mares in foal issue 33_Jerkins feature.qxd 04/03/2011 11:27 Page 1
TRAINING
Do mares improve when racing in foal? b
OTh were trained by Joanna Morgan in County Meath. The first, Miss Gorica, a six-year-old daughter of Mull of Kintyre, gained her only stakes win when winning the 5-furlong Naas Sprint Stakes (L.) on 7th June 2010, on her first race back, having been covered by Coolmore’s Dylan Thomas. Miss Gorica kept up her improved form as she ran a further eight times in stakes company, including fourths to both the 2010 Prix de l’Abbaye (Gr1) winner, Gilt Edge Girl, and to her own stablemate Fourpenny Lane. The Efisio mare Fourpenny Lane was also in foal when winning over Miss Gorica; she won her final start, the EbF Fairy bridge Stakes (L.), on 26th August at Tipperary while pregnant to Verglas. Although this fiveyear-old had been a previous Listed winner it had been in mid-November of 2009 on the all-weather track at Dundalk, when many fillies had been put away. Fourpenny Lane and Miss Gorica, Morgan says, “improved about four or five pounds despite being genuine fillies” already. In Morgan’s view, going in foal can help a temperamental filly, and racing the right mare while she is pregnant can not only help a stakes-quality mare gain more black type, but also help a lesser filly get a win under her belt. The rules of the british Jockey Club state that fillies can race up to 120 days of gestation, which is also the recommended period in North America. As Professor Sidney Ricketts, the Senior Partner of the Newmarket-based and internationally renowned equine veterinary practice Rossdale & Partners, states, “Some trainers take advantage of this, most commonly to ‘naturally’ stop troublesome individuals from cycling.” A very small number of fillies become very temperamental and difficult to train, with problems such as tying up, when they come into season. Therefore, putting them in foal can settle them and give the perceived impression that they have improved their racecourse performance.
52 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 33
Every year, on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a number of fillies and mares that show significant improvement on the racetrack while racing in foal. Last season in Ireland was no exception as at least two in-foal mares achieved career-best performances. By Clive Webb-Carter
“Some trainers take advantage of 120day gestation period, most commonly to ‘naturally’ stop troublesome individuals from cycling” Sidney Ricketts
Running a mare for the first 120 days of her pregnancy does not hold recognized risks to either the mare or the foal. As Ricketts points out, “Exercise is a natural necessity and apparently a ‘pleasure’ for horses.” Mares in the wild and on stud farms enjoy galloping in open country or in their paddocks, with no side effects to them or their pregnancy. So together with a vet’s advice, there should be no harm to racing a mare in her early pregnancy as long as she is healthy and her stress level is low. The trainer also has to use his or her skill and judgment in identifying which fillies would benefit from racing while in foal. With fillies all being individuals, there are clearly going to be instances when putting one in foal is going to do little to help her behaviour and therefore her performance, and in those cases the practice would be ill advised. There is certainly no scientific evidence to say that racing a mare while she is in foal holds an advantage, but even just in the last 20 years there are a few examples of fillies who have shown an improvement. Grecian Dancer improved after having been covered by champion European sire Galileo. The daughter of Dansili stepped up to Group 3 company to win the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes in 2008. The foal that Grecian Dancer, was carrying, a filly, sold for €240,000 at Goffs Orby 2010 yearling sale to leading owners Cheveley Park Stud. This two-year-old, named Minoan Dancer, will commence her racing career under the care of one of Europe’s leading trainers, Sir Michael Stoute, based in Newmarket. Redstone Dancer, a daughter of Namid