjoyed it.”

She would too, after her daughter Vicky pushed her to learn how to ride. Susan did dressage, hunter-jumping and show jumping, eventually acquiring and developing Olympic-level show jumpers with her husband Charlie. That was after four-fifths of their family emigrated to the United States. 

Susan and her three kids, Vicky and sons Leo and Jerry, emigrated to America in 2000, landing in North Andover, Mass., just north of Boston. Charlie, 55, remained in Taiwan to run their business, Portman Electronics, which manufactures GPS navigational systems and has grown substantially since its inception. Charlie supervised the manufacturing while Susan, 52, traveled the world promoting their company, frequently being the lone woman in meetings and trade shows.

Susan and Charlie not only run their business 8,500 miles apart, but they raised their family as well, spending one week a month together. The arrangement has and continues to work for Susan and Charlie, who has evolved into a world-class design engineer, traveling the globe as a consultant, assisting other Asian technology firms and hoping to break into foreign markets.

When her three kids were in college, Susan got a call from Vicky, an engineering major at Boston University who had been given an internship in Louisville, Ky. “She called and told me about the Kentucky Derby,” Susan said. “I didn’t know anything about it. What is the Kentucky Derby? My daughter advised me it was very exciting. We had no idea what is horse racing.”

She and Charlie decided to find out. They went to the 2010 Kentucky Derby and watched Super Saver win on a sloppy track. “That was really the first time we realized how many people went to the Derby,” she said.

The family returned to Louisville to watch 15-1 I’ll Have Another win the 2012 Run for the Roses, a race which redirected their lives. They bet on I’ll Have Another. “Charlie picked one horse, and he won!” Susan said. “We won a lot of money betting him. Charlie was very, very happy. He said, kind of joking, `We should go into this business.’ I said, `No problem.’ We had so much fun watching the race because we love horses so much—such beautiful creatures.”

When Charlie returned to Taiwan, Susan went to work. “I started to study,” she said. “I decided to create a company to run this business. If I want to do this business, I want to do good. I want to do it right. I realized how wonderful the industry is. I am Taiwanese. I am a woman. I needed to hire people who knew more than me—people who have a passion like me.”

They would race under the names of Baoma Corp and Tanma, which means “horse in the sky.” She made equine welfare a top priority.

Initially deciding to buy six horses, Susan needed a trainer. She traveled the country to interview seven trainers with Derby experience in New York, Maryland, Kentucky and California. The last trainer she talked to was a man used to finishing first, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. “He was so very clear: `How many horses do you want to buy,’” Susan said. “He tells me the business is not easy.’”

Baffert remembers their first meeting: “I tried to talk her out of it. I said, `It’s a lot of ups and downs. You’ve got to be able to handle it. It’s a beautiful business, but there’s a lot of disappointment.’”

Susan appreciated his honesty. She knew she had her trainer. “I had great pleasure to talk to Bob,” she said. “I said this is the man I should be working with. Everything went so well.”

It hasn’t stopped. “I feel so much joy. I’m so grateful to Bob,” Susan said.

Baffert said, “She’s a lot of fun. She spends three hours feeding them carrots. Her husband Charlie..he’ll fly in from Hong Kong just to watch his horse run in a maiden race. He loves it. He loves the action.”

  He’s had lots of it. Their first horse, Super Ninety Nine, won the Gr3 Southwest Stakes by 11¼ lengths, then finished third in the Gr1 Santa Anita Derby. “We watched him win by 11 lengths,” Susan said. “It was amazing. To enjoy so much success so early.”

They subsequently campaigned 2016 Champion Sprinter and Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Drefong, who also captured the Gr1 Allen Jerkens Memorial; Chitu, a Gr3 stakes winner, who finished ninth in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and is now a stallion for them; Gr2 winner Faypien, and Gr3 winner Lord Simba.

Their success led Charlie and Sue to receive the 2017 New Owner of the Year from OwnerView.  

In 2019, their two-year-old filly Bast brought them back into the winner’s circle in a Gr1 stakes, the Starlet, after she finished third in the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly. “When I went to see her after the Breeders’ Cup, she didn’t come to me like she normally does,” Susan said. “She doesn’t want to eat carrots. She just stood in the back of the stall. She was angry. She lost.”

After the victory in the Starlet, Susan got a different reaction when she came to the barn. “I ran to the barn to thank her, and she was so happy. She came to me. She tried to tell me she won. She totally knows.”

Success hasn’t deterred Susan from her goal of taking care of horses. She has been a huge supporter of Michael Blowen’s Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Ky. “She came to the farm on a tour,” Blowen said. “She loves the horses. She lights up when she sees them. She’s so nice. Any time we run a little short, I call her and she covers it. Fifty thousand dollars would be a conservative guess of how much she’s contributed.”

She feels she is giving back, saying, “The joys that our horses bring us today, we will have for life.”

Robert Donaldson

Nearly 50 years after they jump-started their continuing love affair and marriage by jumping the fence at Garden State Park to watch the last race at the age of 14, Robert Donaldson and his wife, Sue, had an interesting afternoon on May 18, 2018. Previously, with the approval of Sue (a teacher), Donaldson (a 62-year-old retired pharmaceutical executive) had been racing claimers. 

That changed that afternoon when Donaldson called his former trainer, Carlos Guerrero, to inquire about a possible claim. Guerrero happened to be at the Timonium Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale in May. “I had spent time with that catalog,” Donaldson said. “I grabbed a sales book. I told him, ‘I want you to possibly buy a horse.’ I called to get a credit line for $100,000. They were on No. 43. I told him, `No. 50 is a Hard Spun.’ I said, `Carlos, have you seen him?’ He said, `He’s a good-looking colt. He texted me, `How much do you want to spend?’ I said, `$70,000.’ They were at $60,000, once, twice, three times; and Carlos bid $64,000.”

They got the colt. “Every horse prior to that I had claimed,” Donaldson said. “This is the first baby I bought.”

Now there was a personal matter to address. “I did this without speaking to my wife about it,” he said. “This went down. She was at school teaching three- to five-year-olds.”

The conversation when she got home went something like this:

“I bought a baby for $64,000.”

“What?”

“I bought this horse for $64,000.”

Donaldson continued, “She was cool with it. She’s a gamer like me. Not many people could tell their wife that, and it’s okay. Sue—I love her more today than I did then. I’m very lucky.”

They were 14 when they broke into Garden State to watch a race. “We were freshmen in high school,” Donaldson said. “She played field hockey. I played football. Her uncle dabbled with horses, and she always liked them. When we got together, we had a common interest.”

One afternoon, they bet $5 on a longshot at Garden State but couldn’t stay for the race. “We had to go home for dinner,” Donaldson said. “We listened to the results on the radio. He paid about $100. That was big-time action at my age. We were really smitten from then on.”

After Robert graduated from Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, Donaldson worked for Kellogg’s before he found his career in pharmaceuticals, working for three different companies, including Astra Pharmaceuticals (now Astra Zeneca), a Swedish start-up company in Westborough, Mass. Sue worked at the Romney School for the Deaf and Blind.

Donaldson made his first claim at Garden State, taking Pitch Out for $7,500. “He turned into an overnight stakes horse,” Donaldson said. “I got offered $30,000 for him, and I took it.” That led him to claiming Groovy Feeling for $20,000. “She turned into a Gr2 stakes winner with John Servis and was the top handicap mare in New York,” he said. “She won the Gr2 Ladies Handicap and the Gr3 Rare Treat and Next Move. She was just a killer. She’d get on the front end and say, `See ya.’” He also had a good run with Slick Horn, a $40,000 claim. “Talk about a nice horse,” Donaldson said. “He would give you everything he had. When he heard another horse coming, he’d pin his ears back. He was ultra-game—a good hard-knocking horse.”

Donaldson took a break from Thoroughbreds for a good reason. “I had to educate my kids,” he said. “I put our priorities in place. The horses took a back seat. I got out of the game for a few years. I still would go to Garden State. I missed it.”

Both his daughter Christine and son Steven prospered after college, Christine doing clinical trials in drugs, Steven becoming a tree surgeon. He also is an artist, climber and a charity worker.

Then Donaldson got back in the game, reconnecting with Guerrero and reinstating him as his trainer on Spun to Run.  

Spun to Run needed five starts to break his maiden; he won two in a row then finished third to Maximum Security in the Gr1 Haskell. He captured the Gr3 Smarty Jones, finished a close fifth by 1 ½ lengths to Math Wizard in the Gr1 Pennsylvania Derby and won the $100,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile at Parx. That made Spun to Run two-for-two at one mile and convinced Guerrero and Donaldson to give their rapidly improving three-year-old colt a start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile to take on superstar Omaha Beach.

When Spun to Run won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile wire-to-wire by 2¾ lengths over Omaha Beach, the Donaldsons had their first Gr1 stakes victory. Spun to Run followed that effort with a strong second to Maximum Security in the Gr1 Cigar Mile. “It’s just indescribable,” Donaldson said. “This horse has brought so much enjoyment—I can’t tell you.”

It’s a journey he’s shared with the woman he loves. “She keeps me grounded,” Donaldson said. “Sue is so much a part of me.”

Ryan Exline and Justin Border

Ryan Exline will never forget the feeling after he bought his first horse at the 2013 Ocala March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale for himself, his dad and three friends who had decided to take a shot and buy their first Thoroughbred. “I remember sweating profusely in an Uber heading to the airport,” he said. There was a good reason. The group had agreed to budget $50,000. On the advice of bloodstock agent Marette Farrell, Exline spent $100,000 to purchase Sheza Smoke Show, who had worked a furlong in :10 flat.

“I called the others and said, `Congratulations, we bought a horse. We spent a little more than we wanted,’” Exline said. “We gave them the option of going in or not. Every single person went in.” 

Justin Border was one of the friends he called. “I’m following along the sales online. Obviously, it was a shock. I was fine, once I got up from falling down on the floor,” he laughed. “We were just two guys getting into this crazy game.” 

They’re two guys who are 50-50 partners in Exline Border Racing, which did just fine with Sheza Smoke Show. “Thankfully, she went on to win a Gr1 at Santa Anita,” Exline said. “She earned $150,000 racing. And we sold her for over $200,000 at a broodmare sale. We had to retire her a little early because of injuries.”

Exline, 38, is a senior living management administrator who was born in Oklahoma, moved to Indianapolis with his family when he was three, and ultimately moved to San Diego in 2006. He’d watched the Kentucky Derby on TV but never attended a racetrack.

That changed when some high school friends who had moved from Indiana to San Diego decided to go to the track—Del Mar—near Exline’s condo. “I’d never been before,” he said. “We all went. It seemed like we couldn’t lose a race. I said, `Wow, it’s an easy way to make money.’”

He quickly learned that bettors can lose too, but his fascination with the sport had taken root. “I started researching it and studying it,” he said. “One day, I decided I wanted to own a horse. How do you do that? I needed to surround myself with people who are smarter than me. I got referred by a friend to Marette.”

Border, a 45-year-old occupational therapist from Northern California, had been raised around horses in Brentwood, a small town near San Francisco. He learned to ride at the age of five on a Quarter Horse named Red Bert Bailey. Unfortunately, the horse died when Border was seven. “It was a life lesson for a little kid, but it certainly didn’t put me off loving horses and wanting to take care of them,” he said.

He met Exline through work at a senior rehab facility in San Diego. “Immediately, I saw he had a lot of Indianapolis Colts paraphernalia, so I knew he was into sports,” Border said. “A big Colts fan, he had gone to the Super Bowl. We got talking about sports then about work. We became fast friends from there.”

Now they’re partners. And, after purchasing their first Thoroughbred, they needed a trainer. “We knew we needed a trainer who would have patience with us,” Border said. “Peter Eurton was highly recommended by another trainer. I said, `I think we have our guy.’ Ryan took the lead on reaching out to Peter. He called him and said, `Peter you don’t know us, but we have a horse, and we want to go into your barn.’ He saw the video from the sale, looked up the page in the catalog and said, `That’s a pretty nice filly.’”

Since then, Exline Border Racing has mostly hit home runs. After spending $100,000 to buy Bayonet—a Colonel John filly who didn’t make money on the track and became a broodmare—they campaigned the hard-hitter Giant Expectations, a winner of four of 23 starts including a pair of Gr2 stakes. He will race as a seven-year-old this year. “He’s been a special horse for us,” Exline said.

So was their brilliant 2016 Two-Year-Old Filly Champion Filly Champagne Room, who won the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly at 33-1; and Storm the Court, a two-year-old they purchased at Ocala in April 2019, for $60,000 who gave them their second Breeders’ Cup victory in the 2019 Juvenile.

“It’s been the stuff of dreams,” Border said. “Then again, it’s the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of great people helping us—a trainer like Peter and an agent like Marette. It’s a reflection of their talent and their expertise, and that the horse always comes first. We’re very humbled by the success we’ve had in such a short time.”

Before Storm the Court became “the stuff of dreams,” Exline, Border and their other partners on the horse, Dan Hudock, Susie Wilson and David Bernsen, had to survive a frightful moment in the Gr1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 2. Just a few steps out of the gate, Storm the Court was knocked sideways by Eight Rings when he ducked inside. Both horses lost their jockey, Flavien Prat and Drayden Van Dyke.

“We had the rail,” Border said. “We were happy with the break. We felt fine. Then all of a sudden, here comes Eight Rings looking like he was turning to go into the infield. We see our jockey went down. Storm was running loose on the track. With a two-year-old, that’s just a nightmare. We were looking back to see if the jockey was okay. We were looking at our horse. An outrider finally caught him on the turn. We walked on the track—a really upsetting moment at least. Flavien got up. The horse came off the track okay, not hurt, not lame.”

In his first race back, Storm the Court finished third by 8 ¼ lengths to Eight Rings in the Gr1 American Pharoah Stakes Sept. 27. Then Storm the Court won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile wire-to-wire by a neck at odds of 45-1. “Maybe two steps before they hit the finish line, all the blood left my body,” Border said. “There was this rush, knowing he had done it. Everybody exploded. Couldn’t find enough people to hug.”

He knows which horse to hug. “We love our boy,” he said.

Asked how he can possibly not dream about the 2020 Kentucky Derby, Border said, “It’s impossible.”

Testosterone - More than just muscles

By Dr Catherine Dunnett

Testosterone is a hormone that has received a lot of attention in the media, mostly in a negative context due to its historical doping use in humans and animals.  When we think about testosterone we associate it with muscle building and aggression. There is, however, so much more to testosterone, which I have uncovered in recent weeks.  

Testosterone is a hormone that is produced naturally by colts, fillies and geldings in varying amounts. Colts show a naturally higher circulating level of testosterone than geldings and fillies. Testosterone is classified as a steroid hormone, and it has a characteristic ring-like structure, being ultimately derived from cholesterol (see Figure 1).  It is produced primarily in the testes in colts, but perhaps surprisingly also in the ovaries and adrenal glands, which explains the natural levels found in fillies and geldings.  

Testosterone is responsible for the development of primary sexual characteristics in males and also drives muscle development. However, it is also converted to dihydrotestosterone and estradiol, both of which have interrelated functions.  Estradiol has a major role to play in the brain and in maintaining cartilage integrity and bone density. Interestingly, neither synthetic testosterone, nor dihydrotestosterone can be converted to estradiol; and so this is likely to have negative connotations for bone when the muscular strength is affected through synthetic testosterone administration.

Testosterone also has an effect on blood by stimulating the production of red blood cells. It is also reputed to have a psychological impact beyond the well-recognized effects on sexual drive and aggression.  In people, testosterone is reported to boost confidence and positivity in some circumstances, as well as dominance and competitive success.

Testosterone synthesis is not straightforward and forms part of a complex series of pathways where cholesterol can be converted to one of many possible steroidal substances. How much testosterone is produced is controlled by a series of hormones and various feedback mechanisms. Stimulation of testosterone synthesis would be difficult to achieve non-medically, yet it has been a target of supplement manufacturers in humans and horses over many years.  Ingredients such as gamma oryzanol, fenugreek, ginseng, velvet antler, horny goat weed and others have been offered as having a positive effect on testosterone synthesis. Most of these ingredients, however, would have little in the way of science to support this and even where some published studies exist. For example, for extracts of fenugreek, there is significant controversy over the validity of the results. Additionally, one can never be sure that a positive result in one species will deliver the same in another species due to differences in digestion and absorptive capacity, as well as physiological differences.  As far as I am aware, there are no ingredients or products that have been unequivocally shown to boost circulating testosterone in horses.

Rice bran oil

One such ingredient—gamma oryzanol—is a nutritionally important constituent of rice bran oil and is normally present at a level of about 1-2%.  Gamma oryzanol is sometimes marketed as a “natural steroid” with the ability to increase circulating testosterone naturally. Gamma oryzanol is in fact not a single compound but a mixture of ferulic acid esters of triterpene alcohols and plant sterols. 

Gamma oryzanol has been used in both human and equine athletes in the belief that it elicits anabolic effects, ranging from increased testosterone production and release, to stimulating growth hormone release. …

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ADD TO CART

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

ADD TO CART

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.9

ADD TO CART

Modern saddle design - how technology can quantify the impact saddles have on performance

By Dr Russell Mackechnie-Guire

Thanks to advances in technology, it is getting easier for scientists to study horses in a training environment. This, combined with recent saddlery developments in other disciplines, is leading to significant progress in the design and fit of exercise saddles.

Back pain, muscle tension and atrophy are common issues in yards. Although there are many contributory factors, the saddle is often blamed as a potential cause. Unlike other equestrian sports, where the effect of tack and equipment on the horse has been investigated, until now there has been little evidence quantifying the influence of exercise saddles.

New era

The technological advances used in sport horse research are sparking a new era in racing, enhancing our understanding of the physiological and biomechanical demands on the horse and helping improve longevity and welfare. For the trainer this translates into evidence-based knowledge that will result in marginal or, in some cases, major gains in terms of a horse’s ability to race and achieve results. Race research has always been problematic, not least due to the speed at which the horse travels. Studies have previously been carried out in gait laboratories on treadmills, but this is not representative of normal terrain or movement. Thanks to new measuring techniques, we can now study the horse in motion on the gallops. Evidence of this new era arises from a recent study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. It found areas of high pressures under commonly used exercise saddles which had a negative influence on back function, affecting the horse’s gallop and consequently performance. 

Figure 1: Three most commonly used saddle-tree lengths, plus the new design (purple 40cm)

The pressure’s on

Researchers used a combination of pressure mapping and gait analysis (see Technology in focus panel) to investigate three designs of commonly used exercise saddles: full tree, half tree and three-quarter tree. The aim was to identify pressure magnitude and distribution under each of the saddles then to establish whether the gait (gallop) was improved in a fourth saddle designed to remove these pressures. 

Areas of high pressure were found in the region of the 10th-13th thoracic vertebrae (T10-T13). Contrary to popular belief, none of the race exercise saddles tested in this study produced peak pressure on or around the scapula. The pressures around T10-T13 at gallop in the half, three-quarter and full tree were in excess of those detected during jumping or dressage in sport horses. They were also higher than pressures reported to be associated with clinical signs of back pain. Therefore, it is widely accepted that high pressures caused by the saddle could be a contributory factor to back pain in horses in training.  

FIgure 2: Half tree: High peak pressures in the region of T10-T14 were consistent with the end of the tree.

Three-quarter tree: Peak pressure was localized on one side of the back at a time, depending on the horse’s gallop lead.

Full tree: Peak pressure was further back and, although not high, gait analysis demonstrated a reduction in the extent to which the hindlimb comes under the horse, reducing the power in the stride.

New design: A more uniform pressure distribution, recording the lowest peak pressures at each location.]

Lower pressure leads to longer strides

Figure 3: A greater femur-to-vertical angle indicates that the hindlimb is being brought forward more as the horse gallops.

When looking at propulsion, there are two important measurements: the angle of the femur relative to the vertical and hip flexion. When pressures were reduced beneath the saddle, researchers saw an increased femur-to-vertical angle in the hindlimb and a smaller hip flexion angle (denoting the hip is more flexed).

Figure 4: A smaller hip flexion angle denotes the hip is more flexed, allowing the horse to bring his quarters further under him and generate increased power.]

When pressure is reduced in the region of T13, the hindlimb is allowed to come more horizontally under the horse at this point in the stride, leading to an increase in stride length. Researchers speculate that this could be due to the fact that the thorax is better able to flex when pressure is reduced.

Perhaps surprisingly, the study found that reducing saddle pressures did not result in any significant alteration in the forelimb at gallop. The major differences were recorded in hindlimb function. This could be explained anatomically; the forelimb is viewed as a passive strut during locomotion, whereas the hindlimbs are responsible for force production.

Figure 5: Improved hip flexion was recorded in the new saddle design (A) compared to a commonly used saddle (B).

This is consistent with findings in the sport horse world, where extensive research investigating pressures in the region of the 10th-13th thoracic vertebrae has shown that reducing saddle pressure is associated with improved gait features in both dressage and jumping. 

Speed matters

High speeds are associated with higher vertical forces beneath the saddle. It has been shown that a 10% increase in speed at walk increases pressures under the saddle by 5%, and in trot the figure rises to 14%. Figures for canter or gallop have not been recorded, but pressures under exercise saddles were significantly higher than in dressage or jumping, despite the jockey being in a standing position and having a lower center of mass compared to most other equestrian athletes. Plus, race exercise saddles are lighter than those in other disciplines. These findings support the theory that the higher pressures seen in gallop are due to forces created by an increase in speed.

At walk, with the addition of a rider, the forces on the horse’s back are equivalent to the rider’s body mass. At trot, this becomes equivalent to twice the body mass, and two-and-a-half times at canter. In gallop, the horse’s back is experiencing a higher range of motion than in any other gait; so if the saddle induces high pressures or limits this movement, it will undoubtedly compromise the gallop. The speed in this study was standardized so that any alterations in pressure distribution would be directly attributed to the saddle and not to alterations in ground reaction forces. 

Efficiency of stride

Horses in training spend most of their time in an exercise saddle. As each loading cycle causes joint wear and tear, if a new design of the exercise saddle can help the horse achieve a longer stride length, this would mean fewer strides are necessary to cover any given distance. A study has suggested that horses have a maximum number of gallop strides in them before they fail, so any reduction in stride quantity (loading cycles) could potentially reduce injury risk. 

Compared to work, when racing, the saddle pressures are higher still. A study in 2013 looking at pressures under race saddles identified peak pressures on the spinous processes of the actual vertebrae. These pressure-sensitive bony prominences are not evolved to withstand pressure and are less equipped than the surrounding muscles to do so. Spinal clearance is, therefore, an important consideration.

Pressure pads

All saddles tested in the recent research achieve spinal clearance by means of panels separated by a channel. However, in an attempt to alleviate spinal pressure and make one saddle fit many horses, it’s standard practice to use multiple pads under an exercise saddle. This is counterproductive as it can lead to saddle instability. In galloping race horses, forward or backward slip is an issue, and this could be attributed to the use of pads. In addition, too much bulk under the saddle puts a feeling of distance between the horse and jockey.

Tack and equipment form one part of a multi-factorial approach to training, and it is an area that, until now, has been largely overlooked by the scientific community. ….

BUY THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DOWNLOAD

ISSUE 55 (PRINT)

$6.95

ADD TO CART

ISSUE 55 (DIGITAL)

$3.99

ADD TO CART

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE?

DON'T MISS OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE NEXT FOUR ISSUES!

Four issue subscription - PRINT & ONLINE - ONLY $24.99

ADD TO CART

Alan F. Balch - Anticipating necessity

Looking back over 2019, it seems to me this has been The Year of the Bromide.  Our own annus horribilus in so many ways, including having to endure so many of those truisms, many of them dubious, owing to racing’s regrettable circumstances.

“Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  “The darkest hour is just before dawn.” “There is no I in TEAM, but ME is in there somewhere.”

And my own personal favorite: “Stress is the confusion created when one’s mind overrides the body’s basic desire to choke the living s**t out of some a**hole who desperately deserves it.”

So, yes, if there’s one thing we’ve plenty of, it’s stress.  As an enterprise, humor aside, all of us in racing are stressed as never before; not the least of that stress is trying to determine what’s been happening, why, and how we can correct our course.

It seems to me that the root of our problem is cultural.  Other sports, when distressed, can resort to multiple remedies including constant rule-changing when faced with fundamental problems.  Tennis invented the tie-breaker to eliminate endless boredom.  Basketball adopted the three-pointer for excitement and closer competition.  Baseball re-organized its leagues, designated hitters for pitchers, juiced the ball, defined wild card teams, and improved drug testing.  Football is finally concentrating on player safety . . . too late?

But we have an animal to nurture and protect.  We’re fundamentally different from all other sports.  How human culture treats animals has been evolving since the beginning of time, and that won’t stop.

In horse sport, we who have always preached animal welfare are now confronted by those who no longer speak in terms of humane husbandry, but instead of animal “rights.” Football players choose their game; horses do not, even though they’re bred for it.  Racing’s rabid enemies vehemently argue that “no animal can be required to participate in any activity without its informed consent.”  Seriously.  That means your pets and even your choice of food are at risk, according to these advocates, not just horse racing. And any leisure activity involving a horse or any other animal.

Absurd, you say?  No, it’s not.  I’ve been in front of several governmental authorities this year when these arguments have been made.  And have been received seriously and solemnly.  They underly, stimulate, and spread the entire worldwide opposition to racing we are seeing more and more every month.  Our experience and the media coverage of it at Santa Anita this year, and elsewhere, has given our enemies a platform and influence with media and journalists they always had but never before could exploit as they do now.  We belittle them, fail to understand them, and ignore these arguments and their consequences, at our peril.

A year ago in these pages, I actually praised The Jockey Club’s annual Round Table, for a change, on its enlightening and productive conference.  This year, I wish I could do the same . . . but with one exception, that’s impossible.  

The industry had a rare opportunity this August to listen to an expert who should also have been understood deeply:  David Fuscus of Xenophon Strategies, which deals with crisis management and communications.  Anyone whose company is named for the founder of horsemanship and cavalry command is someone we should take seriously.  The complete transcript of his remarks is readily available.  

After pointing out that every crisis, however dangerous, offers opportunity, he stated very simply that “the first rule of crisis communications is to end it.”  That is, end the crisis, take the actions necessary to correct the situation, and then clearly communicate that to the public.  But most often, he said, industries don’t “end it” because they don’t observe one or more of the four fundamentals he then described:  engagement, transparency, responsibility, and meaningful actions.

After detouring through non-racing case studies for illustration, he pointed out that many elements of racing are engaged on the current crisis, but not coordinated on a clear message or solution.  As to transparency, there is no unified narrative, so we’re perceived by the public as “cloudy.”  While we admit to being responsible for a problem, we don’t actually define or even agree on just what it is.  Meaningful actions?  We are a long way from ending the crisis, despite the serious steps begun in California and replicated elsewhere to improve safety.

Here, then, was a golden opportunity for The Jockey Club to set out explicitly what should have been and needs to be done. As an expert, who understands racing, Fuscus could have helped us understand and begin developing the fundamental “engagement” he said we required.  But what happened?  Instead, he pitched the Horse Racing Integrity Act, as did the following two speakers, one from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).  Each was at great pains to try to connect that same old, divisive Jockey Club legislative project (which deals exclusively with an authority for uniform national drug and medication rules) to what ails us now.  That can’t be done, at least in anything close to the bill’s present form, which even detracts from the engagement, transparency, responsibility, and meaningful actions we need!  Moreover, eliminating race-day Lasix and funding the United States Anti-Doping Agency would not improve our safety metrics, and might well even worsen them, all the while calling more attention to our sport’s supposed “cheaters and abusers.”

Was it a coincidence that the 2019 version of this legislation was introduced March 14 in Congress, simultaneously with California’s United States Senator and Santa Anita’s Congresswoman in Washington calling for racing at Santa Anita to be stopped?  I doubt it . . . since the HSUS political operatives were working over Congress in support of that legislation at the very same time Santa Anita had been closed for track renovations.

Does anyone seriously believe that the enemies of racing wouldn’t see through the smokescreen of that federal legislation in a heartbeat, were it even possible to enact, and could turn its passage into the rightful accusation that it does absolutely nothing to improve safety?  Worsening our perception problems?

To achieve true engagement of the entire American racing industry on this crisis, The Jockey Club, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Breeders’ Cup, National HBPA, Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, California Thoroughbred Trainers, Thoroughbred Owners of California, New York Racing Association, Churchill Downs, The Stronach Group, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, Association of Racing Commissioners International and each major racing state’s commission, should be invited immediately to appoint delegates of racing’s wisest and most experienced to a leadership council.  Unwieldy?  Maybe not so much – there is so much overlap and duplication among many of these organizations that preliminary conversations could well lead to a manageable number.  In any event, the first task of these Supreme Overseers would be promptly to elect a much smaller, more effective steering committee to organize an exceptionally serious closed-door brainstorming and consensus-building strategy summit prior to the end of this year.

Engagement is job one, remember, to coordinate on clear messaging and solution development.  Everything else flows from that.

And remember too, as I’ve written before, that we are in this situation because of our increasing failure over decades to observe the most basic principles of horsemanship and racing management, and adapt to cultural changes.  Breeding a more substantial, sound horse is fundamental to its welfare; so is that horse’s proper management and the proper management of the conditions under which it is raised, trained, and raced.  There is enormous room for improvement in these basics.

As daunting as those tasks, or more, is grappling with public perception.  The culture of “animals are people, too” no doubt started with human domestication of and care for animals.  That began with dogs around 15,000 years ago, researchers say, and other animals around 12,000 years ago.  It no doubt seemed only “natural” to begin naming particular domesticated animals and even ascribing human characteristics to them.  What we now call “media,” beginning in the early 1900s, intensely stimulated this process:  Felix the Cat was “born” in 1919 and Mickey Mouse in 1928.  Motion pictures and the advent of “talkies” literally gave these animals humanistic lives, and the race to anthropomorphize virtually everything was on.
Think of it:  we started naming mammals, then expanded to fowl (Donald Duck), and as media attention exploded, just about everything else:  insects, fish, even inanimate objects such as cars and natural phenomena like storms and winds.  This all seems to be an innate tendency of human psychology, and some believe it actually helps to keep humans happy and grounded.

Pets have come to be part of the typically affluent American family, of course, and are treated as such.  Prior to World War II, pets were far less common.  But now, expenditures in the United States alone on pets mushroomed from $17-billion in 1994 to an estimated $75-billion this year.     Almost 70% of American families now own a pet, and pet marketing is based fundamentally on ascribing human characteristics to pets, as each of us sees every day in media and markets if we have our eyes open.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that animal “rights” has taken over from animal welfare, in an unthinking way, by so many in our political and media leadership and influencers?  I freely admit that I didn’t understand the distinction myself until a few months ago, and I have little doubt that only a relatively small portion of the American public has given these issues much more than a passing thought.  Which is exactly what animal “rights” extremists are banking on.  The status and emphases of organizations like the 4-H Club and Future Farmers of America have been transformed as the nation has transitioned from less rural to more urban economies, and understandings of livestock husbandry have been diminished drastically and increasingly in the last 50 years.
It is in this very fertile soil that racing’s enemies are multiplying, flowering, and prospering, while we flounder to respond.  To end a crisis.  To save our sport’s reputation and the very sport itself.

If racing is to survive in anything like its present reach and magnitude, our leadership, our cavalry command, must act like Xenophon, with care for and husbandry of the horse above all else.  They must urgently develop our strategy, anticipating the necessity of changing in harmony with the cultural evolution we can all see.  Now.  And we soldiers in the cavalry – whether breeders, owners, trainers, veterinarians, regulators, or marketers – must execute their fully developed national strategy without reservation and with massive financial, emotional, political, media, and public relations support. 

There is no realistic alternative for ending this crisis.

Terry Green

What’s a former professional cutting rider from Gulfport, Miss., doing in the winner’s circle at Saratoga Race Course after the Gr1 Hopeful Stakes? Well, he’s posing with his first Gr1 stakes winner, Basin, a horse he purchased for $150,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. “I can’t explain it,” Green said, taking a break from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. “I’ve watched the race 25 times, probably 50 times. It’s hard to believe. When we bought the colt, we thought he was nice. When I’m sitting here in this arena, and you buy him from the bottom of the totem pole... what’s $150,000 when you see these prices these horses are going for?”

Green, 67, had quite a unique introduction to horses. “As a kid growing up in Mississippi, my grandfather had some horses,” he said. “He had cattle and he would turn them loose. Back in the day, we would brand them and turn them loose in the woods. At certain times of the year, we’d round them up. I would go into the woods with my grandfather and herd cattle. I couldn’t wait to do it every time with my grandfather. It was a blast.”

After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, Green became a developer, building houses, apartments and shopping centers—an occupation he continued when he moved to Houston in the late ‘80s. “I heard of cutting horses (a Western style equestrian competition which demonstrates a horse’s athleticism and the horse and rider’s ability to handle cattle), and I watched it,” Green said. “It was really cool—just a horse and a cow by themselves. I just enjoyed it so much.”

He enjoyed it even more when he became a cutting rider in the late ‘90s, competing in the non-pro ranks for some 15 years. In 2003, he opened 200-acre Jackpot Ranch in Weatherford, Texas, which became a leader in producing outstanding cutting horses.

By then, he’d ventured into the casino business, almost by accident. He and a friend in the restaurant business, Rick Carter, went on a day cruise out of Miami. “Everybody was in the casino,” Green said. “I said, `This would be unbelievable in Mississippi.”

Green and Carter contacted the Mississippi Port Authority and secured the rights to do a gambling cruise ship out of Gulfport. “We didn’t know anything about gambling,” he said. “We started sailing in and out of Mississippi. It didn’t work. We had too many people working in the engine room. We came up with the idea that if we could tie it to the dock, we could make it work. It got approved. I think it was 1989 or 1990. Now we own two casinos there, both in Gulfport, Miss. It’s really exciting. How did we do this? We were just a couple local guys from Mississippi.”

Thoroughbreds were next, thanks to his friendship with Mike Rutherford Jr., a fellow cutting rider. They became hunting buddies.

Mike’s father is a life-long horseman who began riding horses and working with cattle at the age of eight in Austin, Texas. He was a force in Quarter Horse racing before switching to Thoroughbreds. He purchased Manchester Farm in Lexington, Ky., in 1976, and it continues to thrive.

Mike and his father invited Green to their farm seven years ago. Green was blown away. “I said this is a great alternative,” he said. “I said I’m not going to be able to ride cutting horses forever.”

Two years later, Green and Rutherford Jr. created Jackpot Ranch-Rutherford. They purchased and campaigned Mississippi Delta. “She was a Gr3 winner,” Green said. “That really gave me a buzz.”

Green purchased some land near Lexington, Ky., to begin Jackpot Farm. “We built barns and paddocks,” Green said. “The last two years, I really got into it. I have about eight or nine horses now. I kind of fell in love with it pretty quick.”

Basin’s performance in the Hopeful did nothing to cool his passion. “Oh my God,” Green said. “It’s unbelievable.”