North American Trainer - August 2020 - Ezine Edition

ISSUE 57 – KY Derby / Preakness / Yearling Sales 2020 $6.95 www.trainermagazine.com

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FOR THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE THOROUGHBRED

THOMAS DRURY JR. Bidding for Kentucky Derby victory with Art Collector.

COVID-19 SALES PROTOCOLS It’s sales season, but not as we know it

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LIFE AFTER LASIX

Phasing out the diuretic from American racing

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| OPINION |

GILES ANDERSON PUBLISHER’S OPINION

Needless to say the racing schedule this year has been turned upside down, and as we approach late summer, the racing industry has a mouth-watering schedule to look forward to between now and the Breeders’ Cup this November.

Sure, the composition of the fields for the two remaining Triple Crown races are somewhat different to what we had been forecasting in early spring this year. So it’s a testament to the training abilities of trainers like Barclay Tagg. Come the first Saturday in September, it will be 11 months since his Tiz The Law first gained qualifying points way back in the Champagne Stakes last October.

But will the revised date suit one of the relative new shooters to the race? One horse who has certainly benefited from the delayed Derby is Art Collector. His trainer, Thomas Drury, Jr. is our cover profile trainer for this issue. Drury has been training since 1991 but up until 2020 had never won a graded stakes race. In fact, he has trained less than 500 winners in his 19-year career; but 2020 will certainly be a year that he remembers as the year that changed his life for good reason.

But win, lose or draw on the first Saturday in September, Art Collector has certainly raised the profile of his handler and given him the national recognition that he deserves.

Our major industry subject in this issue is titled “Life After Lasix.” In this article, we are purposefully not getting drawn into a debate on whether the use of Lasix is a good or bad thing. We’re taking an objective stance that there is massive momentum in the industry to phase out the use of Lasix; and whether or not we like it, it is going to happen.

Personally, I feel that in many jurisdictions, trainers are going to need help with the ‘environmental’ set-up of barns, making sure they are better ventilated—a subject we covered in some detail last summer.

So for this article we are simply focusing on what can be done to help trainers and what protocols should be in place to ensure that horses can race without the use of Lasix.

As Denise Steffanus tells us, “some horsemen have expressed frustration, complaining that racetracks are telling them they have to race without Lasix, but they’re not telling them how to accomplish this or helping them implement the change.

Continuing education focuses mostly on reducing breakdowns, but it offers no modules to help trainers understand and deal with EIPH.” This is certainly an approach which the whole industry is going to need to adopt if racing can ever be conducted ‘Lasix free.’

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CONTRIBUTORS Editorial Director/Publisher Giles Anderson (859) 242 5025 Sub-Editor Jana Cavalier Photography Co-ordination Kerstin Coward Advert Production Charlotte Fossey Circulation Charlotte Fossey (1 888 659 2935) Advertising Sales Giles Anderson, Anna Alcock (859) 242 5025 Photo Credits: Adam Conglianese, Benoit Photo, Coady Photography, Chelsea Durand & Robert Mauhar/Conglianese Photos, Eclipse Sportswire, Matt & Wendy Wooley/ EquiSport Photos, Nicole Marie Cover Photograph Matt & Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos

Trainer Magazine is published by Anderson & Co Publishing Ltd. Contact details Tel: 1 888 659 2935 Fax: 1 888 218 4206 info@trainermagazine.com www.trainermagazine.com North America PO Box 13248, Lexington, KY 40583-3248 United Kingdom 14 Berwick Courtyard, Berwick St Leonard, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5UA

Trainer Magazine is the official magazine of the California Thoroughbred Trainers.

It is distributed to all ‘Trainer’ members of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and all members of the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, the Alberta Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association.

Alan F. Balch was hired as the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers in April 2010. His professional career in racing began at Santa Anita in 1971, where he advanced to the position of senior vice president of marketing and assistant general manager, and was in charge of the Olympic Games Equestrian Events in Los Angeles in 1984.

He retired in the early 90s to become volunteer president of the National Equestrian Federation of the USA, as well as of the National Horse Show of Madison Square Garden. He remains president of USA Equestrian Trust, Inc. Bill Heller is an Eclipse Awardwinning author of 26 books, including biographies of Hall of Fame jockeys Ron Turcotte, Randy Romero and Jose Santos. Bill and his wife Marianne live near Gulfstream Park in Florida. Bill’s son Benjamin is an accomplished marathon runner in Troy, N.Y. Annie Lambert is a photojournalist based in Temecula, California.

She grew up enjoying many facets of the equine industry with her veterinarian father, Dr Willard D Ommert, and mother, Pat North Ommert, who is an inductee of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Anne has been involved in many aspects of the thoroughbred racing industry, rode hunters and jumpers as well as reined cow horses.

Jeff Lowe is a freelance writer who previously served as media director for Team Valor International for seven years. Lowe also was the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup beat writer during a nine-year stint at Thoroughbred Times.

He won the 2008 Bill Leggett Writing Award for a magazine story on the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He grew up around the harness racing business as his father was the long-time general manager of the small racetrack in Delaware, Ohio, that puts on one of the sport’s most prestigious races, the Little Brown Jug. Dr. Russell Mackechnie-Guire runs Centaur Biomechanics and works with elite athletes in all equestrian sports, optimizing performance and marginal gains.

He recently gained a PhD in equine locomotion from the Royal Veterinary College Structure & Motion Lab. Russell is co-author of more than 30 published papers on horse-saddle-rider interaction.

Professor Celia Marr is an RCVS recognized specialist in Equine Internal Medicine based at Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Newmarket.

She is also Editor-in-Chief of Equine Veterinary Journal, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, and has previously worked at Cambridge University, the Royal Veterinary College, the University of Pennsylvania, and in racehorse practice in Lambourn.

Charlie McCarthy has been a sports journalist for nearly 35 years.

A graduate of New York University, he has worked and written for United Press International, the New York Post, Gannett’s Bridgewater Courier-News (N.J.), CBS Sports.com and Fox Sports Florida.

He has freelanced for the Associated Press and The Blood-Horse. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Charlie lives in South Florida and enjoys covering Gulfstream Park, especially during its winter championship meet.

Catherine Rudenko is an independent registered nutritionist with a focus on Thoroughbreds. Based in the UK, Catherine has worked in the USA, Europe and Asia with trainers and studs creating feeds and feeding plans customized to their needs and climate. With a keen interest in education and research, Catherine works with professional bodies and universities to promote knowledge of nutrition and its importance in the management of Thoroughbreds and other breeds.

Denise Steffanus, 2017 Eclipse award winner, is a freelance writer and editor based in Cynthiana, KY. A long-time contributor editor for Thoroughbred Times, she earned the prestigious Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award and the USA Equestrian (now the U.S. Equestrian Federation) Award for Media Excellence. A Pittsburgh native, she is a licensed Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and a member of American Mensa.

Georgie White is a master’s degree qualified Veterinary Physiotherapist, following graduation from Writtle University College she now runs a mobile Veterinary Physiotherapy service for both horses and dogs in the East Midlands. She has a specific interest in equine performance and pre-habilitation.

Trainer Magazine (ISSN 17580293) is published 4 times a year, February, April, July and October by Anderson & Co Publishing and distributed in the USA

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ADVERTISEMENT

GE T B AC K ON T R AC K JUMPSTART YOUR TRAINING WITH A BOOST

By Mark Hansen

Now that it is time to get back to the tracks, the pressure to win is greater than ever before. Some will resort to whatever it takes to get an advantage . . . even if it means putting their horses’ lives in mortal danger by doping them with illegal synthetic erythropoietin (EPO) drugs to boost endurance.

Veterinarian Gary Smith said, “It’s a problem all over the industry. There is no way horses should be put on (synthetic) EPO.” So how do racers win? How are some trainers gaining a competitive edge? The answer may be found in a safe all-natural horse supplement that supports natural EPO function.

Why is EPO boosting so critical? Just like in people, a horse’s muscles require oxygen for fuel. Red blood cells are the body’s oxygen-carrying cells. A higher red blood cell count = more oxygen = more muscle energy. Elevated muscle energy helps the horse perform harder, faster and longer during endurance events. All horses naturally produce EPO in their kidneys to stimulate production of new red blood cells from bone marrow. In short, EPO is a natural “blood builder.”

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Bioengineers at U.S. based Biomedical Research Laboratories (BRL), first discovered a completely natural EPO-booster for human athletes (and it’s working miracles for top athletes and amateurs around the world).

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| CONTENTS |

08

20 32 84

ISSUE

57

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CONTENTS

HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN QUANTIFY THE IMPACT SADDLES HAVE ON PERFORMANCE 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.

Dr. Russell MacKechnie-Guire

Alamy, Dr. Russell MacKechnie-Guire

F E AT U R E S

R EGUL A R S

08 Thomas Drury Jr. - trainer profile

Bill Heller portrays Tommy Drury who became an overnight sensation after Art Collector’s victory in the Gr2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and is now looking forward to the Kentucky Derby.

20 Life after Lasix

Denise Steffanus fills us in on the battle for approval to use the therapeutic drug on race day and on the opposite stakeholders in the industry that have launched an initiative to phase out Lasix from American racing.

32 Sales season, but not as we know it

Jeff Lowe explains how adapting to the new world with COVID-19 has led to a rapid integration of online bidding for Thoroughbred auctions across North America.

38 The dominant limb

Can we train a completely symmetrical horse?

Georgie White investigates this very interesting theory.

48 Shrewd moves in the sales ring Annie Lambert talks to Adrian Gonzales about his strategies for buying and selling at the yearling sales.

@ t ra i n e r _ m a g

04

56 Modern saddle design

Dr. Russell Mackechnie-Guire studies how the latest design concepts and technology can help improve training performance.

62 Nutrition - starch v fiber intake

Catherine Rudenko explains how to rein in your horse’s complex carb intake for times when work drops, or when returning from injury.

Is this herd safe?

92 #soundbites

This quarter, Bill Heller asks if you could add one Breeders’ Cup race, what would it be?

70 Minimizing serious fractures of the racehorse fetlock

Celia Marr updates us on the results of a symposium of international experts, aiming to devise measures which could be used internationally to reduce the risk of catastrophic fracture associated with the fetlock joint.

78 Once upon a time ...

Chuck Simon entertains Charlie McCarthy with some very unusual anecdotes and stories from a 20-year training career that ended in 2019.

84 Grade 1 winning owners

Bill Heller profiles Honor A.P.’s owners Lee and Susan Searing who were celebrating the horse’s win in the rescheduled Gr1 Santa Anita Derby and No Parole winning the Gr1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park owned by Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin.

/ t ra i n e r m a g a z i n e

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

06 Alan F. Balch column

/ t ra i n e r m a g a z i n e

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| CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS |

ALAN F. BALCH

IS THIS HERD SAFE? IN SHORT, NO, IT ISN’T. And it’s long past time for racing’s leaders to recognize the overwhelming threats to the sport and act decisively and intelligently. Up to now, every monumental effort we’ve made has, in reality, been only a half-measure.

Month after month, the California Horse Racing Board has been under siege by a small band of “animal rights” extremists. By extension, so has our Governor’s Office, and several local jurisdictions as well. Not too long ago, authorities in New York were similarly besieged, as were United States Senators and members of Congress. Key editorial boards and journalists of American newspapers are constantly surrounded and pummeled by well-organized and funded opponents of racing who detest our livelihoods. Important radio and television broadcasters in racing markets, and nationally, not to mention legislators in almost every state where racing is conducted, are all under the same gun. Then there’s “social media” – don’t get me started on that fount of misinformation and misdirection.

While I’ve touched on this issue in these pages before, without noticeable effect, let’s be even more explicit. If racing’s leadership doesn’t now organize and fund what’s needed to be done for many years, the battle to protect and advance racing will be hopelessly lost. If it isn’t already.

We take for granted the most elementary aspects of basic horsemanship, and we shouldn’t. A reporter recently contacted me with an allegation received from an activist that “these horses are in their 12’ by 12’ stalls 23 hours a day. They’re confined most of their lives. It’s kind of like a prisoner in solitary confinement. You let them out for one hour, they’re going to go crazy. They’re going to exercise, they’re going to run around, they go insane. So that’s what these horses do. You let them out of their stalls, and you line them up and you put them in the starting gate. Of course, you open up that gate, they’re gonna run like hell because they’ve been locked up all day.”

So, the reporter innocently (and seriously) asked me, “Can you speak to this point?

Is this an accurate claim or is this false or an exaggeration?”

First, understand clearly that such an allegation, however false, sounds entirely

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plausible to anyone unfamiliar with basic horsemanship. In other words, it’s taken seriously by probably 95% of the general population, or even more! Including, by the way, the aforementioned editorial boards, politicians, journalists, broadcasters, and social media addicts. Who receive other such accusations constantly.

As a horse-crazy marketer at heart myself, I trace our failings back a long way … to the increasing abandonment of promoting on-track attendance, which coincided with the advent of Advance Deposit Wagering and simulcasting before it. I have always felt that selling our gaming at the expense of the horses and sport was suicidal, since no sport can compare with ours, but every other game can. Continually emphasizing the game detracts dangerously from the horse, the essence of our sport. Its unique selling proposition.

The “animal rights” activists sense this.

They are accomplished strategists. Their appetites have been whetted as they have learned from their own case studies that precede us: fashionable furs, elephants at the circus, and orcas at marine parks. Which, in truth, are all importantly different from racing. Lately, their approach to racing is two-fold: people really don’t need horses to bet on (because there’s historical racing in the first place, and plenty of other ways to bet). Real horses are miserably abused and killed when they should be running free. Or, more logically, not bred in the first place.

Racing’s wealth has been spent (wasted?) so far on defense, often taking positions that actually worsen our public reputation.

The Jockey Club has devoted a fortune to advancing anti-Lasix legislation that has fed and even emphasized a false narrative that race horses are unconscionably drugged. Some tracks have pursued advertising campaigns that even call attention to breakdown statistics in the name of improving safety, thus affirming

our attackers. “Crisis management” firms have largely failed, it would seem, at enormous and often counter-productive expense.

Understanding our opponents and their goals is key. Then we must take the offensive to save our sport. All the while continuing and increasing ever more effective efforts to breed and race and enhance soundness in our horses.

We are confused when the “animal rights” extremists don’t respect or appreciate our efforts to improve animal welfare. We shouldn’t be. To them, the two concepts are fundamentally incompatible. To a human who believes that any (“other”) animal is equivalent to a human, that it is therefore entitled to express its informed consent before undertaking any activity, the very concept of human husbandry of animals is moronic. To the true believers, the extremists who drive opposition to racing, no animal can be raised or processed for food or any byproduct. No animal can be a pet. No animal can be farmed, meaning bred, for any purpose at all. Their informed consent is literally impossible.

Moreover, these extremists seek to impose their own beliefs and conduct on all the rest of us, while secretly ridiculing and marginalizing any effort to improve animal welfare. Let us recognize that only the tiniest fraction of the public would support such extreme views, if their motives were understood. Nor would the public accept such a draconian restriction on the freedom of others, if they knew what was at stake.

When that reporter posed those questions to me, I thought about how stables had evolved over thousands of years, for the safety, protection, happiness, and well-being of our herds. We owe it to them, and to our sport, to convene the brightest minds and deepest pockets we have, all together, to develop effective strategies, using the most modern methods, to combat our enemies in the public sphere.

Everyone who truly loves animals, for the joy and even the sustenance they bring to human life, needs to understand how threatened they are.

PROFILE

N

udged into the Kentucky Derby spotlight by Art Collector’s commanding 3 ½-length victory in the Gr2 Blue Grass Stakes July 11 at Keeneland, Tommy Drury is an overnight sensation—29 years after he began training Thoroughbreds. Art Collector gave Drury his first graded stakes victory in the Blue Grass Stakes, earning enough points to start in the Kentucky Derby for owner/breeder Bruce Lunsford.

“When you’re 28, you’re thinking about winning the Derby and Breeders’ Cup races,” said Drury, who took over Art Collector’s training at the beginning of his three-year-old season. “At 48, I didn’t even know I’d win a graded stakes. To win the Blue Grass is pretty special. I’m still trying to find the words.”

This success immediately went to his head. He celebrated his greatest victory with a cold beer and a frozen pizza when he finally got home after the Blue Grass. “I didn’t finish either,” he confessed.

Why? To be back at the barn at 5:30 a.m. the next day, a Sunday. His work ethic is just one of the elements of his highly successful, yet quiet, career.

His career winning percentage is an outstanding 21 percent. He won at least 20 percent of his starts in 11 of his last 14 seasons heading into this year, including seven years when his victory clip was 25 percent or higher.

No wonder top horsemen, including Al Stall, Bill Mott, Steve Asmussen, Frankie Brothers and Seth Hancock, have sent many of their horses needing a layup after surgery or time off to Drury’s barn at the Skylight Training Center, 27 miles northeast of Churchill Downs.

29-YEAR

OVERNIGHT SENSATION THOMAS DRURY JR Bill Heller

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Matt & Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos, Coady Photography

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| THOMAS DRURY JR |

ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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PROFILE

“As far as top horsemen, he’s been a top one for years, but he just hasn’t had the opportunity to win at the highest level,” Stall said.

“I send him rehab cases. We’ve had a good working relationship for more than 10 years. I might have sent him, oh gosh, over 20 a year—a couple hundred for sure. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he’s spot on about their fitness level.”

Brothers said of his time knowing Drury, “It started with Tommy galloping some horses for me at Churchill Downs. He’s a smart, conscientious young man—an excellent horseman.”

So how did Drury amass just 55 victories in his first six years of training after getting his license at the age of 18? He had to gallop horses on the side to pay his bills. “It didn’t come easy, and it didn’t come quickly,” he said. “There were days I said, ‘This isn’t going the way it should be going.’ But I always had at least one horse I was training.”

There was another reason he persevered. “I didn’t know how to do anything else,” Drury said.

His biggest fan, his mother Patty, said, “He started with one horse, and to have a horse like this (Art Collector) is unbelievable.

I’m so happy and proud of him because he worked so hard to get to this point.”

Drury’s father, Jerry, who galloped horses, passed away two years ago. “We were close,” Drury said. “I never had the privilege to work with him a lot because he had a lot of horses. He pushed me: if you work, you have to do it at the top level. He always pushed me to do that.”

Drury began hot-walking on weekends as a kid. “I can remember walking horses when I was 10 or 11,” he said. “It’s all I wanted to do. On weekends, I’d go to the track. It’s just been in my blood. I could never see myself doing anything else.”

He wanted to be a jockey but grew too big to do that. So he focused on training. “I had a friend, a little older, who got his

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I CAN REMEMBER WALKING HORSES WHEN I WAS 10 OR 11.

IT’S ALL I WANTED TO DO. ON WEEKENDS, I’D GO TO THE TRACK. IT’S JUST BEEN IN MY BLOOD. I COULD NEVER SEE MYSELF DOING ANYTHING ELSE.” license at 19,” Drury said. “Once I saw he was able to do it, I felt comfortable in my horsemanship.” He passed the trainer test and applied for a license at the age of 18.

Racing steward Bernie Hettel didn’t believe he was 18. “I looked like I was 12,” Drury said. “I think I weighed 110 pounds. I showed him my driver’s license.”

In his first six years, his win totals were five, seven, nine, eighteen, eight and eight. “I was working a second job, always galloping to help pay the bills,” he said. “Eventually, it started going the way I wanted. So I stopped galloping a few years ago.

When I was riding, I worried about too many details. I think better when my feet are on the ground rather than in the air.”

One of his most successful horses was Timeless Fashion, who won 11 of 34 starts, including six stakes, and earned more than $400,000. Unfortunately, Timeless Fashion’s first jockey, Justin Vitek, wound up with leukemia.

| THOMAS DRURY JR |

Vitek rode Timeless Fashion in his first two starts, finishing second by a neck in a maiden race at Turfway Park, December 7, 2007, then winning an allowance race there February 2, 2008, by 4 ¼ lengths.

“Justin had told me that whole day he was feeling bad,” Drury said. “He went to the hospital that night and was later diagnosed with leukemia. It went into remission and he worked for me and rode in races. Unfortunately, his leukemia came back, and he passed away. Justin was one of my closest friends. I flew to Texas and was with him the night before he passed. It was terrible.”

Vitek, a native of Wallace, Texas, died on January 28, 2010 at the age of 36. Vitek’s biggest victory came on Miss Pickums, who captured the 2000 Gr2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs. He had won 763 races with earnings topping $9.8 million.

Six weeks after Vitek died, Turfway Park held a night to celebrate Vitek’s life, with his mother to present the trophy to the winner of the Tejano Run Stakes. Drury, who entered Timeless Fashion in the stakes, wore one of Vitek’s University of Texas caps which Vitek’s sister had sent to him. “Justin was a big Texan football fan,” Drury explained. Drury wore the cap that night and never again.

Timeless Fashion hadn’t raced since the previous December 12th when he took the first of two consecutive runnings of the Prairie Bayou Stakes. Timeless Fashion won the Tejano Run Stakes by a half-length. “Justin’s mom presented the trophy to Judy Miller, the winning owner, and she gave it back to her,” Drury said. “Right before we went upstairs, we sprinkled some of Justin’s ashes in the winner’s circle. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was insane. It was brutal, but we were fortunate to have had him in our lives. It was so special to win that race with his family there.”

TOP: Tommy inspects horses as they go out for morning exercise.

Drury resumed his career, which may have already been redirected by his Blue Grass victory. “This is going to change Tommy’s life,” Lunsford said. If it does, he’ll share it with 15-year-old daughter Emma, who rides show horses, and his 19-year-old son Matt, who’s in the restaurant business. They live just outside Louisville.

Art Collector, a home-bred colt by Bernardini out of Distorted Legacy by Distorted Humor, has special meaning for Lunsford—an attorney, businessman and politician who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2008, losing to incumbent Mitch McConnell.

Lunsford’s Bunting was the dam of his Vision and Verse, who finished second to Lemon Drop Kid in both the 1999 Gr1 Belmont Stakes and Gr1 Travers. Vision and Verse won four of 21 starts and earned a tad more than $1 million. “Bunting was one of the first two horses we bought,” he said. “She had several useful horses, including ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| THOMAS DRURY JR |

PROFILE

HE SHOWED ABILITY FROM DAY ONE, HE STOOD OUT. HE HANDLED THE BREAKING VERY WELL, ALWAYS DID HIS JOB–AN EASY HORSE TO BE AROUND.” TRAVIS DURR ON ART COLLECTOR

Distorted Legacy, who finished fourth in the 2011 Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. “We kept her as a broodmare. Her first foal was a filly that didn’t race. Art Collector is her second foal.”

Lunsford routinely sends 10 of his yearlings to be broken and trained at Travis and Ashley Durr’s Webb Carroll Training Center in St. Matthews, S.C. Durr does the breaking and training, and Ashley is the Center’s business manager.

Travis’ family raced and trained Quarter Horses, and Travis rode them at bush tracks in Georgia, S.C. and N.C.,

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starting at the age of 12. When both his grandfather and father began working with Thoroughbreds, Travis started breaking and training them. Travis was 15 when his father passed in 1995, and he took over the business. Travis joined Webb Carroll in 2007, and in 2016, he and his wife purchased the Center.

“We are known for our large sets—15 to 17 horses in the winter,” Travis said. “All we do is breaking, training and layups. We don’t have to have things being done by a specific time. We have a lot of turnouts. We individualize the horse’s training. We just try to produce racehorses.”

Art Collector is just the latest top horse the Training Center has developed, following Havre De Grace, Country House, Abel Tasman, Firenze Fire, Goldencents, Runhappy, Irish War Cry and Shackleford.

Art Collector arrived at the Training Center in July 2018. “He showed ability from day one,” Travis said. “He stood out. He handled the breaking very well, always did his job—an easy horse to be around. He started breezing in February. He was breezing a lot easier than others. As we went on with the horse, he kept progressing the right way. He was the best of Bruce’s bunch. He sends us around 10 yearlings a year.”

On May 9, Art Collector was sent home and then to trainer Joe Sharp to begin his career at Saratoga in July.

Art Collector’s first three starts were on turf. He finished second in a maiden race at Saratoga August 15, first in a maiden at Kentucky Downs and then seventh in the Gr3 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland.

PROFILE

I THINK OF TOMMY LIKE A NEPHEW OR AN ADOPTED SON. WE’VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS. HE’S A HUMBLE GUY. HE HAS NO EGO. WORKS HIS BUTT OFF. HE TREATS PEOPLE NICELY; HIS BARN HELP STAYS WITH HIM.” BRUCE LUNSFORD ON DRURY

Switched to dirt on November 30, he lost his action in a 6 ½ furlong allowance race under Brian Hernandez Jr., who has ridden Art Collector ever since. Hernandez was about to pull Art Collector up, but Art Collector wasn’t done, getting back in the race and finishing sixth by 8 ½ lengths in the first of four consecutive races at Churchill Downs.

Art Collector’s final start as a two-year-old last November 30 was a breakthrough 7 ½-length victory on a sloppy track.

That victory would be taken away months later. On March 3, word broke that Art Collector was one of several sharp horses who tested positive for levamisole, listed as a Class 2 drug by the Association of Racing Commissioners International largely for its potential to metabolize into the powerful stimulant aminorex. Art Collector was disqualified.

Lunsford needed a new trainer. “I didn’t want to be in the middle of that,” he said. “I took him off the track. Gave him three months. I said, ‘Forget the Derby. We’ll shoot for something later, like the Travers.’”

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Then the world began changing as the coronavirus pandemic swept around the entire globe. Suddenly, the Kentucky Derby was not on the first Saturday of May, rather postponed until the first Saturday in September, the 5th. “The delay was the best thing that could have happened for us,” Lunsford said. “I gave him to Tommy. I told him, ‘If you get this horse back and he wins first out, you have the horse for life.’”

Why Drury? “Because I trust him,” Lunsford said. “I’ve watched him for years. I’ve given him horses that we rested and given them one start back in Tommy’s name.

Watching him grow up, I think of Tommy like a nephew or an adopted son. We’ve had a lot of success. He’s a humble guy. He has no ego. Works his butt off. He treats people nicely; his barn help stays with him. He treats horses nicely. If it’s really about the horse, you just don’t say it— you do it. I knew with Tommy and José (Garcia, Tommy’s long-time assistant), that Art Collector would be treated better than I get treated in my life, with the exception of my girlfriend. If we win the Derby, I don’t know if I’ll be happier for Tommy or for the horse.”

With Art Collector at Skylight Training Center, Lunsford stops on the way to check up on his star. Trainer Ian Wilkes is on the other side of the Drury barn. “There are 21 guys there, and I pick up biscuits for the guys on the way there,” Lunsford said. “They rub their stomachs when they see me coming.”

| THOMAS DRURY JR |

I HAVE NEVER HAD A HORSE LIKE THIS. HE’S A VERY GOODLOOKING, WELLBALANCED HORSE. WHAT I LIKE MOST IS HIS INTELLIGENCE. HE’S A VERY SMART HORSE. YOU WORK HIM WITH OTHERS, AND HE’S FINE. YOU CAN MOVE HIM WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS.” DRURY ON ART COLLECTOR

Drury didn’t take long to like what he saw coming with Art Collector. “I knew Bruce really liked the horse,” he said. “When someone like him says something like that, you pay attention. He’s been there before.”

Drury quickly realized why Lunsford liked Art Collector.

“I have never had a horse like this,” Drury said. “He’s a very good-looking, well-balanced horse. What I like most is his intelligence. He’s a very smart horse. You work him with others, and he’s fine. You can move him with your fingertips.”

Drury began slowly with his new colt. “We eased him back into it,” he said. “We started breezing him. I got Brian Hernandez to work with him. He had ridden him as a two-year-old. He shared his thoughts. It helped. We worked as a team.”

Garcia has been an important member of the Drury’s team for 22 years. “We started together with a small stable with just a few horses,” Garcia said. “I like him and he likes me. We have good communications. You have to see to the details. The small details are very important.”

Art Collector made his first start for Drury in a sevenlength allowance race on May 17, 15 days after the original date for the Kentucky Derby. He won by 2 ¾ lengths, covering seven furlongs in 1:22 3/5.

“He won so impressively,” Lunsford said. “Seth Hancock texted me. He said, ‘I hope you’re going to leave your horse with him.’ I said, ‘That decision’s already been made.’”

That decision looked even better when Art Collector won another allowance race—this one at a mile-and-asixteenth, by 6 ½ lengths as the 7-5 favorite in a sharp 1:41 1/5, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure on June 13.

Art Collector was ready to step up. He would make or break his case for the Kentucky Derby. He had no Derby qualifying points, and the 100 for the winner of the Blue Grass would either propel Art Collector onto the Derby or force Drury and Lunsford to choose an easier path.

ABOVE: Art Collector cemented his line up in the 2020 Kentucky Derby with an easy 31/2 length win in the recent Ellis Park Derby.

The horse to beat in the Blue Grass and the slight betting favorite at 2-1 was Kenny McPeek’s outstanding filly Swiss Skydiver. Art Collector was the 2-1 second choice in the field of 13. “We wanted to put pressure on Kenny’s filly,” Drury said. “The only thing I told Brian was not to be locked in with one trip. It actually went the way we thought it would go.”

Hernandez delivered a flawless ride. He made a good decision early to avoid a three-horse duel on the front end, and Art Collector settled in nicely as a close third. Around the far turn, Swiss Skydiver took over, and Art Collector quickly ranged up to her.

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PROFILE

IF I WON THE KENTUCKY DERBY WITH 40 FRIENDS ROOTING FOR US BECAUSE WE’RE FROM LOUISVILLE, IT’D BE LIKE THE WORLD SERIES FOR THIS POOR KID FROM PINER, KENTUCKY.” BRUCE LUNSFORD

At the head of the stretch, Swiss Skydiver found more.

“There was a split second near the eighth pole, she dug in, and I thought he wasn’t going to win,” Drury said. “After that point, it becomes a blur. ‘Oh, my God, we’re going to win the Blue Grass!’ It’s hard to describe it in words. You wait for the opportunity, and when it happens, it’s huge.

You’ve waited so long to be there.”

After the race, Drury cooled out Art Collector. “We gave him a good soaking bath, took him out to the grass, let him graze, put the bandages on him, and got ready to go back home,” Drury said. When he got home, he splurged with cold beer and even colder pizza.

Drury knows that Churchill Downs’ decision to push back the Kentucky Derby four months allowed his latedeveloping three-year-old to walk into the starting gate.

“We’re certainly aware of it,” Drury said. “It’s been a strange year. It’s almost like it was meant for us.”

Before the Blue Grass, Drury instructed his mother not to use the “D” word. Two days after the race, she texted him, asking, “Are you definite for the Kentucky Derby?” Drury texted back, “Eight weeks to the Derby—that’s a lifetime.”

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TOP LEFT: Bruce Lunsford and partner Eleanor Porco.

TOP RIGHT: Art Collector with Drury’s assistant José Garcia.

ABOVE: Art Collector winning the 2020 Ellis Park Derby.

He explained, “Eight weeks is a long way away when you’re talking about horses. I hope we get there. It’s a big deal, but we’re not doing anything to jeopardize this horse.”

Drury and Lunsford must decide whether or not to give Art Collector a race before the Derby. “It’s really a good problem to have,” Drury said. “I think it’s a fantastic problem to have.”

Initially, he ruled out the Gr1 Travers at Saratoga, August 8. “People ask, ‘Travers?’ No way. I’m not shipping to New York to run against Tiz the Law,” Drury said. On August 9, Art Collector cemented his line up in the 2020 Kentucky Derby with an easy 3 1/2 length win in the Ellis Park Derby.

Lunsford was asked what a Kentucky Derby win would mean to him. “I go all the way back to Secretariat,” he said. “I said, ‘One of these days, I want to own one of these horses.’ If I won the Kentucky Derby with 40 friends rooting for us because we’re from Louisville, it’d be like the World Series for this poor kid from Piner, Kentucky.”

For Drury, it would be an affirmation of three decades of hard work. Asked what it’s like to be an overnight success after 30 years, Drury said, “It’s funny. For me, I’ve never received this amount of attention. I’m usually the guy behind the scenes. That being said, I’ve been close enough to good horses, and that’s helped me a lot. At the end of the day, we have to focus on the horse. You take the rest of it in stride. It’s not about me. It’s about him.”

Actually, it’s about both of them—teammates in the pursuit of Kentucky Derby immortality in the strangest year the world has ever seen.

KENTUCKY DERBY TRAIL FOR GRAD

ART COLLECTOR

SHOWN WINNING THE

BLUE GRASS STAKES-G2 AT KEENELAND

Our graduates get the right start because from the beginning we handle our youngsters the Webb Carroll way. They get the education they need, and they get an incredible foundation. So when they head to the track, they are ready to run with sound mind and body.

Our young Thoroughbreds are allowed to develop at their own pace. While many of our graduates enjoy early success, all of them are handled with the long haul in mind, most of which have a long career lasting many seasons.

A job well done, a name you can rely on.

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LIFE AFTER

L ASI X Denise Steffanus

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Adam Conglianese, Eclipse Sportswire

| LIFE AFTER LASIX |

An estimated 95% of American racehorses go postward on Lasix, a diuretic that reduces bleeding in the lungs caused by extreme exertion. Now, nearly 50 years since horsemen and veterinarians battled for approval to use the therapeutic drug on race day, stakeholders in the industry have launched an initiative to phase out Lasix from American racing.

With racetrack conglomerates such as The Stronach Group and Churchill Downs adopting house rules to ban Lasix use on race day in two-year-olds starting this year and in stakes horses beginning 2021, the political football of a total Lasix ban for racing is headed to the end zone. Whether that total ban happens next year or in five years, racing needs to take an objective look at how this move will change the practices and complexion of the industry at large. The Lasix ban will affect more than what happens on the racetrack. Its tentacles will reach to the sales ring, the breeding shed, the betting window, and the owner’s pocket.

When Lasix first was approved for racing in 1974, only horses that visibly bled out the nostrils—an extreme symptom of exerciseinduced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH)—were permitted to use the drug. A few years later, flexible endoscopes enabled veterinarians to identify horses with trace levels of EIPH internally that qualified them for Lasix. So many horses became approved for Lasix that most jurisdictions stopped requiring proof of EIPH to send a first-time starter postward on Lasix. All trainers had to do was declare it on the entry. Soon, nearly every horse was racing on Lasix, many with no proof it was needed.

And that’s the situation we have today.

Racing regulations tag a horse as a bleeder only if it visibly hemorrhages from one or both nostrils (epistaxis). For this article, “bleeder” and “bleeding” are general terms for all horses with EIPH, not just overt bleeders. With almost every horse now competing on Lasix, no one knows how many horses actually need the drug to keep their lungs clear while racing. When Lasix is banned, we’ll find out.

• Safety first

ABOVE: Mucho Gusto ridden

by Irad Ortiz Jr., wins the first Lasix-free Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes in January 2020.

n estimated 95% of American racehorses go postward on Lasix, a diuretic that reduces bleeding in the lungs caused by extreme exertion. Now, nearly 50 years since horsemen and veterinarians battled for approval to use the therapeutic drug on race day, stakeholders in the industry have launched an initiative to phase out Lasix from American racing.

The debate whether Lasix, technically known as furosemide, is a performance enhancer or a performance enabler has raged for decades. With that debate comes the discussion whether Lasix helps the horse or harms it. But we’re not going to get into that debate here.

A

How a particular horse will react when capillaries in its lungs burst is unpredictable.

Thoroughbreds are tough, so most horses will push through the trickle, and some may win despite it. Other horses may tire prematurely from diminished oxygen, which could cause them to take a bad step, bump another horse, or stumble. Fractious horses with more severe bleeding may panic when they feel choked of air. Will the current number of human and equine first-responders be adequate to handle the potential increase in these EIPH incidents?

Racing Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, who earned two Eclipse Awards as outstanding jockey, has ridden in more than 33,000 races during his four decades on the track. He said he can feel a change in the horse under him if it begins to bleed.

“Honestly, a lot of times you just don’t see that ‘A’ effort that you normally would have seen out of the horse,” he said. “You know, they

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| INDUSTRY |

just don’t perform near as well because of the fact that they bled, which you find out later. … When they bleed enough, they can literally fall. It can happen. It’s dependent on how bad they bleed. If a horse bleeds real bad, they don’t get any oxygen. … I’ve been blessed enough to have pulled them up, and if I wouldn’t have, they probably would have gone down or died, one or the other, I guess. They’re few and far between when it’s that bad, but it does happen.

“If you literally see the blood, then you stop with them.

You don’t continue because it’s very dangerous.”

In 2012, Dr. Tom Tobin, renowned pharmacologist at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell Gluck Equine Research Center, and his colleagues reviewed the correlation between EIPH and acute/sudden death on the racetrack, as set forth in published research. They noted that 60%-80% of horses presumed to have died from a “heart attack” were found upon necropsy to have succumbed to hemorrhaging into the lungs. Tobin and his colleagues concluded their review with a warning: “EIPH-related acute/sudden death incidents have the potential to cause severe, including career-ending and potentially fatal injuries to jockeys and others riding these horses.”

Mark Casse has won 11 Sovereign Awards as Canada’s outstanding trainer, five Breeders’ Cups, and three Triple Crown races. He’s a member of the Horse Racing Hall of

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| LIFE AFTER LASIX |

WHAT I DO IS TRY TO GIVE ANY HORSE THAT I FEEL IS A BLEEDER, ESPECIALLY FOUR TO FIVE DAYS INTO A RACE, A VERY LIGHT SCHEDULE. THAT’S ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS I’LL DO WITH MY BAD BLEEDERS.” MARK CASSE

TOP: Spring in the Air wins the 61st running of the Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland.

Fame in both Canada and the United States, one of just three individuals to accomplish that feat (Lucien Laurin and Roger Attfield are the others).

“If as soon as they ban Lasix, we start having more injuries, they’re going to have to do something about that,” Casse said. “It will be more than just first-responders. That’s pretty scary to think, ‘Ok, we’re going to take horses off Lasix, and so now we’re going to need more medical people out there.’ That doesn’t sound too good to me.”

• Training strategies

ABOVE LEFT: Mark Casse & jockey Patrick Husbands.

Casse has a special way of training horses with EIPH, but he was cagey about the details and reluctant to disclose his strategy.

“What I do is try to give any horse that I feel is a bleeder, especially four to five days into a race, a very light schedule,” he said. “That’s one of the main things I’ll do with my bad bleeders. So, in other words, not as much galloping or jogging—stuff like that.”

A DV E R T I S E M E N T

EIPH AND BLEEDING Best Solution When LASIX Are Banned

By Mark Hansen hile bleeding from the nose in racehorses is uncommon, it is accepted that most every horse will experience some level of bleeding in their lungs. Even though this may only cause slight discomfort for the equine athlete, it is a trainer’s worst nightmare because it can lead to poor performance, lost training days, costly treatments, or worse — a very sick horse that’s banned from racing for life.

For one trainer, this is exactly the nightmare that happened to him. Suddenly not just one, but two of his best horses were bleeding from EIPH (Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage). They were in danger of being banned from racing, even though they were still in their prime. Lasix (Salix) was not an option.

The trainer was at a loss. What can be done?

Facing these concerns for two of his horses, the trainer (who asked us to withhold his name for competitive reasons) was willing to try anything. So, he searched for another option.

He gave his horses an alternative to bleeder drugs and treatments; something he had read about called BleederShield. This natural respiratory horse supplement helps control bleeding. It is just as effective in improving the health and performance of bleeders but without any of those “drug issues” that come

W

with most race-day bleeder medications.

“I used BleederShield paste on two horses that had been bleeding. Now, neither horse has bled. This is a great product; it saved the careers of two very good horses.”

The Science Behind BleederShield

To understand how BleederShield works, we looked at a controlled study run by veterinarians at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

They investigated the effects of the active ingredient in BleederShield, yunnan baiyao, which has been shown to help reduce bleeding in people and animals.

The veterinary team wanted to see how this active ingredient specifically affected bleeding in horses. They measured template bleeding times in horses before and after receiving a supplement with the active ingredient.

The researchers reported that the supplement significantly reduced bleeding time. They concluded that the active ingredient in BleederShield was effective at minimizing blood loss in horses.1 What surprised us the most about BleederShield is its effectiveness without the use of drugs. Having a drug-free option is critical in countries that ban most raceday EIPH medications. And even though Lasix/Salix isn’t banned in the USA yet, its day may be coming. There’s a serious need NOW for a natural solution that can help

control bleeding in performance horses.

Trainers and owners alike are impressed with the results they are seeing from BleederShield. One winning trainer told us: “I have horses that bleed and when I use this product I have no problems. I’m sure there are a lot of products on the market but I stand behind this one all the way.”

Now you can improve the health of your horses while protecting the investment in their racing careers.

With the results from the scientific studies, you can expect BleederShield to reduce bleeding events in horses during intense exercise… repair damaged blood vessels … and provide support for normal lung function and normal blood flow.2 Best of all, BleederShield is easy AND affordable. It could be the smartest investment you make to avoid pricey problems related to EIPH. It’s well worth the small price to avoid a banning risk or losing a great horse.

A company spokesperson confirmed an exclusive offer for Trainer Magazine readers: if you order BleederShield this month, you’ll receive 10% off your first order by using promo code TM10 at checkout.

You can order BleederShield today at www.BleederShield.com.

1.

2.

Graham L. et al. J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 12:4 (2002) 279-282.

Graham L. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 2006.

| INDUSTRY |

In 2018, trainer Ken McPeek had the most U.S. wins (19) without Lasix. Besides racing here, McPeek prepares a string of horses to race in Europe, where Lasix is not permitted on race day. He puts those horses on a lighter racing schedule.

“As long as a horse is eating well and doing well, their chances of bleeding are relatively small,” he said. “If a horse is fatigued and stressed, I always believed that would lead to bleeding.”

McPeek said if a two-year-old bleeds, the owner and trainer are going to have a long-term problem on their hands, and they’re better off not racing at two.

In 2012, the first year the Breeders’ Cup banned Lasix in two-year-olds, Casse’s rising star Spring in the Air entered the Grey Goose Juvenile Fillies (Gr1) fresh off an extraordinary effort in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (Gr1), where she lagged behind in tenth then launched an explosive four-wide dash coming out of the turn to win by a length.

The filly had run all four prior races on Lasix, but without Lasix in the Juvenile Fillies, she never was better than fifth. After the race, Casse told reporters she bled.

“She went back on Lasix,” Casse said of Spring in the Air, who became Canada’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly that same year.

Dr. Jeff Blea is a longtime racetrack veterinarian in California and a past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. He said racing without Lasix is going to require a substantial learning curve for trainers and their veterinarians. During this interview Blea was at Santa Anita Park, where he’s been working with trainers to figure out the best way to manage and train horses that race without Lasix.

“That’s a case-by-case discussion because all trainers have different routines and different programs,” he said.

“In addition to the variability among trainers, you have individual horses that you have to factor into that conversation as well.”

When a horse comes off the track from a work or a race with severe EIPH, Blea asks the trainer if this has happened before or if it’s something new. If it’s new, he looks at the horse’s history for anything that could have precipitated it.

Blea uses ultrasound and X-rays to examine the horse’s lungs.

“With ultrasound, I can often find where the bleed was,” he said. “If I X-ray the lungs, I’ll want to look for a lung lesion, which tells me it’s a chronic problem. I want to look at airway inflammation and the overall structure of the lungs. … I’ll wait a day and see if the horse develops a temperature. I’ll pull blood (work) because this bleed could be the nidus for a respiratory infection, and I want to be able to be ahead of it. I typically do not put horses on antibiotics if they suffer epistaxis, or bleed out the nose. Most times when I’ve had those, they don’t get sick, so I don’t typically prophylactically put them on antibiotics.”

Based on his diagnostic workup, Blea will recommend that the horse walk the shed row for a week or not return to the track for a few weeks.

“Depending on the severity of my findings, the horse may need to be turned out,” he said. “I use inhalers quite a bit. I think those are useful for horses that tend to bleed.

I’m a big fan of immune stimulants. I think those are helpful. Then just old-fashioned, take them off alfalfa, put them on shavings...things like that.” Blea discusses

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| LIFE AFTER LASIX |

air quality in the barn with the trainer—less dust, more open-air ventilation, and common sense measures to keep the environment as clean and healthy as possible.

Prominent owner Bill Casner and his trainer Eoin Harty began a program in January 2012 to wipe out EIPH in his racehorses. Casner’s strategy to improve air quality for his horses and limit their exposure to disease is to power-wash stalls before moving into a shed row and fog them with ceragenins—a powerful, environmentally safe alternative to typical disinfectants. He has switched to peat moss bedding, which neutralizes ammonia, and he only feeds his horses hay that has been steamed to kill pathogens and remove particulates.

• Particulate mapping Activities in barns, particularly during morning training hours, kick up a lot of dust. Researchers at Michigan State University looked at particulates (dust) that drift on the air in racetrack barns. Led by Dr. Melissa Millerick-May, the team sampled the air in barns and mapped the particulate concentration in a grid, documented the size of the particles, identified horses in those barns with airway inflammation and mucus, then correlated the incidence of airway disease with hot spots of airborne particulates.

AS LONG AS A HORSE IS EATING WELL AND DOING WELL, THEIR CHANCES OF BLEEDING ARE RELATIVELY SMALL. IF A HORSE IS FATIGUED AND STRESSED, I ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT WOULD LEAD TO BLEEDING.” KEN McPEEK

| INDUSTRY |

THERE WERE TRAINERS WHO WERE REALLY ON THE FENCE, AND THAT WAS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE HORSE. EVERY TRAINER I TALKED TO, THAT WAS THEIR MAIN FOCUS: HOW DO I DO THIS SO THAT MY HORSE IS OK?” DR. ROB HOLLAND

For part of the 18-month study, the research team used hand-held devices to assess airborne particulates; another part outfitted the noseband of each horse’s halter with a device that sampled the air quality in the horse’s breathing zone.

Some stalls appeared to be chronic hot spots for particulates, and horses in those stalls chronically had excess mucus in their airways. Often, moving the horses out of those stalls solved the problem.

These hot spots were different for each barn. Interestingly, because small particulates lodge deep in the lungs more easily than large ones, a stall that visibly appears clear might be an invisible hot spot.

• Getting prepared for the Pegasus–Lasix-free Dr. Rob Holland is a former Kentucky racing commission veterinarian based in Lexington who consults on infectious disease and respiratory issues, for which he obtained a PhD. Months prior to the Lasix-free

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ABOVE: The Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, 2020.

Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Florida, several trainers asked his advice on how to condition their horses so they could compete without Lasix. He told them they needed to start the program at least six weeks before the race. His first recommendation was to use ultrasound on the horse’s lungs to make sure they didn’t have scarring, which is a factor in EIPH, because scar tissue doesn’t stretch, it rips. Scarring can develop from a prior respiratory infection, such as pneumonia, or repeated episodes of EIPH. Next Holland directed the trainers to have the horse’s upper airway scoped for inflammation and excess mucus.

“I had one trainer who scoped the horse’s upper airway and trachea and decided, with the history of the horse, against running in the race without Lasix,” Holland said.

“So there were trainers who were really on the fence, and that was for the betterment of the horse. Every trainer I talked to, that was their main focus: How do I do this so that my horse is OK? That was always the first question they would ask me. Second, they would ask me if I could guarantee (that) running their horse without Lasix wouldn’t cause a problem, and the answer is there’s no guarantee.”

Holland instructed trainers to start cleaning up the horse’s environment at least six weeks before the race to rid the air of dust, allergens and mold. He told them not to store hay and straw above the stalls; remove the horse from the barn while cleaning stalls and shaking out bedding; don’t use leaf blowers to clean the shed row; don’t set large fans on the ground in the shed row, elevate them so they don’t stir up dust; practice good biosecurity to avoid spreading disease; and steam or soak the horse’s hay and feed it on the ground. All this reduces irritation and inflammation in the airway.

Holland prescribed nebulizing the horse’s lungs twice a day either with a chelated silver solution that kills microorganisms or ordinary saline solution to soothe the airway. He cautioned trainers with allergic horses not to use immunostimulants, which might cause adverse reactions in them.

| LIFE AFTER LASIX |

By starting the program well in advance of the race, trainers were able to experiment with management and training strategies to see which worked best.

“We programmed all the horses to be ready for a race without Lasix by starting the program at least a month before the race,” Holland said. “We tried to simulate the exact situation they’d be going into at Gulfstream—same bedding, same feed, same hay, but no meds. If the horses didn’t have a problem, they could give their best. Also, I wanted the trainers to test the theory that the horse could do OK in a work without Lasix. So the horses all worked and got scoped afterward to see that there weren’t any issues before the Pegasus. The trainers followed my advice, and they knew their horses would be OK. And they were.”

Confidentiality prohibited Holland from identifying the trainers who consulted him, but he said all their horses ran competitively in the Pegasus with only trace amounts of bleeding or none at all.

continuing education modules, look into adding information about EIPH and racing without Lasix.

Fravel also wants horsemen to know that 1/ST is dedicated to improving air quality on the backside.

“Ventilation and dust control is a big part of eventually weaning the horse population from Lasix, and we’re certainly willing to look at that and figure out ways we can improve the overall ventilation and conditions for the horses,” he said.

Fravel voiced an interest in Michigan State’s particulate mapping and said he planned to follow up with Dr. Millerick-May. Gulfstream Park has erected three “tent barns” that are large and airy with high ceilings and fans near the top.

At Palm Meadows Training Center about 40 miles from Gulfstream, plans include building tent barns to house 300-400 new stalls.

“The one thing about Florida racing is that all our barns are basically open,” said Mike Lakow, vice president of racing for Gulfstream Park. “It’s not enclosed barns as in the Northeast where weather is an issue.”

Fravel said the same of Santa Anita’s barns.

“They’re in a nice, breezy environment where much of the barn area is much more outdoor oriented than you would find on the East Coast,” he said. “Then at Laurel (Park in Maryland) we also have long-term plans for the entire barn area, which should be completed—if the current planning continues to take effect—in roughly two years’ time.”

• Help us, please Some horsemen have expressed frustration, complaining that racetracks are telling them they have to race without Lasix, but they’re not telling them how to accomplish this or helping them implement the change. Continuing education focuses mostly on reducing breakdowns, but it offers no modules to help trainers understand and deal with EIPH—arguably the hottest topic in racing.

Just prior to the Pegasus in January, The Stronach Group rolled out its new brand, 1/ST Racing, and named Craig Fravel its chief executive officer. His task is to manage and oversee racing operations at all Stronach Group-owned racetracks and training centers. Fravel came to 1/ST (pronounced “First”) after serving eight years as CEO of the Breeders’ Cup. Fravel said he wasn’t aware of the horsemen’s frustration.

“I’m happy to jump into that and make sure that our communication with them in terms of best practices and concepts is addressed,” he said, vowing to have Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board who helped develop the Jockey Club’s

• So far, so good

BELOW: Craig Fravel, CEO of The Stronach Group’s new brand, 1/ST Racing.

Without knowing how many horses will be able to race competitively without Lasix and how many will be lost through attrition because their owners decide to stop on them, filling races and field size becomes a question.

Lakow said this hasn’t been an issue so far.

“As far as our two-year-old races at Gulfstream Park this year, we’ve had close to 25 without Lasix, and field size has not diminished at all,” he said going into the 4th of July weekend. “…With the Stronach Group deciding to run our two biggest races, the Pegasus World Cup and

VENTILATION AND DUST CONTROL IS A BIG PART OF EVENTUALLY WEANING THE HORSE POPULATION FROM LASIX, AND WE’RE CERTAINLY WILLING TO LOOK AT THAT AND FIGURE OUT WAYS WE CAN IMPROVE THE OVERALL VENTILATION AND CONDITIONS FOR THE HORSES.” CRAIG FRAVEL

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| INDUSTRY |

the Pegasus World Cup Turf in January without Lasix, we had full fields, and I really didn’t hear issues of horses bleeding from those two races.

“Now, granted, we invited every top dirt horse and turf horse in the country, and I would say less than 5% said they couldn’t participate because there was no Lasix.”

(NOTE: The California Horse Racing Board and Churchill Downs were given the opportunity to speak to horsemen through this article but declined. The New York Racing Association did not respond.)

• Handicapping: No more speed in a bottle A first-time Lasix horse always has been the bettors’ Golden Ticket, especially when it was inside information not printed in the program. For decades, astute handicappers have studied how individual horses react when racing on Lasix or without it. That’s all about to change.

Paul Matties Jr., who earned the 2016 Eclipse Award for handicapping, calls Lasix “speed in a bottle,” and he knows most people are going to take that the wrong way. Matties believes a horse keeps itself together better when it races on Lasix, giving the jockey instant speed at his fingertips.

“It’s more of a sustained run,” Matties said. “They’re going to have to work more for it instead of just asking.

Modern jockeys have been used to this. I ask and the horse will give it to me because it’s speed in a bottle. It’s canned speed. And I believe a lot of that is because of Lasix.

“Jockeys nowadays know they have it, so it’s more about relaxing the horse and getting into a rhythm. They don’t have to worry about the speed part. I think as they get off Lasix, they’re going to have to worry about that more. It is going to be different, and I think the jockeys will notice the difference.

“As far as handicapping, the one thing that definitely is going to happen in dirt races is that speed will do better.

It’s going to go against what people think in general. But I think the horses that don’t get the lead will be the ones that will bleed more. I don’t think it will happen every race, obviously. But, in general, I think speed will do a little bit

BELOW: Gulfstream Park has erected three “tent barns” that are large and airy with high ceilings and fans near the top.

better. I think the Lasix keeps the horses together longer, where they’re able to sit chilly as long as they can and have an explosive run. They will have less of that ability to do that. I will definitely look for horses near to the lead.”

• Buyers, sellers and breeders Bloodstock agent Gayle Van Lear believes EIPH could become an undesirable trait that buyers and breeders will avoid. Horsemen will need to start paying attention to those horses racing now to see if they perform poorly when they don’t receive Lasix. Then they will have to decide if they want to breed to them when they retire from racing. In the not-so-distant future, will certain bloodlines fizzle out on the track because they inherited a predisposition to EIPH? “That’s like anything that falls on the same line, like all the Storm Cats that had offset knees and all the crooked Mr. Prospectors,” Van Lear said. “Those, over time, phase themselves out through the gene pool, and the chips fall where they fall. So I don’t see this as being any different.

It’s just going to be that those horses that are very bad bleeders genetically will phase themselves out of the gene pool because they are not going to be competitive.”

For now, it is a guessing game as to which current stallions and mares might produce bleeders.

In 2014, a group of Australian researchers at the University of Sydney published a 10-year study to determine if horses could be genetically predisposed to epistaxis.

The study reviewed 1,852,912 individual performance records of 117,088 racehorses in Australia, where Lasix is banned for racing. As part of that study, the researchers investigated the pedigrees of 715 sires and 2,351 dams.

THE ONE THING ABOUT FLORIDA RACING IS THAT ALL OUR BARNS ARE BASICALLY OPEN, IT’S NOT ENCLOSED BARNS AS IN THE NORTHEAST WHERE WEATHER IS AN ISSUE.” MIKE LAKOW

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| LIFE AFTER LASIX |

“Our research showed that epistaxis is moderately heritable,” co-author Dr. Claire Wade, professor and chair of Computational Biology and Animal Genetics, said in an email. “This implies that it is a complex trait that can be selected against in a breeding population.

Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) is the underlying condition that, when severe, manifests as epistaxis. That epistaxis is inherited implies that EIPH is also inherited. The inheritance is not a simple Mendelian trait (dominant, recessive), and so it is unlikely to be controlled by DNA-based testing. Because horses with epistaxis are less successful on the racetrack in the long run, there should be selection against the disorder. I expect that this is more likely to be achieved by indirect selection against breeding stock through their exclusion from racing than by bloodstock agents avoiding purchase of animals with epistaxis in their pedigree.”

Wade’s co-author and emeritus professor of Animal Genetics, Dr. Herman Raadsma, agreed, adding, “Although heritable, a significant component is nongenetic or chance occurrences for reasons we may not necessarily know why or predict in advance.”

Kevin McKathan, who since 1988 has operated McKathan Brothers Training Center and bloodstock agency with his now late-brother J.B., said what he looks for in a horse probably isn’t going to change.

“When I buy or sell horses, I would say maybe it’s a 10%-15% possibility that you end up with a true bleeder,” he said. “Until we have the data that shows the mare was a bleeder, the stallion was a bleeder, the mare’s mother’s mother was a bleeder, I’m not sure how we could make that decision on their genetics,” McKathan said.

“If you’re buying a horse that’s already racing on Lasix, that would definitely be a concern. But I think we’re going to have to figure out a way, if they ban Lasix, to get along with those horses that have breathing problems. Hopefully, you won’t get one.

“I don’t believe we breed bleeders necessarily,” McKathan continued. “I believe certain horses are traumatized, where they do bleed; but I believe with a different training method, there’s a possibility that these horses won’t bleed.

So we’re going to have to learn how to train around that problem if they take Lasix away from us.”

Dr. Robert Copelan, 94, was the track veterinarian for Thistledown near Cleveland in the 1950s, before Lasix was approved for race day. Part of his job was to observe every horse during unsaddling after a race and enter the names on the Vet’s List of horses that visibly bled.

“The riders sometimes would come back with blood all over their white pants and their silks, just a horrible sight to see, right in front of the grandstand where they took the saddles off those horses,” he recalled.

Copelan estimated 1%-3% of those pre-Lasix runners would end up on the Vet’s List, which required trainers to lay them off for a certain number of days and then demonstrate they could breeze a half-mile for Copelan without bleeding.

Every additional incident of bleeding within a 365-day period for that same horse increased the mandated time off.

For the third or fourth incident within a year, depending on the jurisdiction, the horse would be ruled off for life.

These bleeder regulations still exist in every jurisdiction.

Copelan is concerned about these horses and the horsemen who invest in them.

ABOVE: Terry Finley

“Let’s say you and I have teamed up in a partnership and we’re going to buy a couple of horses, and we’ve had good luck together,” he said. “Now we’re interested in a horse, and we’re going to have to give between $850,000 and a million for him. We buy him, and now when he turns two and we have him ready for his first race, the son of a gun turns out to be a bleeder. Are we going to sit there and say, ‘Oh, what bad luck!’?”

Prospective buyers can examine sale horses for imperfections, such as throat abnormalities and those that potentially could cause lameness, but there is no way to tell if a horse will be a bleeder. When examined, any damage found in the airway and lungs from a prior respiratory illness sets off warning bells, but with no guarantee the horse will develop EIPH when it races. Every fall of the hammer becomes a roll of the dice for these buyers.

Terry Finley, president of West Point Thoroughbreds, said the scenario Copelan described is an unfortunate situation, but he doesn’t know how often one could reasonably expect it to happen.

The owner’s responsibility will be to decide what to do about horses with EIPH. Management changes, added preparation, veterinary care before and after a race, and time off to allow the horse’s lungs to heal all add up to larger training and veterinary bills. Many owners will have to take a hard look at the long-term plan for horses with EIPH that can’t be competitive without special handling. Is the added expense worth it, or should they retire the horse? It’s unlikely to be desired as breeding stock, even with a stellar pedigree. What happens to it then?

“The more I talk to people all around the country, they see this situation, while not perfect, as a compromise,” Finley said of the move to ban Lasix. “They see it as a way to move past this issue, at least in the short term, and they understand that it’s not going to be perfect. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I’ve talked to a lot of people. If you look at it at the fringes, it could present some problems.

But, by and large, the hope is that this is going to be better for the greater good, and that’s what we hope will be the situation at some point in the future.”

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| INDUSTRY |

SALES SEASON

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Jeff Lowe

Fasig-Tipton, OBS Sales

BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT

| COVID-19 SALES PROTOCOLS |

AMID COVID-19, A WIDESPREAD MOVE TO ADAPT ONLINE BIDDING AT SALES

A

dapting to the new world with COVID-19 has led to a rapid integration of online bidding for Thoroughbred auctions across North America, presenting sale companies and consignors with a new challenge to supply potential buyers with enough information and technology for them to feel comfortable making a winning bid from afar.

Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton and Ocala Breeders’ Sale Co. (OBS) all added online bidding platforms by the time the sales calendar relaunched this summer after more than two months of dormancy, with sales either canceled or postponed during the height of pandemic restrictions in April and May. Regional sales scheduled for later in the year in Ohio and Ontario also moved toward a more flexible format with the option of online bidding.

OBS was the guinea pig on two fronts amid COVID-19’s impact. The sale company pushed forward with the OBS March sale of two-year-olds in training on March 17 and 18, which was right in the middle of lockdown announcements and steep stock market declines. The sale company did not yet have online bidding capabilities, but that would change by the time the OBS spring sale of two-year-olds in training took place from June 9-12.

“We had a couple of months between sales to get the technology up and running for online bidding and it sure seemed necessary,” OBS Sales Director Tod Wojciechowski said. “In the March sale, we just needed to get through it and do what we could to move horses along during a very tumultuous time, and then regroup for the sales this summer. COVID-19 was certainly a catalyst to bringing online bidding to market quicker. We had talked about doing it previously but with the pandemic, we felt we needed to get it up and running as quickly as we could.”

OBS relied on Xcira, a Tampa-based provider of auction software and technologies, to introduce online bidding functions to the OBSSale.com website in time for the spring sale. As it turned out, that sale occurred just as many COVID-19-related restrictions were being lifted.

“We had a boost in buyer attendance from the timing there, but then in July we were back with the sale coming up when there was a big spike around us in COVID cases, and online bidding helped fill that gap in attendance,” Wojciechowski said.

Of the 517 horses that changed hands in the July sale, 72 of them (14 percent) were sold through online bidding.

Fasig-Tipton also made a quick move to online bidding for its revised auction calendar, beginning with the Midlantic two-yearolds in training sale in Timonium, Maryland, on June 29 and 30 (with Fasig-Tipton reporting 15 horses were sold online) and continuing with an even greater emphasis on a remote marketplace in the July horses of racing age sale. This was the eighth edition of the July horses of racing age sale and the first time it was

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conducted without an accompanying yearling sale. According to Fasig-Tipton CEO Boyd Browning, more than 100 people registered to make online bids for the sale, and 45 of them followed through with submitting bids. Seven horses were sold to online bidders.

“With everything else going on in the world, we were certainly glad we added that capability for buyers to participate,” Browning said. “In addition to the horses who sold to online bidders, those buyers also were immediate underbidders and second underbidders in a number of cases. There was an activity at all levels and all price ranges too.

“A horses of racing age sale lends itself to online bidding; buyers can see past performances and past races and they have a lot to go on. We’ll be moving into the yearling sales and that’s a little different. We’ll be providing walking videos for every horse that the consignors want to do it. We’ll be strongly encouraging them to do it. We’ll work with them to provide the services ourselves or provide a stipend if they want to use their own vendor.”

Keeneland took online sale capabilities one step further by adding a new Digital Sales Ring platform that debuted on June 23 with a horses of racing age sale that was conducted entirely online, with technology developed by Horseco. Only 12 of the 38 horses cataloged changed hands, with a filly named Trapezium

| COVID-19 SALES PROTOCOLS |

selling from Juddmonte Farms’ consignment to St. Elias Stable for $327,000 as the top price.

Keeneland officials are planning to add new online and phone bidding technology to the traditional live sale formats for the Keeneland September yearling sale and November breeding stock sales this fall, especially in light of international travel restrictions.

Still, Keeneland does hope to have some international buyers in attendance.

“While Keeneland is excited to unveil our full portfolio of remote bidding options, we continue to work closely with state and federal government officials, including representatives of both Senator Mitch McConnell and Congressman Andy Barr, to seek exceptions to allow international travelers to attend the September Sale,” said Shannon Bishop Arvin, who is serving as Keeneland’s acting head of sales through the end of the year before she formally succeeds Bill Thomason as CEO and president. “Just as we have done for 80-plus years, Keeneland will exhaust every measure possible to bring the world to Keeneland.”

Sale leaders in Ohio, Ontario and Washington state also made quick strides to add online bidding technology as contingency options for sales late summer and fall, with no certainty of whether or not COVID-19 would dissuade buyers from traveling and attending at that time.

WE HAD A COUPLE OF MONTHS BETWEEN SALES TO GET THE TECHNOLOGY UP AND RUNNING FOR ONLINE BIDDING AND IT SURE SEEMED NECESSARY.” TOD WOJCIECHOWSKI -OBS SALES DIRECTOR

OBS SALES

OBS SALES

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DO THE MATH!

This is THE sale that produces the highest rate of return on your investment anywhere in North America This year, 230 yearlings are catalogued to sell at Woodbine on Wednesday 2nd September - to see the scope of yearlings on offer either scan this QR code or visit www.cthsont.com If you’re looking for VALUE, just remember that: In 2020 Ontario sired and bred maiden 2yo’s have run for up to $123,000 CAN In 2020 a total of $3,275,000 CAN purse money has been available in 2yo stakes including bonuses for Ontario Sired and Ontario Bred Every year CTHS sales graduates are eligible to run in a restricted stake for $250,000 CAN in separate categories for both colts and fillies Ontario tracks offer five individual surfaces, three turf tracks, one dirt and one Tapeta surface

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The driving distance between New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Kentucky makes Ontario accessible to race and purchase horses Toronto International Airport is located just 14 minutes from Woodbine At the 2020 sale, online / telephone bidding will be available

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| INDUSTRY |

ABOVE: Fasig-Tipton’s coronavirus protocols and precautions in place.

The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society has its annual Canadian premier yearling sale scheduled for September 2 at Woodbine.

“We are going to go forward as if everything is going be normal other than health protocols developed with Woodbine, but we are also going to make plans to have online and phone bidding,” said Dermot Carty, national director for the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society and long-time sales director for the Stronach family’s Adena Springs. “Having said that, if it becomes necessary to change the date to later in September or into October, we wouldn’t be against that either.

“Reason being is, frankly, I wouldn’t buy a horse that I just saw on a video; and I’ve been buying horses for close to 50 years now. It’s like online dating: you get a lot of pictures, but then you get a big surprise when you show up. Right? Not that I have ever done that, but when you’re looking at livestock, that’s something that technology can’t give you. Videos can’t produce what it is like looking at a horse in person. They’ve tried and tried for years in the United Kingdom and I know it’s been done just recently in Australia, but it still doesn’t beat the real thing. You have to look at the whole horse, and that includes his attitude, how he reacts toward people, what he actually physically walks like. So it does have its limitations.”

The Ohio Thoroughbred Sale was already scheduled for a venue change in 2020, with the sale moving to the central part

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of the state at the Delaware County Fairgrounds—the site of the Little Brown Jug harness racing classic. The mixed sale will be held on October 15 and with online bidding technology provided by the auction house RES Auction Services of Wooster, Ohio.

“We had already decided to bring them on as the new auctioneer for the sale, and them having that kind of technology is only going to help us this year especially,” said Daryl Duncan, sale committee chairman for the Ohio Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders. “As long as Ohio is racing at that time, the sale will be a ‘go.’ Like everything else this year, who knows what things will be like then, but we will be ready to have a sale.”

The Washington Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association conducted its annual Washington Thoroughbred sale on August 18 in Auburn. The sale pavilion is adjacent to Emerald Downs, and that proximity, as well as the advent of phone and online bidding, allowed the sale to take place amid tight caps from the state government on the number of people allowed to gather indoors.

“We’ve been in Phase Two, which only allows 15 people to gather, so the only way we could have this sale is with people bidding from afar, whether that’s on the phone or online or even from the grandstand at Emerald Downs, where they could really space out,” said the WTOBA’s Susan van Dyke. “We did end up with more yearlings than usual for this year’s sale; it’s important for our breeders—just a matter of making do, making it happen.”

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| TRAINING |

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Georgie White

Eclipse Sportswire, Alamy

CAN WE TRAIN A COMPLETELY SYMMETRICAL HORSE? imb dominance, handedness and laterality are all terms closely associated with the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain and how these may influence preferred use of one side of the body; a direct example in humans would be the preferred hand he/she learns to write with or foot to kick a ball with. The racehorse is often commemorated on their speed or ability to clear a fence, but you would be surprised how relevant limb dominance is to the performance and longevity of a racehorse’s career. This preference is often evident in an individual horse’s preferred canter lead, preferred leading limb in gallop, leading and landing limb over a fence. It can be argued that the former activities can be influenced by training, but to what degree and at what point should we utilize this preference? And when should we pay attention to the risk of injury? This article is going to discuss this relevance and explain the potential implications of limb dominance.

As with many corners of equine research, the observed phenomenon first began from studying the human and has since been studied extensively in performance and leisure horses, respectively. The goal of many a ridden horse is symmetry of movement, the discipline in which they train will dictate the degree of importance of this; the dressage horse can lose palpable marks when they are not symmetrical in their movement, whilst a racehorse may not be as well versed nor will it be a direct measure of performance quality.

L

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| TRAINING |

| LIMB DOMINANCE |

LATERALIZATION OCCURS CONTRALATERALLY, MEANING THAT A HORSE WHO IS LEFT HEMISPHERE DOMINANT WILL EXPERIENCE A RIGHT-SIDED MOTOR PREFERENCE AND VICE VERSA.”

• Anatomical structure of a horse’s brain The primary motor cortex is the central hub of dynamic movement, generating nerve impulses that control the execution of all movements and crossing the body’s midline to activate skeletal muscles. Every part of the body is represented and arranged somatotopically, meaning the area controlling the hoof is close to the area controlling the limb. The amount of brain matter or cortical space devoted to a body part represents the degree of control the horse has over that body part. For example, the human will have far greater cortical space devoted to intricate movements of the hands and fingers compared to the horse. In contrast the horse will have far greater cortical space reserved for movement of the ears, lips and nose to represent the vast number of social cues, foraging behaviors and body language exhibited. Although not yet proven in horses, human athletes have been shown to have increased cortical thickness in areas correlating with athletic ability or skill; this is likely to be the case in equines; for example, racehorses would likely see increases in areas devoted to limb control.

From a lateralization perspective, the brain is divided into two hemispheres or lobes which are referred to the left and right hemispheres and divided by the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is an essential structure composed of a thick band of nerve fibers providing communication between the two spheres. Lateralization refers to these hemispheres having distinct functional differences, each offering specialized neural functions or cognitive processes. Lateralization occurs contralaterally, meaning that a horse who is left hemisphere dominant will experience a right-sided motor preference and vice versa.

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• What research is there on limb dominance?

ABOVE: Limb preferences are often developed in the first weeks and months of life.

In horses, grazing patterns are often studied, specifically noting which limb is placed forward most often; however, research is varied with some conclusions stating that innate skeletal asymmetry is highly prevalent in the foal and can be exacerbated by environmental factors. It is recommended that a farrier and vet work closely to correct visual asymmetry in goals as early as possible. A valuable longitudinal study completed by Van Heel et al., (2010) found a relationship with uneven forefeet in foals and subsequent unevenness as a yearling and then as a three-year-old; this was then found to correlate with sidedness in trot and canter transitions. This study highlights several points of interest, firstly the distinct need to correct limb asymmetries and abnormalities from

| TRAINING |

an early age and secondly the potential future inclusion of quantitative laterality data at the time of studbook admission to assist breeders and owners in selection criteria.

Later research by Austin and Rogers (2012) stated there was no significant differences in limb dominance in a group of feral and wild Przewalski’s horses, which suggested that differences can be attributed to domestication at least to some degree. This varying body of evidence opens the discussion on the effect of domestication and relevance of cultural husbandry practices; in the western world it is common practice to complete many routine tasks from the left side of the horse, e.g., leading, tacking up and mounting. Future studies that attempt to measure this cultural influence may choose to select a large group of equines of generally the same breed and discipline to act as a control and prevent skewed results.

Many studies have attempted to decipher the causes of variation in motor bias. This is yet to have solid evidence behind it, with several studies showing links in gender and breed initially with training likely to play a part as they embark on their ridden career. As with all equine research, it is important to take note of cause and effect; for example, it may not be the fact that the horse is of Thoroughbred breeding, but the likely type of work or environment that a Thoroughbred is placed in that has supplied the correlation.

BELOW: All horses will have a dominant lead in the gallop.

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| LIMB DOMINANCE |

ABOVE: A balanced change of leading limb can be the difference between winning a race and coming a close second.

• The gallop As many a rider and trainer will describe, a horse will naturally have a leading limb preference and over a fence, they are generally left to continue with their preference; on the flat, generally left to the jockey’s discretion but the consensus seems to be less interference the better. Then comes the bends. In the transverse gallop, the horse will have a four-beat gait—a pattern of right hind, left hind, right fore, left fore—with the left fore essentially leading the movement and acting as the leading limb round a left hand bend. In the words of Dr. Ray Baran, the correct lead is “the easiest method to get the shortest distance between two points the quickest way”; as a result the horse is in balance.

| LIMB DOMINANCE |

| TRAINING |

• Clockwise or counterclockwise?

Laterality research in the racing Thoroughbred has paid special attention to racetrack direction. This is specifically relevant given that in Europe, racetracks are both clockwise and counterclockwise, some with greater curves and in some cases horses race for one mile in a straight line. Meanwhile, in North America, where all tracks are counterclockwise, largely oval and flat, there is greater potential for laterality and limb dominance to be magnified due to horses racing consistently in the same direction. In addition, from a performance point of view, it is unlikely horses will be trained in the opposite direction to counteract any developmental preferences.

BELOW: Horses leaving the starting gates at gallop.

Anecdotal evidence suggests there is an emerging understanding of the implications of asymmetry in the horse, with more trainers beginning to pay special attention to ensuring horses are as symmetrical as possible during their training.

Simple alterations to training regimes include: • Training horses in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

• Working horses centrally rather than allowing them to develop a dependence and “lean” on one rail.

• Adding variety to fitness routines which may include use of an aqua treadmill, providing cardiovascular training without repetitive or concussive force through limbs.

• Adding gymnastic jump exercises or gridwork, again providing athletic benefit whilst not repeating the same dynamic patterns of movement.

IN NORTH AMERICA, WHERE ALL TRACKS ARE COUNTERCLOCKWISE, LARGELY OVAL AND FLAT, THERE IS GREATER POTENTIAL FOR LATERALITY AND LIMB DOMINANCE TO BE MAGNIFIED DUE TO HORSES RACING CONSISTENTLY IN THE SAME DIRECTION.”

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• Does a horse’s standing posture correlate with their dynamic performance?

Static posture and conformation are not always indicative of how a horse will then move dynamically, and vice versa, some limb deviations will only be present in stance as will deviations in the flight path of a limb only be visible in motion. Further to this, some will only be present in certain gaits.

Research released in the last eight months from Holleboom (2020) at Massey University, New Zealand conducted a small study looking at load distribution in the forelimbs of horses either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Although no significant differences between left and right limbs were found, this is only indicative of static

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| LIMB DOMINANCE |

| TRAINING |

but we must remember the canter is a three-beat asymmetrical gait initiated by the opposite hind leg from the leading forelimb. Therefore, this study corroborated the work of White and other previous researchers.

Dynamic exercise is of particular relevance given that the force exerted through the leading forelimb at gallop has been shown to be as much as twice the horse’s body weight; and this may be relevant when considering the potential implications for a horse that is significantly preferred of one limb.

• So, what does this mean for the horses that I train?

The prevalence of repetitive strain injuries and stress fractures in the sports horse, and in particular racehorses, has been widely documented for the last 40 years— occurring most commonly in the third metacarpal, third metatarsal, humerus, tibia, and proximal phalanx.

These locations have been proven to be anatomically and biomechanically susceptible to excess wear and tear, rendering them at risk of stress fracture. But what has not been identified is the relationship between these sites of fracture and if the fractured limb were indeed the horse’s dominant or preferred limb. Emergence of this research would better inform us how to improve training practices to prevent such fractures.

The use of ground reaction force measurements and force vector diagrams have been shown to identify inter-limb asymmetries in preliminary studies by Hobbs et al., (2018) which shows a reliable method of being able to further conduct these studies in the future. If paired with the work of Holleboom, this may begin to provide the equestrian industry with some answers on this topic and therefore better inform best training practice.

• And what about rider influence?

weight bearing and during dynamic exercise. This may well change when other external variables are also in place such as racing environment, rider aids and other horses present amongst others.

Several researchers conducting thesis studies have also looked at facial hair whorl direction as a measure of laterality and found it to be indicative of greater forelimb weight load distribution. Research by White (2018) found that a horse with a clockwise whorl direction preferred to load the right forelimb more; comparatively, the left forelimb was favored in horses with counterclockwise whorls.

Interestingly, the study also found links between forelimb loading preference and cannon bone circumferences when measured externally. Gohery (2017) found correlative links between whorl direction and desirable stride characteristics in canter. Horses with clockwise whorls had a longer stride in the left stride pattern, and horses with counterclockwise whorls had a longer stride in the right stride pattern.

Initially the two studies appear to contradict themselves,

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TOP: The direction of the facial whorl has been shown to be indicative of limb preference.

ABOVE: The rider can influence the horse’s leading stride throughout a race.

Of course, we must also consider the influence of the rider who themselves will no doubt have their own dominant limb which may influence the aids given to the horse and which over time may increase the effects of laterality or potentially even it out. Currently scientific evidence would be hard to come by in-field due to the difficulty in separating rider laterality and horse laterality, but it is certainly a topic for development in the future.

• In summary Having discussed the available and emerging research and its potential implications we are left with a causality dilemma or informally known as the “chicken or egg” situation, where we have scientific evidence of the existence of laterality in horses but currently lack data that solidifies cause and the potential implications. Until we have this solid evidence, we can begin to work with existing and anecdotal evidence and current best practice to train our horses to be as symmetrical as possible to minimize risk of the detrimental effects of extreme lateralization. The appreciation and relevance of limb dominance may seem like a small cog in a large wheel of the performing racehorse, but when the aggregation of marginal improvements to performance is at the forefront, can we really afford to ignore its potential significance?

| INDUSTRY |

SHR EW D MOV ES IN THE

SA LES R ING Buying and selling high-end bloodstock at public auction takes preparation, serious due diligence, lots of passion and a dose of luck.

B

loodstock agents all have a formula, a routine, pedigree preferences and conformation predilections, which must be weighed against current market conditions and trends as they approach every sale.

Whether you are purchasing horses for resale, to race or breeding stock, buying (or selling) Thoroughbreds is an intense business. Choosing the right weanling or yearling to pinhook is every bit as precarious as picking the right 2-year-old to run.

Adrian Gonzalez, founder of Checkmate Thoroughbreds, is no exception. The 41-year-old horseman was not born into a family with deep equine ties or historic roots. He does, however, have a family story that reads something like a cold war novel.

Gonzalez’s grandfather, Roberto, was a Cuban orphan raised in the government system and became an Olympic-caliber gymnast. Roberto was a member of the Cuban National Olympic Gymnastics Team during the Pan American Games in Guatemala City, Guatemala. During the competition he met his future wife (a student at the university where the games were held), defected from Cuba and started a family. When Gonzalez’s father Erick was 12, the family immigrated to the United States.

Adrian grew up around backyard horses in a small northern California town. While obtaining a degree in animal science at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, he paid his bills by breaking yearlings at Cardiff Stud. Team roping and cowboying on a 23,000-acre cattle ranch may not have prepared the young Gonzalez for his first foyer into Thoroughbred racing.

RIGHT: Spiced Perfection was smaller “in a plain brown wrapper” when she did not reach her reserve as a 2-year-old; the multiplegraded stakes winner ultimately earned $1,224,705.

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Annie Lambert

Annie Lambert, Checkmate Thoroughbreds

ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| INDUSTRY |

“The first morning I walked into the tack room and there are only flat saddle—English tack,” he recalled with a chuckle, shaking his head. “I honestly didn’t even know how to tack them up, but the guys showed me.”

Cardiff was sold to game show host Alex Trebek, who changed the name to Creston Farms and focused solely on breeding. Gonzalez hung up his tack and became a stallion groom and later stallion manager. His wealth of experience in the industry continued to grow.

“When the breeding season ended I switched gears and focused on the development and growth of weanlings and yearlings,” Gonzalez explained. “I became enchanted by the Thoroughbred business and put all my focus into figuring out how I could do this for a living.”

• Pedigrees are personal Gonzalez did figure out how to build the Thoroughbred industry into a career. When Creston Farms was sold again and became the short-lived Windfall Farms, he seized on the demise of Windfall, leased a portion of that farm and started his own bloodstock business. Checkmate Thoroughbreds came to light in 2005. In 2013, Checkmate moved to its current 66-acres in nearby Parkfield.

During those early years Gonzalez dove into operating a training facility, breaking yearlings, foaling mares and offering sales consignments. When he and his wife Erin (who has an agricultural business degree) analyzed their large cash flow, they found the actual profit margin boiled down to a couple well-sold sale horses.

“It happened that we were profiting on one or two horses that we came up with ourselves,” said Gonzalez with a laugh. “We could have had just those few horses instead of the hundreds of others. Slowly we phased

Gonzalez has honed his farrier skills to help pinhook prospects grow correctly and become improved individuals before reselling.

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down on the breaking and training to focus on the sales—the pinhooking side of it.”

Personal preferences in bloodlines as well as following industry trends are not unique. Prior to readily available online statistics, Gonzalez researched and put together spreadsheets to assist his pinhooking selections. Choosing horses for resale is easier these days, but it is easier for everyone.

“When the catalog comes out, I do a lot of research,” Gonzalez explained. “Blood-Horse puts out a valuable tool called The Auction Edge. It shows the history for every horse in the family, what they sold for, which are not on the regular auction page. This past November we bought an inexpensive weanling by Overanalyze for $2,500.

“There wasn’t much black type on the catalog page, but with a little research in Auction Edge you could see that there was an Uncle Mo 2-year-old half-sibling that had just sold at (Ocala Breeder’s Sale) March for $525,000.

Knowing that there was the potential for a big pedigree update will help increase the value of your horse without you having to actually do anything to the horse.

I WANT TO FIND SOMETHING WITH ALL THE PARTS, BUT NOT NECESSARILY PUT TOGETHER YET.”

| SHREWD MOVES IN THE SALES RING |

BELOW: This pretty Malibu Moon filly was an $85,000 yearling purchased at Fasig-Tipton July and parlayed into a $240,000 resale at the Del Mar Select training sale (above).

“Coincidentally, a few months after we bought that baby the Uncle Mo filly won her first two starts in Japan by a combined 20-length margin. After that the phone was ringing off the hook, and we sold it privately for a whole lot of money.”

Gonzalez pointed out that is one reason he spends more time digging through the sales results of the families than looking at the black type on the catalog pages. The pre-sale diligence can also expose a negative.

For example, you may find a half-sibling to a bunch of horses by top sires that all sold “terribly cheap.” That tells you the mare produces terrible sales horses.

“Since I’m not doing this to find a race horse,” the agent reminded, “those sales numbers are super important for me to have.”

• The conformation coup Once at the sale, Gonzalez follows his prospect list to search for bargains. He doesn’t want to pay retail for a pinhook.

“I want to find something with all the parts, but not necessarily put together yet,” he said. “I want to see good length of bone, meaning the horse is going to grow to have substantial size. I’m not too concerned with how heavily muscled a weanling is at this point; I’ve made the mistake of buying heavy muscled weanlings and get them home to realize they were slowing down in their growth height, and that’s why they were filling in.”

Because Gonzalez shoes and trims his own horses, he usually begins appraising an individual’s conformation at their feet, especially on a weanling.

RIGHT: Gonzalez and his wife, Erin, operate their 66-acre Checkmate Thoroughbreds in Parkfield, California.

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| INDUSTRY |

ABOVE: This well-balanced Smiling Tiger filly was well flipped by Checkmate, which purchased her at the CTBA January 2019 sale for $10,000. She resold for $72,000 during Fasig-Tipton September just eight months later.

ABOVE RIGHT: Foals that toe out will often self-correct through the legs as the narrow chests widen; proper trimming also helps Mother Nature.

“If a weanling doesn’t have a very good walk, it’s not carrying itself well, or is stiff behind, generally that’s starting at the feet,” he pointed out. “I try to evaluate the growth stage they’re in. I’m not trying to find the perfect horse; I’m trying to find something I can improve.”

For example, Gonzalez prefers a weanling that toes out some over one that stands perfectly correct, citing that as those colts mature and their chests widen, they will be inclined to toe in.

“If you were to see the front end of some weanlings the day I buy them, you’d probably deem those horses a little too crooked,” he said. “If they grow the way we hope they do, they will be just right when we go to sell them as yearlings. We’ll help that along with how we trim those feet and how we feed the horse.”

Gonzalez puts an emphasis on the gaskin when scrutinizing the hind leg, calling it the “speed and power muscle.” He doesn’t agree that speed comes from the hip and jokes about there being a “lot of big hips out there, but not a lot of talent.”

“If you have a big hip and just kind of a scrawny leg coming down below that, it’s just fool’s gold,” he opined.

“You’re going to get a heavy muscled horse with no speed and no power. So the gaskin and the forearm are muscle types that develop really early, and I can identify that the horse is going to have some speed.”

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ABOVE: This filly possesses overall good conformation, according to Gonzalez’s experienced eye.

The shoulder should be at a 45-degree angle, which should have a matching angle at the pastern. Gonzalez may attribute a “funky” pastern angle to feet that are not properly trimmed or the stage of growth.

“Looking at a long, sloping 45-degree shoulder angle, I’m hoping I can tell how this horse is going to move just by seeing it stand there,” said Gonzalez. “If all the parts are balanced and at the correct angle we’re looking for, then when they walk off, they should have that stride we’re looking for. Generally you can see it there in a picture before you need to see it in motion, which is our reassurance.”

“I don’t have the budget to buy the perfect horse—the show stopper—at the sale.” “I want to resell the perfect horse,” Gonzalez concluded.

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| INDUSTRY |

• Walk the walk Weanlings and yearlings get walked and viewed at sales because it is the only test that may predict their athleticism down the road. The walk is probably the single most critiqued evaluation a horse goes through at a sale.

“That’s because we can’t just turn them loose and watch them run. The best we can do is have them walk up and back 50 feet and attempt to determine how this horse can run at a mile and a quarter,” quipped Gonzalez.

In addition to overall athleticism, buyers are looking for a walk to show stride efficiency and stride length. In theory, a longer stride length at a walk should equal a longer stride at full speed.

Gonzalez noted that he sold his Eurociser when he observed his horses shortened their stride to back off the gates. They also kept their heads elevated, which hollowed out their backs and disengaged their hindquarters, also shortening the stride.

“Pretty much we hand walk our horses,” Gonzalez explained. “It is incredibly labor intensive because we are walking each horse two miles a day. But they are learning so much about manners—learning to respect a handler, and they go on to show so much better at the sale.”

Horses that engage their hindquarters, lengthening their stride, exhibit their drive power behind with a larger overstride. The overstride being the hind foot reaching and planting beyond the hoof print left by the front foot.

“With a short walking horse, the hind foot will step in the same spot its front foot just came out of or less,” said Gonzalez. “A big walking horse will overstride a foot or 18 inches. At the run, that translates into power from the back end.”

BELOW: Checkmate sale preparations include two miles of hand walking daily, according to Gonzalez. Horses show better at the sale with the extra handling prior.

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An interesting perception by Gonzalez on watching 2-year-olds in training is that buyers seem to value the faster works over the longer walk.

“These fast horses at the training sales...if they are fast and have a big stride, great,” he observed. “They should bring a lot of money, but there are so many that are fast at an eighth of a mile and still very short strided. I think people overlook the walk at the 2-year-old sales because they are focused on the flashy breeze times.”

• Buy, sell, pass Gonzalez likes to find a horse that has all the parts in all the right places but doesn’t have a great walk. Often, he feels, these individuals can be improved by the time he sells them.

“You can find horses that don’t have a good walk, but you can help develop their muscles and develop their behavior to have a good walk. That’s part of our pinhooking strategy.”

There are some conformation issues, however, that he cannot gamble on. Clubfeet are most likely a pass. Small horses don’t get much attention from Gonzalez either.

The smaller horses can be purchased for a discount but are usually discounted when resold as well.

Those that are too upright, too straight in the pasterns and even through the knees, and those over in the knees are also avoided by Gonzalez. Some of his best pinhooks were individuals that were “beat up” price wise for being too long and too low in the pasterns.

“That type of horse can have a really, really big walk on them,” he noted. “I’ve seen horses whose pasterns are deemed low that eventually grow up into them and appear normal. The ones that are really upright and

| SHREWD MOVES IN THE SALES RING |

straight just get worse. I’ve been stung before thinking they’ll improve, but they’ve always gotten worse.”

Like every other agent, Gonzalez has his personal preferences on pedigrees and conformation, but he always works on keeping an open mind toward expanding his knowledge.

“I don’t try to convince myself that I can’t afford a certain family,” he explained. “I’ll still look at something by the top sire; I also don’t want to rule out something that would be by what some consider a cold sire.”

I GUESS IF I LIKE THE HORSE, I BUY IT. I DON’T LET THE VETS TALK ME OUT OF A HORSE ANYMORE.” Gonzalez is also open-minded about the vetting process. He is not looking for horses that will not pass the veterinary exam, but he does look for those that might suffer a significant discount on their sale price due to issues in their vet reports.

“The vetting is hard,” he conceded. “I guess if I like the horse, I buy it. I don’t let the vets talk me out of a horse anymore. I used to have my Top-10 list of horses, I’d vet them and none would pass. Then I’d go back through my list and I’d buy what would be my eleventh favorite horse, or the one who passed the vet exam.

“Looking back, the majority of those 10 I liked went on to be successful, and I ended up with a perfectly clean horse with no talent. I would have done better buying something with a little vet issue that was just a better horse. That’s what has worked for us.”

According to Gonzalez, it isn’t just finding the right horse to pinhook; it is also having the foresight to know where the best resale market is to maximize the profit. “We have to evaluate the market in advance,” he said. “I’ll sometimes like a horse, but it just doesn’t fit any sale I could take it to. It’s going to cost a little too much for X sale, and it’s not quite enough horse for Y sale. It wasn’t that we didn’t like the horse; it just didn’t fit our markets.”

Checkmate Thoroughbreds has had many well-sold horses.

For example, the first year they decided to pinhook weanlings, the three they flipped were wise choices worth the effort.

“We bought three at Keeneland November,” Gonzalez confirmed.

“We spent $26,500 and sold them for $145,000 and got a sale topper out of it. Those were the very first weanlings we did, so it was very reassuring that we could do this.”

The best horse sold by Checkmate to date was not the best pinhooking story for Gonzalez. Spiced Perfection (2015 B M, Smiling Tiger x Perfect Feat, by Pleasantly Perfect) was purchased as a $6,500 yearling at the Barrett’s October sale. She did not reach her reserve of $50,000 at the Del Mar training sale the following summer. She was sold privately the night of the sale.

Spiced Perfection did become a multiple-graded stakes winner of $1,224,705 and was twice crowned California Horse of the Year.

“We have to sell runners, and people need to hear the story that they can get a Gr1 winner for $50,000,” concluded the agent. “Agents have different formulas. We all like a little bit different horse, and that’s why we can all play this game.”

“We all get lucky now and then,” he added with a grin.

THE COVID EFFECT T

he COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the world operates; the business of equine auctions is one of many industries enduring those changes to survive.

Adrian Gonzalez, proprietor of Checkmate Thoroughbreds in Central California, foresees results from the upcoming 2020-2021 sales as undetermined—“a moving target.”

Gonzalez, 41, frequents many auctions across the United States and deems his challenges slightly different for his roles as a buyer or seller.

“As a buyer, I need to see the horses with my own eyes,” Gonzalez stated. “If the sales have restrictions where you can’t go see these horses, or they make it limited as to how you can inspect the horses, it’s going to be really hard for me to participate. So much of what I do is visual; I have to see it, and even the photos or videos don’t cut it.”

The sales companies have not yet provided consignors or purchasers with a defined protocol as to how city, county and state regulations could/will dictate their restrictions.

If other buyers need Gonzalez’s eyes on examinations of horses, it may cut into gross sales amounts through limited participation.

At the other end of the spectrum, Gonzalez feels the sales companies have done a tremendous job of opening up the channels for buyers to purchase through online bidding.

As a seller, he imagines, there could be increased action from buyers who are not able to physically attend the sale.

“I’m hopeful now—as a seller—that people not having to be there in person to bid could provide more (bidding) action,” opined Gonzalez. “You don’t know how many times someone will come by my sale barn and ask to see a horse that had already sold. They had missed the sale because they were eating lunch or something. Now, if they could sit at the lunch table with their phone on the sale feed and just push ‘bid,’ it could help us bring in more money.”

“I’m just not sure on the buying end,” he reiterated, “if people can’t travel to the sale, we don’t know how much that’s going to hurt.”

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HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN QUANTIFY THE IMPACT SADDLES HAVE ON PERFORMANCE 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.

Dr. Russell MacKechnie-Guire

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Alamy, Dr. Russell MacKechnie-Guire

| SADDLE DESIGN |

B

ack 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 evidencebased 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.

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

3/4 Tree

Half Tree

Full Tree

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.

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

New Design

45.00 35.00 25.00 15.00

10.00 6.00 1.00 1.00 kPa

FIG 2

FIG 1

Fig 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.

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| TRAINING |

| SADDLE DESIGN |

FIG 3

FIG 4

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

Fig 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.

Lower pressure leads to longer strides 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 femurto-vertical angle in the hindlimb and a smaller hip flexion angle (denoting the hip is more flexed).

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.

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.

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 standardised 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 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

FIG 5

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 p osition 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

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

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| TRAINING |

Fig 6: Technology enables pressure to be recorded under the saddle at gallop.

Fig 7: Peak pressure location zone T10-T13.

spinous processes of the actual vertebrae. These pressuresensitive 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. From studies such as these we have a better understanding how relieving saddle pressure at the base of the withers (T10T13) allows the long back muscles to transfer propulsive forces from the hindlimb, creating increased power and stride length, and how poor saddle fit compromises performance.

The best we can do is to strive to ensure that performance gains are optimized in all aspects of training.

The saddle is, at last, an area where design developments have shown their merits in improving performance and welfare, based on proven scientific results.

FIG 7

ANATOMY & SYMMETRY

The area at the base of the wither (around thoracic vertebrae T10-T13) is the location of a high concentration of muscle activity related to posture and movement.

The Longissimus dorsi (m. longissimus dorsi) is a stabilizing muscle that’s most active at T12, and spinal stability is essential for the galloping Thoroughbred.

In gallop, the forelimbs have to support twoand-a-half times the horse’s body weight with every stride. This is an incredible feat, bearing in mind that the horse has no collarbone, and the forelimbs are attached to the trunk by the thoracic sling musculature. Add in the fact that there’s a significant intestinal mass pulling down on the spine, and it’s easy why spinal health is so important.

Any compromises in this area will impact performance.

FIG 6

TECHNOLOGY IN FOCUS

Pliance pressure mapping uses a large pressure mat beneath the saddle. The mat has 128 individual pressure sensor cells on each side of the spine.

Pliance has been used extensively in research to measure the pressures under the saddle and it can be used in all gaits, including gallop and jumping.

Initially the results are displayed as a moving colorcoded image, with areas of peak pressure showing as pink and red. For the statistical analysis, peak pressures, maximum force and mean force are extracted and processed.

Biomechanical gait analysis uses skin markers placed on the horse at the center of key joints, and the horse is then videoed in gallop at a rate of 300 frames a second—approximately 25 times faster than the human eye. The data quantifies changes in the horse’s joint and limb angles allowing any differences in movement to be determined. Using these stateof-the-art measuring systems and robust protocols removes the subjectivity and bias about the extent of any changes a jockey might think they can feel.

The combination of pressure mapping and gait analysis allows researchers to see whether relieving pressure has a direct affect on the horse’s limb function.

When compromises such as high pressures occur, horses adopt a compensating strategy.

They’ll still perform but will develop a gait that alleviates discomfort caused by, in this case, ill fitting or uncomfortable tack. If they are forced to adopt this gait every day, they are likely to increase their asymmetries, leading to asymmetric forces, potentially resulting in poor performance and increased risk of injury.

In fact, all species are asymmetric to some extent: 90% of Thoroughbreds were found to prefer galloping on the right lead; and gallop is an asymmetric pace in itself, so pressures will already be asymmetric.

However, the aim is still to produce an ambidextrous animal that can withstand the demands of training. So, as trainers, we have to encourage horses to work symmetrically.

Equipment that creates high pressure and causes a compensatory gait hinders this.

Further reading Could pressure distribution under race-exercise saddles affect limb kinematics and lumbrosacral flexion in the galloping racehorse?

J Eq Vet Sci 81(2019) 102795

Back pathology in racehorses Equine back pathology, Wiley Blackwell, UK (2009), pp. 213-222

protraction and flexion in the swing phase Vet J, 198 (2013), pp. 92-97

Applied load on the horse’s back under racing conditions Vet J, 198 (2013), pp. e88-e92

Electromyographic activity of the longissimus dorsi muscles in horses during trotting on a treadmill American Journal of Veterinary Research 65 (2004) 155-158

Girth pressure measurements reveal high peak pressures that can be avoided using an alternative girth design that also results in increased limb

A bridle designed to avoid peak pressure locations under the headpiece and noseband is associated with more uniform pressure and increased carpal and tarsal flexion, compared with the horse’s usual bridle J Equine Vet Sci, 35 (2015), pp.

947-955

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Relationship between saddle pressure measurements and clinical signs of saddle soreness at the withers.

Vet J 2010 538 650-3 Saddle pressure patterns of three different training saddles in thoroughbred racehorses at trot and gallop Equine Vet J 42 (2010) 630-6

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| NUTRITION |

S TA R C H V FI BER 62

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

| STARCH v FIBER |

Catherine Rudenko

Shutterstock

Carbohydrates are by far the largest component of any horse’s diet, typically two thirds by weight, yet we often focus more on other nutrients, such as protein—which in comparison forms only a small portion of the total diet at around 8-13%.

C

arbohydrates, specifically the balance between differing carbohydrate sources, influence three key areas relating to performance.

The choice of carbohydrate influences the type of energy available, providing varying proportions of ‘fast release’ or ‘slow release’ energy. The type of carbohydrate chosen also impacts behavior, increasing or decreasing risk of excitability and certain stereotypical behaviors. Last, but by no means least, the choice of carbohydrate and the way in which it is fed impacts digestive health and the ability of the digestive system to convert food to ‘fuel’ for the body.

Getting the balance right between the different types of carbohydrates is important for getting the right results when having to adjust the intensity of training, when resting a horse and when working back up through the stages of fitness.

• What are carbohydrates?

There are different ways of classifying or grouping carbohydrates, depending on whether you take things from the plant’s point of view or that of the digestive anatomy of the horse. Working with the horse in mind, carbohydrates are best classified by the section of the digestive system that they are processed in—either the small intestine or large intestine. The site of digestion determines the type of energy provided, often referred to as ‘fast releasing’

for the small intestine and ‘slow releasing’ for the large intestine. The group of carbohydrates, known as hydrolysable carbohydrates, are the group behind the description of ‘fast releasing’, whilst the group known as fermentable carbohydrates are those forming the ‘slow releasing’ category. Within the fermentable group, there are three sub groups of rapid, medium and slow.

• What are carbohydrates made of?

There are many types of carbohydrates in the horse’s diet, ranging from simple sugars to more complex structures. They are defined by their degree of polymerisation, which refers to the way in which sugar units are joined together. How a carbohydrate is formed and the type of link present are important as they determine if digestion is possible in the small intestine or whether fermentation in the large intestine is required. This influences the type of energy available.

For horses in training, the type of carbohydrate of particular interest is the polysaccharide group which includes starch, cellulose, hemicellulose and fructans amongst others. Starch is found in significant quantities in hard feeds, whilst cellulose and hemicellulose, amongst other fermentable carbohydrates are abundant in forages. Pasture is a source of fructans, which can change rapidly depending on growing conditions and daylight hours.

Simple Sugars (glucose, fructose, galactose) Disaccharides (sucrose, maltose, lactose) Oligosaccharides (some such as maltotriose) Starch

HYDROLYSABLE CARBOHYDRATES as digested in the small intestine

Fructans Starch (spill-over from small intestine)

Rapidly Fermentable

Galacto-oligosaccharides Gums & Beta Glucans Mucilages Pectins

Moderately Rapidly Fermentable

Hemicelluloses Cellulose Lignocellulose

Slowly Fermentable

FERMENTABLE CARBOHYDRATES as digested in the large intestines

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| NUTRITION |

• Structure Single sugars, also called simple sugars, comprise one unit only. They are categorized as monosaccharides—the most commonly known being glucose. For horses in training this is a highly valuable sugar as it is the main ‘fuel’ for muscles. Glucose forms the basis of many of the more complex structures of interest to horses in training.

When two sugars join together, they are known as a disaccharide—the best known being lactose which is found in mare’s milk. Oligosaccharides refer to more complex structures where more units are joined together—a common example being fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) which many horses in training are specifically fed as a prebiotic to support digestive function.

TYPE OF CARBOHYDRATE

EXAMPLE

Monosaccharide

Glucose, Fructose

Disaccharide

Lactose, Sucrose, Maltose

Oligosaccharide

Fructo-Oligosaccharide (FOS)

Polysaccharide

Starch, Cellulose, Fructans

Polysaccharides, our group of particular interest, are significantly more complex chains that are branched and are not so easily digested as the simple sugars. The branched nature of polysaccharides, such as starch and cellulose, are the result of links between chains of sugars.

The type of link present determines whether or not it will be possible for the horse to digest this form of carbohydrate in the small intestine or not.

(a) Monosaccharides

(b) Disaccharides

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STARCH IS THE PRIMARY CARBOHYDRATE OF INTEREST IN OUR HARD FEEDS. IT IS A HYDROLYSABLE CARBOHYDRATE, WHICH CAN BE DIGESTED IN THE SMALL INTESTINE, RELEASING GLUCOSE INTO THE BLOODSTREAM.” • Starch Starch is the primary carbohydrate of interest in our hard feeds. It is a hydrolysable carbohydrate, which can be digested in the small intestine, releasing glucose into the bloodstream. For horses in training this is the most important fast release energy source. Starch is found in all plants, with the highest quantities seen in cereals such as oats, barley and maize.

Composition of cereals commonly used in racing feeds

Protein %

OATS

BARLEY

MAIZE

WHEAT

9

11

8

11

Fiber

%

11.3

4.8

2

2

Oil

%

6.8

2.6

4

2.3

Starch

%

38

51.5

63

60

Starch is made up of two types of sugar chains: amylose and amylopectin, which are formed from glucose units.

Amylose itself is easily digested, however amylopectin has a different type of bond connecting each branch, which the enzymes of the small intestine cannot break down.

Feed processing, which changes the structure of starch and breaks apart the previously indigestible bonds, is therefore a key factor in ensuring that when starch is fed that the maximum amount of glucose is derived.

(c) Polysaccharide

| STARCH v FIBER |

• Amylose and Amylopectin Feed processing comes in many forms, from simply crushing or rolling the grain to cooking techniques including micronizing, steam flaking, pelleting or extruding. The amount of processing required for what is deemed efficient digestion differs by grain type. Oats have a natural advantage within the cereal group as they can be fed whole, although processing can still improve digestion. Barley, wheat and maize cannot be fed whole or simply rolled. They require cooking to ensure that starch becomes available, and the impact of cooking processes is much greater for these grains.

The availability of starch is assessed through the amount of glucose released into the blood after feeding. The study below shows the effect of steam cooking maize (corn) compared to two processes that simply change the physical appearance, cracking or grinding. Steam-flaked maize is more available as shown by the greater glucose response.

108

Amylose

Amylopectin

Effect of Corn Processing on Glycemic Responses in Horses

125

b

Blood mg/dl BloodGlucose, Glucose, mg/dl

120 115

b

110

b

105

a a

100

b a

a a a a

b a a

95 90 85

Cracked Corn Cracked Corn Steam FlakedCorn Corn Steam Flaked Ground Corn Ground Corn

b

PR

b a a

E 3 0 ** 6 0 ** 9 0 ** 2 0** 5 0 ** 8 0 ** 1 0 4 0 7 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 9 0 2 0 5 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4

Time min TimePost-Feeding, Post-Feeding, min

Figure 2. Plasma glucose concentrations post-feeding. ab

**

Treatments lacking a common superscript differ (P < .05) Treatments different at given sample time (P < .01)

Starch is a fast release energy source, being digested in the small intestine, and the term can easily be misunderstood. It does not mean that the horse will suddenly run at top speed nor appear to be fuelled by ‘rocket fuel.’ The word ‘fast’ relates to the relatively short time it takes for digestion to occur and glucose to be available. Looking at the maize example, it is possible to see that glucose is found in the blood just 30 minutes after feeding. This is a rapid response compared to carbohydrates that are digested further down the digestive tract in the large intestine.

Energy is energy, whichever source it comes from or how long it takes to digest.

However, the type of energy, whether fast release or slow release, does impact behavior, in particular affecting reactivity.

When fed on higher-starch diets, horses are well documented to become more reactive, anxious and over excitable. Aside from the need for glucose as a fuel for performance and equally for recovery, its presence in the diet can increase reactivity.

In a sport where speed and the ability to react quickly are an advantage, starch and its associated effects can be a positive.

Like all nutrients, there is a fine balance to be had, and an excess of starch and over excitable behavior are not desirable at certain stages of fitness. Starch excess should be avoided at all costs for horses prone to tying-up where excitable behavior is a known risk factor.

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| NUTRITION |

| STARCH v FIBER |

• Fermentable carbohydrates Cellulose, as an example of the fermentable carbohydrate group, is similar to starch being composed of glucose units, however the type of bond is significantly different and can only be digested in the large intestine through bacterial fermentation. Cellulose is a key component of the cell wall of plants, including both cereals and forages but is found in the highest amounts within forages and some of the more fibrous co-products used in feeds, such as sugar beet pulp.

The digestive process of bacterial fermentation that occurs in the large intestine yields different energy sources in comparison to the small intestine where glucose is the main product of starch digestion. Fermentation of cellulose and other fermentable carbohydrates, such as hemicellulose and lignocellulose, produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Like glucose, these are an energy source for the horse but through different pathways. The time required for digestion in the large intestine is much greater than the small intestine, hence the term ‘slow release’ energy being applied to the fermentable carbohydrate group.

Fibrous foods are typically processed over a 30-hour period in the hindgut.

As the process of digestion and energy release is more gradual and does not result in a spike of glucose, the use of more fibrous carbohydrate sources is ideal when looking to provide energy in a more consistent format. Resting and early stages of work are best supported by a higher inclusion of fermentable carbohydrates. Equally once fit to avoid a situation in which the horse ‘boils over,’ altering the main diet to marginally reduce starch and increase more fibrous fermentable carbohydrates can be of help.

Cellulose and other fermentable carbohydrates are not

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analyzed separately in the same manner as starch. Cellulose and lignocellulose are identified through a lab method known as acid detergent fiber (ADF). By looking at ADF and starch values, we can get a picture of the balance between the fast release and slow release sources that materials commonly fed to horses have. Cereals naturally provide more starch, whereas beet and alfalfa provide little starch but plenty of fermentable carbohydrates.

• Feeding ingredient FEEDING INGREDIENT

STARCH (%)

ADF (%)

2

31

Sugar Beet

1.5

25

Wheatfeed

22

12

Oats

38

16

Barley

50

5.5

Alfalfa

Through altering the amount of hard feed against additions such as chaff and soaked sugar beet pulp, it is quite easy to change the ratio of hydrolysable (fast release) and fermentable (slow release) carbohydrates in the total diet. Many yards will feed a lower protein diet on a day off, to alter intake against workload—or rather lack of workload. Carbohydrates, or more specifically the balance of carbohydrates, is equally worthy of consideration when adjusting the diet against any change in workload.

| NUTRITION |

| STARCH v FIBER |

• Example feeds

• Starch or fermentable carbohydrates?

Whilst both are sources of energy and equally valuable to the horse, glucose from starch holds an advantage over VFAs from fermentable carbohydrates when it comes to availability during exercise. Glucose is metabolically more efficient. When working aerobically at slower speeds, glucose is metabolized at nearly twice the rate of VFAs to provide energy to the muscle for contraction. As speed and exertion increases and the horse works anaerobically, the body favors glucose as the energy source over VFAs. As such, starch is always needed in the diet of racehorses and too little starch can negatively impact on performance.

The temptation may then exist to push starch intake upwards given its advantages. However, there are several drawbacks to too much starch in the diet aside from over excitability, including increased risk of disorders such as gastric ulceration, colic, tying-up and hindgut acidosis. VFAs derived from fermentable carbohydrates are available as an energy source when working at steadier speeds and contribute to daily energy requirements for basic bodily functions. They should not be discounted as less valuable. Getting the balance right between the two groups of carbohydrates can be a challenge, in which choice of hard feed plays a significant role.

• Carbohydrate profile of racing feeds Hard feed forms by weight, the largest part of a racehorse’s daily intake.

The balance of carbohydrate provided through the hard feed will determine the overall balance of the daily intake. Forage, whether hay or haylage, will be a consistent source of fermentable carbohydrate. Hard feeds in contrast are highly variable in the amount of starch vs. fermentable carbohydrate provided.

The fiber content of hard feeds is expressed as ‘crude fiber’, and this value can be found on all feed tags. Crude fiber is a laboratory measure that includes most of the cellulose found in the feed but only some of the hemicellulose. It also includes some lignin, an indigestible type of fiber.

As such, it is not a true measure of fiber in the feed, but as all horse feeds are required to use this same measure, it allows for comparisons between feeds. Starch can be directly measured and whilst not required to be stated on the feed tag, the majority of feed companies provide this information on their websites or through their nutritional helplines.

FOR MORE INFORMATION SCAN QR CODE TO WATCH CATHERINE RUDENKO'S REVIEW OF 'CARBOHYDRATE CHOICES FOR RACEHORSES IN TRAINING' 68

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

RACING FEED 1

RACING FEED 2

g/kg

oz/lbs

g/kg

oz/lbs

Protein

140

5

140

5

Starch

280

10

180

6

Fiber

70

2.5

130

4.5

The protein content of a feed has no correlation to the amount of starch or fiber present, and so it cannot be used as a predictor for determining whether the feed is best suited to hard and fast work or to steadier or more stamina-related work. The racing feed 1 example is a cereal-based feed and contains 28% starch (280g/kg, 10oz/lbs), whereas racing feed 2 example contains cereals but in balance with more fibrous fermentable carbohydrate sources such as beet pulp and soya hulls, resulting in an 18% starch value (180g/kg, 6oz/lbs).

Fiber content is lower when starch is higher, as seen in racing feed 1, and increases as starch content lowers, as seen in racing feed 2.

Both feeds are fortified with the appropriate vitamins and minerals so the choice becomes entirely related to the balance of carbohydrates. Combining feeds, such as the two examples above in different proportions, is often advised when wanting to slowly ‘step up’ or ‘ease off ’ horses at various stages of training. Feeds once balanced for vitamins and minerals will not become unbalanced when combined together to give flexibility around the type of carbohydrate needed.

SUMMARY There are many sources of carbohydrate that form part of the daily diet of horses in training. The site of digestion determines the source of energy produced, either glucose from the small intestine or VFAs from the large intestine. Both sources are needed on a daily basis. The balance between these sources is important as it affects behavior, digestive health and can reduce the risk of incidence of disorders such as tying-up, colic and hindgut acidosis. By using feeds with different ratios of starch and fiber, it is possible to alter the total daily balance of ‘fast release’ and ‘slow release’ carbohydrates against type of work and stage of fitness.

Use of chaff and beet pulp in the feed program also brings flexibility when needing to increase intake of ‘slow release’ fermentable carbohydrates.

Reading List •B ulmer, L. S., Murray, J. A., Burns, N. M., Garber, A., Wemelsfelder, F., McEwan, N. R., & Hastie, P. M. (2019). High-starch diets alter equine faecal microbiota and increase behavioural reactivity.

Scientific Reports, 9(1), 18621.

•G eor, J.G. Harris,A.P. Coenen,M. (2013) Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition. London: Elsevier.

•H oekstra,K.E. Newman,K. Kennedy,M.A.P. Pagan,J.D (1999).

Effects of corn processing on glycemic responses in horses.

In: Proc. 16th Equine Nutr. and Physiol. Soc. Symp. pp. 144-148.

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| VETERINARY |

MINIMIZING SERIOUS FRACTURES OF THE

RACEHORSE FETLOCK 70

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

VA Colgate, PHL Ramzan & CM Marr

I

n March 2020, a symposium was held in Newmarket, UK, aiming to devise measures which could be used internationally to reduce the risk of catastrophic fracture associated with the fetlock joint. The meeting was supported by the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust, the Beaufort Cottage Charitable Trust and the Jockey Club with additional contributions from a number of industry stakeholders. On the first day a panel of international experts made up of academic professors, Chris Whitton (Melbourne, Australia), Sue Stover (Davis, California), Chris Kawcak (Colorado), Tim Parkin (Glasgow) and Peter Muir (Wisconsin); experienced racehorse clinicians, Ryan Carpenter (Santa Anita) and Peter Ramzan (Newmarket); imaging experts, Sarah Powell (Newmarket) and Mathieu Spriet (Davis, California); and vets with experience in racing regulatory bodies, Scott Palmer (New York) and Chris Riggs (Hong Kong) joined forces to discuss risk assessment protocols, particularly those based on imaging features which might indicate increased risk of imminent fracture. This was followed by a wider discussion with a diverse invited audience of veterinary and industry stakeholders on how our current

Shutterstock

knowledge of fracture pathophysiology and risk factors for injury could be used to target risk assessment protocols. A report of the workshop outcomes was recently published in Equine Veterinary Journal.

• The importance of risk reduction With the ethics of the racing industry now in the public spotlight, there is recognition that together veterinary and horseracing professionals must strive to realize an improvement in equine injury rates. Intervention through risk profiling programs, primarily based on training and racing metrics, has a proven track record; and the success of a racing risk management program in New York gives evidence that intervention can and will be successful.

The fetlock of the Thoroughbred racehorse is subjected to very great loads during fast work and racing, and over the course of a training career this can result in cumulative changes in the bone underlying the articular cartilage (‘subchondral’ bone) that causes lameness and may in some circumstances lead to fracture. Fracture propagation involving the bones of the fetlock (cannon, pastern or proximal sesamoid bones) during fast work or racing can have

ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| VETERINARY |

DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING HAS CLEAR POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES WHICH INDICATE THE EARLY STAGES OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.” catastrophic consequences, and while serious musculoskeletal injuries are a rare event when measured against race starts, there are obviously welfare and public interest imperatives to reduce the risk to racehorses even further. The dilemma that faces researchers and clinicians is that ‘fatigue’ injuries of the subchondral bone at some sites within the fetlock can be tolerated by many racehorses in training while others develop pathology that tips over into serious fracture. Differentiating horses at imminent risk of raceday fracture from those that are ‘safe’ to run has not proven particularly easy based on clinical grounds to date, and advances in diagnostic imaging offer great promise.

• Profiling to inform risk assessment Risk profiling examines the nature and levels of threat faced by an individual and seeks to define the likelihood of adverse events occurring. Catastrophic fracture is usually the end result of repetitive loading, but currently there are no techniques that can accurately determine that a bone is becoming fatigued until

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| MINIMIZING FETLOCK FRACTURES |

some degree of structural failure has actually occurred. However, diagnostic imaging has clear potential to provide information about pathological changes which indicate the early stages of structural damage.

Previous research has identified a plethora of epidemiological factors associated with increased risk of serious catastrophic musculoskeletal injury on the racetrack. These can be distilled into race, horse and management-related risk factors that could be combined in statistical models to enable identification of individual horses that may be at increased risk of injury.

In North America, the Equine Injury Database compiles fatal and non-fatal injury information for Thoroughbred racing in North America. Since 2009, equine fatalities are down 23%; and important risk factors for injury have been identified, and this work has driven ongoing improvement.

The problem with all statistics-based models created so far for prediction of racehorse injury is that they have limited predictive ability due to the low prevalence of racetrack catastrophic events. If an event is very rare, and a predictive tool is not entirely accurate, many horses will be incorrectly flagged up as at increased risk. At the Newmarket Fetlock workshop, Professor Tim Parkin shared his work on a model which was based on data from over 2 million race starts and almost 4 million workout starts. Despite the large amount of data used to formulate the model, Tim Parkin suggested that if we had to choose between two horses starting in a race, this model would only correctly identify the horse about to sustain a fracture 65% of the time.

Furthermore, the low prevalence of catastrophic injury means it will always be difficult to predict, regardless of which diagnostic procedure is employed.

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| VETERINARY |

• Where do the solutions lie?

One possible strategy to overcome the inherent challenge of predicting a rare event involves serial testing. Essentially with this approach, a sequence of tests is carried out to refine sub-populations of interest and thus improve the predictive ability of the specific tests applied. An additional consideration in the design of any such practical profiling system would have to be the ability to speedily come to a decision. For example, starting with a model based on racing and training metrics such as number of starts and length of lay-off periods, as well as information about the risk associated with any particular track or racing jurisdiction, entries could be screened to separate those that are not considered to be at increased risk of injury from a smaller sub-group of horses that warrant further evaluation and will progress to Phase 2. The second phase of screening would be something relatively simple. Although not yet available, there is hope that blood tests for bone biomarkers or genetic profiles could be used to further distil horses into a second sub-group. This second sub-group might then be subjected to more detailed veterinary examination, and from that a third sub-group,

involving a very small and manageable number of horses flagged as potentially at increased risk, would undergo advanced imaging. The results of such diagnostic imaging would then allow vets to make evidence-based decisions on whether or not there is sufficient concern to prompt withdrawal of an individual from a specific race from a health and welfare perspective. Of course there are other considerations which limit the feasibility of such a system, including availability of diagnostic equipment and whether or not imaging can be quickly and safely performed without use of sedation or other drugs, which are prohibited near to a race start.

• Diagnostic techniques for fetlock injury risk profiling Currently there is no clear consensus on the interpretation of images from all diagnostic imaging modalities, and important areas of uncertainty exist. Although a range of imaging modalities are available, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and advances in technology currently outstrip our accumulation of published evidence on which to base interpretation of the images obtained.

Interpretation is easy when the imaging modality shows an unequivocal fracture such as a short fissure in a cannon bone. Here the decision is simple: the horse has a fracture and must stop exercising. Many cases, however, demonstrate less clearly defined changes that may be associated with bone fatigue injury.

• Imaging modalities that can be performed in the standing horse IMAGING MODALITY

STRENGTHS

CLINICAL INFORMATION OBTAINED

Radiography

• Widely available.

• Has the potential to detect radiolucent lines indicative of stress fracture or areas of radiolucency suggestive of bone resorption and prodromal fracture pathology.

• Rapid image acquisition times.

• Can be performed un-sedated in most horses.

Nuclear Scintigraphy

• Large areas can be easily imaged.

• Intermediate image acquisition times.

• Functional imaging technique able to identify areas of increased bone turnover.

Computed Tomography (CT)

• 3D data with high spatial resolution.

• Optimal method for detection of structural changes in bone.

• Rapid image acquisition times.

• Best sensitivity to detect abnormalities in shape or density of bone.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

• 3D data.

• Provides some information on activity associated with lesions.

• Only solo modality which combines structural and biochemical information.

• Combines this with structural information.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

• 3D data with moderate spatial resolution.

• Best imaging modality for functional assessment of bone.

• Possibility of quantification of increased bone turnover in different areas.

• Most sensitive technique for detection of early bone changes as it provides functional information at the molecular level, prior to occurrence of structural changes.

• Able to identify: - cracks - areas of increased bone density (sclerosis) - areas of decreased bone density (resorption)

• Short half-life of the radioactive isotope makes it suitable for use at the racetrack with minimal disruption to training.

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• Useful for localizing abnormalities to a specific area.

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

• Currently limited ability to detect subtle bone changes with the standing, low-field system due to limited spatial resolution.

• Active and inactive abnormalities can be distinguished when combined with a structural imaging technique such as CT or MRI.

| MINIMIZING FETLOCK FRACTURES |

Radiography currently remains the most important imaging modality in fetlock bone risk assessment. With wide availability and the knowledge gained by more advanced imaging techniques refining the most appropriate projections to use; radiography represents a relatively untapped resource that through education of primary care vets could immediately have a profound impact on injury mitigation. The most suitable projection with which to detect prodromal condylar fracture pathology in the equine distal limb is the flexed dorsopalmar (forelimb) or plantarodorsal (hindlimb) projection. On this projection, focal radiolucency in the parasagittal groove, whether well or poorly defined, with or without increased radio-opacity in the surrounding bone, should be considered representative of fracture pathology unless evidence from other diagnostic imaging modalities demonstrates otherwise.

FIG 1

Fig 1: A radiograph showing a racing Thoroughbred’s fetlock joint.

The arrow points to a linear radiolucency in the parasagittal groove of the lower cannon bone—a finding that is frequently detectable before progression to serious injury.

Image courtesy of Dr P. Ramzan, Rossdales LLP, Newmarket.

PRACTICAL AND TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE GAPS

• 2D data leads to superimposition of structures.

• Which are the projections that best detect condylar fracture/fissure?

• Variability in beam angle and technique may modify the image.

• How much agreement/disagreement is there in interpretation when different vets look at the same images?

• Interpretation is fairly subjective, particularly with subtle findings.

• 2D data with superimposition and low spatial resolution.

• Provides limited detail about specific lesion types.

• Horses must be isolated to fulfil radioactivity safety guidelines, which disrupts the training program close to a race.

• More work needed to understand the significance of increased bone turnover in all anatomical locations.

• How much agreement/disagreement is there in interpretation when different vets look at the same images?

• Requires sedation which limits use close to a race due to drug withdrawal times.

• Unable to provide functional information.

• Requires sedation which limits use close to a race due to drug withdrawal times.

• Can CT distinguish between active abnormalities and static, chronic changes?

• Which of the structural features that can be identified with this modality will propagate to serious injury?

• Third generation dual-energy scanners may allow the detection of bone marrow oedema in the future.

• Requires further validation for detection of different lesions.

• How much agreement/disagreement is there in interpretation when different vets look at the same images?

• Limited spatial resolution inherent to the low magnetic field and motion experienced whilst imaging a standing horse.

• Requires further validation for detection of different lesions, particularly those associated with bone fluid patterns.

• Variability in image quality between different system sites.

• Requires sedation which limits use close to a race due to drug withdrawal times.

• How much agreement/disagreement is there in interpretation when different vets look at the same images?

• Must be used with a structural imaging technique to allow full assessment and complete description of an abnormality.

• New modality that requires further validation for detection of different lesions.

• Requires sedation which limits use close to a race due to drug withdrawal times.

• How much agreement/disagreement is there in interpretation when different vets look at the same images?

ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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FIG 2

Fig 2: PET is the most recent advance in diagnostic imaging. It is being developed in California and, when combined with CT, provides information on bone activity and structure. In these three images of the same fetlock, from different aspects, the orange spots indicate increased activity in the proximal sesamoid bone, which is a potential precursor to more serious injury.

Image courtesy of Dr M. Spriet, University of California, Davis.

FIG 3

Fig 3: Standing CT has recently been developed in the USA and Australia. This allows exquisite detail of bone structure to be imaged in the standing horse. In this image, the arrow points to a defect in the sesamoid bone, indicating the bone is at risk of further injury.

Image courtesy of Professor Chris Whitton, University of Melbourne.

Computed Tomography (CT) excels at identification of structural changes and is better than radiography at showing very small fissures in the bone. However, additional research is needed to determine specific criteria for interpretation of the significance of small lesions in the parasagittal groove with respect to imminent risk of serious injury. There are good indications that fissure lesion size and proximal sesamoid bone volumetric measurements have the potential to be useful criteria for prediction of condylar and proximal sesamoid bone fractures respectively. With technological advancement, it is likely that CT will be more widely used in quantitative risk analysis in the future.

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WITH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, IT IS LIKELY THAT COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) WILL BE MORE WIDELY USED IN QUANTITATIVE RISK ANALYSIS IN THE FUTURE.â&#x20AC;?

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has the ability to detect alterations in the fluid content of bones, which allows assessment of acute, active changes. Indeed standing, low-field MRI has been shown to be capable of detecting bone abnormalities not readily identifiable on radiography and has been successfully used for injury mitigation in racehorse practice for some time. However, when used for evaluation of cartilage and subchondral bone lesions, there is a relatively high likelihood of false positive results.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a relatively new technique in the veterinary field which relies on similar principles to scintigraphy and provides information on how bone is functioning, enabling it to differentiate between active and inactive structural damage. Early results suggest PET is extremely sensitive, but as with MRI and CT, there is an urgent need to determine the relevance of imaging abnormalities detected in the identification and prediction of individuals at increased risk of serious fetlock injury.

â&#x20AC;˘ Lessons to be learned from human sports medicine A presentation on the program carried out on elite human athletes from Dr. Rod Jaques, Director of Medical Services at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), put into sharp focus both the progress equine racecourse veterinary safety assessments have made but also the direction future

| MINIMIZING FETLOCK FRACTURES |

efforts must take. In elite sports overseen by the EIS, there is a predetermined pathway from diagnosis of any medical condition to management of the condition identified and return of the athlete to competition. The entire pathway is implemented by independent bodies to ensure protocols are followed and athletes fully informed of the consequences of abnormal findings prior to participation.

Whilst veterinary assessment and regulatory pathways are in place in many racing jurisdictions globally, transparency about the process and standardization across countries is lacking. For optimal assessment and accurate identification of horses which are and are not fit to run, there is a need for participation and respect amongst all stakeholders, underpinned by effective education and communication between parties so that trust is built. The workshop participants agreed that primary care vets should be encouraged to share pertinent veterinary history, where deemed necessary, and within the limits of client confidentiality. This maximizes information available to racecourse veterinary assessment teams and assists them in making decisions in the interests of equine welfare.

Equally, owners, trainers and other stakeholders must understand their obligation to comply with the risk assessment process if they wish to enter a horse in a race. They must also respect the decisions made by regulatory vets and appreciate that these decisions are formulated based

on the information and findings available at a specific point in time. Confidence in the pre-race risk assessment process will increase with greater transparency, improved communication and evidence-based decision making.

• Workshop outcomes It is clear that further research is needed to enhance knowledge in areas that will advance catastrophic fracture prevention through identification of horses with high immediate risk. The workshop identified several key areas where action is needed: The workshop members have contacted veterinary associations internationally to provide training resources to help improve standards in radiography. More effort is needed to educate horsemen on how serious fatigue injury develops progressively. Identification of early signs will provide the opportunity for prevention of further progression through appropriate modification of athletic activity.

In light of the current lag between technological advancements in diagnostic imaging and knowledge of the significance of lesions identified, there is a need to share anonymized medical data as a research tool.

Finally, it is clear that advanced diagnostic imaging in particular is a fast-moving field, and periodic revision of recommendations will be required in the future.

The original EVJ article can be found at the link below: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.13273

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ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 57

Charlie McCarthy

Nicole Marie

If Chuck Simon has a trait that equals or surpasses his concern for horses and horsemen, it’s his penchant for storytelling.

A

conversation with the former longtime trainer uncovers the time, while employed as an assistant racing secretary, he used a dead Standardbred to fill a race field.

The time he got his trainer’s license without taking the required test. The time he passed through Canadian customs minus a passport.

The time he trained a horse for a German spy.

Those are just some of the anecdotes and stories from a 20-year training career that ended in July 2019, when Simon decided to spearhead the Gulfstream Horsemen’s Purchasing Association (GHPA), a subsidiary of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

The GHPA focused on supplying shavings, hay and feed at more affordable rates for horsemen at both Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla. The hope was for revenue to support horsemen’s programs, including much-needed lobbying. But the business struggled, and then was hurt greatly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a new venture, and we weren’t sure it was going to take off,” said the 52-year-old Simon, who fulfilled a one-year contract. “We were in uncharted waters.

“I’m happy that I did it. I experienced something new. It was a start-up company, with bumps along the way.”

This past summer, Simon began hosting a podcast named Going in Circles. While other horse racing podcasts mainly stress the game’s betting aspect, Simon and guests discuss news and issues affecting the industry. Never hesitant to express himself, Simon has many opinions on the current state and future of a sport he was introduced to as a boy in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “When I was about seven or eight years old, my dad started bringing me to the Thoroughbred and harness tracks,” he said. “It was kind of the adult world, and I had access to it.

“When you’re growing up in Saratoga, you don’t realize that everyone does not have what you have. Not every place has a racetrack right in the backyard. Not every kid has access to Affirmed and Alydar.”

After graduating from high school, Simon played basketball for two years at a junior college in the Albany, N.Y. area. Then, Chuck’s father showed him a brochure for a racetrack industry program at the University of Arizona.

“It showed sunny pictures, girls and horses,” Simon recalled, “I said, ‘Damn, I’m going there!”

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A LOT OF THE CLASSES AT ARIZONA WERE EASY BECAUSE I ALREADY KNEW EVERYTHING, BUT GOING THERE HELPED GET ME CONNECTED TO PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF MY NEW YORK BUBBLE.” Simon arrived in Arizona, holding an advantage over many of his fellow students because he had the experience of having worked at both Saratoga-area tracks. In fact, he had dreamed of becoming a groom before his parents demanded he get a college education.

“A lot of the classes at Arizona were easy because I already knew everything,” said Simon, whose classmates included Todd Pletcher. “But going there helped get me connected to people outside of my New York bubble.”

While at Arizona, Simon heard from a friend, who offered a summer internship at Yonkers Raceway in N.Y. He not only took it, but within two weeks became assistant racing secretary at the age of 20.

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Simon went to work full-time at Yonkers upon graduation.

His duties included getting horses to fill cards for six and seven days of racing.

On one occasion, Simon was desperate to fill the field for a certain race. He even asked superiors if they could run a short field or if the card could be reduced. Neither option was granted.

“So, I find a horse that qualified three weeks earlier at Monticello and that fit the class but didn’t race again,” said Simon, who found the trainer’s phone number and called. “The guy says, ‘You sure you’re looking for me?’ I said, ‘Yeah, you had a horse that qualified three weeks ago. Have you raced that horse back? I have a race here that fits.’”

Seconds of silence followed before the man on the end said, “The filly, yeah, she passed away. She got colic.”

“Well, who knows she’s dead?” Simon quickly asked.

Although nobody outside the trainer’s immediate family and friends was aware the filly had died, Simon promised the man VIP treatment at Yonkers and convinced the guy to let him enter the horse at Yonkers. At the draw, the judge overseeing the process was informed the filly was scratched. “Reason?” the judge asked.

“The horse is deceased,” Simon said.

Tired of office work, Simon wanted to return to the backside.

During a visit to Belmont, he saw Pletcher working for D. Wayne Lukas. The former classmates chatted, and within a short time Simon had joined Team Lukas.

“I learned about the power of organization,” Simon said of his six months with Wayne and Jeff Lukas. “If things are organized, you can cover up a lot of the weaknesses or holes in the structure.”

| CHUCK SIMON |

HE WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY I’D EVER WORKED FOR, HE WOULD DO THINGS YOU’D NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED, AND IT WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL STUPID SOMETIMES.” CHUCK ON HALL OF FAMER JERKENS

Simon left Lukas to work for Pete Ferriola, who was among New York’s leading trainers.

“I learned a lot from Pete,” Simon said. “I learned you don’t have to train horses hard to still do well.”

After that, Simon assisted Tom Skiffington.

“Kind of like Christophe Clement—mostly turf, mostly Europeans,” Simon said. “I learned a lot from Tom Skiffington on being a horseman. He was an excellent horseman. He was as good a horseman as I ever saw.

“What I was trying to do was get as many unique, different angles of how to do it. Lukas was a very regimented three-yearold picture. Ferriola was all claimers, all the time. Skiffington was all turf.”

Although given a lot of responsibility by Skiffington, Simon moved on to work for Nick Zito for about three months.

“I would have stayed with Zito,” Simon says, “but a job opened up with Jerkens, and jobs never opened up with Jerkens.”

No. 4 on Zito’s staff, Simon would become the No. 2 man for Allen Jerkens behind Allen’s son Jimmy.

“Nick told me, ‘Hey, it’s the chief. You gotta do what you gotta do,’” Simon said.

Simon went to see Jerkens, who asked, “You work for all those fancy guys. Why do you want to work for me for?”

“I said, ‘I don’t want to be a movie star; I want to be a horse trainer,’” Simon said. “He liked that.”

Simon spent nearly six years working for Hall of Famer Jerkens.

“He was totally different than anybody I’d ever worked for,” Simon said. “He would do things you’d never even considered, and it would make you feel stupid sometimes.

“It’s funny because you look at his barn, and he never really cared about making it fancy. But people didn’t understand how much of

a perfectionist he was with the horses. He had a way of looking at horses from an angle you just never considered or thought about.”

Jerkens encouraged Simon to accept an opportunity to train for owner Ken Ramsey, who at the time was seeking to grow his stable.

“My dad respected Chuck a lot. He’s a student of the game,” Jimmy Jerkens said. “Chuck is a handicapper at heart, and he made Dad see the importance in numbers. And he was very loyal to my dad.”

Upon accepting the job as private trainer for Ramsey, Simon was told he would be needed to begin immediately. There was one problem: He didn’t have a license to train.

“You were supposed to take a trainer’s test out of Kentucky, but they only gave it once a month and they had just done it,” said Simon, who explained his predicament to Dave Hicks, then steward of the New York Racing Association.

Hicks asked Simon how long he had worked for Jerkens.

When Simon said six years, Hicks replied, “Son, that’s test enough for me. Bring me workers’ compensation, and if three trainers sign for you, I’ll give you a license.”

The three trainers: Allen Jerkens, Bill Mott and Shug McGaughey.

“I was thinking, if those guys aren’t good enough...” Simon said with a laugh.

Simon’s three years working for Ramsey got increasingly frustrating as some of the owners’ best horses went elsewhere.

“We did really well for him, but he kind of got starstruck and wanted to send horses to this guy and that guy,” Simon said. “It kind of put us in a bit of a jam because we were getting all the bad horses.”

It was while with Ramsey, Simon flew to Canada to watch one of his horses run at Woodbine.

“I was in a rush to leave, and I forgot my passport,” Simon said. “The guy interviewing me at Customs asked me what I did, ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| INDUSTRY |

| CHUCK SIMON |

I MISS THE HORSES–SEEING ONE DOING WELL, FIGURING OUT WHAT THEY WANT, WHAT THEY NEED. SEEING THEM START TO THRIVE, BUT I WAS KIND OF BURNT OUT.”

and I said I trained horses. The guy’s eyes lit up. ‘Standardbred or Thoroughbred?’ Turns out, he was a racing fan. He let me go through.”

After a falling out with Ramsey over a horse named Nothing to Lose—Ramsey wanted the colt aimed toward the Kentucky Derby, but Simon believed he was a better turf horse—Simon went out on his own.

He compiled a 359-360-332 mark in 2,679 career starts that earned more than $11 million.

Simon’s most successful horse was Battle Won, a gelded son of Honour and Glory out of Call Her (Caller I.D.). The dark bay won the 2005 Churchill Downs Handicap (Gr2).

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“I thought Chuck was an excellent trainer,” Battle Won owner Jay Manoogian said. “As an owner, I felt he kept us well-informed of everything going on with the horse. I couldn’t ask for anything better. Sometimes you get trainers who aren’t very informative.

He was very informative.”

Simon said the most talented horse was Kentucky-bred Strength and Honor, a bay son of Carson City. The gelding went 9-1-4 in 22 career starts but won three straight races on two separate occasions.

“He ran a 115 Beyer at Keeneland one day,” Simon recalled.

“He couldn’t breathe a little bit. He had a bad hock, two knee surgeries. I could get three or four races a year out of him because he had so many issues.

“If not for all the issues, he could have been a Breeders’ Cup winner—he was that talented.”

Simon’s stable once included a filly prone to bleeding that had been racing in Europe and was owned by a German government official. The connections wanted the trainer to prep the filly for an upcoming sale.

“The guy called me once, and he was on an encrypted phone; everything was on delay,” Simon said.

The owner was not licensed in the U.S., so Simon attempted to submit the needed paperwork on the German’s behalf.

“They said they needed his fingerprints, so he should go to the local police station,” Simon said. “I said, ‘He’s in Beijing, China!

He’s a German diplomat! There’s no police involved!”

A New York official told Simon the filly couldn’t run. The trainer went off.

“The Queen of England ran a horse the other day for Christophe Clement, and you’re saying this horse can’t run? Well this guy is a German James bleepin’ Bond! We can’t get his fingerprints!”

Simon ended up getting a temporary license for the owner to race the filly in New Jersey.

During his years as a trainer, Simon helped tutor people who aspired to have their own stables.

“Chuck saw that desire I had, wanting to be a trainer someday, and yet he made me start at the very bottom and work my way up the right way; and that I really respected,” said trainer Phil D’Amato, who worked for Simon for four years.

“Looking back, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

From a hot walker, to a groom, to a foreman, assistant—I went up the ladder with Chuck. He’s an excellent horseman and excellent teacher as well.”

Simon’s last assistant, Sue Ditter, went on her own upon his retirement. She still leans on him for insight.

“My favorite response of Chuck’s is, ‘I’m not the trainer anymore —that’s your job,’” Ditter said. “Which basically means that whatever idea I threw at him was pretty much OK.” Simon also takes pride in having had an eye for horses, such as Divine Park, sire of multiple-graded stakes winner Lady Eli. “I bought him for myself and a client for $20,000,” Simon said. “He went on to win the (Gr1) Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.”

Following a year with the GHPA, Simon was considering his career options. He hadn’t ruled out one day returning to training.

“I miss the horses—seeing one doing well, figuring out what they want, what they need. Seeing them start to thrive,” he said. “But I was kind of burnt out. When you have slow horses, it’s deflating when there’s really not much you can do and you know that.”

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ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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GRA DE 1 WINN ING OWNE RS SU MMER 2020 84

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LEE & SUSAN SEARING, CRK STABLE - HONOR A.P. aybe it’s the genes. Maybe that’s why 72-year-old Lee Searing gets up every morning looking forward to going to work at his company, Searing Industries Steel Tubing in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and why his first Santa Anita Derby victory with Honor A.P. was the culmination of a life-long passion for horses he shares with wife Susan, his high school sweetheart.

“My dad, until the day he died, worked; and until the day he died, he bet on horses,” Searing said rather proudly. “My mom was an avid horseplayer, too. It’s always been in my blood to own horses and try to achieve some things I’ve always dreamed of doing.”

Racing was also in his father’s genes. “My grandfather, an Irishman who loved horse racing, introduced it to my dad,” Searing said. In turn, his father introduced racing to Searing. “I attended the races at Santa Anita as an eight-year-old,” he said. “I remember the day.”

There were dozens of more racing days at Hollywood Park and at Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. “I traveled down there to Mexico every weekend,” Searing said.

The family’s love of horse racing escalated when Searing’s father purchased their first horse. “My dad

M

Bill Heller

Benoit Photo, Coady Photography, Chelsea Durand & Robert Mauhar / Conglianese Photos

had Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and Quarter Horses,” Searing said. “I gave it up for 10 years to start my company. My dad ran the first tubing machine and started two other companies. In 1985, we started Searing Industries—my dad, my brother Jim and me.

We manufacture welded steel tubing.”

A visit to the company’s website speaks volumes about the company’s vision: “Others see steel; we see possibilities”; and the way the Searings treat 200 employees: “Related or not, we consider all our team members to be part of the Searing family.”

Searing said, “That message about our employees, my dad taught me. Respect the working man. We share profits, and there’s very little turnover.”

He has no thoughts about retiring. “When I lose it, I will retire,” he said. “I wake up every morning and go to work. I want to accomplish more. That’s maybe one reason, right now, I relate so much to a barn, a trainer, a hotwalker, a groom. They wake up, and they want to take care of their horses.”

He considers himself lucky to have trainers John Shirreffs and John Sadler tending to his horses. “I’ve had great trainers,” he said.

He’s also had a great partner, Susan, who retired after working 37 years as a special education teacher. “We started dating at the age of 18,” Searing said. “Racing was a weekly affair. We’d go to Caliente on weekends. It was a great place to go. She’s always followed racing and loves it.”

Her personal highlight may have come in the 2004 Gp1 Golden Shaheen, when Our New Recruit won the $2 million race. “She was the first woman to stand on the winner’s stand in Dubai,” Searing said. “They didn’t want to let her. She’s very persuasive.”

Our New Recruit, who won six of 19 starts, is one of four millionaires the Searings have campaigned under CRK Stable, named for the first initial of their three children: Christiana,

WE STARTED DATING AT THE AGE OF 18, RACING WAS A WEEKLY AFFAIR. WE’D GO TO CALIENTE ON WEEKENDS. IT WAS A GREAT PLACE TO GO. SHE’S ALWAYS FOLLOWED RACING AND LOVES IT.” LEE SEARING ABOUT WIFE SUSAN

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AFTER BEING IN RACING ALL THIS TIME, IT’S EXCITING FOR ME AND MY FAMILY. WE HAVE BEEN AROUND THE WORLD FOR RACING. I BUY A HORSE, HOPING FOR A CHANCE HE’LL BRING US TO THESE AMAZING RACES. I WILL PARTICIPATE TO THE LIMIT I CAN.” Richard and Katherine. Candy Boy, who had a rough trip and finished 13th in the 2004 Kentucky Derby, Switch and Kobe’s Back have also earned seven figures. “Switch was a valuable asset,” Searing said. “She won Gr1’s.

Honor A.P., a son of Honor Code out of the outstanding mare Hollywood Story by Wild Rush, nearly cost seven figures. The Searings purchased him at Saratoga for $850,000, making him the highest priced yearling in Honor Code’s first crop. Honor Code was one of 36 foals from the last crop of A.P. Indy.

“We knew we’d have to pay for him,” Searing said. “We hung in there. We got him. I named him Honor A.P. in homage to his grandsire, the breed-shaping A.P. Indy.

I loved A.P. Indy. It’s always been my goal to race a horse of this caliber and to stand him at Lane’s End (which stands Honor Code). I hope this horse has a chance at a second career.”

Lane End’s Will Farish is thrilled to stand Honor A.P. “He’s a horse that we have had an eye on since he was sold as a yearling,” Farish said. “April Mayberry was quietly touting him while being broken, and John Shirreffs has been high on him since he arrived at Santa Anita.”

Honor A.P. has only four lifetime starts, working around a minor foot injury. He was second to unbeaten Authentic in the Gr3 San Felipe on March 7, then defeated Authentic going away by 2 ¾ lengths in the rescheduled Gr1 Santa Anita Derby on June 20.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Searing had to watch Honor A.P. on TV. “We had a small Santa Anita Derby party at our house,” Searing said. “Family, a few friends. It was very exciting to see that horse make that

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TOP: Honor A.P. winning the Santa Anita Derby ridden

by Hall of Famer Mike Smith.

ABOVE: Lee and Susan with jockey Joel Rosario.

move on the turn and draw away. You know what? It finally happened. I just really, really love being able to buy a horse like this. When we bought this horse, we knew we had a chance.”

Now Searing has a chance to win the Kentucky Derby on September 5. The game plan is to prep Honor A.P. in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on August 1. “We would prefer to stay home,” Searing said. “He’s got enough points.”

Searing is thrilled to be on the ride to Louisville. “After being in racing all this time, it’s exciting for me and my family,” he said. “We have been around the world for racing. I buy a horse, hoping for a chance he’ll bring us to these amazing races. I will participate to the limit I can.”

He will do that every day. His father and grandfather wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Australia’s Industry leading Thoroughbred Fitness Monitoring System is now available in North America and Europe. In addition to the accurate Heart rate/Speed measurements the upgraded E-Trakka XV3 system now includes real time viewing, precise stride measurements and automated reporting.

CHRIS WALLER (Australia’s leading trainer of both WINX and YES YES YES), an E-Trakka user since 2012 who recently upgraded to the new XV3 system said: With regular readings on horses in work I am able to get a line on their progression and level of fitness through any given preparation.

Pre exercise heart rate variations are a component of the program and any increase above the norm allows me to make investigations into any problems developing and act accordingly.

YES YES YES, winner of the 13 million AUD 2019 Everest Stakes, wearing the E-Trakka.

Stride length variations are invaluable as they afford me the opportunity to correct issues prior to competition. The accuracy of the GPS timing component is a great comparative tool of my horses work. It also assists track riders with their times, which produces more consistency and accuracy in a horse’s work program.

All in all, I thoroughly recommend the E-Trakka program to anyone who is serious about training racehorses.

Experienced Racetrack Veterinarian and Graded Stakes Winning Trainer Gregory Fox DVM will now be handling distribution and support in North America. www.etrakka.com.au | www.tbperformancediagnostics.com | (859) 533-1365

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| PROFILES |

MAGGI MOSS & GREG TRAMONTIN - NO PAROLE his was an unlikely partnership because Maggi Moss’ storied career as an owner was strictly a solo act (including being named national owner of the year by the Thoroughbred Owner and Breeders Association in 2007 after becoming the first woman to finish as the leading owner in the country since 1945). “I’m a real control freak,” Moss, an attorney in Des Moines, Iowa, said. “I don’t play with others. It’s my money. It’s my horses. I take in the good news, the bad news, the disappointments and everything in between. If something goes wrong, it’s on me. I’m a one-man band, and it worked well with me.”

Until February. Still suffering from the loss of her mother last December, Moss was flooded with offers to buy her undefeated three-year-old colt No Parole, who had won his first three starts for Louisiana-breds, a maiden race by 14 ¼ lengths, an allowance race by 13 ¼ lengths and the a $100,000 Premier Night Prince Stakes by 6 ½ for Tom Amoss, Moss’ long-time trainer. “I received several generous offers—very generous—over a million dollars,” she said. “I didn’t take partners, but most of those offers were by individuals who wanted 100 percent of the horse, and more importantly, wanted to take him away from Tom. I am fiercely loyal to Tom after 17 years. He had developed the horse. I bought him, but Tom developed him. He won those races—he and his crew. Taking the horse away from him didn’t seem right.”

That opened up a possibility: finding a partner who would take less than 50 percent and be happy to keep Amoss as trainer.

Tom suggested Greg Tramontin. “I didn’t know who he was, but I trusted Tom. Tom said he would be a great partner,” Moss said.

“The deal was really smooth. He’s wonderful. He’s smart. He is the perfect partner. Now we’ve partnered on another horse.”

T

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| GRADE 1 WINNING OWNERS |

I DON’T PLAY WITH OTHERS. IT’S MY MONEY. IT’S MY HORSES. I TAKE IN THE GOOD NEWS, THE BAD NEWS, THE DISAPPOINTMENTS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.” Tramontin, the 2009 founder and CEO of GoAuto Insurance in Louisiana, had just reconnected to horse racing and was delighted to take a 49 percent interest in No Parole, who improved his career record to five-for-six with a powerful 3 ¾ length victory in the Gr1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park June 20.

“I had called Tom in January to see if we can get anyone for the Kentucky Derby—a bucket item,” Tramontin said. “He said he has a fantastic horse, not just a fantastic Louisiana-bred. I didn’t know Maggi, but now we talk on the phone almost every day. She’s the best partner you could have. She’s been a fantastic partner. Tom put us together. Now, we’ve purchased another horse at the March Sale, Let It Be. We’re now 50-50 partners. I gained one percent.”

Joking aside, Tramontin, now 66, tipped off his future business acumen at the age of six. That’s when he won a competition at his Chicago Catholic school for selling the most doughnuts in his first-grade class. “The doughnut contest?” he asked. “I’m a

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| PROFILES |

competitive guy by nature. I was a cute little first grader. I went up and down every block in Chicago. I sold more than any kid in the whole school. They brought a truck to deliver those doughnuts.

My mom didn’t know she had to deliver them. She got mad at me.”

Tramontin received a wooden statue trophy of the Virgin Mary.

“That’s still on my desk,” he said.

His business education was aided mightily by his grandmother around the same time. “She gave me three stocks,” he said. “I had to come home and look them up in the paper every day. The three stocks were Sears, Marquette Cement and El Paso National Gas. That wound up paying my tuition to LSU. That got me from Chicago to Baton Rouge.”

The son of a tool company worker, Tramontin grew up near Sportsman’s Park, but he didn’t get into horse racing until his close friend Bob Asaro bought a horse for $2,500 in 1989. That horse, Genuine Meaning, was named Louisiana-bred Two-YearOld Champion and earned nearly $300,000. “Bob’s telling me, ‘This is easy,’” Tramontin said.

It’s not. Tramontin bought his first horse, Windcracker, who broke down in training and had to be euthanized. “Then Tom, who’s always been my trainer, calls me from England and said there’s a Louisiana horse, Artic Tracker, in a sale there,” Tramontin said. “He said he was Group placed in the 2,000 Guineas but caught the equine virus. He said, ‘This is a really nice horse. We’ll have to pay $40,000.’”

Tramontin said, “I’ll do it one more time, Tom.’” They got the horse...for $80,000. Amoss told him not to worry because he found a partner for the horse in Texas. That partner reneged, so Amoss took a $10,000 share as did Bob Asaro. Artic

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Tracker was worth it, earning $241,795 from eight victories, nine seconds and 11 thirds from 47 starts.

In August 1994, Tramontin almost bought the horse of a lifetime, two-time Horse of the Year Cigar. “Artic Tracker had just won a stakes at Louisiana Downs,” he said. “I told Tom, ‘Let’s find another horse and try to get into the next level.’ He called and said, ‘I found one: a three-year-old in California.’ Tom said he’d been racing on turf, and that the horse is racing on the wrong surface. We made a bid for $175,000 ABOVE LEFT: on a Friday, and they said they’d consider it.”

No Parole and Over the weekend, owner Allen Paulson jockey Luis Saez. decided not to sell his would-be star. “In October, he wins the first of 16 straight on dirt,” Tramontin ABOVE RIGHT: said. “I watched him on TV and threw my sock Greg Tramontin at the TV.” By the end of Cigar’s run, Tramontin was out of socks.

Despite missing out on Cigar, Tramontin was enjoying racing, but he decided to get out when he entered the insurance business in 1995 after a successful five-year run with the Yellow Pages, beginning as a sales rep. “I didn’t want to get criticized for being in the horse business,” he said. “Insurance is a regulated industry. I took a hiatus from racing.”

He didn’t return for 23 years.

While Tramontin was out of the game, Moss, a three-time champion hunter/jumper, was flourishing. Horses have always been in her life. “It started when I was eight years old,” she said.

“My dad was very adamant about learning about horses before he bought me show horses,” she said. “He had come from Chicago, and he loved horses.”

Moss joined the pony club, then got involved in hunters and jumpers. She won a national show jumping championship at Madison Square Garden.

“I came up with some of the greatest horsemen you’ll ever meet,” she said. “I rode competitively until I went to school at the University of Kentucky.”

She brought her horses to Lexington to keep competing, but found a whole new way of life in college and asked her father to pick up the horses and take them back home. “I had never had a

| GRADE 1 WINNING OWNERS |

social life,” she said. “I never had any life other than horses. I’d never left my mom and dad. I joined a sorority. You drink, you party, you meet boys. I had the time of my life. I had too good of a time—a way too good of a time. I did all the crazy things.

I was in college. I got placed on probation the first semester.”

Eventually, Moss calmed down her college lifestyle, deciding to go to law school. “I got involved in law,” Moss said. “I got really serious. I worked in the Appalachian mountains with poor people.

I switched from animals to people.”

She served as a public defender, then as a prosecutor and finally in a private practice. “I had some high-profile cases,” she said. Most were with personal injury, discrimination and victims’ rights.

“My last case was dealing with grown men who were abused as kids,” she said. “I had to deal with the Catholic Diocese. That brought me to my knees. I had to walk away.”

Since 2008, she deals solely with equine law as she continues her work with Hope After Racing Thoroughbreds (H.A.R.T.), the only retirement facility for horses in Iowa she founded in 2012.

H.A.R.T. takes in horses who are either injured or uncompetitive at Prairie Meadows. She has made horse rescue her mission.

Her ownership of Thoroughbreds has never needed rescue as she’s accumulated—through June 2020—2,351 victories and earnings topping $51 million.

She led the nation with 211 victories in 2006 and has posted more than $1 million in earnings every year since 2002. She has also been the leading owner multiple times at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Churchill Downs, Fair Grounds and a dozen times at Prairie Meadows.

Her top horses include So Many Ways, who captured the Gr1 Spinaway Stakes, the Gr3 Schuylerville Stakes and the Gr3 Eight Bells, and Gr2 Churchill Downs Stakes victor Delaunay. “Delaunay was a claim,” Moss said. “He was one of my favorites.” So was Big World, who won the Gr1 La Troienne Stakes in 2017.

Now Moss has a new favorite, No Parole. “I found him, and when I looked at him (at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale), I fell in love with him physically,” Moss said in a 2020 interview with The Blood-Horse MarketWatch. “He bit me really hard, and that won my heart. He was the quickest horse I’ve ever seen at grabbing, and he grabbed me pretty hard. But he was purchased (for $75,000) primarily to compete in the Louisiana-bred program.”

When he blitzed state-bred competition in his first three starts, the calls to Moss came from a lot of people struck with Kentucky Derby fever.

After a gap of 23 years, Tramontin decided to get back into racing. With his buddy Bob Asaro, they purchased Make Me Smile for $12,000 as a two-year-old in 2018, and he has won four of 14 starts and earned more than $120,000, which freed Tramontin to ask Amoss about getting a Derby contender.

When No Parole finished a distant eighth in the mile-and-asixteenth Gr2 Rebel Stakes on a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park on March 14, his connections made the wise decision to cut him back to a sprint. He upped his career record to four-for-five with a 2 ¾ length victory in an allowance at Oaklawn Park, then delivered a powerful performance in taking the Gr1 Woody Stephens Stakes.

“Maggi was sobbing with joy on the phone after the win,” Tramontin said.

She explained, “I’m usually a cool cucumber, but it was emotional. I think it was a culmination of what we’re living through now, and my mom’s passing. She was my biggest fan.

She was my soulmate. She loved, loved horses.

BELOW LEFT: She was lost in December. Ever since she passed No Parole away, I could hear her. Her not being here to see No Parole, it was emotional. It was raw.”

BELOW RIGHT: Maggi Moss And joyous, so very joyous.

ISSUE 57 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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Bill Heller

| #SOUNDBITES |

Eclipse Sportswire

#SOUNDBITES If you could add one Breeders’ Cup race, what would it be?

Or are there enough Breeders’ Cup races already?

# Al Stall I’ve never thought about that. I’m not sure. It seems like they have it covered. I think it’s fine as is.

# Michael Matz # Dale Romans

Are there any divisions left?

I think it’s enough the way it is. You don’t want to water it down anymore than it already is.

It’s a good question. Let me think for a minute. A filly and mare turf mile. I just think it would be a good race.

# Craig Dollase A straight three-year-old dirt race for fillies and one for the boys. That might be something. They don’t have that. With the situation right now, all the three-year-olds are backed up because of the virus and are racing in the fall. See if that sparks some interest moving forward. It would produce big fields.

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| #SOUNDBITES |

# D. Wayne Lukas

# Mark Hennig They keep changing it so often. They’ve got 14 now.

Allowing races strictly for three-year-olds would make the Classic a disaster. Most years, the older horses have been depleted, and the three-year-olds have done well. To me, do a turf mile for fillies and mares just like the boys.

I think I’d leave it alone. I don‘t think there’s any other race that would have much significance. I might change the format on Friday and Saturday. I think they definitely need to beef up the Friday card.

# David Donk I think they pretty much cover all the divisions. I think it would dilute the quality. I think what they have is sufficient because of the horse population in the country.

It’s an owner issue, not a trainer issue. At the end of the day, the buck stops there.

# Richard Mandella I remember the first one in one day. It seemed more important with one day. But racing needs desperately to get people involved in it and interested in it. If they want to add another race, have one and then have an auction afterwards.

You put up a good purse of $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000. And then anyone can bid on the winner. You would have to have the money in an account and a rule so that the current owner couldn’t bid and keep his horse.

You make it the last race of the day. Get the winner, get the bids, and anyone could get the horse. If you did it once, it might start a following. It might get the public involved.

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