THE HORSES MOUTH Stephen

You can tell a lot about a HORSE from lookinginto its MOUTH

STEPHEN LAIRD DISCUSSES WITH RACHEL McMAHON WHY KEEPING A RACEHORSE’S ORAL HEALTH UP TO DATE IS VITAL TO MAINTAINING PEAK HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE.

EVOLUTION OF EQUINE DENTISTRY

There have been major advances in equine dentistry over the last few decades. Equine health care practises have become more predominant than ever, leading to increasing demand for skilled equine dentists. A trade that was previously undertaken by a farrier has evolved into a science, with new techniques and different methods constantly being developed, with more sophisticated technologies replacing traditional methods.

The horse's mouth is the primary point of contact between the horse and rider. If a horse is uncomfortable or suffers from oral pain, it can make the horse difficult to handle and therefore have a negative impact on the performance of the horse.

Equine Dentistry plays an important role in the upkeep of horse’s health. Dental check-ups take place on a six to twelve-month basis, depending on the age of the horse as well as their dental needs. Having a horse regularly checked over by an equine dentist ensures the horse is getting the maximum benefit from their food, as it helps the horse to thrive and in theory enhance their performance in their discipline.

Stephen Laird highlights the importance of regular examinations in relation to a horse’s performance.

You can tell a great deal about a horse from looking into their mouth. If a horse isn’t comfortable in the mouth, they are not going to be eating their food properly, they are not going to be riding properly. If they’re not eating well, they are not going to be training well so you are not going to be getting the best out of that horse.

Unlike human teeth, horse’s molars are constantly growing. A horse chews in a circular motion, which causes sharp, uneven points to develop on the outside of the molars. These sharp points can cause ulceration of tongue and cheeks which often results in problems with eating and difficulty in handling the horse, as they are in discomfort especially when there is a bit in their mouth.

Most of the bigger yards will do their horses twice a year to keep on top of them. The teeth will sharpen up in six months. From yearlings upwards their teeth sharpen up a lot quicker and the horse would be losing a lot of teeth between the ages of 2 and 4. They lose 12 incisors between 2 and 5 years old, they shed like baby teeth. Mostly the teeth fall out independently but sometimes it can cause problems when they are still attached, the teeth can go sideways and could lacerate their tongue or their gums. Sometimes a dentist has to take them out.

Having initially started out working hands on in racing, establishing a career race riding in Ireland and the UK, Stephen later retrained as an Equine Dentist.

A good friend of mine Gary Waters is a horse dentist and is from South Africa. He was always adamant for me to train as one, so I shadowed him. I watched him in his work and that is where I found the interest. So, I trained up and haven’t looked back since.

I work independently from my base in Wexford but Gary Waters, Stuart Huggan and myself team up together a few times a year to do the bigger yards, we’re quite unique in that way. The likes of Joseph O’Brien’s or Gordon Elliott’s. Since they have so many horses there could be three of us go in together to get through the yard quicker rather than one person go in on

Stephen Laird working examines a horse’s teeth for a client in Naas

their own. Big yards could take us four or five days but if someone was to go in on their own, they could be there for almost a month.

The most rewarding part of the job is following the horses you have treated and watching those horses go on to win big races afterwards. A few years ago, between Gary, Stuart and myself we did the first seven winners at Cheltenham. The Tuesday and the start of the Wednesday, all of those winners were horses we had treated.

I do most of my work around Ireland. I’m based in Wexford, so I do a lot of point-to-point yards as well as Paul Nolan’s, Peter Fahey’s, Denis Murphy’s, and Ado McGuinness’. Ado had his first Group One winner recently so that was a real thrill.

WHERE TO TRAIN

At present, there is no academy for prospective equine dentists to train in Ireland, so they must travel abroad to learn their skills. Irish equine dental students go abroad to train in recognised schools mainly located in Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and America. Laird reflects on how having access to JETS allowed him to retrain.

Because I actually rode in the UK, JETS (Jockey Education and Training Scheme) helped me out, they put me onto the dentistry course. They provided me with a grant which allowed me to complete the training. It helped me out with flights among other things because I trained and did my apprenticeship in South Africa with Gary Waters.

Organizations such as the Equine Dental Association of Ireland (EDAI) act as a support to equine dentists, many of whom are self-employed. Although it does not train dentists, it allows practising equine dentists in Ireland to come together and share knowledge and skills. Laird expresses the importance of such organisations.

The WWAED (World-Wide Association of Equine Dentists) offer continuous development training and Gary and Stuart are members. I am in the process of getting in. They test you on your work. When you are a member, it is easier to get insurance if you are with an association because they have their own insurance. The standard of the work has to obviously be high to be a member.

Mná’some!

LISSA OLIVER LOOKS BACK AT THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS ENJOYED BY OUR LEADING LADIES THROUGHOUT 2021, BOTH HUMAN AND EQUINE!

What a fantastic year it has been for the leading ladies of our sport. The Goodbye 2020 Hello 2021 Maiden Hurdle at Tramore provided the first win of 2021 on day one for jockey Rachael Blackmore and what a year it turned out to be for her.

In partnership with trainer Henry de Bromhead and his star mare Honeysuckle, the pair mopped up the Gr1 Champion Hurdles at Leopardstown, Cheltenham and Punchestown and completed the year with a third successive win in the Gr1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.

Forget Paris in the springtime, Cheltenham was the place to be when Rachael powered home six winners, becoming the first woman to be Leading Jockey at the Festival. Barely had the cheers died down than she was rewriting the history books again, winning the 182nd running of the Grand National at Aintree aboard Minella Times – the first lady jockey ever to do so.

Her year was well and truly capped when she was voted 2021 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year and the BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year. Well done Rachael, you’ve set the bar high for 2022!

Such highs lie in the future for newcomer Annalise Cullen, who had her first ride on 4 November 2020. Her first win came with Zephron in the Sentinel Ireland Handicap at the Curragh for her father Denis. Annalise ended the year with five wins, including a trio on the Michael Grassick-trained Loingseoir, making her a name to watch.

Fellow apprentice Siobhán Rutledge has quietly ridden her way up the ranks since first taking to the saddle in 2018. This year saw

Siobhan Rutledge

her tally of rides almost treble from 2020 and she has notched up prize money of €322,935 and 24 wins, most notably on Tony Martin’s Drakensberg, on whom she completed a quick double within the space of a week in February.

Siobhán guided Moddy Poddle to victory for another of our leading ladies, trainer Sheila Lavery. Moddy Poddle was ‘the one that got away’ for Sheila when a gallant second in the Irish Cambridgeshire. This coming year Sheila has Classic entries in Toriangel, Global Energy and New Energy. The latter won his maiden at The Curragh in September and was beaten by only two and three-quarter lengths behind Glounthaune in the Gr3 Killavullan Stakes, giving good reason for optimism going into 2022.

Jessie Harrington also holds a strong Classic hand for the year ahead with regallybred Discoveries, the Gr1 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine, hoping to follow in the illustrious footsteps of her older sisters Alpha Centauri and Alpine Star.

Enjoying a rattling good Irish Champions Weekend, No Speak Alexander won the Gr1 Matron Stakes for Jessie and Real Appeal landed the Gr2 Boomerang Mile. Over the jumps, Ashdale Bob won the Gr2 Novice Hurdle at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and is shaping up into a promising chaser. Rapid Response kept the ball rolling for the girls when winning the Mares handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival.

We are used to seeing the big stables to the fore at our major meetings, but trainer Katy Brown waited for the year’s biggest Flat stage to gain her first major victory when her six-year-old mare Effernock Fizz won the Ragusa Premier Handicap at The Curragh on Irish Derby Day. What a great day it was for Katy, who will look back on 2021 with a great deal more fondness than most! 2021 also saw a new addition to the training ranks in Jenny Lynch, the Director and cofounder of the Irish Racehorse Retirement Fund, and the former assistant to Aidan Howard had her first runners in April. Her three-year-old filly Clara’s Approach won the Lily & Wild BBQ Handicap at Naas in August and Wish Me won the Yellow Furze Handicap at Navan. A promising start to her career, we wish Jenny well for 2022.

We mustn’t overlook the real stars of our sport and we had a wealth of talent throughout the past year among those who like to sport more than a single pair of shining shoes!

The National Hunt mares were more than a match for the geldings over obstacles. As we have seen, elsewhere in these pages, Honeysuckle and Colreevy led the field, but not too far behind Colreevy, quite literally in the Gr2 The Liberthine Mares’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, comes Elimay. Beaten just half a length that day, Elimay hasn’t finished out of the first three since her win at the 2019 Punchestown Festival,

adding a further two Listed Mares Chases to her already sparkling CV this past season. When partnered with the unstoppable Rachael Blackmore, Telmesomethinggirl produced a career-best at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, landing the Gr2 Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. What a great pity our owners could not be present, especially for AIRO’s own Caren Walsh, who invests so much time in our association and this magazine in particular. Caren was rewarded when her super mare Black Tears, owned in partnership with John Lightfoot, won the Gr1 David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle, hot off her win in the Gr3 Quevega Mares’ Hurdle at Punchestown. Put The Kettle On was another lady to figure in her trainer Henry de Bromhead’s historic Holy Trinity at the Festival, beating the boys in the Gr1 Queen Mother Champion Chase. It was a great Festival for the Irish and playing her part was Heaven Help Us, who bested the boys when winning the Gr3 Coral Cup Handicap Jennifer Pugh, Senior Hurdle, as did Mrs Milner, victorious in the Gr3 Medical Officer, IHRB Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.

Clockwise from top left: Jessica Harrington winner of the Sir Peter O’Sullevan award presented by Brough Scott; Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore win for trainer Henry de Bromhead at Punchestown

Above: Black Tears and Jack Kennedy win for owners Caren Walsh & John Lightfoot and trainer Denise Foster with grooms Jack Ruddy and Lisa O’Neill at Cheltenham. Right: Jockey Annalise Cullen rode her 3rd winner in 7 days when Loingseoir won. No Speak Alexander and Shane Foley win for trainer Jessica Harrington.

Sheila Lavery

Katy Brown

Mount Ida not only put the boys to bed in the Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase, but she aims to become only the 14th mare to win the Grand National should she line up as planned at Aintree in 2022. Nickle Coin was the last mare to win the Grand National, in 1951, and Mount Ida hopes to go one better than Magic Of Light in 2019. That particular runner-up was trained by, you guessed it, Jessie Harrington!

We mustn’t forget to give a heads up to the ITBA NH Fillies Scheme, which has certainly played a major part in seeing these fillies and mares go into training and prove their worth. This great initiative has paid out over €2.4m to winning owners since its inception in 2014.

On the Flat, the 2020 champion Tarnawa put up her best performances in defeat in 2021, going under narrowly and bravely to St Mark’s Basilica in the Irish Champion Stakes and Torquator Tasso in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Santa Barbara was the talking horse of the spring, but she came up against three very good fillies while learning her trade. When the penny dropped, she came into her own, travelling over to America to win the Gr1 Belmont Oaks and Gr1 Beverly D. Stakes.

Ballydoyle seemed to be the home of champion fillies, but it was the unexpected champion Snowfall who ran out a series of breath-taking wide-margin victories during the summer, including her recordbreaking 16-length Epsom Oaks and record-breaking eight-and-a-half length Irish Oaks, the Yorkshire Oaks completing her unbeaten run at three.

Only a year earlier, Love had set her own Epsom record, recording the fastest time for The Oaks, which she’d won by nine lengths. Fortunately for us she remained in training and in 2021 debuted at Royal Ascot to win the Gr1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, defeating Breeders’ Cup heroine Audarya in the process.

Meanwhile, her stablemate Mother Earth lost nothing in defeat all year, but her finest moments came with victory in the Gr1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and Gr1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville. Beginning 2021 with a Classic success, she maintained her form right through to December when fourth to Golden Sixty in the Gr1 Hong Kong Mile.

Other fillies of note during the past year were Thundering Nights, who saw off Santa Barbara when victorious in the Gr1 Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh, and Romantic Proposal, who added to trainer Eddie Lynam’s great record with sprinters when triumphing in the Gr1 Derrinstown Stud Stakes Flying Five and the Listed Dubai Duty Free Dash Stakes on Irish Derby day.

We’ve so far celebrated the participants at the very coalface of racing, but there are so many people working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the show on the road, among them female role models to inspire the next generation whatever their gender.

We salute our leading industry ladies who are steering our sport into a secure future: Suzanne Eade, CEO at Horse Racing Ireland; Cliodhna Guy, Interim CEO IHRB; Dr Lynn Hillyer, Chief Veterinary Officer; Jennifer Pugh, Chief Medical Officer; Eimear Mulhern, Chairperson Goffs; Jane Mangan, RTE Presenter; Nessa Joyce, Manager Irish EBF; Sharon O’Regan, General Manager Weatherbys; and, of course, our own Regina Byrne, General Manager of AIRO.THE ITBA NH FILLIES SCHEME PAID OUT OVER €2.4M TO WINNING OWNERS