North American Trainer - winter 2017 - issue 46

ISSUE 46 – WINTER 2017 $5.95 www.trainermagazine.com

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FOR THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE THOROUGHBRED THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE

PEGASUS BOUND Classic winner set to face Distaff heroine in defining test

MICK RUIS

Trainer of Bolt d’Oro – in profile

DENNIS COLLINS

Proving paralysis wont hold him back

YEARLING TRAINING

What’s the best way to bring on your youngsters?

|OPINION |

GI LE S IN THE FOUR AN DE RS ON SHORT YEARS PUBLISHER’S OPINION

SINCE WE OPENED OUR DOORS...

The best is yet to come... o says the marketing slogan as used by the Breeders’ Cup and it is certainly apt as we approach what, for a true horseracing fan, is always an anticipated time of the year. No, I’m not talking about the holiday season but I’m looking ahead to the Eclipse Awards and the new kid on the block, the world’s richest race -- the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. There is certainly a subtle change going on in the racing industry and in the past, the racing world would just have its annual debate about horse of the year contenders at this time of year to look forward to, but now it has the anticipation and build up to what will one day go down as one the greatest innovations in the sport - the Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Yes, its cynics will say that it’s designed for wealthy owners to take on their contemporaries, but if you had a horse that was worthy of consideration for the race, would you in all seriousness bypass the opportunity?

But its existence is shifting and extending the season. For many it is going to be the last race of the previous season rather than the first race of the new year. Look at California Chrome last year and God willing, Gun Runner, next year, a last start before a career in the breeding shed beckons.

Our cover caption states two of the big box office draws for the race and boy is it going to be a race to be anticipated.

But, as you’ll find out on the next page, there are plans to develop the race concept even further and thus solidify their position in the racing calendar come the end of January.

Our main trainer feature in this issue is the trainer turned entrepreneur turned trainer Mick Ruis, who is quickly making a name for himself on the California circuit.

His exciting Bolt d’Oro remains a live horse for the 2018 Kentucky Derby despite being beaten in the BC Juvenile.

We talk to the brave men and women who have overcome the adversity of life-changing injuries to pursue their careers as racehorse trainers. One such trainer is Dennis Collins, who this time last year was in the hospital with horrific spinal injuries following a fall at The Downs at Albuquerque. His road to recovery shows what can be done through dedication and determination. I always remember being told as a child that you can do nearly anything if you have the will to do something, and for Dennis we can only hope that for him the best is yet to come as a trainer. He deserves the chance to succeed.

Enjoy the racing over the next three months, and be sure to check our website (trainermagazine.com) in late January when we’ll publish the pre-Pegasus / Eclipse edition.

Wherever your racing takes you between now and then good luck!

S

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(806) 333-8589 info@SpeedSilks.com www.SpeedSilks.com ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

01

|NEWS |

NEW PEGASUS TURF RACE UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR 2019 EXCLUSIVE! ith a purse of $16,000.000 The Pegasus World Cup Invitational can easily claim the mantle of the world’s richest horse race.

The 2018 race is scheduled for Saturday January 27th and set to be run over the trip of a mile and a furlong on the historic Gulfstream Park dirt surface. The race is ideally positioned between the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November and the Dubai World Cup in late March.

First run earlier this year, its concept is unique in the Northern Hemisphere, with twelve investors buying a spot in the starting gate (at $1m each) which can be used for their own horse or sold on to connections of a suitable horse. As part of the package, investors share in revenues generatted by the eventt.

“We (Stron nach Group) are investing the additional $4m in the purrse as we truly see the value in staging this race and see itt as a marketing investment for the wi wider wid international sp port”, says Tim m Ritvo, th he Chief Operating Off fffiicer i of the Stronach Group p. “For an n ownership group

W

PHOTO: CALL THE ORCHID – CREDIT KENNY MARTIN

BELOW: A turf version of the Pegasus under consideration for 2019

who start a horse, they’re guaranteed minimum purse money of $550,000 (11th and 12th place finishers) so the maximum cost will be the difference of $450,000. As the race grows, so does the profit sharing in the sponsorship, pari-mutuel handle and television rights so there is an added value to the investment in the race for an owner”.

The race comes at the end of a week of racing celebrations in Miami Florida, starting with the prestigious Eclipse Awards on January 25th the Pegasus Party on January 26th and the world’s largest betting tournament where players compete for a purse of over $500,000 on January 26th and 27th.

The undercard on Pegasus World Cup day includes eight additional stakes races, including the Gr3 W.L McKnight run over 1m4f on the turf.

Ritvo is already looking ahead to 2019 and planning a turf equivalent to the headline dirt race. “One thing we n America enough is run thosse distance turf don’t do in races and every time we do run one, fan ns bet them m really well. With these truly run mile and halff races they ru un mostly to form. So we’re looking seeriou usly at staagin ng a tu urff race in 2019 wi with a purse of $5,000,0 wit 000 or $6,000,000, our goal wiilll be to make th his a true intternatio onal race”.

02

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 T H O R O U G H B R E D S TA K E S S C H E D U L E

CHAMPIONSHIP MEET DECEMBER

JANUARY

DATE

STAKES

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

STAKES

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

12.2.17

Jewel (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

1 1/8 M

$200K

Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint

4yo & up

5 F (T)

$125K

Tiara (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up (F&M)

1 1/16 M (T)

$125K

South Beach

4yo & up (F&M)

7 1/2 F (T)

$125K

Emerald (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

1 1/16 M (T)

$125K

Iron Horse (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

1 1/16 M

$110K

Express (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

6F

$110K

Glass Slipper (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up (F&M)

1M

$110K

Rapid Transit (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

7F

$110K

Canterbury (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up

5 F (T)

$110K

12.9.17

12.16.17

Distaff Dash (Claiming Crown)

3yo & up (F&M)

5 F (T)

$110K

Buffalo Man

2yo

6F

$75K

FEBRUARY

House Party

2yo F

6F

$75K

2yo

1M

$75K

Hut Hut

2yo F

1M

$75K

Pulpit

2yo

1 M (T)

$75K

Wait a While

2yo F

1 M (T)

$75K

Caribbean Classic

3yo

1 1/8 M

$300K

Confraternity Caribbean Cup

3yo & up

1 1/4 M

$100K

Invitational Cup For Imported

3yo & up

1 1/4 M

$60K

3yo F

1 1/16 M

$25K

Caribbean Cup Speed

3yo & up

6F

$25K

Rampart (G3)

3yo & up (F&M)

1M

$100K

Harlan’s Holiday (G3)

3yo & up

1 1/16 M

$100K

Sugar Swirl (G3)

3yo & up (F&M)

6F

$100K

Tropical Turf (G3)

3yo & up

1 M (T)

$100K

My Charmer (G3)

3yo & up (F&M)

1 M (T)

$100K

12.23.17

Mr Prospector (G3)

3yo & up

7F

$100K

12.30.17

H Allen Jerkens

3yo & up

2 M (T)

$100K

Via Borghese

3yo & up (F&M)

1 3/16 M (T)

$75K

Tropical Park Derby

3yo

1 1/16 M (T)

$75K

Tropical Park Oaks

3yo F

1 1/16 M (T)

$75K

DATE

STAKES

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

Mucho Macho Man

3yo

1M

$100K

Kitten’s Joy

3yo

7 1/2 F (T)

$100K

Ginger Brew

3yo F

7 1/2 F (T)

$100K

Limehouse

3yo*

6F

$75K

1.27.18

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

Holy Bull (G2)

3yo

1 1/16 M

$350K

Forward Gal (G2)

3yo F

7F

$200K

Swale (G2)

3yo

7F

$200K

Sweetest Chant (G3)

3yo F

1 M (T)

$100K

Dania Beach (G3)

3yo

1 M (T)

$100K

Gulfstream Park Turf (G1)

4yo & up

1 1/8 M (T)

$300K

Suwannee River (G3)

4yo & up (F&M)

1 1/8 M (T)

$150K

Old Hickory

4yo & up

1 1/16 M

$60K

Rail Splitter

4yo & up

6 1/2 F

$60K

Old Man Eloquent

4yo & up

1 1/16 M (T)

$60K

Mary Todd

4yo & up (F&M)

1 1/16 M (T)

$60K

American Fabius

3yo

7F

$60K

Queen Mother

3yo F

7F

$60K

Sage of Monticello

3yo

7 1/2 F (T)

$60K

Mrs Presidentress

3yo F

7 1/2 F (T)

$60K

Lady Bird

4yo & up (F&M)

7F

$50K

Rough and Ready

4yo & up

1M

$50K

Trust Buster

4yo & up

6F

$50K

Little Magician

4yo & up

1 M (T)

$50K

2.19.18

Royal Delta (G2)

4yo & up (F&M)

1M

$200K

2.24.18

Hal’s Hope (G3)

4yo & up

1M

$100K

Texas Glitter

3yo

5 F (T)

$75K

Melody of Colors

3yo F

5 F (T)

$75K

MARCH

1.6.18

1.20.18

STAKES

2.3.18

2.17.18

JANUARY

1.13.18

DATE

2.10.18

Smooth Air

Lady Caribbean Cup

DATE

Glitter Women

3yo* F

6F

$75K

Fort Lauderdale (G2)

4yo & up

1 1/16 M (T)

$200K

Marshua's River (G3)

4yo & up (F&M)

1 1/16 M (T)

$150K

Skip Away (G3)

4yo & up

1 1/8M

$100K

DATE

STAKES

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

3.3.18

Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth (G2)

3yo

1 1/16 M

$400K

Davona Dale (G2)

3yo F

1M

$200K

Mac Diarmida (G2)

4yo & up

1 3/8 M (T)

$200K

Very One (G3)

4yo & up (F&M)

1 3/16 M (T)

$150K

Canadian Turf (G3)

4yo & up

1 M (T)

$150K

Palm Beach (G3)

3yo

1 1/16 M (T)

$100K

Herecomesthebride (G3)

3yo F

1 1/16 M (T)

$100K

Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3)

4yo & up F

6 1/2 F

$100K

Sand Springs

4yo & up (F&M)

1 M (T)

$100K

Captiva Island

4yo & up (F&M)

5 F (T)

$75K

Silks Run

4yo & up

5 F (T)

$75K

3.17.18

Inside Information (G2)

4yo & up (F&M)

7F

$200K

3.24.18

Hutchenson (G3)

3yo

6F

$100K

Any Limit

3yo F

6F

$75K

3.10.18

Sunshine Millions Classic

4yo & up

1 1/8 M

$200K

Sunshine Millions Turf

4yo & up

1 1/16 M (T)

$150K

Sunshine Millions F&M Turf

4yo & up (F&M)

1 1/16 M (T)

$150K

Sunshine Millions Sprint

4yo & up

6F

$100K

Pegasus World Cup (G1)

4yo & up

1 1/8 M

$16M

Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1)

3yo

1 1/8 M

$1M

Fred Hooper (G3)

4yo & up

1M

$125K

4yo & up

1M

$300K

W.L. McKnight (G3)

4yo & up

1 1/2 M (T)

Hardacre Mile Gulfstream Park Mile (G2)

$200K

Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2)

3yo F

1 1/16 M

$250K

La Prevoyante (G3)

4yo & up (F&M)

1 1/2 M (T)

$200K

Honey Fox (G2)

4yo & up (F&M)

1 M (T)

$250K

Hurricane Bertie (G3)

4yo & up (F&M)

7F

$125K

Pan American (G2)

4yo & up

1 1/2 M (T)

$250K

Ladies’ Turf Sprint

4yo & up (F&M)

5 F (T)

$125K

Cutler Bay

3yo

1 M (T)

$125K

Sanibel Island

3yo F

1 M (T)

$125K

3.31.18

All other overnight Race Purse will be $100,000 *Non-Winners of Sweepstakes

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LIVE RACING DAY SIMULCASTING DAY PREMIUM STAKES RACES CLOSED

S

|CONTENTS |

16

40 34

ISS S UE

46

46

CONTENTS F E AT U R E S

62

56 The art of clocking horses

16 Mick Ruis

The trainer whose name has bolted to the top of next year’s Triple Crown trail in profile, by Ed Golden.

26 Better owner-trainer relations

Some owner and trainer relationships stand the test of time, while others are more precarious, by Denise Steffanus.

34 The importance of identifying lower and upper limb lameness

Leah McGlinchey on research that can help identify lameness issues before they become a major problem.

The early morning behind-the-scenes work put in by clockers is invaluable, and Ed Golden puts the spotlight on them.

62

An exciting window into back pain in horses

Contributors

Epiduroscopy is a technique that can identify difficult-to-pinpoint back problems,

by Timo Prange.

08 08 14

66

80

The Sid Fernando Column

Does nutrition factor in injury, repair, and recovery?

Dr. Catherine Dunnett looks at how a balanced diet can work in conjunction with a training program for the benefit of the racehorse.

40 Dennis Collins profile

Bill Heller talks to Dennis Collins, who went down in a riding accident a year ago and is now a fledgling trainer.

Trainers have a reputation for being old school, but Peter J. Sacopulos has some advice for those who’d like to embrace social media.

48 Training yearlings

76 PA Day At the Races

@ train e r_ mag

04

A recap of the stakes on Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races, by Jennifer Poorman.

/ t rai ner magaz i n e

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

Alan F. Balch TRM Trainer of the Quarter

72

The thoroughbred trainer in the digital age

Pre-training young racehorses from a global perspective, by Olly Stevens.

REGULARS

/ t r ai n e rmag azine

Visit trainermagazine.com to download the digital edition of this issue.

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

PUSHING THE LIMITS:

HOW SOME TRAINERS ARE GAINING “THE EDGE”!

BY: MARK HANSEN

T

he pressure to win is so enormous that many horsemen resort to whatever it takes to get a piece of the purse or a decent sale… 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 do you gain a competitive edge without harming your horses or risking your livelihood? 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.”

With EPO doping, trainers try to boost the EPO effect to get a winning performance every time. They use a synthetic EPO (recombinant human EPO), even though the side effects can harm the horse. That’s one reason why it’s illegal.

Fortunately there’s another option. EPOEquine® is a safe, highly effective natural dietary supplement scientifically engineered for performance horses.

A Kentucky trainer who refused to give out his name, said, “I don’t want my competition to know about this.” He found EPO-Equine to be so effective that he’s

dead set against disclosing who he is, who his horses are, or even where he trains and races. He first started ordering a single jar of EPO-Equine® once a month. Now he’s ordering several CASES each month. And he won’t tell BRL exactly why. He said respectfully, “Sorry – no way.”

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).

Seeing these results, horse trainers contacted BRL and asked about using this natural formula for their animals.

That’s when the BRL team dug deeper and discovered a proprietary, horse-friendly strain of a common herb that promotes optimal blood-building results. EPOEquine® is based on the blood-boosting abilities of a certain strain of Echinacea that’s astounding researchers and trainers alike. (It’s not a strain you can find at the local health store.)

Veterinarians at the Equine Research Centre in Ontario, Canada ran a doubleblind trial investigating the blood building properties of the active ingredient in EPOEquine in healthy horses. For 42 days, one group of horses was supplemented with the active ingredient in EPO-Equine and another group of horses was given a placebo.

The supplement delivered significant blood building results, increasing red blood cell count and hemoglobin levels.

Researchers also observed improved blood quality and increased oxygen transport in the supplemented horses. Improved blood levels leads to elevated exercise physiology and performance.

The patent-pending formula in EPOEquine ® contains a dozen different herbs, antioxidants and anti-inf lammatory components combined to promote natural red blood cell production… for remarkable speed, strength and stamina right out of the gate.

Trainers find it easy to add just 1 scoop (3.2 grams) of EPO-Equine® to the horse’s daily feeding routine in the barn or on the road. Within a few weeks of daily use, you can expect to see increased red blood cell levels with no undesirable side effects.

An increase in red blood cell levels can improve muscle performance, supercharge endurance, and enhance recovery after hard exercise. Nothing else is scientifically proven to deliver these benefits in a completely safe and natural formula.

Compared to the cost of veterinarians, drugs, icing, tapping the knees, and putting the horse on Bute; or even the consequences of being banned for synthetic doping, EPO-Equine® is very affordable at the low price of just $59.95 per jar. Or save $180 if you are ready to commit to a larger trial of 12-jar case for just $539.55 with FREE shipping. EPO-Equine ® can be ordered at www.EPOEquine.com or 800-780-4331.

Editorial Director/Publisher Giles Anderson (1 888 218 4430) Editor Frances J. Karon (@francesjkaron) Design ATG Media Editorial/Photo Management Suzy Stephens (1 888 659 2935) Advert Production Shae Hardy Circulation/Website Anna Alcock (1 888 659 2935) Advertising Sales Giles Anderson, Oscar Yeadon 1 888 218 4430 Photo Credits: Alamy, Eclipse Sportswire, Shutterstock Anne-Armelle Langlois , Suzie Picou Oldham Cover Photograph Eclipse Sportswire

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, as well as all members of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association

Dr Catherine Dunnett BSc, PhD, R. Nutr. is an independent nutritionist registered with the British Nutrition Society. She has a background in equine research, in the field of nutrition and exercise physiology, with many years spent at The Animal Health Trust in Newmarket.

Prior to setting up her own consultancy business, she worked in the equine feed industry on product development and technical marketing.

Peter Sacopulos is a partner in the law firm of Sacopulos, Johnson & Sacopulos in Terre Haute, Indiana where he represents clients in a wide range of equine matters. He is a member of the American College of Equine Counsel and serves on the Board of the Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development Advisory Committee.

Mr. Sacopulos has written extensively on equine law issues and is a frequent speaker at equine conferences.

Alan F.Balch was hired as Executive DIrector of California Thoroughbred Trainers in April 2010. His professional career in racing began at Santa Anita in 1971, where he advanced to the position of Sr. Vice PresidentMarketing 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. Denise Steffanus is a freelance writer and editor based in Cynthiana, Kentucky. A longtime 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. Steffanus, a Pittsburgh native, is a licensed Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and a member of American Mensa.

Ed Golden is the author of Santa Anita’s widely acclaimed “Stable Notes,” hailed by peers as “the best in racing.” A native of Philadelphia, he earned Eclipse Award honourable mention while with the Philadelphia Daily News and has written for The Blood-Horse and USA Today.

Sid Fernando (@sidfernando) is president of eMatings LLC and Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc. He is the former bloodstock editor of Daily Racing Form and also blogs about racing and breeding.

Bill Heller. Eclipse Award-winning author Bill Heller’s 26th book, “Politics and Horses; The Fascinating Life of Howard Nolan,” was published this summer. His previous books include biographies of Hall of Fame jockeys Ron Turcotte, Randy Romero and Jose Santos.

Olly Stevens. A Royal Ascot and International Group 1 winning trainer, Newmarket native Olly Stevens has a broad international experience and an innovative outlook. Having won races on turf, dirt and even ice, Olly enjoyed a short yet fruitful training career in his own right based in the south of England. Olly now splits his time between publishing and advising a select group of racing clients.

Leah McGlinchey graduated with an Honors Bachelors Degree in Veterinary Medicine in 2011 from UCD, Dublin. She then did a surgical internship at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, KY. in 2012, before working as an Associate Veterinarian at Yorkshire Equine Practice and completed a second equine internship at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, China in 2013. Leah is currently in her final year as an equine resident at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in the US, a 3-year course to specialise in equine surgery.

Dr Timo Prange is Clinical Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery at the North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine. German by birth, Dr Prange trained in surgery at the Universities of Virginia and Michigan before taking up a surgical post in North Carolina in 2010.

Dr Prange has published extensively on surgical approaches to a range of equine disorders and in particular has focussed on endoscopic assessment of the spinal cord and nerves.

Education Ed cati tii ! Integrity I t it Service

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06

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

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BUILDING USH I L D I N G SPEED S P E E D FOR F O SHA HAD ADW DWE WEL ELL LL ST STA TAL ALL LLI LIO ION ONS NS

TTHE HE FFUTURE UTURE G1 Millionaire, Breeders’Cup Winner 80% Won/placed - Three SWs incl. G1 SW

Brilliant G1 Winner Sire of 19% Stakes Horses - 70% Winners

by Albert the Great

by Awesome Again

ALBERTUS MAXIMUS

NEW

DAAHER

Multiple Graded Stakes Winner incl.

Fountain of Youth S-G2 and Holy Bull S-G2

Breeders’Cup Champion Fastest 2-turn dirt mile in 2016

by Tapit

by Speightstown

MOHAYMEN

Rick Nichols, Vice President/General Manager Gregory Clarke, Farm Manager • Kent Barnes, Stallion Manager www.shadwellfarm.com

TAMARKUZ

| CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS |

ACHTUNG! ow there’s a word to get your attention. For those of us of a certain age, it comes freighted with emotions from our parents, who fought World War II. As well as from countless movies and books whose characters would shout it at hapless suffering minions.

But it’s really a simple German word meaning just that, “attention,” although sometimes translated to carry “danger” along with it. Here, I mean it both ways.

During this championship season in America every year . . . and the northern hemisphere . . . we’re treated to such definitive racing, including the Arc and British Champions Day. Then the Breeders’ Cup, while still not really the “world championships” worthy of genuflection, is a wonderful showcase of the sport. Ending the calendar year gives us a chance to take stock of where we stand, what has changed, what hasn’t, and where we’re going.

To me, there’s no question that the Breeders’ Cup has unalterably changed American racing over its three-plus decades.

On balance, mostly for the better, I believe.

Fortunately, the spring classics have held their own, and the year-end enormity of the Breeders’ Cup unquestionably served to organize the calendar and better defined our annual championships. Its cost to top racing for older horses elsewhere in the year has been pronounced, but it’s not the only cause of that decline. I’m not going to dwell on that now.

However, the revolutionary opportunity presented by John Gaines 35 years ago still hasn’t nearly been realized, if we’re honest with ourselves. He envisioned a television spectacle on the order of American football’s Super Bowl, or soccer’s World Cup, bringing enormous added popular interest in racing to hitherto unknown gigantic audiences for our sport. Perhaps he suffered from the myopia so many of us seem to have: the vast “others” out there don’t (and cannot?) see racing as we do, don’t enjoy it as we do, and just don’t respond as we do to its allure.

Nearly 50 years ago, I remember being told as much when I first joined Santa

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Anita, literally as a whippersnapper: “You’ll never see 50,000 people at this old pile again.” Since I had been placed in charge of what was then called “public relations,” I had to consider the possibility that my love of horses and racing wouldn’t (or couldn’t) successfully be conveyed to enough of the population to make a difference in our waning business at the time.

Then I discovered advertising. Soon followed by marketing, a relatively new term in business way back then, and unknown in racing up to that point. And I had the great good fortune to work for someone (Robert Strub) who was willing to risk significant expense to find out if they actually worked. Could marketing, including advertising, bring provable adequate returns on sizeable investments in them that the bean-counters considered nothing short of scandalous? They did, and they did. During one balmy period, we even averaged over 60,000 on Sundays for a few months in on-track attendance. The “old pile” was rockin’.

Yes, it’s a far, far different world now than it was then. Virtually everything about the competitive sporting and gaming landscape has changed, and not for the easier. But the principles of business and marketing have not changed, and never will. Nor will human nature.

With very few exceptions – and the Breeders’ Cup is not one of them, sadly – aggressive marketing of racing is moribund. Fabricating attendance figures and/or eliminating admission and other charges are not marketing – they’re delusion, pure and simple. After all, the market senses that something you don’t have to pay for is worth . . . . well, not much. A price of zero has an even worse

side effect; it takes the critical tool of price incentives away from the marketer.

Perhaps forever.

So, at a time when the marketing toolkit is overflowing as never before, the accountants (and even the marketers?) seem more intent on counting and banking, vs. spending and risking, than ever before. This mentality is bad enough in any business, but in a business like ours . . . a business of risk from start to finish . . . it’s indefensible, in my opinion. Marketers of racing must market for profit, of course; but they must always take risks in their marketing, limited only by their imaginations and their capacity for hard work. There is no certain textbook on the marketing of anything, only trial and error, both expensive but both potentially highly profitable propositions.

Aside from a pervasive defeatism, the most pronounced, erroneous outlook I sense in racing’s marketing is the idea that since interest in our sport is flat or declining, we need not “waste money on advertising” since the existing racing fans already are aware of the essentials.

There are two and only two ways to spur more interest, or maintain what we have: stimulate existing fans to become more active, and induce trial from the rest of the market, a more mammoth opportunity than ever in history. Compelling, forceful advertising, sales promotion, and sophisticated marketing do both. For anything! To be effective, however, they need relentless and powerful investment, an exceptional commitment and work ethic, and unsentimental, rigorous analysis to discard what isn’t effective.

Yes, with very few exceptions, opportunities in North America to drive on-track attendance and betting have ebbed. But they have been replaced by an elaborate distribution and wagering system potentially reaching inside virtually every single household and to every single citizen.

This opportunity, and threat, is here and it’s staying here . . . how are we going to realize the full potential of the opportunity?

AN ICON TAKES FLIGHT AGAIN!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27TH, 2018 WATCH. WAGER. WITNESS.

www.pegasusworldcup.com

| TOPIC |

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S N A PS H OT S O F B R E ED ER S ’ C U P 2 0 1 7

Eclipse Sportswire/ Suzie Picou Oldham

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1 – Charles Fipke, Bo Derek and friends.

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2 – Untamed Domain with work rider Anne Sinchak.

3 – Jaime Galindo, hot walker for Arrogate.

4 – William Buick and Wuheida win The Filly and Mare Turf.

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To see more online

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or visit www.trainermagazine.com/bc17

5 – Dallas Stewart congratulates Johnny Velazquez onboard Forever Unbridled after BC Distaff.

6 – Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. with Javier Castellano and Imperial Hint.

7 – Sharp Azteca has serious equipment trouble.

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH HAYGAIN AND THOROUGHBRED AFTERCARE.

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8 – Battle of Midway, BC Mile winner.

9 – Wesley Ward’s Lady Aurelia gets some saddle free exercise.

10 – Larry Rivelli’s, The Tabulator.

11 – Dale Romans takes a break on the backside.

12 – Assistant trainer Riley Mott walks Elate.

13 – Am I dreaming?! Peter Miller celebrates an amazing day with his sprinters.

14 – John Velazquez aboard BC Turf winner, World Approval.

15 – Future BC Classic winner Gun Runner gets a well earned bath after workouts.

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16 – John Kimmel’s Bar of Gold BC Filly and Mare Sprint winner ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr for owner-breeders Chester and Mary Broman.

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17 – A great day for Rockingham Ranch, two winners and a second (Gary Hartunian and Brian Trump).

18 – Ternando De La Cruz and Tim Glyshaws star, Bucchero.

19 – Paddock talk, Bob Baffert in conversation with his jockeys.

20 – Rushing Fall, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown.

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TRAINER OF THE QUARTER

TIM GLYS HAW The TRM Trainer of the Quarter has been won by Tim Glyshaw. Glyshaw and his team will receive a selection of products from the internationally acclaimed range of TRM supplements, as well as a bottle of fine Irish whisky.

Bill Heller

rainer Tim Glyshaw might still be pinching himself. On October 7th at Keeneland, the five-year-old horse Bucchero, owned by Ironhorse Racing Stable, LLC and trained by Glyshaw, captured the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes by a length and three-quarters at odds of 26-1.

Eight days later in Toronto, he trained Wayne Spalding and Faron McCubbins’ five-year-old gelding Bullards Alley to a win in the Grade 1 Canadian International by 10¾ lengths at odds of 42-1.

“It was pretty incredible,” the former high school teacher and basketball coach said. “We always thought those horses were really nice horses, but it’s almost unimaginable.”

The kicker? Bullards Alley, who had given Glyshaw his first graded stakes victory by taking the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs on May 21st, 2016, hadn’t won another race since, losing 15 straight, including all nine starts this year, heading into the Canadian International. “He hadn’t won a race all year, but he sure picked a good time to do it,” Glyshaw laughed.

These are happy times for Glyshaw and his wife/assistant trainer Natalie, who race at Churchill Downs and Indiana Grand. Natalie, a daughter of jockey Ronald Ardoin, was working as a track photographer at Lone Star Park when she met Tim. She was also a track photographer at Churchill Downs.

He’s come a long way after deciding to re-direct his life. Unlike his wife, Glyshaw didn’t come from a racing background. “I

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am absolutely not from a racing family,” he said. He attended Indiana University and taught high school English, history, physical education, and driver’s education for three years while coaching basketball and soccer. “I really loved coaching, not so much the teaching,” he said.

He changed his life when he decided to attend the Taylor Made Farm internship program for one year. “The only time I’d been around horses was with Lipizzaner Stallions, picking feet and brushing them,” he said.

He loved working with Thoroughbreds and became a hotwalker for trainer Bob Holthus. “They took bets on how long I would last,” Glyshaw said. “I showed up in a polo shirt. They thought I was a little pretty boy.” He said the over-under was one week. He stayed seven years.

After working for trainer Cole Norman for two years, Glyshaw opened his own stable in 2004. “I just decided it was time,” he said.

He struggled the first four years, winning just 32 races. In 2008, his

w w w. t r m i re l a n d i n c . c o m

| EXCELLENCE IN EQUINE NUTRITION |

I REALLY MISS COACHING BASKETBALL, BUT GETTING TO PLAY AND WORK WITH HORSES, IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT. numbers jumped up with 22 wins and earnings of $468,610. He has already clinched his sixth consecutive year with more than $1 million in earnings after a rough patch when his horses were among those quarantined at Fair Grounds in the winter and spring following an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1). “A lot of horsemen were

affected,” he said. “It wasn’t just me.” His situation became worse when eight of his horses were claimed.

Now he’s back up to 27 horses, with 19 at Churchill Downs and eight at Indiana Grand. That includes two graded stakes winners. “I almost started crying when Bucchero won at Keeneland,” he said.

“Now people can see we can win graded

stakes at Keeneland and Woodbine. It would be nice if we get noticed.”

He was asked if he ever wonders what his life would have been had he remained a teacher and coach. “I really miss coaching basketball,” he said. “But getting to play and work with horses, it doesn’t get any better than that. And they don’t talk back.”

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| MICK RUIS |

B O LT D ’ O R O ’ S

TRAINER Ed Golden

Zoe Metz, Eclipse Sportswire

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rainers are nothing if not confident.

It’s rarely their fault when they lose a race. It’s the track, the ride, the post position, the equipment, the weather.

Mick Ruis is a refreshingly standup guy in a game where the batter often receives a curve ball rather than a pitch right down the middle. He speaks with a child’s innocence, and he believes in the Golden Rule.

After he won three races at Santa Anita on opening day, September 29, he was humble, appreciative, and forthcoming when asked about the feat.

“Usually we’re lucky if we run one horse a day,” Ruis (pronounced ROO-is, as in Lewis) said, speaking of Ruis Racing, LLC, the ownership comprised of himself and his wife, Wendy.

“But we saved all the horses for that meet. I’m a believer that if someone helps you, like Santa Anita did by giving us stalls, you try to help them, so we wanted to save our horses for the short meet (19 days) since we were stabled there.”

Most magnanimous, but one would expect nothing less from a man whose philosophical foundation is based on curiosity and practicality. His esteemed business sense was developed through hands-on application, not surprising from a high school dropout who became a millionaire.

“I was penniless when I started, and to this day I work for everything I’ve got,” he said.

“I wasn’t a good student in school (at El Capitan High in San Diego County), but I was a pretty good wrestler.

The day after the state tournament, I went to work.

I won the C.I.F.(California Interscholastic Federation) championships in my junior and senior years and lost by one point my sophomore year. In 1977, when I was 16, I wrestled in the 85-pound class. As a senior, I wrestled at 114.”

He has since added some girth. “Now I always tell Wendy,” said Ruis, today 5’7” and 200 pounds, “I’m twice the man she married.”

Mother Nature and gravity will do that to a person, as time goes by.

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| CTT |

| MICK RUIS |

T RAIN ERS ARE NOT H I NG I F NO T CON FI D E N T. IT ’S RARE LY T HEIR FAULT W HE N T HEY L OS E A RACE. IT ’S T H E T R ACK, TH E RI D E , T HE POS T PO S I T IO N, T H E EQ Q UI PME NT, T HE WE AT HER.

Wendy, a flight attendant for Continental Airlines in her “younger days,” still turns heads at 56. She is petite and trim, 5’4” and 105 pounds, with less body fat than an Ultimate Fighting combatant. She is always in lockstep with Ruis as they double-time it to a grandstand vantage point to watch their horses go through their morning paces.

“I started going to the track with Mick in the mornings just to get the exercise,” Wendy said. “But being at the racetrack every day, I’m learning more and just loving it way more now than I ever did. It’s really fun.”

Ruis concurs. “Wen has been by my side and supported me the whole time,” he said. “She loves hanging out. Three weeks from the day we met in Montana, we got married.

She was a widow with two children. I was a single dad with three, so we had five instant kids and then had two more children together and all lived together.

“Our youngest is 19, so this is the first time in almost 23 years we’ve gotten to hang out together. That’s why she’s with me every morning.”

Wendy is a native of Oahu, Hawaii. She is third generation Japanese. Mick is the son of an Irish mother and a Native American father.

“My father was a Yaqui Indian from a traveling American Indian tribe in Arizona,” Ruis said. “In the winter, they would go to Sonora, Mexico, where it was warm, and in the summer, they would go up near the mountains in Flagstaff to escape the heat.”

Ruis is well known in Northwest Montana as a serial investor who has opened his wallet for the revitalization of Columbia Falls, putting the Flathead Valley in Bigfork, Montana, on the map as a world-class training ground used to break their babies. He also owns a ranch in Bigfork.

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2018 Fee: $40,000 S&N

859.885.3345 | TaylorMadeStallions.com

| CTT |

BELOW: Bolt d’Oros’ jockey, Corey Nakatani, discuss tactics with Ruis

| MICK RUIS |

“That’s one of my passions,” he said. “We’ve built apartments in Columbia Falls and are doing footings for another 18 units. We’ve upgraded an old bank building, office buildings, and the old Park Mercantile building, which now has three businesses in it. The more I can keep people working and help people who want to be helped, that’s what I want to do.

“There are a lot of people who want help but don’t want to help themselves. We want to help those who want to help themselves. Between all my businesses, I’m probably responsible for (the welfare of ) 700 families.”

To that end is this succinct but unsolicited testimonial from veteran jockey agent Tony Matos, who represents journeyman Santiago Gonzalez and sensational Puerto Rican apprentice Evin Roman, winner of four Southern California riding titles at the tender age of 19: “Ruis is good for racing. He gives everybody a chance.

We need more people like him in the game.”

Added fellow trainer Steve Miyadi: “I admire his work ethic. He puts in a lot of time. He’s a serious player.”

Said veteran jockey Brice Blanc, who rode Grade 1-winning filly Union Strike for Ruis before she was retired: “Mick is good for the industry. He always wants to learn more, and there are always opportunities for that.

I’ve been a jockey for 30 years and I’m still learning.

“Mick and Wendy are great people, a pleasure to work with. I’m happy to be part of their team.”

Corey Nakatani will second that. It was Ruis who gave the 47-year-old Nakatani the go-ahead to ride his undefeated, dual Grade 1-winning two-year-old colt Bolt d’Oro, despite ruffling the trainer’s feathers by previously missing an important workout assignment.

“My dad and Mick Sr. have always been really close,” said Nakatani’s 25-year-old son and agent, Matt, who buoyed

Corey’s confidence and strongly urged him to come back after a year’s layoff. Together, they resurrected a career that never lacked riding prowess or the will to win.

“Mick told us we could ride a few horses for him, and we did before getting Bolt,” Matt said. “We worked to get in a few other barns but came back to Mick, and said we really wanted to ride for him.

“We got on Bolt this way: I wanted to ride Union Strike in the (Grade 1) Test, and Mick at the time had Gary (Stevens) working her, but told me there could be a possibility later. “‘What if I give you my best two-year-old?’” he said. “I said, ‘Whatever you think is best.’ My dad and I were actually on vacation last July in Pismo Beach when Mick called and asked us to work his best two-year-old and let him know what we think. We didn’t know his name or anything.

“We went to Santa Anita, a three-and-a-half-hour drive, worked him that morning, dad loved him, went back on our vacation, and that’s kind of what started it, I guess.”

Corey has known Ruis for years and has as much respect for him now as ever.

“He pays attention to what he does and he’s very thorough,” Nakatani said. “That’s evident not only in his training of horses, but in his scaffolding business. He and Wendy make a great team. They have a passion for horseracing, which is great, and I’m very lucky to be a part of a horse like Bolt d’Oro. “I told them before: this is a once in a lifetime horse. He’s very talented. He doesn’t have to be on the lead because he has a high cruising speed and he’s so professional. He’s a special animal.”

Nakatani has a Gibraltar-like rapport with Ruis. “We won a few stakes when he first took out his trainer’s license,” the jockey recalled. “Training is very tough and

H E AND WE N D Y MAKE A G R E AT T EAM . THEY HAV E A PAS SIO N F O R HORSERAC IN G , WH I CH I S GR E AT, AN D I’ M V ERY L U CKY TO B E A PART OF A H O R SE L I KE BOLT D ’O R O .

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ABOVE: Breeders Cup Juvenille favorite Bolt D’Oro

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there are bumps in the road, and he left for a while to devote time to his scaffolding company.

“His daughter Shelbe is a great horseman. She learned a lot from different trainers and she’s very intricate in the operation. Mick is great to work with and I love getting on the young horses and discovering what ability they have and what they’re capable of doing.

“You can be pretty straightforward with Mick. That’s the kind of guy he is, and that’s good, because you can’t always convey good things about horses. You have to be constructive and tell him if the horse’s energy isn’t there, if it might be better with blinkers, things like that, and he’s receptive about suggestions from someone who’s on the horse’s back.

“It makes for a good relationship and I thank the Lord for that.”

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Team Ruis, like the majority of horsemen, doesn’t hit the snooze button when it comes time to go to work in the morning.

“Wendy and I get to the barn about 5:30,” Ruis said.

“The rest of the crew starts at 4:30. We train till about 10 o’clock, then I focus as CEO of my other company, American Scaffolding, supervising about 500 employees.”

Following the sale of the controlling interest in American Scaffolding, Mick and Wendy went back full force into racing, spending about $2 million on the purchase of horses that now comprise the bulk of the stable, which stood at 27 head in mid-October.

Ruis initially had Shelbe as his trainer early on, but that didn’t work out so he enlisted Craig Dollase as trainer before taking over himself.

| MICK RUIS |

I MA KE IT T O T HE B ARN AT L EAST THREE TI MES A DAY, I N T HE M O RNIN G, EARLY AFTERNOON, AND 8 O’CLO CK IN T HE EV ENI NG. T HAT’S WH EN MY DAY IS O VE R AND TH AT’S MY Q UI ET TI ME. “It’s difficult working with your children, probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Ruis said. “Any employee will listen to the boss, but your children, they test you to the end, because they’re your kids.

“Shelbe and I are on good terms. She helps in our barn now. I had my trainer’s license before, but I was being stubborn and didn’t want to activate it again. I asked Shelbe if she wanted to train the horses with me, and if so, to get her license, and that’s how that started.”

American Scaffolding has five branches and is the largest supplier of scaffolding for the United State Navy.

“We erect and dismantle scaffolding for the repair of Naval ships,” Ruis said. “Our headquarters are in San Diego, but I work out of my house in Arcadia (site of Santa Anita).

“I make it to the barn at least three times a day, in the morning, early afternoon, and 8 o’clock in the evening. That’s when my day’s over and that’s my quiet time.

“I start my day at 3:30 in the morning talking to my guys on the East Coast in Norfolk, Virginia, and Mayport, Florida, which is about 20 minutes from Jacksonville.

So when I start at 3:30, it’s already 6:30 there because of the three-hour time difference.

“When I’m done with that, I leave the house at about 5:20 in Arcadia where we’re full time residents, get to the barn five minutes later, work until about 10 o’clock, come home again, take a nap for about 45 minutes, then I’m either full blast for either going to the races or working for American Scaffold, mostly by my phone.”

Whew and double whew!

A full plate for a lesser man, to be sure, but Ruis, born on February 24, 1961, and going on 57, has the adrenalin of a teenager, from whom he once got some sage advice.

“When our daughter, Gabbie, was younger, one night I told her it was time to go to bed, and she said, ‘Dad, sleeping is so overrated.’”

While sweet Morpheus might rest on the lower echelon of Ruis’ priorities, he has an unflappable yen for training and business.

“I didn’t graduate from high school but always had a keen interest in what makes things tick,” he said.

“Anytime I went into a meeting, I went in like I was the dumbest person in the room, and I listened and listened, asked questions and didn’t think about what anybody thought of me.

“And I do that with my training. I ask everybody, ‘How do you do this? How do you do that?’ Not necessarily that I’ll apply their answers, although I might, but I use my common sense.

“When I asked Humberto Ascanio (former longtime right-hand man to the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel) to help me out when my daughter was training, he said, ‘Mick, you’re doing a good job. The number one thing you’ve got to do in training is have good, common sense.’

“And that’s what I try to use.”

Ruis sent out the favorite, Bolt d’Oro, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar, but he said he felt “no pressure” going into the race -- where Bolt d’Oro won his first Grade 1, the Del Mar Futurity.

“The first time he ran, when he was a maiden, yes, there was pressure,” Ruis said of the Medaglia d’Oro colt bred

by WinStar Farm in Kentucky and purchased by Ruis Racing for $630,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale. “Second time he ran, he wasn’t the favorite, but going into the FrontRunner Stakes (on September 30), we knew we had a really, really good horse, so it was just up to him to see what he could do.”

Bolt d’Oro won by 7¾ lengths.

Somehow, Ruis’ name and phone number were not among the 171 trainers listed in Santa Anita’s Autumn Meet condition books.

After Bolt d’Oro’s 4th in the the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile the plan remains for him to head to the Kentucky Derby, assuredly every agent will know Ruis’ name and have his number at the ready, poised on speed dial.

His phone could be ringing like the bells of Quasimodo.

ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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BETTER OWNER T RA I NER R E LATI ONS The owner-trainer relationship is the core of racing. The owner supplies the horses, and the trainer supplies the know-how to manage them. It’s a simple concept, but sometimes things go awry.

Denise Steffanus

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Alamy, West Point Thoroughbreds, Eclipse Sportswire, Frances J. Karon

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

| TRAINER RELATIONS |

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ome owners go through a succession of trainers with barely time for the horses to settle into a new routine before moving them again. If the owner has more than a couple of horses, the move is disruptive for the trainer, also. And the owner may develop a reputation as a difficult client who could pull the horses at any time.

Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg had 220 horses snatched from him one day because he was charging $25 a day and a young trainer, whom Van Berg had mentored, offered owner W. O. Bridge a $20 day rate.

“I won 368 races for them in 1974 and

on January 1, 1975, they took 220 horses away from me. My friend took them over,” Van Berg said.

The racing icon devotes an entire chapter to the incident in his book, Jack: From Grit to Glory.

Asked about owners who habitually change trainers, Van Berg said, “That’s their prerogative to switch where they want to, and they’ll see a trainer get hot and win a few races, and they’ll want to put their horses over there.”

Terry Finley, founder and president of the racing syndicate West Point Thoroughbreds, said owners have the right to manage their horses however they choose. Some changes are for the best, some are not.

“Certainly we’ve all seen owners who have made moves that on the outside don’t really look to be the prudent thing. But we know that almost always there are two sides to every story and every breakup,” Finley said. “Overall, certainly the owners that you see constantly moving horses, by and large, are those people that don’t have the success that they probably should have.”

Finley said a decision to switch trainers should not be taken lightly or made hastily because of the impact on the trainer’s operation, the horses, and the owner’s business.

“I know trainers appreciate it when you try to work things out,” he said. “A lot of things don’t go well in our business, no matter what the plan is. (Boxing ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| TRAINER RELATIONS |

Art Sherman

Jack Van Berg

Horses are disrupted

Horses are creatures of habit that thrive on consistency. When horses switch trainers, everything changes for them, too. Training programs are not the only thing that is different. A horse bonds with its groom, the closest relationship in its life. When the horse is moved to a different barn, it loses that element of trust and security.

“Every trainer has their own feeding program, and different little things the horses get used to,” veteran trainer Art Sherman said. “Somebody might want to feed a little later or feed a little earlier. Some guys put more carrots in their feed, and other guys might not put any in. So the horses miss that, and they don’t start to eat very good until they can get used to what they’re going to have to eat now. It means a lot.”

Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg said how a horse does after a switch depends on where it goes.

Some horses will do better with a new trainer because his or her style suits them better. Other horses may not adapt as well.

champion) Mike Tyson said, ‘Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth.’ I think that’s a good one, and it certainly applies to our business.”

Art Sherman, trainer of dual Horse of the Year California Chrome, has spent 63 years in racing as a jockey and a trainer.

He said a trainer’s stable is a team effort, so losing an owner’s horses goes deeper than just a dent in the trainer’s wallet. One or two horses moving out may not make a big difference, but five or six horses, or more, can have a devastating impact on the team as a unit and on the workers who dedicate their lives to the horses.

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“Grooms get attached to different horses in the stable that have won some races for them. It makes it hard when they change barns,” he said. “It really disrupts the whole scheme of things. You have assistant trainers, grooms, and hot walkers, and everybody pitches in. You’re going to have to let somebody go if you lose quite a few horses.”

Owner’s reputation

The racetrack is a small world. When an owner switches trainers, the news spreads.

If that owner develops a reputation for moving his or her horses the first time a trainer makes a mistake or at the first run of bad luck, or because another trainer offers a better day rate, the owner’s business may suffer.

Finley said trainers who get involved with an owner who is constantly hiring and firing trainers realize that they, in all likelihood, are not going to be the final spoke in that wheel.

“You’re just going to fall in line and be one that will be fired sometime in the future. It’s just a matter of how long,” he said. “I don’t think that presents a great situation for an owner, because we’re all human, and you don’t want a trainer in the mindset of saying, ‘It doesn’t really matter because I’m going to get fired anyway. So I’m just going to take shots, and I’m just going to manage with that in mind.’

“I think that when that happens, in the long run, you’re never as well off when you don’t have human nature on your side.

You always want to have human nature on your side and not against you,” Finley said.

Of course, some owners have a legitimate reason to look for a new trainer. But much of the problems that arise between an owner and a trainer can be resolved,

and even prevented, by establishing good communication from the start.

Communication

Without exception, those interviewed said communication is the most important factor in establishing and maintaining a good relationship. Both the owner and the trainer should be upfront with each other from the very beginning and maintain that honesty throughout the relationship.

Honesty is important, because an owner must have confidence that the advice his trainer gives him is in the owner’s best interest and that of his horse, even if the advice is not what the owner wants to hear. Someone who has paid $150,000 for a horse doesn’t want to hear it’s not competitive at that level and should be running for $75,000.

Before they enter into an agreement, an owner and a trainer should have a frank discussion. The owner should express his expectations and his vision for success. If the trainer thinks these goals are not realistic, this is the time for him to speak up diplomatically. Granted, telling an owner what he doesn’t want to hear may make him look elsewhere, but the trainer must decide if he is prepared to deal with a chronically dissatisfied owner or if it would be better not to take him on as a client.

If there is a meeting of the minds, the next topic should be the responsibilities of each party.

Sherman said he lays everything on the line in detail when he first talks with a potential client, especially one new to racing, so no misunderstandings occur.

“When you get a new owner, you have to explain everything to him,” Sherman said.

| BUSINESS |

“You have to explain that this is how the game is played. We have to have X amount of dollars. Kind of break it down. You have to be upfront with them—different treatments (the horse) might need, some machine they might need to put on their legs.”

Finley said frank discussions between an owner and a trainer are beneficial, but don’t expect them to cover every single issue that may come up during the relationship.

“I know it’s easy to say you should address everything upfront, but that’s not possible,” Finley said. “The key is that upfront, you commit to respecting the other partner, the owner respecting the trainer and viceversa, and you commit to open and honest communication. With the trainers I’ve had, that’s what we’ve committed to, and then you deal with things as they come up.”

Van Berg talked about the importance of leveling with an owner, even when it is bad news.

“I try to steer him in the right direction, and I don’t B.S. him,” Van Berg said. “I tell him exactly what’s wrong with the horse.

If it has a [physical] problem, I tell him. I know a lot of them can’t handle the truth.”

Van Berg said that in earlier times, owners would pick a trainer and stick with

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him. In his case, they often became friends.

But now, some trainers don’t even want their owners to come around the barn.

Sherman would prefer they do visit.

“I just think that they have to come down and watch how you run your barn, and meet the people around you and who you are dealing with,” he said. “If you have assistants, make sure they meet the assistants.”

Sherman explained that sometimes logistics dictate that some of the owners’ horses need to be sent to a different location under the care of one of his assistants. He wants his owners to be confident in those assistants and their staff.

Finley and West Point’s trainers set up a communication schedule, which he said is the core to maintaining a good relationship.

“Most of the really good owners or trainers, when you talk to them about how do you communicate and how often and when do you communicate, they know those dates and times like the back of their hand,” he said. “So when you have that discipline, I think that goes a long way toward taking care of a lot of the other things that come up that cause problems between owners and trainers.”

Decisions about the horse

Owners invest a lot of money in their horses, and they often have an emotional stake in them as well. Their desire to be involved in the management of their horses is understandable. This is part of the enjoyment of owning racehorses. But the ultimate decision should be with the trainer. That’s why it is important to have trust and confidence in him or her.

“Some people want to get involved, which is nice for an owner to get involved, but sometimes they don’t know the game,” Sherman said. “They make suggestions, but usually it’s not for the benefit of the horse.”

Findley characterized the relationship between an owner and a trainer as similar to that of a general manager of a sports team and its coach. The general manager doesn’t tell the coach which players should be on the field, and the coach doesn’t tell the manager how to handle the business end of the team.

“What I always tell my trainers is, ‘I want you to manage our horses, let me manage our partners.’ I believe if you would ask our trainers, they appreciate that,” Finley said.

| TRAINER RELATIONS |

Is technology at fault?

Terry Finley

The regular communication sessions are the time for an owner to bring up suggestions and discuss them with the trainer. This is also the time for the trainer to ask for input from the owner. But, ultimately, the decision about the horse should be in the trainer’s hands.

“If you hire somebody to drive your car, you don’t drive it with him, you let him drive it,” Van Berg said. “If you hire somebody to train your horse, let him train the damn horse. If you don’t think he’s capable, get a different trainer.”

Finley said one policy he has adopted is that no decision about a horse should be made within 72-96 hours after a race, because it is better to wait until cooler minds prevail.

“If you win, you have that adrenaline rush and you want to go from an ‘other than’ to a Grade 1, and if you’re up the racetrack, you want to drop a horse in for $20,000,” he said. “I can’t remember a decision that we wanted to make that was as sound and as well-thought-out if we had made it the day after a race. This is a business where that process of letting things settle, especially in racing, really seems to help.”

The Break-Up

Finley views the relationship between an owner and a trainer as similar to a marriage. It usually goes smoothly at the beginning, but situations may change and so may the mindset of the people involved.

“If your trainer doesn’t want to take your calls or looks down at your phone number and he winces, or you do the same thing on your side, that’s when you have a problem,” Finley said. “Sometimes, it’s just time to have a divorce and go on your way. You

IF YOUR TRAINER DOESN’T WANT TO TAKE YOUR CALLS OR LOOKS DOWN AT YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND HE WINCES, OR YOU DO THE SAME THING ON YOUR SIDE, THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A PROBLEM wish everybody well and you move on.”

But he had this caveat: “Usually if you’re an owner and you’re not getting the results you would like, your trainer is on that same train, meaning he doesn’t like the results you’re getting either,” Finley said. “And the vast majority of times, you don’t need a new trainer, you need faster horses. I believe anybody who has a good handle on our business will tell you that.”

Finley cautioned owners to take a deeper look at a prospective new trainer’s win percentage before switching stables, because the strike rate could be misleading.

“I’ll give you an example,” Finley said.

“Some trainers are 12% win, and if you really look at their stock, they probably should be 8% due to the inferior quality of the horses in their barn. Other trainers are at 18% or 20%, and the quality of their stock indicates they should be at 25%.”

In 2013, trainer D. Wayne Lukas complained to the Los Angeles Daily News that today’s owners want to be too involved in the management of their horses because of the information they get from racing publications and other media sources.

“They want to run a horse somewhere or they don’t want to run it somewhere, because somebody in a publication somewhere said this horse has got a speed figure of such and such, and he’ll bounce if they run in this race. They read all that garbage,” Lukas said.

Sherman said he doesn’t think technology is good for racing, because it has made the sport more impersonal. He became involved in racing in 1954, when he was an exercise rider for trainer Mesh Tenney’s most famous charge, 1955 Kentucky Derby winner Swaps, who shattered five world records, three track records, and equaled the American turf record enroute to Horse of the Year honors in 1956. Sherman had a 23-year career as a jockey before taking out his trainer’s license in 1978.

“The game has changed,” he said. “It used to be that the trainer would pick out the races and do everything before all this high-tech stuff came in. I know technology is good for a lot of businesses, but I’m not sure about our business.”

In the old days, he said, a trainer couldn’t have more than 30 horses in his stable.

When an owner called to check on his horse, the trainer could confidently report on the horse because he personally had looked at the horse that morning and felt its ankles and knees. Today’s megatrainers, with hundreds of horses across the country, have changed the game.

“You don’t want to have someone who’s 200 miles away and putting it into a computer and saying, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re horse is doing good right now,’ but he hasn’t seen him in six months,” Sherman said. “The bigger stables are kind of taking over all the little guys now. It’s a different ball game. It’s more of a money thing.”

Sherman said he misses the days when an owner would come by to see his horse and talk to the groom, and he would hand the groom a $100 bill saying, “You’ve done a super job on my horse.

Thank you very much.”

“For me, watching everything go by, it’s been interesting,” Sherman said.

“But I kind of like the other era better than I do now…It used to be kind of a little more fun for me, just having people being kinder. I think that’s what I miss the most.”

ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| ADVERTORIAL |

W H ERE W IL L YOU BE?

ON DECEMBER 5TH

T

his year’s Midlantic December Mixed sale is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 5th December and for the first time will include a section dedicated to horses of racing age.

The sale has evolved from being a sale that traditionally served a local market, to one with regional scope and now with the addition of the specific racing age section, for 2017 it has gained deserved national prominence.

Fasig-Tipton 32

Midlantic

“We’re the ideal location for racing and from our sales grounds you can go in so many different directions within a couple of hours. We’ve had trainers come to ask that we add in horses of racing age into the sale in December so we moved our scheduled date back by one day so we don’t clash with the racing at Laurel” reports Paget Bennett, the regional supremo for Fasig-Tipton. “We have a lot of people who are looking to find spots for horses that aren’t going south for the winter and this sale is a going to be a great

Tuesday, December 5 Timonium, MD Horses of Racing Age Supplement

December Mixed +

TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

| ADVERTORIAL |

place to trade horses. We’re getting together a nice bunch”.

“Entry deadline isn’t until November 22nd, so there is plenty of time for people to enter racing stock into the sale. It’s $500 to enter the sale and we charge a minimum of $500 or 5% - whichever is greater”.

“We’re getting horses consigned that have competed on the Kentucky and New York circuits as well as locally, so are putting together a catalogue with something for everyone. This is a perfect for sale for those looking for a true ready to run horse”.

The sale format will follow the tried and tested FasigTipton formula of broodmares first, followed by two stallions, weanlings, yearlings, with the racing age group at the end of the sale.

With the growth of year round racing and growing breeding incentives locally in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, it’s easy to see why there is demand for the breeding sale from potential buyers. “It’s amazing how many horses are getting bought for the different incentive programmes and we feel that our sale can really captivate our local breeding industry”, say Bennett.

Broodmare prospects include a Ghostzapper filly who could carry on racing or go to the breeding shed and mares in foal to stallions such as Bodemeister, Flat Out, Lookin at Lucky, Maclean’s Music, Midshipman, Mshawish, Oxbow and Temple City are on offer.

The weanling division includes youngsters by Afleet Alex, Animal Kingdom, City Zip, Gemologist, Itsmyluckyday and Shanghai Bobby,

SALE DATE Tuesday 5th December WHERE Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd Timonium, MD 21093 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION call Paget Bennett, 410-392-5555 CATALOGUES ONLINE fasigtipton.com

Paget Bennett, Midlantic Director of Sales

Fasig-Tipton

Midlantic

Tuesday, December 5 Timonium, MD Horses of Racing Age Supplement

December Mixed +

ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| VETERINARY |

NEW STUDY

T H E I M P O R TA N C E OF IDENTIFYING LOWER AND UPPER LIMB LAMENESS Leah McGlinchey Alamy, Leah McGlinchey & Shutterstock

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| LAMENESS |

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| VETERINARY |

I

n Thoroughbred racing, injuries to the limbs are a major welfare and safety concern, the leading reason for horses to be taken out of training. Lameness causes a high turnover in racing stables and, as many trainers know, it has huge financial implications for the owner, trainer, and the racing industry in general. Previous investigators have found that just over 50% of horses in training in England and Germany experience lameness during training, and approximately 20% of horses in the U.K. suffer lameness that prevents them from returning to training. With this amount of horses on lay-up, it can be difficult to run a profitable racing stable.

In addition to having an impact on the horse’s welfare, severe musculoskeletal injury poses a serious danger for riders, who are at risk when a horse sustains a catastrophic injury or suffers sudden death. Researchers in the U.S. found that a jockey was 171 times more likely to be injured when a horse they were riding in a race died. In Thoroughbred racing, the most common lifethreatening injury to horses involves fractures of bones in the fetlock. Therefore, the best way to improve safety and welfare of both horses and jockeys is to highlight risk factors for fractures in an attempt to prevent these catastrophic traumas.

In addition to the welfare of the horse and jockey, severe race-day injuries have an impact on the public perception of racing. This is becoming more apparent in recent times, with an increasing number of animal rights activists and the wide availability of social media. It is unknown if certain races will be banned in the future, and

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it emphasizes how important research in this field is to decrease the number of fatalities.

The majority of injuries occur in the lower limb, the location of condylar fractures and suspensory/tendon injuries, but up to 30% can occur in the upper limb.

Several colleagues and I have recently investigated fractures of the upper limb and pelvis in racehorses at the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).

Although these upper limb fractures – which can be of the radius, humerus, scapula, tibia, femur, and pelvis – are less common, they still pose a serious risk when they occur. All of these bones are very large and, considering the weight of the average racehorse, once a complete fracture occurs there is limited chance of repairing it. It has been demonstrated by previous researchers that these fatal injuries are often the end result of a repetitive or stress-related injury. Therefore, if we could identify these horses before they develop a complete fracture, we may be able to prevent these fatalities.

Fractures of the upper limb and pelvis can affect horses in numerous ways. Typically, if a horse has sustained a stress fracture it shows as a severe lameness following fast work and it improves with rest. However, sometimes these stress fractures can present as a mild lameness with an insidious onset, making it difficult for trainers or riders to observe. As a result, these early injuries can often be mistaken as something less serious, such as a sore foot.

Not only is it difficult for the trainer and rider, these cases of lameness are often not straightforward for the veterinarian either. Multiple tools such as radiographs, ultrasound, and bone scans may be required to make a firm diagnosis.

To understand this concept, it is important to understand the mechanism of bone injury, which is similar in horses and humans. Bone is a versatile structure composed of minerals, collagen, and water. The minerals provide stiffness and strength to the bone, while the collagen and water make it tough and give it a degree of elasticity. Although we do not associate elasticity with bones, if they did not have this property they would be extremely brittle and break very easily.

There are a few important cells in bone that are worth mentioning. Osteoblasts help build new bone, and osteoclasts help dissolve and remove old bone so that it can be replaced by fresh, healthy bone. When a lot of stress is placed on bone, such as in certain periods of race training, it stimulates a biological response to increase its size and shape, and additional bone is formed in areas of stress (bone modeling). Also, repetitive loading of the bone from regular gallops and races can result in small cracks forming within the bone tissue. These microcracks can join together to form stress fractures. If no extra strain is placed on this bone these microcracks can heal; however, if work is continued, it can result in a catastrophic fracture developing. It is key to note that during the microcrack formation a lameness may be evident. If the horse is rested at this point, the cells that break down the damaged bone (osteoclasts) cause bone resorption. This results in a temporarily weakness until the new bone is formed. Therefore, if the horse returns to work during this period of new bone formation he is at increased risk of developing a fracture. The resorption phase can occur in as quick as two weeks, but the formation of new healthy bone may take between two and four months, although this is not the same for every injury, every bone, or every horse. This means that if a horse is out of work for whatever reason for more than a few days, he may be at an increased risk of developing a fracture when put straight back into work.

Multiple researchers around the world have worked to identify risk factors that may predispose racehorses to developing a fracture. It must be considered that there are different racing and training regimes, racehorse surveillance programs, and veterinary resources across racing jurisdictions, and therefore the risk factors may not be the same in every area. Sometimes conflicting results are found. Work from the U.K. suggests a detrimental effect on bone of the accumulation of long-distance workouts at slow speed and that there are potential benefits of the gradual buildup of high-speed exercise.

THE RISK FOR A FATAL INJURY DECREASES WITH AGE

LEFT: Lower limb surgery being carried out on a young racehorse

In addition, short-distance, high-speed exercise has been shown to have a protective effect on skeletal injury.

There are many other risk factors to consider. Although not specifically looking at fractures, it has been shown that as they age, horses have an increased chance of sustaining a musculoskeletal injury that will prevent them from returning to racing. However, the risk for a fatal injury decreases with age. There are also certain injuries that are more likely in certain age groups, such as bucked shins and tibia stress fractures in two-year-olds and humeral stress fractures in three-year-olds. One would assume that this is associated with the development of the musculoskeletal system and its response to training regimes. The more we learn about this, the more aware trainers can become, such as, for example, knowing that a horse is more susceptible to bucked shins at a certain age and adjusting training regimes accordingly. There are numerous factors such as gender, race quality, hoof conformation, and racetrack surface that have been ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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found to affect the risk of injuries. However, these factors are often inter-related in a complex manner, which can make it difficult to accurately assess the risk posed by each individual factor. For example, it has been shown that the type of surface will affect the way that a horse lands and puts weight on his limbs, but the same horse doesn’t train on multiple surfaces for comparison. There will be different training regimes, shoeing practices, tack, riders, and weather conditions that will affect the way a horse will train. This makes training surfaces difficult to compare, and there are often confounding results.

In Hong Kong, we examined all of the racehorses in training over 11 racing seasons. Our aim was to find out what type of fractures of the upper limb they suffered, how many of these were fatal, how successful these horses were following fracture, and how this compared to the rest of the world. Our eventual goal is to look at risk factors in an attempt to help reduce the occurrence of injuries.

The incidence of fractures of the upper limb and pelvis were low over this time period. There were a total of 102,785 starters in 8,147 races, 90% of them on turf.

In Hong Kong, horses typically start racing as threeyear-olds rather than at two, and this may explain why we saw a greater number of fractures of the humerus compared to the U.K. and U.S., where tibia fractures are more common. In most of the horses that developed a lameness it was obvious (grade 3 out of 5), but it is important to note that a large proportion of horses had a subtle lameness (grade 1 or 2). This is an important point, as horses in this bracket may have a very mild intermittent lameness that may go unnoticed. The lameness can typically improve with rest and then may form a complete fatal fracture during the next period of fast work. Therefore, as previously mentioned, careful attention must be given to horses that show even a mild lameness after fast work in order to obtain an accurate

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| LAMENESS |

diagnosis and ensure that appropriate rest and treatment is administered, if necessary. Lastly, we found that a large proportion of the horses that suffered non-fatal fractures went on to lead successful racing careers after being given time to recover: 74% of horses with upper limb fractures went on to race again, and over half of these won a race.

In summary, fractures of the upper limb and pelvis are not as common as injuries of the lower limb in racehorses, but if the associated lameness is not recognized early, these can develop into serious or fatal injuries. The more we research this topic the more we are learning about certain risk factors that may help decrease the occurrence of these injuries.

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| TRAINING |

DENNIS

COLLINS

“ IT ’ S G O I N G TO BE O K”

By Bill Heller

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Coady Photoggrapphyy

| DENNIS COLLINS |

W

Accepting reality is a lot more difficult when you’re on your back in a hospital bed.

When your whole world has crashed. When you realize the rest of your life will be spent in a wheelchair.

Asked when he was able to wrap his mind around that, Dennis Collins, a 53-year-old jockey with 2,287 victories who was paralyzed in an accident at The Downs at Albuquerque in 2016, said, “The third day. I said, ‘This is the way it’s going to be. Why bitch and moan about it?

I’m not going to walk again. But I’ll always have my own chair in a restaurant.’”

Collins, who recently began training horses with his fiancée Heather Brock – his lifeline, his saint, and his best buddy – has already scored a victory by not letting an accident take him out of racing and away from his passion, one begun whenever his parents, who had no connections to racing, took him out for a drive from their home in Gloucester City, New Jersey. “When I was a kid, every time we’d drive by a farm, if I saw a horse, I’d scream and cry,” Collins said. “We’d stop, and I’d go pet him. They’re beautiful animals. I’ve always loved horses.

It was in my blood. I knew if I was short enough” – and at five-feet tall, he was – “I wanted to get into horse racing.”

Brock is so glad he did.

“He’s passionate about his horses; that’s probably the first thing that attracted me to him,” said Brock, who began training her own small stable in 2016 at Arapahoe Park in Colorado and Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona.

“One of his good horses had passed away. He teared up. You could see he had a passion for the animals

themselves. You could tell he had a good heart. My life pretty much revolves around horses. It was important to me that someone shared that passion.”

Brock, who does have an extensive racing background, said that Collins could have followed a different, dangerous direction when he was a teenager: “He’s told me that horses saved him. He’d been involved with a bad crowd. A lot of his friends did drugs and alcohol. He said he was going down the same path. Once he got into racing, he never thought about going down that road.”

Racing took him far away from his New Jersey roots.

He began riding at Laurel Park and Penn National in 1986, going winless in 12 races. He won 29 and 51 races the following two years, but only eight, six, and six the three years after that. That gave him just 100 victories in his first six years.

He’d win 2,100 more after finding his niche, riding at Ak-Sar-Ben, Fonner Park, Horsemen’s Park, State Fair Park, Adakat, and Columbus in Nebraska; at Turf Paradise and Prescott Downs in Arizona; at Pike’s Peak and Arapahoe in Colorado; at Prairie Meadows in Iowa; and at The Downs in Albuquerque and Yavapai Downs in New Mexico. He won riding titles at State Fair Park, Fonner, and Arapahoe in 2015. In 2016, Collins was second at Arapahoe.

Like just about every single jockey, Collins suffered through several accidents. In his first year of riding, he broke his back in two places at Laurel. “I was back riding in less than three months,” he said. In another accident, he tore ligaments and cartilage in both knees and broke his leg, missing nearly a year. He lost another year after an injured left foot at Columbus required surgery.

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| TRAINING |

LEFT: Collins at the racetrack prior to his 2016 accident

riding a motorcycle. “Trainers told me that thing’s going to kill me,” he said. “I said, ‘If it doesn’t, a horse will.’”

A horse nearly did on September 25, 2016. Now he can no longer ride Thoroughbreds nor his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. “I miss my hog,” Collins said. “I liked riding.

It was freedom. It was therapy.”

In an old YouTube video, he said, “A Harley-Davidson doesn’t have as much enthusiasm as a Thoroughbred,” and of returning from racing injuries, “The pain goes away when you get in the gate and the adrenaline takes over.”

In racing history, only 200 jockeys have won more than 2,800 races, a number Collins might have approached before he retired. “We had a game plan,” Brock said. “He was going to ride for two more years, then he’d ride only our own horses for two years, then he’d go into training.”

He’d do so with his life partner Brock, who said she was born into racing. Her father, Ray Johnson, was a rider and trainer in Canada before becoming a jockey agent in California. “He was really known for taking bugs (apprentices),” she said. “He’d put them in a year-round program. They’d sign a contract. No dating, a curfew, studying videos, how to talk to owners, do interviews with the media. He’d teach them boxing to help their reflexes and cardiovascular fitness and how to read their opponents, just like one rider watches another.”

Born just outside of San Mateo, California, Brock began galloping horses at a farm when she was 10. Five years later, she rode at tracks. She also did barrel racing. “The racetrack was my passion,” she said.

She was 17 when her dad passed away after battling lung cancer. She joined the Army in 1998 and stayed through 2001 before spending a year working in a sheriff’s department in Cochise County in southern Arizona. “I went back to the racetrack and haven’t looked back since,” she said.

She galloped and ponied horses for a while before taking out her trainer’s license in 2016. She’s had two wins and two seconds from 14 starts.

Brock, now 40, and Collins barely noticed each other the first time they crossed paths. “I was married at the time and he was dating someone else,” Brock said. “We never gave each other a second look.”

But the second time, that was different. Brock was divorced. “We ran into each other again at a local bar,” she said. “It was a quiet bar, and I rarely drink at all. We got talking while we were playing darts. We went out to dinner a couple nights later.”

Two weeks later, he moved in with her. They knew they’d spend the rest of their lives together.

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They’d been racing in Denver and had returned to Phoenix to prepare for the upcoming meet at Turf Paradise in late September, 2016. Collins traveled to A Allbuquerque l to ride in a fair meet at The Downs when, in the third race on the final i day of the fair meet, his mount Smiling Reuben snapped a leg and went down, hurtling Collins to the track. He knew it was bad instantaneously.

“I reached down to my legs and I couldn’t feel them,” he said. “I said, ‘Oh, crap!’”

Brock saw it happen. “I watched the race, streamed on my phone,” she said, “I watched him go down. I knew it was bad.”

She called the jockey’s room, but couldn’t get a straight answer. Then a trainer, Ed Kurlick, called. “He said, ‘You bett tter t get down wn here. He’s bad. It isn’t good,’” Brock said.

“His voice was cracking.”

She jumped in her truck and drove. “I drove from Phoenix to Al Allbuquerque, a 7½ hour drive,” she said. “I did it in about six. I pushed it. I’ve woken up in a hospital alone when I was in the military. I wasn’t going to let him wake up alone.”

She reached the University ty of New Mexico Hospital, where Collins had been transferred. “I got there probably around 10 0 or 11 o’clock,” she said. “He was heavi vily i drugged

| DENNIS COLLINS |

at that point. I remember him look over and he said, ‘Wow, you got here fast,’ Then he looked at his legs and said, ‘That didn’t work out the way we planned.’”

So they made a new plan.

On the first morning after the accident, jockey Martin Bourdieu and his wife Krystal visited Collins in the hospital. “She was choked up because her former husband, Mark Villa, had been killed on a Quarter Horse (at Zia Park in New Mexico) the same day as Dennis’ accident six years ago,” Brock said. “Dennis gave her a hug and said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’”

As bad as Collins’ injury was, both he and Brock knew it could have been worse. “I’m grateful every day that even though Dennis is in a wheelchair, he came home, and he’s not a quadriplegic,” Brock said.

She stayed with her man in the hospital 24/7. “I got a taste of holding things together when my dad got real sick,” she said. “I can compartmentalize emotions. When I take a shower, that’s when I break down and say, ‘It’s not fair.’ With him, I was almost robotic. I never left his side.

I slept in a chair for 2½ weeks.”

Her presence one late night might have saved Collins’ life. “I woke up one night at two or three in the morning, and I saw a new doctor was going to give him medicine through an IV,” she said. “I said ‘He doesn’t get medicine through an IV anymore.’ He looked at his clipboard. He said, ‘Oh, I’ve got the wrong room.’ After that, I was terrified to leave him alone. If I went down for 10 minutes to eat, I got a nurse to I’M GRATEFUL EVERY watch him.’”

DAY THAT EVEN Collins couldn’t be more thankful THOUGH DENNIS IS IN to have Brock as a teammate: “Not A WHEELCHAIR, many people would stick around in down and wrap their legs or the situation I’m in. Some riders have anything like that,” he said.

HE CAME HOME their wives pack up and leave when they They both wish they could get on were injured. I love her for what she’s their horses to exercise them. Brock done, what she’s going to do. It’s an everyday had to give that up two years ago because thing. Every day, she’s always there. She’s very of chronic knee damage suffered in the Army. special. Without her, I might be in a nursing home.”

“I miss getting on horses,” she said. “I watch from the saddle pony. I have a good rapport with a couple of Instead, he’s where he’s always wanted to be: working in a riders. I tell them, ‘Tell me if anything’s wrong. Don’t tell barn with horses. “We’re going to make a very good team,” he me what you think I want to hear. Just be honest with said. “She’s very smart.” me. I want to know.’”

To her credit, she became smarter, learning how to She does just about everything else herself. “I go over deal with Collins’ recovery online. “I did a lot of research each horse’s legs,” she said. “Every horse is an individual through chats, forums, and reading on the internet,” she and they should be fed and trained as such. I don’t let the said. “You should be your own advocate. I found little vet train my horse. I let the horse tell me what he needs techniques that people have helping them to cope with and how much he needs. I will not put a horse and jockey daily life. Even though he’s paralyzed, there’s pain. Muscle in jeopardy if they’re not sound.” spasms. You have to learn how to handle it.”

She marvels at how well Collins is handling it. “He had Even when they are sound, they are in jeopardy every a good attitude from the start,” she said. “But he has bad single time they race: thousand-pound Thoroughbreds days. The doctors said it’s going to happen. He gets quieter traveling nearly 40 miles per hour racing in tight quarters on than usual, a little reclusive. He might be a little grumpy. He ankles you can put your fingers around. never takes it out on me or anybody else.”

On Sunday, October 1 of this year, jockey Mario Chavez He’s happiest when he’s at the track, getting around died a day after he was injured in a Quarter Horse stakes in a golf cart by using a cane to hit the gas pedal. “He race at Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma. He was 42. watches the horses train,” Brock said. “He watches races Collins’ injury was tragic, but not fatal. Yes, Collins and looking for claims. I feel safer with him in the golf cart in Brock will struggle building up a stable, but they have case a horse gets loose.” already made it a year after Collins’ horrific injury. “We’re stronger now than we’ve ever been,” Brock said. “He’s Of course, there’s a long list of trainers’ chores hard-headed and stubborn.”

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I SN ’ T T RAI NI N G T H ORO UGH B RE DS HARD E NO U G H ?

By Bill Heller

Barbara D Livingston

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early 30 years before paralyzed jockey Dennis Collins turned to training Thoroughbreds to continue his lifelong passion with horses, Donna Zook took that journey, one she’s still on. Racing primarily at Mountaineer Park and Charles Town Races in West Virginia, she has saddled 205 winners from 2,617 starts, with earnings of nearly $1.5 million, all after her terrifying riding accident nearly took her life.

Her journey – made even harder by prejudices against women trainers - gives hope that others can also train Thoroughbreds from a wheelchair. And others have, indeed, followed that incredibly difficult path.

Isn’t training Thoroughbreds hard enough? “I wouldn’t tell anybody to become a trainer,” said California trainer Dan Hendricks, whose successful career has continued despite a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed in 2004. “It’s a tough way to make a living. It’s 24/7. And it’s become harder, much harder to start out than when I did.”

He had considerable success before his accident, but two of his best horses, Brother Derek and Om, came after Hendricks was forced to train from a wheelchair. “The one advantage I had is I had been training for a while,” he said. “I had owners who stood with me. I didn’t lose a single owner.”

Zook, now 62, didn’t have a single owner when she decided to train Thoroughbreds 11 years after she went down in a gruesome three-horse accident after a horse in front of her snapped a leg and two horses, one ridden by her, went down at Mountaineer (then known as Waterford Park) on June 30th, 1977.

While she was still in the hospital recovering, she was watching TV when a story broke about two men who had been critically burned in an explosion after propane leaked out of the truck they were driving. The two men were her brothers, Chester, 34, and Floyd, 28. Chester lived for 14 hours before passing away, and Floyd lived for two weeks.

Their loss helped Zook deal with her accident and her future. “You either get used to it or you die,” she told Pohla Smith in a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 1999.

Zook heard of a rehabilitative riding program in Pittsburgh, joined it and became an instructor. Then she returned to the racetrack, first as a jockey agent, a job she never enjoyed. She became an assistant to trainer Gail Morrow. Finally, she decided she could train horses herself. She became a trainer in 1988 and won her first race that July 19th with Dynamic Double at Mountaineer.

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She posted a career-high 32 victories from a careerhigh 237 starts in 1991, and topped $150,000 in earnings in 2009 and 2013.

She’s still training today, living proof that even a paralyzing accident can’t prevent a determined person from maintaining a life in horse racing.

Hendricks, now 58, refused to let his motorcycle accident that occurred on July 7th, 2004, end his training career. He’d already posted more than $800,000 in earnings 12 consecutive years with a high of more than $2 million in 1995.

Everything changed in a split second when he went down. He didn’t spend a lot of time considering whether or not he should continue training from a wheelchair. “I had three boys (Chris, Matt, and Greg),” he said. “I either do it or ruin their lives. If I lost my kids it would be 100 percent worse. Things happen. People deal with a lot of things worse than being paralyzed.”

He drew inspiration from legendary jockey Bill Shoemaker, who decided to train after he became a quadriplegic following a solo drunk-driving automobile accident on April 8th, 1991. Ultimately, Shoemaker would decide it was too difficult to continue training.

“He weathered through it the best he could,” Hendricks said. “He was much more severe than me. Night and day.

The difference between having your upper body and not having it. He was a great guy. He was able to train in

| OVERCOMING ADVERSITY |

the beginning. That helped me, having known him and idolized him. It helped me realize that it can be done.”

Brother Derek showed Hendricks that it can be done at racing’s highest level. “I had raced his full brother, Don’t Sell Me,” Hendricks said. “He was a California state champion.”

Brother Derek made his winning maiden debut May 14th, 2005, less than a year after Hendricks’ accident.

Brother Derek would win four straight, beginning with the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity. Victories in the Grade 2 San Rafael, Grade 2 Santa Catalina, and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby followed, the reason he went off as one of the top contenders in the Kentucky Derby at 7-1. He finished in a dead-heat for fourth with Jazil, behind undefeated Barbaro. Brother Derek then finished a distant fourth in the Preakness. “All of that was great,” Hendricks said. “It kept me occupied. I didn’t have to worry about myself. It was a lot of fun, a fun ride.” Brother Derek would finish his career with six wins, two seconds, and three thirds from 17 starts with earnings topping $1.6 million.

Such lofty achievements seemed far-fetched when Om entered the starting gate for a maiden race at Del Mar on August 9th, 2014. He went off at 22-1. He broke first, and then was pressured by the 7-5 favorite on his flank, American Pharoah. After a half-mile, American Pharoah couldn’t keep up, tiring to finish fifth. Om won by a pole, the beginning of an outstanding career. Following a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Eddie D at Santa Anita this past September, Om, now five, is six-for-19 with five seconds, five thirds, and

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EL DEAL BEGAN HIS CAREER FOUR-FORFOUR, INCLUDING A SCORE IN THE $100,000 GOLD FEVER STAKES. earnings just a tad under $900,000. American Pharoah would go on to win the 2015 Triple Crown and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, losing just once more, to Keen Ice in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Who knew? “At the time, of course, I didn’t know,” Hendricks said. “Om’s just been a lot of fun. He’s the model of consistency.”

So is Hendricks, who hasn’t let his accident ruin his career.

His earnings have topped $700,000 every year following the accident. Hendricks has 728 career wins from 4,799 starts with earnings of more than $31 million.

That doesn’t mean it’s been easy for him. “The training part is the easy part,” he said. “Adjusting your whole lifestyle and not giving up on yourself is not. Things go through your mind that never went through your mind before. It changes in a matter of seconds. It’s not easy. It’s a very life-challenging deal. It’s hard to tell someone what it’s like. Instead of jumping out of bed, it takes 30 minutes.

Everything in your life changes.”

What he misses most is getting on his horses. “For years and years, I got on horses myself if I needed to,” he said.

“I could get on a horse and do things. It’s very hands-on.

You have to put that tool away and train like the other 90 percent of trainers who don’t get on their own horses.”

He maintains a healthy perspective of his ongoing success conditioning Thoroughbreds. “I’m just a horse trainer,” he said. “It’s no big deal. It ain’t brain surgery.”

Andrew Lakeman, currently on a health-related hiatus from training, wasn’t sure what to do following his riding accident at Belmont Park, May 25th, 2007.

The native of Sunderland, England, was an exercise rider

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| OVERCOMING ADVERSITY |

ABOVE: El Deal, Andrew Lakeman’s stable super star that was sadly sold when Andrew was taken ill.

and occasional jockey for Allen Jerkens after working for Michael Dickinson, Nick Zito, D. Wayne Lukas, Barclay Tagg, and Tom Skiffington. Lakeman was nine months into his recovery from alcohol and drug abuse when his accident paralyzed him from the chest down. His lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation were complicated when he slipped back into his self-destructive habits.

His parents wanted him to return to England. Instead, after reading a book about third-generation Hall of Fame trainer Elliott Burch, Lakeman decided to get his life together and become a trainer. “Elliott Burch said he got started by buying his own horse, and I said, ‘That’s what I’m going to do. I’ll make my own decisions. I won’t have to answer to anybody,’” Lakeman said.

Suddenly becoming a trainer is difficult in any milieu, but doing so in New York is even harder. Yet Lakeman succeeded. He purchased Thisskysabeauty for $40,000 and won a maiden $25,000 claimer on Thanksgiving Day in 2011. The horse would eventually be claimed away from him for $30,000.

Lakeman added four horses with modest ability and won with each one. He found peace in doing so, saying, “I get up every morning at 4:30 and get to the track by six.

I forget about any pain or being in a wheelchair. It’s like the horses know I’m in a wheelchair. They would never hurt me. Even if I don’t have another winner, I proved to myself that I could do it.”

He wondered what it would be like to get a horse of better stock. Then he did: El Deal. El Deal began his career four-for-four, including a score in the $100,000 Gold Fever Stakes, before injuring his ankle. “I scanned him, and his ankles were weak,” Lakeman said. “He needed some time. I sent him to the farm for seven months.”

Other trainers might not have given El Deal that time off. Lakeman’s reward for his patience came in the fact that the son of Munnings returned to the races healthy.

Unfortunately, Lakeman was not. He was hospitalized with a staph infection that had gotten into his bones. “I was very sick,” he said. He had to send his four horses, including El Deal, to another trainer in Florida. Then El Deal was sold and given to his current trainer, Jorge Navarro.

On July 29th, El Deal won the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga by eight lengths. He followed that with a strong second in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park on September 29th and is being pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“I don’t know how to feel,” Lakeman said. “He’s a great horse. I love that horse. My dream was to win a Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga. I galloped a horse for Allen (Jerkens) – War Front – and he won the Vanderbilt there.”

El Deal did, too, but Lakeman was no longer his trainer. Regardless, he remains emotionally attached to the most accomplished Thoroughbred he’s ever had. “El Deal used to bite, but he never bit me,” Lakeman said.

“When he saw my van, he would scream for peppermints.”

Not being at the track working is tearing up the 42-yearold Lakeman. “It’s killing me,” he said. “This is my life. This is my passion. I’m trying to heal and get better. I had to sue workman’s comp. When they give me my settlement in the spring, I’m going to buy my own horses and start training again. I love to train and I know how to win.”

Even from a wheelchair.

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| TRAINING |

T R AI NI NG YE A RLI NGS SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT AROUND THE WORLD Olly Stevens

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onsider throwing a 13-year-old school child into a university environment straight from prep school.

The child would be faced with sights, sounds, and influences that the young mind would struggle to compute, with physical rigors on the sports field that would either disappoint the mind or cause physical damage. I cannot think of any parent that would choose this for their adolescent. Yet we often do this to the young horse, plucking them straight from the sleepy pastures of their nursery into an environment that is measured upon its

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Kurstsystems, WinStar Farm, Geoff Mulcahy & Frances J. Karon

production of top-level runners. Perhaps we send them via the sales…an entrance examination of sorts.

When put like this it is clear that, as custodians of young bloodstock, we might consider a period of preparation during which the horse would be introduced to saddle and rider and taught the basic lessons that would allow it to fit into the program of the trainer that its owner chooses. These early lessons would also give each individual a careful conditioning of the physical stresses that will be tested further upon his or her graduation to the greater strains required to reach race fitness.

For the sake of this article pretraining will be considered to be the safe development of a horse towards its first

joining a trainer or returning from a break not enforced by injury, as opposed to rehabilitation. The American racing industry has the perfect phrase for this: “legging up.”

While there has been a constant uptick in the number of commercial pre-training yards in Europe over the last 25 years to satisfy a growing demand for this service, this is something that has been a longstanding practice further afield, particularly in countries where there is stabling pressure at the racetrack or in metropolitan stables, not to mention numerous larger owners who employ a farm trainer or establish their own pretraining division.

In the United States (and to a degree Australia) there is considerable pressure

| YEARLING PREPERATION

on stabling at or near to the racetrack, and the priority will of course be given to runners that are earning. Stall allotments at a meeting in North America are on the management’s expectation that the stall will house a horse that is likely to run during that meeting, which often leaves trainers very limited space for either young horses or those coming back from an injury or break.

This historically has created a demand for farms to undertake ridden work of young stock or specialized pre-training operations at training centers. A glance at Google Earth shows a number of training tracks at farms dotted around central Kentucky, and anyone who has flown into Blue Grass Airport will likely have noticed the famous Calumet

Farm training track adjacent to Keeneland.

These were borne out of a real need to have youngsters developed off the main track due to lack of space.

Horses that graduate to the racetrack in North America are not only facing their toughest physical challenges but also a high-octane environment where other horses will be breezing past them from the very first day, making their preparation of key importance.

The breeding hub of Kentucky is home to numerous operators that perform the task of legging horses up at training centers near Lexington. But other areas such as Camden, South Carolina, where Shadwell has a barn; and Ocala, Florida, home of numerous highly regarded and well-supported pre-

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training operations, have become centers of excellence where horses can escape the harsh winters of Kentucky and New York and receive both education and physical conditioning with specialist businesses boasting superb facilities.

Geoff Mulcahy -- coincidentally also breeder of this years Group 2 Coventry Stakes hero Rajasinghe -- has run his hugely successful stable based from the The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington to take advantage of a quieter environment, diverse facilities, and with no pressure from racetracks to run horses that are still developing. Yearlings start at his Bourbon County farm where a team of full-time staff undertakes the early work, backing the horses and riding them away until they ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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are ready to be introduced to the training center where a shared track exposes them to some of what they might expect at a racetrack later on. The success of this detail-oriented and gradual approach has led to the stable attracting a very enviable client list, featuring as a key part of the program of a who’s who of North American racing.

Owners who operate on a large scale have also chosen to build up a pre-training division to match their breeding and sales activities. Taking control of this allows the owner and team of advisors to make more informed management decisions regarding the horse, choice of trainer, or whether to even continue with a horse’s career, in many cases saving money. Shadwell operates a sector of their Thetford Stud in England for this purpose, along with a well-established pre-training operation in Dubai and their barn in Camden. Godolphin has multiple pre-training sites as part of their global operation, built upon their historic Kildangan base in Ireland to help give the young stock the best possible start.

At Keeneland, not far from Mulcahy’s base at The Thoroughbred Center, is an example that illustrates the importance pre-training can hold in the plans of significant owner-breeders. Located across th he road d from th he track k’s maiin property, which has 46 barns open primarily for the race meets, Keeneland has a line of nine stables, each holding roughly 40 horses, on Rice Road. These barns are leased on a long-term, year-round basis. In recent times, these have been

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associated with Juddmonte, Claiborne, WinStar, Lane’s End, Shawnee Farm, and Darley all making the most of proximity to the nurseries and world-class vets and enjoying the synthetic training track surface that runs alongside the now-dirt main track. Each Rice Road barn has a sand-based turn-out pen, with access to fields at the back of the barns to help give horses a change of pace. The track team does a brilliant job of defying Kentucky’s climate to keep training ongoing throughout the harsh winters.

Likewi wise i WinS Star Farm in Versaiilles has developed its own, state-of-tthe-art training center, much of which is focused upon pre-training and rehab. Until 2010, the yearlings were broken on-site at the old training barn and they were kept turned out in groups full-time, ridden

daily on the veterinary advice that this would encourage the best skeletal health.

Once the weather turned colder in November, the horses would be moved up to Highpointe Farm and Training Center in La Grange, Kentucky. At Highpointe the horses were able to train through the winter, under the constant evaluation of the senior management team, before continuing to the farm’s private barn on Keeneland’s Rice Road in the spring for final evaluation and then shipping to their trainers. This worked brilliantly for Super Saver and d Drossellmeyer, wh ho were in th he program at the same time.

Then in early 2010, WinStar opened its new and expanded training center to bring the entire operation back under one roof. A syn ynthetic-surfaced oval and an uphill gallop ynt were added as well as horse walkers, indoor

| YEARLING PREPERATION

school, swimming pool, and a huge barn offering numerous rehabilitation therapies.

While a large part of the facility is geared up for rehabilitation, the balance is a committed investment in consolidating what was a program producing results in one place. A neighboring farm was subsequently purchased and developed to accommodate the breaking aspect of the fast-growing “Train WinStar” operation, which takes outside-owned horses as well as their own homebreds and sales purchases, and boasts a who’s who of alumni.

In many cases the trainer will prefer to have yearlings in a pre-training yard as there is quite a gap from the earliest yearling sales to the end of the season.

This is not only a matter of prioritizing herd health during the key final weeks of the season, but also of space as the horses-in-training sales begin in the early spring, meaning that stable space is under pressure. In this respect, pre-training farms can be a valuable tool for trainers to ensure that they can continue to focus solely on the business of winning races, regardless of the pressures applied by the business cycle.

Australia’s largest two racing communities are metropolitan-based, in Sydney and Melbourne. Pre-training is a necessity as stabling is limited in the city,

and with only seven days required for the horse to be at the trainer’s premises before it runs, many horses stay in pre-training longer than in other parts of the world.

Young horses often leave the pre-training facility for a number of days to get track experience or to run in barrier trials, then return to do the rest of their training at the pre-training stable. Transport vans are a common sight at these yards making daily, or even twice daily, deliveries and collections between provincial areas and the city tracks such as Randwick.

Hundreds of young Thoroughbreds head straight from farms and sales to pre-training establishments that also offer breaking facilities. Major owners and trainers are slightly wary about these less exclusive types of pre-training centers, as infections are rife with little or no regulations placed on the stables by racing’s governing bodies. Often based in rural areas, these centers can be staffed by inexperienced backpackers and travelers on their “gap year.. A growing number of owners and trainers, such as the Melbourne Cup winning trainer Darren Weir, are choosing to set up their own centers and pre-train in-house.

Likewise, there is the potential to use a pre-trainer during times of growth, with

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the trainer running the core stable at capacity and pre-trainers taking on any horse other than those that are running or building up to a run. This leaves all of the liability with the pre-trainer, while the trainer is allowed to focus on core business and efficiencies.

In fact, rules in some countries make pre-trainers almost a necessity. Japan has a very rigid restriction on the number of horses that even a leading trainer can have in their care, at the track, at any given time, which has led to pre-training operations that take horses to within a matter of weeks of a race. The facilities of the leading pretraining farms in that country have been constantly developed with covered tracks and, at Northern Farm, even chambers simulating high altitude that are really pushing boundaries of sports science and taking horses really very close to a race, and it is perhaps here that we have seen the boundaries of pre-training pushed the furthest.

So what are the financial benefits of using pre-trainers? It is widely acknowledged that training fees alone do not offer a huge margin. Prize money and commission on sales are the cream for trainers, so to sub-contract late-maturing horses to a specialist pretrainer makes perfect sense. In a recent promotional video for Irish Champions weekend, trainer Ger Lyons described exactly this, explaining that he has more horses than stalls at his Glenburnie Stable, with those furthest away from appearing at a racetrack spending time developing locally in a yard operated by the family of Colin Keane, Glenburnie’s stable jockey, or at another farm nearby in Kilcock. “If you’re in here you’re ready for hard work. We don’t need next-year horses here,” Lyons said.

British-based pre-trainer Patrick Owens has built up, over the course

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of a few years, a healthy business. “Of course it’s easy to be busy in the winter months but we measure the business in the summer months, which has the potential to be a bit of a quiet time.”

Having completed an international apprenticeship that took him from Luca Cumani’s Newmarket stable in England to Eddie Kenneally’s “academy” of sharp young trainers in the U.S., and via pointto-pointing and a stint at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada, Owens picked up techniques from the world over but bases his entire approach to the horses on a hands-on and detail-oriented approach that has led him to become close with his clients too.

Bloodstock agent Matt Coleman, of the Cool Silk partnership, introduced Owens to a now-significant client in Robert Cowell. Owens said, “Working with trainers like Robert Cowell is a pleasure.

We speak weekly about each horse. He really understands that growth spurts just come and go with these youngsters and if I need more time with a horse he has always allowed it.” A growing and seemingly loyal client list would tempt many to expand immediately, but Owens is taking a long term view. “Everything here is about detail, spotting when horses are sleeping just a bit more than usual, letting them grow, letting them relax. I might expand a bit, but I do not want it to ever be at the cost of ensuring that every horse has the right workload to balance their physical and mental development.”

A novell approach h th hat has mo ore in common wi with more conventional wit

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approaches than initially meets the eye is Mehmet Kurt’s Kingwood Stud, also in England. While the cutting-edge and beautifully engineered Kurtsystem mechanized training equipment is dazzling, it could easily divide opinion and is beyond the reach of many commercial pre-trainers. The idea was born from Mr. Kurt’s desire to “reduce the injuries and breakdowns suffered by racehorses in the early stages of their careers,” something that every horseman is seeking to achieve in gradually and considerately developing the young horse.

In this case it is carried out by taking young horses -- very young horses of weaning age -- and slowly introducing them to the Kurtsystem. This takes some time, as farm manager and Classicwinning Italian trainer Daniele Camufo d into expllaiins: “ The horses are not forced this so it takes us some time for them to

learn. They learn to travel along together as a herd. Initially perhaps not every day, and only just to be introduced to it, but this is increased as they become accustomed to it.”

Critics of this system might not have been fortunate enough to have seen it firsthand, nor had the opportunity to ask questions. Yearlings are all broken and ridden just as they would normally be, but by this stage they have already been cantering (without the weight or interference of a rider) since April, learning to balance themselves. “Look!

They don’t lean on this like a treadmill, they have to carry themselves. All of the gates are open now on these yearlings.

They are free,” says Camufo, as a group of smartly bred yearlings, including a very eye-catching Pivotal colt, canter before us wh hile we siit in aiir-cond ditiioned d comffort tracking them.

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| TRAINING |

The horses carry rollers and weight cloths of varying sizes on the Kurtsystem 2000 but are also ridden and turned out to supplement this mechanized exercise. The training program is a part of a bigger picture designed to give each horse the best possible chance of a long and successful racing career.

The early start to training gives ample opportunity to assess each horse’s potential as well as controlled exercise that can collect data on key physical metrics such as aerobic capacity and efficiency. Stride length and heart rate data will soon be added.

Conditioning, safety, and specializing are all key elements of pre-training, and Kurt has had success with earlier versions of this system in his native Turkey. This led to the huge undertaking in Lambourn, in which he has such confidence that he has supported his structure with some blueblooded horses that are being developed on the Kurtsystem before heading to trainer Jamie Osborne down the hill to race in the Kingwood silks.

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Dennis O’Brien, who manages Shadwell’s Thetford-based pre-training and rehabilitation establishment, says that the global powerhouse keeps things simple: “We take in all of the sales yearlings and work with them, in house, until they are mature and sound enough to take training.”

At the early stages of each horse’s career, the team at Shadwell does not alter significant management details for each individual and, all going well, the youngsters soon graduate to their intended trainers. “Most of our trainers have large numbers of horses so we are aiming to send horses to them that can fit in nicely with that.”

Thetford’s Snarehill estate is a contrast to the busy cut and thrust of nearby Newmarket. Avenues of mature deciduous trees, with hedged paddocks and a calm but deliberate working atmosphere in the yard, all combine to leave, to the human observer at least, the impression that this would be an idyllic place for a horse to grow up. The relatively flat topography lends itself well

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for building the sort of gallops that will not over-face the young athlete, and within the yard is an enviable roster of facilities.

In principle, a conventional pretraining operation can have slightly lower operational costs than a racing yard as there aren’t any runners to think of, with a lower administrative burden and a less immediate need for extensive facilities, which can in turn offer each horse’s owner a potential saving. This is not to say that pre-trainers have lesser facilities, as is proven by Ed and Tanya Peate’s Penny Farm.

Built in 2006 to meet the demands of a growing business, and well-supported by leading trainers, owners, and breeders, the Peates were able to buy and develop their farm on arable land just outside of Newmarket. Penny Farm boasts a gallop that, while kind to young horses, would more than suffice to train runners and allows them to work horses upsides as they develop and get closer to progressing into the stables of their trainers. There are giveaways, however, that Penny Farm has been designed with a very specific purpose; most obviously the number of lunge rings so crucial to breaking in such a number of yearlings each autumn and winter.

In the here and now, pre-training already offers apparent financial and performance incentives for the trainer and owner alike, but with new methods and technologies being employed by pre-trainers, it’s not hard to see this increasingly important sector of the industry developing further and becoming adopted by the wider training fraternity.

Image ©K Rengert Photography at Fair Hill Training Centre

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ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| RACING |

THE ART OF CLOCKING HORSES Ed Golden

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Zoe Metz

| CLOCKERS |

ime, an old racetrack axiom holds, only counts in prison.

But that ain’tt necessarily so to horse players and horsemen worldwid ide who depend diligently on mathematical mavens called clockers to provi vide thorough, vid accurate, and prompt fi figures that fig might help cash a bet or wiin n a race.

Clockers, succinctly described as people who time workouts, ply their trade at tracks from Aqueduct to Zia Park, zeroing in on Thoroughbreds and their exercises from before sunup until the track closes for training, a span of some fi five hours. fiv There are private clockers, too, whose primary interest focuses on padding their wallets or making their valued information available to the public for the right price.

They all watch like hawks, displayi ying yin the close-up intensity of a moviiee directed by Sergio Leone, oft ften adding fte a comment such as “breezing” or “handily,” the latt tter being the most tte accomplished workout.

Each track later in the morning sends its works to Equibase, which publishes distances and times of said workouts for all to see, a regimen that has been ongoing for decades, although before technology gy allowed any nincompoop to go vir iral wi with their inane pap, results of wit the drills were guarded like the gold in Fort Kn Knox, as clockers and trainers kept Kno

T

the data to themselvves, dreaming of a prospective wiin ndfall.

Santa An Anita has six clockers on duty Ani every day, wit ith four stationed in the press box area timing the horses and one “tab wr writer,” who takes calls from a sixt wri xth xth clocker positioned at the gap in front of the homestretch. The tab wr writer also can wri take calls directly from a trainer.

Overall, the track’s staff includes head clocker Kathleen Burtch and her daughter, Samantha; Michael Ascanio, son of retired Humberto Ascanio, former longttiime assistant to the late Bobby Frankel; Scott Henry; John Malone; Jennifer Metz, wif ife of trainer Jeff ff Metz; Nancy Mlodzianowski; Thom Mitchell; and Dane Nelson.

The tab wr writer enters the works into wri a computer for Equibase, the main information bank for horseracing, which distributes them to outlets such as th he Daily Racing Form.

On the surface, it might appear that accurately clocking more than 200 horses on any given morning from 4:45 a.m., when the training track opens (the main track opens at fi five), until 10 fiv a.m. is a daunting and thankless task, but clockers are not fl flyi fly ying solo. yin Trainers give the names of the horses and the distances they are about to work to the clocker at the gap. He or she relays that to the crew in the press box. If there are later confl flicts or uncertainties, fli tyyp p piically the trainer wiilll be contacted, even if it means going back to his or her barn to straighten things out.

“We do the best we can to communicate wiitth one another to try and capture all the works,” said Kathleen Burtch, senior member of the crew who has been in command for three years.

“The trainers give the calls to Thom at the gap and he relays all the calls to us . . . When it gets really busy, it can be a litt ttle diff ttl ffic ffi icult to mark every horse, but we all try to help one another.”

Burtch, 58, a native of Washingt gton, gto started in racing in 1988 at defunct Longacres as an exeercise rider before becoming a clocker, which she’s made her vocation for some 30 years. Prior to joining the backstretch brigade, she attended college at Central Washingt gton University. gto “Before I turned to clocking, I found out that exercising horses is very hard,” she said, chuckling at the recollection.

“It was not easy at all.”

Mitchell, 66, though well organized, doesn’t take anyt ything for granted. yth “Trainers are cooperative,” said Mitchell, who has been at Santa An Anita Ani some 10 years and also has clocked at Del Mar, Fairplex Park, Hollyw ywood ywo Park, and Los Allaamitos. “I think for the most part, the days of hiding horse’s works are fairly over because of technology gy. Al gy.

Also, there are private Als clockers in the stands, and somebody’s bound to see something.

“Technology gy today is so advanced, now we’re at the point of fi filming works fil and showiin ng them on TV TV, so it’s a lot TV, harder to conceal them.”

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Clockers also recognize specifi fic i workers thanks in large part because they have the markings of all horses, provi viided by The Jockey Club. In addition, each horse has an identify fyyiing i lip tatt ttoo, t but it’s rare when a clocker has to resort to a lip tatt ttoo t to learn the horse’s name.

Familiarity ty helps.

“As you do this job over and over,” Mitchell said, “you get to know the horses.

Plus, the trainers have their own wn tack and saddle cloths. It’s not like the aft ftternoons, where an own wner’s n silks are displayed (on a jockey), so we can prett tttyy much isolate a horse’s ID by the trainer’s saddle cloth.”

John Malone has been clocking horses since 1991 aft fter t learning the game from the ground up, starting as a hot walker and groom.

“I trained horses for four or ffiive i years,” said the 64-year-old Malone, a native of a town wn near Ontario in Canada called Paris, “but when my daughter (Megan, now 30) was born, I didn’t want to be one of those guys who was never home, so I transitioned g horses. from that into clocking “I’ve bred a few horses, but I still want to go back to training, even though it’s a 24/7 job. I compare clocking horses to being an air trafffiiicc controller. It’ss basically bedlam for about 20 minutes, and afte ter that you start to put the puzzle together and usually it comes togeth her.”

Malone cites 2000 Kentucky Derby win inner Fusaichi Pegasus and 2015 Triple Crown king American Pharoah as two

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Thoroughbreds who showed they were worth the money before they ran their ffiirst i race.

“They weren’t that hard to ffiind, i but Fusaichi Pegasus was one I was touting people on well before he ever ran, even though he was a $4 million yearling,” Malone said. “That doesn’t guarantee you’re going to be successful, but he and A Am m merican Pharoah were easy to like.

“Time to me is kind of irrelevant, and I hate to sound like Joe Horse Whisperer, but recognizing a good horse is something you’re kind of born w wiiith. You see its smoothness, alertness, and whether it’s intelligent or not.

“Usually a good horse w wiill i tell you that in the morning well before anyone else sees it in the aft fternoon. t Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but more oft ften t than not, it does.

“I’m not a grand gambler by any means, but if I like a horse, usually it can run.”

Russell Hudak has timed horses in California since 1981 and been top Alamitos l Race Course in clocker at Los Al Cyp ypress p since Thoroughbreds moved from Hollyywood w Park aft fter t it closed on December 22, 2013.

“I was head clocker for a long time at Hollyw ywood w Park but when it closed, I camee to Los Al on Februaary 1, 2014,” he saaid. “M My last dayy at Hollywo wood was January 31, 2014 and I sttarted at Los Al the next day.””

In addition to timing horses, the 65-year-old Hudak also makes the morning line odds for the aft fternoon racing programs fte at Los Al Alamitos, where multi-faceted Ed Ala

Burgart does the odds for evening racing.

While the workouts published by Equibase today are rendered in hundredths of a second as opposed to ffiift ifths t as in the past, Hudak points out that clockers still capture Thoroughbred times in ffiift ifths t of a second, such as 48 1/5 for a half mile, as opposed to 48.20.

“Equibase makes those conversions from ffiift ifths t to hundredths,” Hudak noted. “Al All l the times are submitt tted t to Equibase. In fact, it even built the program so that we can put the times into ffiift ifths t and it automatically changes them to hundredths, 20, 40, 60, 80. It then processes them and sends them to everyone, almost instantaneously.

“We’ll have guys call us about works g is over,, because the tab before the morning wri riter might be still be putti ting them as they’re about to go public.”

California Chrome was no secret to Hudak, even early on, before the California-b bred son of the late Lucky Pulpit weent on to wi win two win wo Horse of the Year titles while making g Los Allaamitos his home base.

“We knew that California Chro omee was a good horse before we left ft Hollyw ywood Park,” ywo Hudak said. “But he really did develop at

Los Al after he went through his early three-year-old campaign at Santa Anita. We saw all of that. Art Sherman had him at Los Al and he trained really well.

“Everybody was saying, ‘Geez, Hollywood Park closed, they’re moving to Los Alamitos. How can you expect Thoroughbred horses to get ready for major competition at a Quarter Horse facility?’ and I think California Chrome answered that question pretty quickly.”

Private clockers have a somewhat different regimen than track clockers; more of a vested interest, if you will.

“Track clockers basically are trying to catch all the horses, get the final times and get it out to the public,” said 56-year-old Gary Young, a man of a thousand opinions who began his career in 1978 and now is one of the most respected practitioners in his field.

“After the first couple (training) breaks on a weekend or during the winter on the first dried out track following a rainy spell, clocking is a very, very difficult job,” Young allowed, “because horses are flying around there, and anyone who’s been at Santa Anita or Del Mar after the first two breaks knows what I’m talking about.”

There are three morning training renovation intermissions, usually at 6, 7:15, and 8:30. Infrequently, tracks will arrange for a public workout before or during the races for a prominent horse preparing for an important stakes race.

“I try to catch a lot of horses, but when it gets busy, you tend to look at the better horses or those from the bigger outfits more than others,” Young said.

“But for me, I’m more likely to bet on a horse from one of the top 20 outfits than one of the bottom 20. I don’t want to miss a lot of works, but during busy times I want to concentrate on trainers who win the majority of the races or trainers I’ve had success gambling on in the past. That’s not to demean lesser trainers, but let’s face it, they don’t get the quality of horses the top guys get.

“Consequently, the chances of me betting on their horses are not as good. I’ve never really aspired to put out a publication with my opinions. Maybe I should have, but I never did. These days, I spend a lot of time out of town, at the end of February at the twoyear-old sales through the Preakness (mid-May), so it would be pretty tough to do one anyway.

“Despite being fortunate enough to have some very high-level clients, I still like to gamble. It’s not as lucrative as it used to be,

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ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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and at times, I ponder whether it’s worth the number of hours that I put in, but there are still some decent gambles that I cash because of my workout watching.

“When you try to gamble off of workouts, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that my big advantage is in the maiden (allowance) races. The landscape of California racing and racing all over to some extent has changed greatly since I started clocking 37 years ago.

“The two-year-old maiden races in Southern California up until the mid-90s usually had 10, 11, 12 horses in them and sometimes there would be five that worked pretty damn good, so if you happened to fall on the right horse and it wasn’t trained by a top trainer or ridden by (Laffit) Pincay or (Chris) McCarron, you could get a really good mutuel if it won.

“Nowadays, some of these maiden races have maybe seven, eight, nine horses tops, and there are only a couple of them that can run, so it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that the gambling edge is somewhat diminished just by sheer numbers.”

That said, it’s little wonder Young’s pockets these days are filled more by his transactions at the sales.

“I make more money purchasing horses for people than I do gambling,” said Young, who is understandably proud of his keen eye forr a Thoroughbreed.

“Craft fty C.T., Brocco, Tom’s Tribute, fty Gabriel Charles, Life At Ten, Evening

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| CLOCKERS |

Jewel, Illuminant are but a few of the stakes winners I had a hand in purchasing for clients,” he said.

“The last year has been a little quiet for me, but I’ll stand by my record. There are some people out there who can tell you every horse I bought that hasn’t turned out, but those people probably don’t have 18 Grade 1s on their resume, either.”

Toby Turrell has been turning out one of the game’s most profitable tip tabloids, “The Yellow Sheet,” for 30 years, but that’s only one of the 53-year-old California native’s enterprises. Additionally, his workouts are sold via the internet on “Case the Race.”

He also does gigs for Daily Racing Form at Keeneland, Del Mar, and Santa Anita.

“I’ve worked at Del Mar now for seven years, and basically the difference between clocking for the track and clocking for The Yellow Sheet is one dimensional,” he said.

“You’re just putting a time on the horse.

“But honestly, I don’t think there’s any such thing anymore as a public or private clocker. They are obsolete expressions. There isn’t anyone I don’t clock for, in theory.

“My passion for the game grows stronger every day, even after 30 years. That’s the beauty of the whole endeavor. I’ve kind of proved that by enriching my resume through completing another season at the Fair Grounds, Keeneland, Del Mar, and back at Santa A An nita. n “This is just one of many studies and pursuits I have in racing. I bought a couple of yearlings, so I don’t stop at clocking

horses. That’s just where it begins for me, but everything goes in cycles in this game.”

Santa Anita’s clockers are under the sanction of the Racing Department, headed by Vice President of Racing and Racing Secretary Rick Hammerle.

“They are union positions and under the guidance of Santa Anita Race Track,” Hammerle said. “We have more clockers than any place I’ve ever worked, and they’re needed, because the number of workouts in California are more than at any place I’ve ever seen.

“I think they do a fantastic job, considering on many days the volume gets into the hundreds in a compact time frame. There are a lot of watches clicking during that span, but thanks to communication between the clockers and trainers, while it doesn’t remove all the guesswork, it does eliminate some of the mindreading.

“Clockers make mistakes, like anyone, but accuracy is most important. Even if they have to come back and put the horse and its correct time in the next day, they’ll do that. Bettors need to know when they see a time, it’s right. The clockers pride themselves in doing that.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of follow up, a lot of teamwork, and that’s what it takes because clocking horses can be mayhem in the mornings.

“C Clockers talk their own language; each person has his own job to do and it’s pretty wi wild to watch them do it.” wil

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| VETERINARY |

EPI DUR OS COPY:

PHOTO: DR TIMO PRANGE

AN EX CI T I NG WINDO W INTO BAC K PA I N I N HO RSE S

Dr Timo Prange

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Dr Timo Prange, Alamy

| B A C K PA I N |

FIG 5

CERVICAL

THORACIC

VERTEBRAE

B

ack pain is a wellknown cause of lameness, gait alterations, and poor performance in sport horses. Up to 25% of dressage horse owners report back problems in their animals, but not only sport horses are affected. Although racehorses compete at a younger age than other equine athletes, they might suffer from back pain more often than we think, as autopsy studies have identified pathological changes in the back of the majority of examined young Thoroughbreds. Until recently, it has been very difficult to investigate back pain and it is easy to overlook this as a cause of disappointing performance. A novel surgical technique that has recently been reported in Equine Veterinary Journal may change all this.

The trouble with back pain

In people, “lower back pain” is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed workdays, and it could be an underestimated problem in horses.

Although several studies have shown a high incidence of pathology in the equine backbone, more correctly called the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral spine, most of these findings were made during autopsies and not in clinical cases or live horses. Diagnosing the reason for back pain in a living horse is difficult due to the complex anatomy of the horse’s back and the large size of an adult horse. The currently available diagnostic tools often

fail to accurately identify the source of pain in clinical cases: the heavy back musculature limits the value of x-rays, while the wide range of scintigraphy (bone scan) findings in healthy horses makes it difficult to distinguish normal variations from clinically relevant problems. Ultrasonography for detecting bony anomalies in the equine back is also of limited value.

In people, the diagnostic tools of choice are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CAT Scan, CT). But currently, because of the large size of adult horses, these tools cannot be used to assess the equine back. Consequently, veterinarians are often unable to pinpoint the underlying lesion in horses with clinical signs of back pain and thus cannot develop a targeted treatment plan.

Trainers will be familiar with the principles of endoscopy as it is a procedure commonly used to assess the upper airway and to perform minimally invasive procedures in joints (arthroscopy) or the abdomen (laparoscopy), also known as keyhole surgery. In people, endoscopy is also applied to identify problems within the spinal canal that can cause chronic back pain.

Anatomy of the back

The spine is a “column of vertebrae” -- hence the scientific name “vertebral column” -- that provides the bony support for the neck and back. In horses, the vertebral column is typically formed by 54 vertebrae that are connected to each other by joints, muscles, and ligaments.

LUMBAR

SACRAL

CAUDAL

Figure 1: Horse skeleton seen from above, outlining the different regions of the spinal column.

Although slight variations of these numbers are common, typically, in the neck there are seven cervical vertebrae; in the back there are 18 thoracic, 6 lumbar, and 5 sacral vertebrae; and, in the tail, there are 18 (15-21) caudal vertebrae.

The lumbar vertebrae are connected to the “sacrum,” a bone formed by the fused sacral vertebrae. Both the lumbar spine and the sacrum should be included when examining a horse with lower back pain. Within the spine, a central canal spans from the head to the tail, and it contains the spinal cord and the roots of the large nerves that originate from the cord (spinal nerves). The spinal cord and the nerve roots are the pathway for transmission of information, in both directions, between the brain and the rest of the body. To protect this delicate nervous tissue, the spinal cord and nerves are enclosed in a protective layer called the dura mater. Located between the dura mater and the bone of the vertebrae is the epidural space, which is filled with loose connective tissue and fat. Through small gaps between certain vertebrae (e.g. between the first and second cervical vertebra or the sacrum and the first caudal vertebra), the epidural space can be accessed and explored with a thin, flexible endoscope. This procedure is called “epiduroscopy” and allows a direct viewing of the structures in the spinal canal.

Epiduroscopy

Epiduroscopy is used in people to, among other things, diagnose injury and compression of the spinal cord and the spinal nerves. In horses, the ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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Figure 2: Tip of a flexible videoendoscope that is suitable for lumbosacral epiduroscopy. The instrument is 60 cm long and has an outer diameter of 3.8 mm (Olympus BF-C 160).

FIG 2

Figure 3: This horse has been draped for lumbosacral epiduroscopy. The site where the endoscope will be inserted is left uncovered and has been prepared for aseptic surgery.

Figure 4: With his right hand, the surgeon slowly inserts the endoscope through a white plastic sheath into the epidural space. With his left hand, he controls the moveable tip of the endoscope.

In the background, the monitor depicting the endoscopy image can be seen (out of focus).

FIG 3

cervical spinal canal, located in the neck, and the lumbosacral spinal canal, situated in the lower back, can be examined with epiduroscopy. While anesthesia is required to examine the neck, lumbosacral epiduroscopy is done in standing, sedated horses.

A specialized endoscope set-up is required and since sterility is critical, epiduroscopy should only be performed in referral hospitals. The instrument has to be long enough to allow examination of the complete lumbosacral spinal canal and thin enough to fit into this narrow space. Ideally, the endoscope is at least 60 cm long but no thicker than 4 mm.

The epidural space is entered through a small gap between two vertebrae, just above the base of the tail (Figure 3). The endoscope is then slowly inserted while the surgeon injects small amounts of a sterile saline solution through its working channel (Figure 4). This is necessary to push the epidural fat and connective tissue gently out of the way and allow viewing of the structures of interest, as shown in Figures 5 and 6: the spinal cord and spinal nerves (enveloped by the dura mater), blood vessels, and the inside of the surrounding vertebrae. In an adult racehorse of average size, the complete sacral, lumbar, and a

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FIG 4

small part of the thoracic spinal canal can be reached with a 60 cm endoscope.

How can epiduroscopy help veterinarians find the source of pain in a horse with back problems?

While the spinal cord sends and receives signals directly from the brain, the spinal nerves are the communication pathway between the spinal cord and the body.

Among other things, spinal nerves are responsible for the movements of the muscles in the back and legs and for sending information about pain in the back and legs back to the brain. Injury to a spinal nerve can result in dysfunction of muscles or pain. Fortunately, the spinal nerve roots are well protected from injury, first by the surrounding bony vertebrae and, after leaving the spinal canal, by a thick muscle layer. However, the nerve can be injured at the point where it exits the spinal canal. The spinal nerves exit the canal through openings called intervertebral foramina located between two adjacent vertebrae. Each opening is in close proximity to the facet joints that connect the vertebrae. Inflammation of these joints (facet joint arthritis) causes back pain and results in irregular growth

of bone around the arthritic joint.

Severe bony changes can be picked up on radiographs, but subtle changes can easily be missed. Unfortunately, even relatively small bony growths can impinge on the passing nerve and cause irritation and inflammation.

Nerve root impingement is a recognized cause of lower back and leg pain in people and now that we have epiduroscopy available for horses, it will be possible to identify the prevalence and importance of this condition in equine athletes. This will be especially interesting for young racehorses, where facet joint arthritis can be found in the thoracolumbar spine of up to 97% of cases that undergo autopsy but currently there is no information about the effects of this arthritis on passing spinal nerves.

Will epiduroscopy lead to better treatments?

Epiduroscopy can not only identify an inflamed nerve root, it can also be used to treat the inflammation through targeted injections of steroids via the working channel of the endoscope. There is a lot more work to do before this approach becomes commonplace for back pain.

However, at North Carolina State University, epiduroscopy has been used to diagnose and successfully treat nerve root inflammation

| B A C K PA I N |

Summary and future perspectives FIG 5

FIG 6

Figure 5: Prior to injection of sterile saline through the working channel of the endoscope, the ability to see the different anatomical structures in the epidural space is very limited. At the bottom of the image, the dura mater that covers the spinal cord can be seen, while the epidural fat (on top of the dura mater) prohibits viewing of other structures.

Figure 6: Following careful injection of sterile saline solution, the examination becomes more rewarding. A spinal nerve root (*) can be seen emerging from the spinal cord (covered by dura mater) and cross the epidural space. Epidural fat can be seen above (x).

pain and unknown causes of hindlimb lameness that are suitable candidates for lumbosacral epiduroscopy. The findings of these examinations should shed more light on unknown or underestimated causes of back and leg pain in horses.

Back pain is a common and wellrecognized problem in sport horses and may be an underestimated reason for poor performance in young racehorses. Autopsy findings suggest that especially young Thoroughbreds frequently suffer from lesions in the muscles and joints of the lower back, but diagnosing these abnormalities is difficult in living horses. Some cases can be diagnosed with the currently available diagnostic tools, including a thorough clinical examination, radiographs, ultrasound, and bone scan.

In cases where these methods have been exhausted and failed to provide a diagnosis, epiduroscopy might provide the missing piece of information.

FIG 7

Figure 7: Pipe cleaners have been inserted into the intervertebral foramina, the opening between adjacent vertebrae through which spinal nerves exit the spinal canal. Note the close proximity of the facet joints (arrowheads).

in the neck of an adult horse with chronic forelimb lameness. With help of the recently described lumbosacral epiduroscopy, it is now also possible to introduce this approach as therapy for inflammation in the spinal nerves located in the lower back. At North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, we are currently developing a protocol to identify horses with back

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ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| NUTRITION |

D O ES NU TR IT IO N R FA C TOR IN INJURY, R EPA I R, AND RECOVERY ?

Dr. Catherine Dunnett BSC, PHD, R.NUTR Anne-Armelle Langlois & Alamy Stock Photos

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| I N J U R Y, R E PA I R & R E C O V E R Y |

L

ost training days through injury or infection are problematic for trainers, both practically and commercially. It is a stark fact that 50% of Thoroughbred foals, bred to race, may never reach the racecourse. In young Thoroughbreds, musculoskeletal problems have been cited as the most common reason for failure to race, and this appears to continue to be a major issue for horses in training. An early study carried out in 1985 in the United Kingdom reported that lameness was the single biggest contributor to lost days of training, and subsequent research 20 years later found that this was still the case, with stress fractures, which involve normal bone being exposed to abnormal stress, being cited as a significant underlying cause.

Perhaps not surprisingly, two-year-olds were more susceptible to injury than three-year-olds. While there are of course many other reasons – including muscular issues such as tying up, respiratory problems, and viral infection – why horses may fail to train, in this survey medical issues accounted for only 5% of the total training days lost.

Balance between damage and repair processes are imperative

There are many factors that affect the chance of injury in Thoroughbreds in training, including genetic predisposition, conformation, and training surface. Style and type of training, in terms of frequency and intensity and how this is balanced through recovery protocols, is also likely to be a significant factor in the incidence of injury. The nature of training means that a balance between damage and repair processes are imperative. Physiological systems need to be put under stress to trigger a suitable training response, which inevitably involves a degree of micro-damage. However, inadequate or ineffective recovery protocols can allow microdamage to accumulate, as the repair processes fails to keep pace. Vigilance is

certainly important, as very early diagnosis and veterinary intervention, or even in some instances prophylaxis, is likely to form a key part in reducing injury rates.

A cursory glance may lead you to think that nutrition can have no significant role in either prevention of injury or disease or indeed recovery. However, when we stop to consider the typical physiological and biochemical processes involved in injury or disease including inflammation, cell differentiation, immune response – for example in bone and cartilage turnover – it is perhaps easier to appreciate why good nutrition should provide an important part of the strategy to reduce training days lost to injury or infection.

Strong immune system is important to support recovery and repair

Good clean forage has dual importance.

Firstly mold, bacteria, and dust, or respirable particles, are a major contributory factor in the development of respiratory disease and so simple steps such as analysis of hay prior to use, or steaming hay, can help. Secondly, adequate forage in the diet is important to maintain a healthy microbial balance in the hindgut and to offset the negative impact of starch that may escape digestion in the small intestine. The gut is probably one of the most important organs with respect to immunity, as 70% of the cells of the immune system reside here. The horse’s immune system is not, however, just involved in prevention and recovery from disease, but is intimately involved in repair processes throughout the body.

For example, following muscle damage, local immune cells infiltrate muscle to help remove the damaged muscle cells and then other immune cells including T-cells interact with stem cells, which are like cell templates, stimulating them to become new muscle cells. Development and repair processes are dependent on a wellfunctioning immune system, and studies in rodents suggest that these processes may be less efficient when immune function is compromised.

THE GUT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ORGANS WITH RESPECT TO IMMUNITY

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| I N J U R Y, R E PA I R & R E C O V E R Y |

rich in glutamine, can be used in its place.

Human studies suggest that there may be a role for glutamine during training, as glutamine status is reduced with prolonged intensive training, where the over-training syndrome is a risk.

Omegaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s balance immunity and inflammation

The immune system in horses in training is placed under pressure during training and over-training, which is an immune-mediated process, and can increase the potential for infection or injury.

A well-balanced diet in terms of an appropriate ratio between forage and concentrate, optimum good quality protein for delivery of important amino acids, and an optimum and not excessive intake of a wide range of micronutrients and vitamins is important to support the immune system. Nutrients that have been highlighted as particularly important include the amino acids arginine and glutamine, as well as omega-3 fatty acids and a variety of antioxidants. There are also secondary measures that can be taken to support the immune system via the digestive tract. Some of these are adequate forage intake, managed starch intake, and small meals. Probiotic ingredients, such as live yeasts, or prebiotics such as mannanoligosaccharides, may also be beneficial.

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Low glutamine status may reflect an immune system under stress

Glutamine is an amino acid, which is naturally present in the diet but is conditionally essential. This means that increased dietary intake of glutamine may be beneficial under certain circumstances such as infection, stress, or hard training.

Glutamine is an important energy source, in place of glucose, for cells of the digestive tract and the immune system. Reduced availability of glutamine during times of increased requirement may compromise the immune system. In humans, a reduction in the level of glutamine in plasma is associated with a decrease in the ability of lymphocytes (white blood cells) to multiply themselves in response to an invading pathogen. In horses, plasma glutamine is severely depleted during viral infection but can be boosted through supplementation of the diet. European feed legislation, however, prevents the addition of the amino acid L-glutamine to horse feeds or supplements. Glutamine-rich peptides, or protein sources such as whey, which is

Omega-3 fatty acids are also of interest, having a reputed beneficial effect on the immune system and an anti-inflammatory effect, which is of relevance for the general damage and repair processes, as well as for respiratory health. The omega-3 content of a racehorseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diet can be relatively low, as the omega-6 family of fatty acids prevail in ingredients like cereals, soya, and most vegetable oils. Interestingly, the omega-3 fatty acid content of grass is considerably higher, so access to pasture will improve the ratio between omega3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the diet.

This has been shown in beef cattle and the milk of dairy cattle that are pasturefed. Alfalfa and hydroponic grass should also boost the omega-3 content of the diet. Alpha linolenic acid is the most prevalent omega-3 from plant sources and is reduced considerably in mature forage. Linseed is also a rich source of alpha linolenic acid, and canola oil has a higher omega 3:6 ratio compared to soya or corn oil. The physiologically active longer chain omega-3 fatty acids, such as docosahexanoic acid (DHA), are synthesized from alpha linolenic acid, although this process is a relatively inefficient conversion. Ingredients such as salmon oil or algae, rich in DHA, have been used to directly supplement the equine diet with DHA. With injury comes inflammation, which may last a few hours, a few days,

A WELL BALANCED DIET IS IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

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| NUTRITION |

| I N J U R Y, R E PA I R & R E C O V E R Y |

or even a few weeks, and this is a normal and essential part of the start of the healing process, as it triggers a cascade of reactions that promotes healing.

While it is acknowledged that excess or prolonged inflammation is undesirable, uncontrolled use of nutrients with antiinflammatory action may equally not always be beneficial.

Dr. Green offers skeletal support

Lameness remains the single most common cause of loss of days to training for young racehorses. While muscle fatigue is part and parcel of training and racing, it is worth reflecting that many injuries occur when muscles are tired and being pushed too far beyond their comfort zone.

Retaining bone density, as well as maintaining a positive balance between damage and repair processes, is key in retaining skeletal integrity. Skeletal foundations have been laid in utero and during the rapid growing phase in horses, much of which is largely out of a trainer’s control. The trainer’s target is to provide a diet that maintains the integrity of the skeletal system, to retain bone density, and to promote healing once training commences.

When yearlings first move into racing stables they usually experience a significant change in their diet that has consequences for bone metabolism.

This comes at a time when they may still be growing and the skeletal system is put under considerable strain. While on the farm, the largely grass-based diet fosters good calcium absorption from the digestive tract as well as the retention of calcium within bone and reduced urinary losses. However, once in race training, the absence of pasture, reduction in forage, and increase in high cereal-containing concentrates is characteristically paralleled by a

reduction in bone density seen in horses in early training. In the past, this has been attributed to a lower dietary cation-to-anion basis of the diet, which indirectly affects calcium balance through concomitant hormonal action on absorption, resorption, and excretion of calcium. This has commonly been addressed by adding more calcium in the diet. However, there is perhaps a rationale for limiting the intake of cereals and maximizing forage intake to support the skeletal and other body systems.

While the intake of calcium and phosphorus are important during training, other nutrients such as vitamin D have a vital role to play in proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus, as well as acting as the gatekeeper for the resorption of calcium from bone.

Equally, another of Dr. Green’s gifts is vitamin K1, which through its effect in activating osteocalcin and matrix GLA protein firstly directs calcium to bone and then helps cement the mineral within the structure of bone to sureup bone density. Silica is another feed ingredient that has been promoted to support bone density and integrity during training.

Curiously, pasture – an ingredient that seems to offer such benefits to horses in training – is not always available as part of the in-training diet, which perhaps should trigger some pause for thought.

While nutrition is certainly not the answer in isolation to reducing injury rates in racehorses, a balanced progressive diet can offer several elements of support as part of a well-structured training regime.

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| BUSINESS |

S O CI A L M E D I A H O R S E S E N S E

PA RT I: TH E TH O R O U GH B R ED TRAINER IN THE DIGITA L AGE

By Peter J. Sacopulos

Alamy Stock Photos

T

his is the first article in a two-part series on social media for Thoroughbred trainers. It examines social media usage and issues faced by trainers who wish to promote their business online. Part II will focus on broader industry issues and how trainers may use social media to affect positive change and ensure the future of the sport.

In less than 15 years, social media has changed the way Americans meet, work, shop, communicate, consume news and entertainment, find romance, and more. Few aspects of our lives have been left untouched by this

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remarkable phenomenon. Social media has made a limited group of people incredibly wealthy, empowered others to create new businesses or expand existing ones, and made various individuals famous or infamous.

Simply defined, social media consists of online networks that allow users to connect, create, communicate, and share in virtual communities. And Americans cannot seem to get enough. The Pew Research Center’s annual Social Media Fact Sheet on 2016 includes the following sobering statistics.

• 69% of Americans use some type of social media.

• The number of Americans using social media increased

| SOCIAL MEDIA |

64% in the 11 years from 2005 to 2016.

• 68% of Americans use Facebook, the most popular social media platform.

• Many Americans, including three-quarters of Facebook users, log onto social media sites as part of their daily routine.

• Most American social media users utilize more than one social media platform.

• The growth of social media is likely to remain steady for years to come.

Meanwhile, Google reported that 58% of Americans had watched at least one video on YouTube in 2016.

Though some refer to YouTube as a video delivery platform, it is also a social media entity that allows commentary and conversation.

As a trainer, you may be one of the hundreds of millions of Americans who is familiar with the ins and outs of social media. You may be an occasional, routine, or even heavy user. Alternatively, you may be a hold-out who is too busy or privacy-oriented. After all, the Handbook for Thoroughbred Owners of California has described many horse trainers as “secretive” individuals who “keep to themselves.” Regardless of your personal opinion of social media, it is worthwhile to step back and examine how social media may assist in expanding your training business or, alternatively, present potential risks including both civil liability and criminal violations.

As a trainer, unless you have a full roster of owners, it is wise to have a social media presence to promote your business. Consider the many positives:

Getting Found

Traditionally, personal recommendations and referrals have been the method that owners use to learn about and connect with trainers. There is little doubt that such face-to-face conversations with those in the industry play a role in connecting owners with trainers. However, in the internet age, most Americans rely on the online search as their primary method of seeking out and learning about services. A professionally designed and presentable online presence will likely pay dividends in the form of new owners seeking training services.

A PROFESSIONAL ONLINE PRESENCE WILL LIKELY PAY DIVIDENDS IN THE FORM OF NEW OWNERS SEEKING TRAINERS Covering the Fundamentals

A website is something many owners expect and review when evaluating potential trainers. Though not, strictly speaking, a form of social media, a solid business website is an ideal way to make a strong first impression Your website should present basic information about your business, including contact information and examples of recent success for clients together with appropriate photographs and videos. You may also blog on your site, and update it with relevant news about your business.

You should, at the very least, create a Facebook page for your business. This is easy to do and costs nothing. Like your website, a Facebook business page allows you to provide basic information, post photos and videos, add updates, share news, and respond to comments. You may also create a profile on LinkedIn, a business-oriented network designed to connect professionals. It offers features similar to Facebook’s.

Stepping Up

Once you have dealt with the basics, it is a matter of how much time you have and effort you wish to make. You may post photographs on Instagram and Snapchat and videos on YouTube. You may share items on a Pinterest digital bulletin board. You can respond to questions posted by owners or fans on horse-related and industry-related websites, or write pieces for those sites. You may use Twitter to tweet about your business and promote events you are involved in.

Spreading the Word

The ability of owners to post opinions and reviews of training services online means that word of mouth has gone digital. It is no exaggeration that online comments and stories about a professional training business are capable of spreading across the country or around the globe in a matter of minutes. Having a social media presence gives you the ability to monitor what is being said about your training business, address issues, and respond to criticisms.

Free Media

From a marketing perspective, social media offers the ability to spread the word about your training business without the expense of traditional advertising. Paying for radio, television, newspaper, and other traditional media in order to reach the vast audiences found on social media would require the marketing budget of a large corporation. The fact that savvy trainers may spread their messages far and wide has opened up a world of new opportunities. As a trainer, you have the advantage of seeking a highly specific audience for your services. You will save time, money, and aggravation by targeting your message—focusing your social media efforts on sites, groups, and entities related to the Thoroughbred community.

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@Romansracing

Learn From a Winner

Eclipse Award Winner Dale Romans’ online efforts offer an excellent example of effective social media marketing. Despite being one of the most successful trainers in the history of the sport, Romans is not resting on his impressive laurels and waiting for the phone to ring.

In addition to his website, Romans has Facebook pages for his training and other Thoroughbredrelated businesses. His stable tweets regularly and currently has over 9500 Twitter followers. Romans understands the power of visuals, and routinely posts photos and videos on multiple platforms, including a weekly Snapchat photo story post. (Google his name to discover and review his site and social media posts.)

But along with the positive aspects, social media presents hazards for the trainer as well. Avoiding social media pitfalls is essential to succeeding in the digital age. Here are some key points to remember:

Social Media is (Extremely) Public Speech

You may be alone in your living room when you post something online, but that message is being received by potentially thousands, or even millions, of people.

Tone and manner must remain civil, rational, and professional. There are no exceptions to this rule. The damage caused by an uncivil or belligerent post may well go beyond turning off potential clients to creating a legal cause of action for defamation. Inaccurate, misleading, or false information or defamatory

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remarks all create legal basis for civil litigation.

“Blowing off steam” may also result in violations of criminal code provisions if threatening or coercive.

Humor is in the Eye of the Beholder

There is nothing wrong with posting a joke or making a humorous comment on social media. But be very careful. A joke told in person often contains a number of social cues (vocal tone, hand gestures, facial expressions). Such cues are typically not seen on social media. Additionally, people who know us well are unlikely to misinterpret the meaning or motivation behind a remark. Many persons reading a post will not know you. You should not expect them to react as if they do.

TONE AND MANNER MUST REMAIN CIVIL, RATIONAL, AND PROFESSIONAL

| SOCIAL MEDIA |

Get Approval

Posting photographs and videos is a great marketing tool. However, there are a couple of caveats. Do not post a photograph of a person without that person’s written permission. Also, never post a photograph of a child or children without the parents’ written permission. It is wise to obtain an owner’s written permission before posting a photograph of a horse, as well. In fact, you should work with the owner and other team members to set a social media policy regarding what is to be posted. You do not want to let something slip online that could affect the odds of a race or give a competitor an advantage.

The issue of copyright/ownership also comes into play online, though many users foolishly ignore it. If you do not have permission to use a copyrighted work, do not. Going online and grabbing pretty images of horses in paddocks to use on your site, for instance, could land you in hot water with the copyright owner. If you wish to use such images, there are many online sources that offer stock photography for very reasonable costs.

Posting racist, sexist, religious, ethnic, and other demeaning or sexually oriented “jokes” is never acceptable. That comment you made about the size of a well-endowed stud may have gone over big with your co-workers in the barn. However, it has no place online. It is best to avoid political humor as well, as it can put off potential clients and draw you into needless, time-consuming controversy and conflict.

The Internet is Forever

Once you post something online, its lifespan and ability to spread are out of your control.

Because people can share your material on many social media platforms in many different ways, or forward it via emails, texts, and messaging services, removing material from the internet may prove literally impossible. After much time and effort, the post may be “scrubbed” only to have someone else who saved it offline repost it.

This is further reason, as a trainer, to employ a consistently professional approach to social media.

Social Media Takes Time

Social media is a tool to promote yourself as a trainer, not an end in itself. Before you begin using social media as a marketing tool, take a serious look at your schedule and decide how much time you can realistically devote to it. If you have the budget to pay someone to help you with social media, great. If not, it is best to start small and build your presence.

Falling Behind Can Hurt

It pays to keep your social media efforts current.

People who ask you questions or bring up issues online expect a reply in a reasonably timely manner. If you start blogging or tweeting, you should be prepared to keep doing so on a regular basis. Stopping for long periods of time creates the impression that you are no longer in business. As in horseracing, staying out in front delivers advantages. Again, determining how much time you can realistically devote to social media before you start is key.

A Hard Sell Can Mean No Sale

Your social media efforts should promote your training skills, your experience, and your results. But your approach should engage people in ways that “pull” them toward your business. Attracting owners/clients with content and getting them to share it with others is the goal of every smart marketer and it should be yours as well. Hammering away with a constant hard sell that pushes owners to retain your training services is likely to have the opposite result. Instead, focus on your experiences. Frame and present wins and successes as your owner’s/client’s wins. Win pictures, statements of satisfied owners, and endorsements from those respected in the equine field are all beneficial.

The Race is On

The potential benefits of marketing your business online far outweigh the risks. And most of the pitfalls are easy to avoid. Should you use social media to promote your business? Absolutely. After all, if you can train Thoroughbred horses, you can certainly train yourself to make the most of the tremendous opportunities social media creates.

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| RACING |

PA DAY AT THE RACES R E WA R DI NG F OR FAN S & HO RS EM EN A LI K E

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By Jennifer Poorman

| PA B R E E D E R S |

Page McKenney, winner of the Roanoke Stakes

Page McKenney, winner of the Roanoke Stakes, with trainer Mary Eppler and connections

P

ennsylvania’s Day at the Races 2017 kicked off Parx Racing’s fall season, and proved to be another exciting day in Pennsylvania racing. Despite the rain that threatened, then rolled in, before the first stakes race, over 80 PA-breds showed what they’re made of as they battled down the stretch in each of the card’s 10 races.

The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) treated Pennsylvania breeders and their guests, owners, and trainers to a buffet lunch, complete with a private third-floor view of the track. Keith Jones, retired NHL player, current hockey studio analyst for NBCSN, and member of the WIP Morning Team, was the PHBA’s special guest of the day. Raffle prizes included a framed photo of Secretariat signed by Ron Turcotte and Bill Nack, a framed Lil E. Tee photo signed by Pat Day, a Fusaichi Pegasus halter donated by Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, a Toro mower and Toro blower generously donated by Equine Equipment, a cornhole bean bag toss game set with an American flag design courtesy of J & M Custom Cornhole, and baskets loaded with horse-related items donated by the PTHA and Turning for Home.

Owners and trainers of stakes winners each received a PHBA travel suitcase, along with an engraved shank for the winning PA-bred, presented in the winner’s circle.

All stakes participants received a Patagonia backpack filled with PHBA goodies. All breeders and their guests who attended the luncheon received a PHBA tote bag filled with a beach towel, hat, stainless steel coffee mug, magnet, and eyeglass wipe.

Kicking off the stakes program was the $100,000 Banjo Picker, a 6-furlong sprint for three-year-olds and up on the dirt.

The winner was The Man, ridden by Jorge Vargas Jr. The five-year-old by Ecclesiastic was bred by Glenn E. Brok, LLC, owned by

Natalie Baffert and Bernard Schiappa, and trained by John Servis. The race ended with an exciting stretch run between The Man and Favorite Tale. The Man was looking for his seventh win in a row, while Favorite Tale was battling for the comeback tale of the season, running in his first start after an 18-month layoff. As they battled in the stretch, head to head, the cheers from both camps and the fans were deafening.

The Man edged out Favorite Tale by a neck for the win. The celebration in the winner’s circle by The Man’s connections was contagious, with hugs, high-fives, and pats for the horse all around. Just when we thought it was over, trainer John Servis, feeling the horse’s legs, discovered a loose shoe. The Man proved to be a winner yet again, as he stood quietly for more than a few minutes while waiting for the blacksmith to arrive to pull the loose shoe.

Another big win was yet to come in the $100,000 Roanoke Stakes for three-yearolds and up on the dirt at 1-1⁄16 miles.

Seven-year-old Page McKenney, winner of over $1.5 million, went off as the heavy favorite. Bred by Dr. James E. Bryant and Linda P. Davis, owned by Adam Staple and Jalin Stable, and trained by Mary Eppler, he sat behind the leaders after breaking from the inside post. Under his regular rider Horacio Karamanos, Page McKenney showed his true competitive nature, as he has throughout his career, and never gave up. He took on his rivals in the stretch, grabbed the lead near the wire, and won with the determination that he’s known for.

Winning the Medal and his connections celebrated for the second year in a row as the six-year-old son of Medallist rallied to win his second $100,000 Marshall Jenney Stakes. Even with the race being forced off of the turf due to the nonstop rain, the gelding provided the biggest upset of the day, blasting from last at the half-mile pole and flying by his competitors to for the win. Bred by Rick Molineaux, owned by R and L Racing, and trained by Patricia Farro, he went off at 15-1, paying $32.

Ted Vanderlaan, brother to Dr. Teresa Garofalo, namesake of the fourth stakes race of the day, was in attendance to cheer on the winner and celebrate his sister. Garofalo was the treasurer of the PHBA board before she passed away in 2010 from acute myeloid leukemia. Her equine practice in West Chester, Smokey’s Run Farm, focused on equine reproduction, and the stakes in her name is a special one to the PHBA. The winner, three-year-old Grand Prix -- a half-sister to 2016 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint-G1 winner Finest City -- had ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| PA B R E E D E R S |

The Man, winner of the Banjo Picker Sprint Stakes, with trainer John Servis and connections

her own cheering section with breeder and owner Hank Nothhaft and the crew that traveled to Pennsylvania to watch the filly run. Under jockey Jose Ferrer, the daughter of Tale of the Cat went to the front after the first sixteenth of a mile and never looked back to win by a length and a half. Grand Prix won the New Start Stakes at Penn National back in June, and the win in the Garofalo gives her a second black-type win.

As the rain continued to fall, the $100,000 Mrs. Penny Stakes for fillies and mares aged three and up, was also moved off the turf. Jockey Brian Pedroza and four-year-old filly Great Soul, by Great Notion, opened a three-length lead with an eighth of a mile to go and held off latecomer Imply for a close win.

Great Soul was bred and is owned by Steve and Jane Long, and trained by

Tom Proctor.

We extend a sincere thank you to all of our members and guests who attended, as well as the board members and special guests who presented the gifts in each race. We’re looking forward to a successful and productive 2018 breeding season and wish everyone the best of luck in the coming year. Visit www.pabred.com for a full gallery of the day’s photos!

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ISSUE 46 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM

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| SID FERNANDO COLUMN |

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? uddmonte Farms’ Arrogate, the champion three-year-old colt of 2016, has won seven of 11 starts and earned $17,302,600 – a record for a North American-trained racehorse – he entered the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but following two consecutive losses, in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 22 and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 19, he did not go off as the favorite in the race.

It wasn’t that long ago, following emphatic wins in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes in January and the Grade 1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airlines in March, that he was being heralded in the media as one of the all-time greats. But in a classic case of “What have you done for me lately?”, the big grey son of Unbridled’s Song’s stock has plummeted. His workouts leading up to the Classic had been put under the microscope by all types of “experts” on social media, and their consensus view is that Arrogate didn’t train as well as he did last year before he defeated California Chrome in a thriller of a Classic.

Some of these same folks, however, had said the same thing about Arrogate before the Pegasus – there’d been an issue with his right hind foot that required a threequarter shoe – but Arrogate won that race in brilliant style Arrogate’s losses this year have all been at Del Mar, the site of the Breeders’ Cup, and the track’s surface has also been mentioned as a culprit. He’d run at Del Mar last year in an allowance race in early August that he’d won by “only” a length and a quarter, but in his next start, the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga, he’d walloped a field by 13-and-a-half lengths at 11.70-1 in track-record time.

I ran into Bob Baffert at this year’s Keeneland September sale, and Baffert mentioned the surface as an issue for Arrogate. But mainly he blamed himself for bringing the colt back to the races

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TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 46

without enough of a foundation under him. It is notable that Arrogate ran well when beaten only a half-length in the Pacific Classic by the Baffert-trained Collected in the good time of 2:00.70 for 10 furlongs. He got a Ragozin figure of 0 from the race, better than the winner’s 2, and his Beyer of 114 was a point below Collected’s 115. Only Gun Runner’s 115 in the Woodward at nine furlongs is comparable to these two, but Gun Runner was yet to win at the Classic’s distance of 10 furlongs. If Baffert hadn’t started Collected in the Pacific Classic, Arrogate would have won by open lengths in fast time, and it’s safe to say his entry in the Breeders’ Cup would have been without question marks from the “experts.”

And this brings me to where the real issue for Arrogate may lie: the Dubai World Cup (DWC). It’s fashionable these days to make fun of the Dubai “bounce,” and there’s a vocal community, especially on social media, who’ll torch you for saying it. But just because a number of horses haven’t subsequently bounced from Dubai doesn’t mean the bounce isn’t applicable to specific instances, particularly for Baffert-trained winners of the DWC. And, I should add, for the other DWC winners from California.

Six California-based runners have

WINNING THE DWC TAKES A LOT OUT OF A HORSE, PARTICULARLY SINCE THE NORTH AMERICANS ARE GOING OFF LASIX IN THE RACE.

won the Dubai World Cup, and Baffert has trained three of them: Silver Charm (1998), Captain Steve (2001), and Arrogate (2017). Post DWC, Silver Charm was second in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill on June 13 and fifth in the then-Grade 3 San Diego at Del Mar on July 25 before winning his next start.

Captain Steve, likewise, was second in the Stephen Foster, on June 16, and fourth in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 1. Captain Steve was then third in the Grade 2 San Diego on July 29 and finished his career with a fourth in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 19.

The other three DWC winners from California were Pleasantly Perfect (2004), Well Armed (2009), and California Chrome (2016). Pleasantly Perfect was trained by Richard Mandella and made his first start after Dubai in the San Diego on August 1. He was second. He then won his next start, the Pacific Classic on August 22. Well Armed, trained by Eoin Harty, was eighth in the San Diego on August 8 and never raced again.

Only California Chrome, trained by Art Sherman, won immediately after Dubai, in the San Diego on July 23. He was also the only one of the six to acclimate in Dubai before the DWC, winning a handicap at Meydan a month before the main event.

Winning the DWC takes a lot out of a horse, particularly since the North Americans are going off Lasix in the race.

The ship to Dubai and back is twice as long for the Californians, too. Perhaps acclimating in Dubai is the answer.

But whatever the reason, five of the six Californians haven’t won immediately after winning the DWC, and Arrogate fits that pattern. If he’s recovered like Silver Charm and Pleasantly Perfect did – and based on his performance in his last race, he has – Arrogate could of been on the cusp of greatness, again. “He’ll be ready,” were Bafferts’ words at Keeneland, sadly this was not Arrogate’s Breeders Cup.

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