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Training - Theory and Practice

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    Posted: 23 Jun 2018 at 6:46pm
There were a couple of books written quite some years ago about interval training in conjunction with pulse/heart stress monitors.  I bought both but to be honest didn't really read them.

Probably easier for working pacers.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ThreeBears Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2018 at 6:36pm
Anything worthwhile usually takes more time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mc41 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2018 at 5:19pm
Interval is too time consuming
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ThreeBears Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 3:54pm
Les Carlyon used to write some good stuff Mouse. UK are lucky with good racing journalists due to some of the publications they still have going to press.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote 3blindmice Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 1:10pm
Wasn't interested until I saw your comment 3Bs. It is a great bit of writing as Geraldo said, esp the par about his wife's dementia. 

Probably my ignorance but apart from Max Presnell I can't think of any Oz racing journo who could write like this. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ThreeBears Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 12:59pm
Originally posted by cabosanlucas cabosanlucas wrote:

ive wondered why training is standsrdised and routine here. not completely but as a general rule.

trot, canter, three quarter pace, get home last 3 furlongs. and ad varying degrees of speed to that. swimming too.

why cant a staying horse do 3-4 laps of the track? at whatever tempo the trainer wants. can a horse do interval work?..i.e. alternate between a canter - gallop - canter - gallop?. i guess it may undoe the work of teaching a horse to settle...but interval training is so common now in athletics and fitness.

just thought bubbles and i guess the simple answer is that trainers have it right the way it is...otherwise they would do it differently. and i acknowledge the use of chiropractors and electronic muscle stimulators..but these are more recovery/injury tools than training methods.

training and conditioning nowadays for humans is much different to the past. just wondering why training horses is still relatively similar to past decades...
 
 
A good question. I first witnessed interval training from ex Kiwi Brian Smith at Cranbourne with a horse called Kessem. He certainly managed to do it on a circular course. Many old school trainers had a variety of methods. Bob Hoysted also did a type of interval work with some of his horses at Epsom. They'd often go to the small trot ring do a few laps and then on to the course proper for a short burst followed by more laps around the trot ring. The work on the main course would often be from one "gap" to the  next rather than full circuits. Others used the bull ring ( small jumps in an enclosed very tight track ) along with the trot ring and course proper for a single work session. Then there was the pool to combine with other work as well. 
 
 
I'm not sure if the facilities are as good at training tracks now. I haven't been to Cranbourne or Caulfield for years. Treadmills and aqua trainers might have taken over? Less manpower required.
 
Good thread this. Clap 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ThreeBears Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 12:46pm
Originally posted by Geraldo Geraldo wrote:

Doesn't really belong here, but it is a nice bit of writing.


Clive Brittain: ‘Maureen not being here was the catalyst for me to retire’

http://ui.racingpost.com/release/v131/img/borders/hor-gray.131.0.gif") repeat-x 0px 0px; height: 1px; line-height: 0; overflow: hidden; clear: both; display: block;'> BY PETER THOMAS2:25PM 13 SEP 2015http://ui.racingpost.com/release/v131/img/borders/hor-gray.131.0.gif") repeat-x 0px 0px; height: 1px; line-height: 0; overflow: hidden; clear: both; display: block;'> 

IT'S A little past five in the morning as the familiar silver Honda pokes its nose out of the driveway and nudges into the sparse Bury Road traffic. The driver cranes his neck and peers north and south into the darkness, one eye on the dawn-breaking headlamps of approaching cars, the other on the pavements, empty apart from a tardy stable lad puffing his way to work on a rickety bicycle.

The two labradors sleeping in the back of the car have settled comfortably into their unfailing routine but the driver is showing signs of mild consternation as he turns onto the tarmac and glances over his shoulder at the gateways that neighbour his own.

"Every morning this goes like clockwork but today we're behind times," says Clive Brittain, about as tetchily as he ever gets. "John Gosden will be out in a minute with 80-odd horses and that can mess things up a little bit. The slightest thing can throw it all out of synch."

An uncharacteristic delay - caused by a haphazard piece of jockey's parking and a blocked-in photographer - means the town's earliest riser has very little leeway over the chasing pack of his colleagues, and the whole point of his inhumanly early rising runs the risk of being blunted.

It's a ritual that has been played out on this stretch of road for the past 42 years, for as long as the 81-year-old has been applying his stable lad's logic and country lad's work ethic to the business of training racehorses.

He works his horses on a Tuesday and Friday to avoid the rush on a Wednesday and Saturday, and he pulls out before the milkman to miss the melee that will soon be forming at the foot of Warren Hill.

That's the way it's always been, and within ten seemingly effortless minutes Brittain has made up for lost time and is contentedly guiding the little Honda up, along and down the grass verges of the training grounds, keeping pace with his first lot, at the canter or the walk, not entirely unaware of the venom directed his way by the motorists seething behind him.

"Now crash!" he chuckles as an angry BMW roars past and disappears over the brow of the hill. Brittain is once again officially first among equals, and he's happy to be so. "John says he's given up trying to beat me," he chuckles again, and the morning moves on as ever.

Except that from the end of this season, the natural rhythm of the mornings on this side of Newmarket will be quietly but irrevocably altered. After four decades of outmanoeuvring the big guns of the Bury Road, the doyen of Headquarters will call time on a career that has seen him land glittering prizes from Japan to the USA, from Royal Ascot to Glorious Goodwood, with Group 1s finding their way back to Carlburg until the very end, despite dwindling numbers and failing health.

Between 1949 and today, Brittain went from being a ten-bob-a-week muck shoveller for Sir Noel Murless to owning a house and yard valued deep into seven-figure territory and a reputation of similar standing. He was the first British-based trainer to annex a Breeders' Cup title - with Pebbles in the 1985 Turf - and the first to land a Japan Cup - with Jupiter Island; the first to install an equine pool in Newmarket; the first to do so many things but the last to crow about it.

The empty bottle of pink champagne on the side in the kitchen reveals the delight with which this lovable figure greets victory or simply embraces the unequal arm-wrestle with Father Time, but lately the celebrations have fallen a little flat and the table in the corner highlights the reason why.

Where once there would have been a slap-up full-English for the benefit of visiting owners, humble hacks and the dogs Hoover and Sweep (named for their ability to clean up the tastiest of leftovers), today there is a void - not a sausage, in fact, just a couple of cups of strong, black coffee and a sense of something missing.

Maureen Brittain, Clive's wife of 58 years, isn't here. In happier times - having eschewed Clive's ungodly 4am wake-up call and emerged at a more civilised hour - she would have been dishing up Musk's sausages for sustenance, perhaps champagne for conviviality, cod liver oil for hubby's rickety joints and good nature for all our benefits, but now she isn't among us at all, struck down by the degenerative cruelty of dementia that has left this most hospitable of souls needing constant care, and her long-term soulmate, ally and sparring partner devoid of a vital thread in the fabric of his existence.

Brittain is a caring man but not an overtly sentimental one, so when he gently gives vent to his emotions the effect is disarmingly moving. He has lost the woman who sustained him through the rigours of a racing lifetime, and now the rewards of the game are conspicuously outweighed by the sadness that accompanies them.

"I'm a wealthy man," he shrugs, "but to have Maureen back as she was, I'd give this lot up and start all over again.

"I don't give the past too much thought, but her illness has taken the wind out of my sails and I find myself thinking back to the immaculate way she did everything. She'd run the house and the business side, we'd have breakfast parties and dinner parties and she had the knack of making everybody feel special.

"Her not being here anymore was the catalyst for me retiring - we were a team and when you've only got half a team, you're not the same. She was the brains of the outfit and being without her is so hard to deal with.

"The rest of it just isn't important - I don't give retirement any thought at all. I'll look after Maureen for as long as I can, forever, and the fact that I won't be training isn't the end of the world."

COMING from a man better known for his ‘funky chicken' antics in the winner's enclosures of all the best racecourses, the poignancy of the moment is painfully doubled. You can't keep a smile off the face of Clive Brittain for long, though, and soon he's sharing happier memories of the tale of one of Newmarket's most enduring and engaging couples.

Like the hideous lengths he went to in order to win her affections after she joined the Murless yard as a secretary following the great trainer's relocation from Beckhampton to Warren Place in 1952.

Brittain had come to Murless as an aspiring apprentice in 1949, weighing in at a gnat's over 5st after a promising career on the pony racing circuit. He'd come from the country town of Calne in Wiltshire ("I was always called ‘Calne' - nobody at the yard ever knew my name"), where he worked hard, received precious little education and helped to break in Welsh mountain ponies for the milk floats, but by the time he first encountered his wife-to-be, he had earned a reputation as a good man with a difficult horse and a mainstay of the yard's football team.

One day, while crammed into a Bedford van with the rest of the XI - plus a sub - he was asked, as the man nearest the passenger door, to get rid of a teammate's cigarette, only to find himself too tightly packed to be able to wind down the window. So he opened the door instead - as you would - and the results were catastrophic, yet strangely rewarding.

"We were going down the hill from the yard, doing 50mph, and the wind just dragged me out," he recalls. "The last thing I remember was the wheels going past my head. I was wearing shin pads but I was going down the road on my elbows and it was like a butcher's shop by the time I stopped. They got me into hospital to tidy me up and I was in there for three days while they picked the lumps of grit out.

"But it was an effective way of attracting Maureen's attention. She came down to see if I was still alive, so when people ask me where I met her, I always say in bed, which was true."

FOR 23 years Brittain occupied a crucial place in the food chain at Warren Place. Having abandoned plans to be a jockey in an age of limited opportunities, he settled into a routine of riding the stellar names that passed regularly through the yard, from Petite Etoile and Crepello to Royal Palace, Connaught and Busted.

When talk of Murless's retirement started doing the rounds, however, his thoughts turned to the previously unthinkable and he began to consider a training career. A timely ante-post bet at 33-1 on Altesse Royale for the 1971 Oaks raised £350 of start-up money and he was on his way.

"I took out a short-term lease on Pegasus Stables," he explains, "which suited me because I was either going to make it with 350 quid or go bust pretty soon." With a bit of cheek and a lot of luck he gathered together 30 horses, bagged 13 winners in his first year, finished second in the Middle Park and the Cambridgeshire and was up and running.

After three years at Pegasus, he was approached by Capt Marcos Lemos to be his private trainer, and when he politely turned down the offer Lemos bought Carlburg, installed Brittain and sent him 40 horses. Their first Classic victory together came with Julio Mariner in the 1978 St Leger, and when the flighty but brilliant filly Pebbles won the 1,000 Guineas in Lemos's blue and white colours in 1984, the unlikely trainer's name was printed indelibly on the Newmarket map.

"Okay, let's rock and roll," goes up the cry to rouse second lot, although in truth it's more of a soft-shoe shuffle these days, thanks to the car accident that wrecked his knees, the troublesome artificial hip and the rigours of old age. With a comfy pair of Crocs on his feet and a walking stick never far from his hand, he has to follow the action from a distance these days, but the uncomplicated equine understanding that has always served him so well is very much intact.

"I'm a simple man," he explains, amid the topiary and the birdsong, playing down the expertise that guided Rizeena to victory in last year's Coronation Stakes. "I'm not clever, so I never try to be. I do what I do and I know I do it well. I get criticised for running horses in the ‘wrong' races by people that can't see what I see. They say I tilt at windmills, but I've won big races with horses that had no right to win them. I have a picture in my head of what every horse can do and it's my job to make that picture reality.

"It's all simple. Horses have got brains and feelings and you've got to know the balance between what's good for them, what hurts them, what frightens them, what makes them sour or reluctant. They're things you can't read in a book because they could never be in a book."

Before too long Brittain had done well enough to be able to buy Carlburg from Lemos, a move that didn't interrupt the flow of influential owners into or unforgettable winners out of the yard. There was Mystiko and Terimon for Lady Beaverbrook, User Friendly for Bill Gredley, Sayyedati for Mohammed Obaida, Crimplene for Sheikh Marwan Al Maktoum and, of course, a steady stream of success for the white and red colours of Brittain's great compadre Saeed Manana.

Pride of place, however, goes to Pebbles, sold for big money to Sheikh Mohammed and still rated the best horse Brittain trained and the one he trained best, although he had to use a potent mixture of animal husbandry and animal cunning to squeeze a series of Group 1 wins from such a combustible filly.

There was the time he and head man Jock Brown bribed the gateman to let her in through the tradesmen's entrance at Aqueduct so she could miss the parade for the Turf ("it would have blown her brain," he grins, "so it was well worth a hundred bucks"); the time he bribed the blacksmith to feign changing a shoe so she could miss the parade for the Eclipse ("Jeremy Tree was very upset - he knew something was going on but he didn't know what it was"); and his Oscar-winning piece de resistance, when he fell theatrically on the Newmarket walkway, causing enough confusion for Philip Robinson to hop over him and make his way straight to the start.

"I got away with it because nobody else had ever thought of doing it," he says, "but I did it all for the horse. Because of what I did she won three races she probably wouldn't have won otherwise."

THESE days, assailed by skin cancer (which has gone away) and bad knees (which haven't), he survives on his unfailing eye and underestimated brain. He had to give up riding out at the age of 74, but with his staff now clad in fluorescent yellow jackets, he follows the morning action without missing a beat.

The only wound that will never heal is the gaping one left by the loss of Maureen to the cruellest of conditions. Her departure hasn't yet interrupted the rhythm of decades, but in his heart Brittain has lost a large part of what made the struggle worthwhile.

"I always had confidence in myself, in what Maureen and I could do as a team," he reflects. "The sun was always shining and when it wasn't I made out it was. I was a lucky man, I had a charmed life, and even when the limbs wore out, the heart stayed in.

"Now, though, half of my time and energy is tied up with things that I didn't have to consider before, and I think the time is right to call it a day.

"I'll still live in the house and somebody else will train at the yard and I don't know if I'll miss it or not. I don't think about it - when you get to 81 and you wake up in the morning, that's a bonus in itself.

"There'll always be something you haven't seen or done, but you get to a certain age and you think what does it matter? The great days I had here with Maureen, that's what really matters."

 
 
Very happy to have stumbled across this article here. A great read about a man I never met but always  wanted to. My enduring memory of him is the jig he used to dance after a big win. I witnessed that twice on my trips to the races in England. Always seemed like a glass half full person and a man who did very well with troubled equine souls.
 
Thanks Gerald wherever you are.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SHOVHOG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 8:32am
I would be the best trainer in this country by a mile.

Understanding alchemy and frequency of the horse is the key.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote linghi11 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2018 at 11:29pm
It’s adorable that Gabbie is telling Richard how to train
to the victor
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reductio ad absurdum
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reductio ad absurdum
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Racing Post just tweeted this. Not yet read it but it should be interesting.

Slowboats and speedfreaks: how different is it training a sprinter and a chaser? http://bit.ly/2xmvdSU 

reductio ad absurdum
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http://forum.thoroughbredvillage.com.au/training-a-racehorse_topic48245_page3.html

Interesting listening to trainers after the race sometimes.

Jamie Edwards explaining the irony of giving his staying mare Kawabata sprint work Sleepy 
reductio ad absurdum
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2017 at 1:56pm
More than one Auckland & Wellington Cup winner has vacated his dairy farmer/trainers' lush paddock earlier that day & fed a simple diet of oats, I'm reliably told by an ex Kiwi farmer Wink
Natural diet & environment = happy horse both inside & out Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote cabosanlucas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2017 at 12:47pm
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

there are as many training ways as there are a piece of string.

keeping horses happy is key to success. and they are as varied as the human species.

some are capable but cant stand the competition; dont want to put in; lazy etc

certainly advances are made but in the end good food, appropriate work, and kind well being go a long way

only being able to train at a track must be very restrictive, but if you dont know any better....is probably goes a long way to explain the success of Darren Weir and his use of different and varied training facilities.

they are not machines. interval training has the potential to do their heads in, thus defeating the purpose of training.

as a side note, this business of "drenching" humans with good "gelati" to improve their floral gut has been practiced in horses...forever!
cross training eg put over jumps, dressage, has been happening for a while.
 
it takes horsemanship.




you hit in something i remember my trainer saying to a hobby/battling trainer who came up to him and excitedly asked if he was using the new latest whizz bang supplement on the market that other trainers are adding to their horses diet. my trainer said ..."listen...good feed, good work...if the horse has a motor, he will produce it".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2017 at 12:32pm
i have asked this of vets; with technology today, should be able to short cut to horses with the big hearts.
they never answer, to me any way, or they are very guarded.
they must know, and also know it is much more complicated. this idea of big hearts has been around for a long time, more so in standard breds
can only assume is another money making venture for interested parties!
my experience says horses come in all forms, shapes and you dont know what you've got until you "polish" them up....
still so beautifully old fashioned, gives us all a chance. 
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Originally posted by max manewer max manewer wrote:

The size of these animal's hearts would be interesting to know, it seems more than a co-incidence that many great horses have large hearts, probably the most notable, Secretariat. Should be an easy thing to find out, with modern ultrasound equipment.

That's a bit of a misnomer. Large hearts, as defined by their left ventricle size and stroke volume, arent necessarily desirable in different types horses. They work well in long distance horses, especially big colts, but a large heart in a small filly is meaningless. The heart is a muscle, so you need to get it fit. If you put a large heart in a small filly you'd probably break it down before the heart and rest of the horse was fit as you'd be working it very hard. 

Think about it like a motor in a car. You want a big engine in a big car, and a small engine in a small car. The efficient one, relative to is size, is the best.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Sep 2017 at 4:31pm
there are as many training ways as there are a piece of string.

keeping horses happy is key to success. and they are as varied as the human species.

some are capable but cant stand the competition; dont want to put in; lazy etc

certainly advances are made but in the end good food, appropriate work, and kind well being go a long way

only being able to train at a track must be very restrictive, but if you dont know any better....is probably goes a long way to explain the success of Darren Weir and his use of different and varied training facilities.

they are not machines. interval training has the potential to do their heads in, thus defeating the purpose of training.

as a side note, this business of "drenching" humans with good "gelati" to improve their floral gut has been practiced in horses...forever!
cross training eg put over jumps, dressage, has been happening for a while.
 
it takes horsemanship.


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Originally posted by Gay3 Gay3 wrote:

Most trainers expect to have sprinter/milers so standardisation rules untill they find ones that need longer or much shorter. Even stayers need some short, sharp work otherwise any fast twitch muscles they had, will be lost.
Interval training is hopeless with horses trained on a circle track as they won't relax enough to lower the heart rate after a sprint. More easily done on a straight track (quiet trot back in a direction they've never galloped), hill, sand dunes & even jumpouts/trials which Weir & Laing do regularly.


Ahh ok...some good points, especially with interval training on a circular track. 👍
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Most trainers expect to have sprinter/milers so standardisation rules untill they find ones that need longer or much shorter. Even stayers need some short, sharp work otherwise any fast twitch muscles they had, will be lost.
Interval training is hopeless with horses trained on a circle track as they won't relax enough to lower the heart rate after a sprint. More easily done on a straight track (quiet trot back in a direction they've never galloped), hill, sand dunes & even jumpouts/trials which Weir & Laing do regularly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cabosanlucas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Sep 2017 at 3:42pm
ive wondered why training is standsrdised and routine here. not completely but as a general rule.

trot, canter, three quarter pace, get home last 3 furlongs. and ad varying degrees of speed to that. swimming too.

why cant a staying horse do 3-4 laps of the track? at whatever tempo the trainer wants. can a horse do interval work?..i.e. alternate between a canter - gallop - canter - gallop?. i guess it may undoe the work of teaching a horse to settle...but interval training is so common now in athletics and fitness.

just thought bubbles and i guess the simple answer is that trainers have it right the way it is...otherwise they would do it differently. and i acknowledge the use of chiropractors and electronic muscle stimulators..but these are more recovery/injury tools than training methods.

training and conditioning nowadays for humans is much different to the past. just wondering why training horses is still relatively similar to past decades...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Sep 2017 at 2:32pm
http://abc.net.au/news/2017-09-01/winx-unorthodox-sprinter-taking-everything-in-stride/8858860

Winx — what makes her so fast? It's not the size of her stride, it's the rate she can put it down


Every minute Winx is in full motion she takes 170 strides. That's 30 more than the average racehorse, with each one about seven metres in length.

It's an unusual formula for a champion sprinter, especially when compared to the sport's greats like Black Caviar and Phar Lap, each with a stride length close to 8.5m.

"Many think the horse with a bigger stride will always win," said Dr Graeme Putt, a University of Auckland academic who has studied the science of racehorse success.

But Winx is turning conventional wisdom on its head.

As the champion mare eyes a 19th consecutive win at Royal Randwick this weekend, she has already eclipsed Phar Lap's record of 14 on the trot and is closing in on Black Caviar's all-time mark of 25.

And the secret to her success is all in a freakish stride rate, which can increase in the dying stages of a race as other horses taper off.

< ="gfyVid" autoplay="autoplay" loop="" poster="//thumbs.gfycat.com/MindlessCarefulBronco-poster.jpg" controls="" height="191" width="340">
GIF: Winx and Black Caviar's strides side by side

As her fatigued rivals push to maintain 12 footfalls every five seconds, Winx can up the pace to 14.

"This means she can settle or accelerate at any time during a race. I think this makes her unique."

Dr Putt has published research on both Phar Lap and Black Caviar, examining the mechanics of their winning strides with scientific precision.

Black Caviar the Usain Bolt of the racing world

Black Caviar was known for her acceleration and instantaneous speed, making her "both massive and the fleetest of sprinters in the equine world," according to Dr Putt.

At the peak of her career before retiring in April 2013, Black Caviar's size gave her a stride a full metre-and-a-half longer than Winx.

Similar mechanics drive the success of Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt in the 100m and 200m sprints, according to Dr Putt.

"Bolt took 41 strides to win the 2008 Olympic Beijing gold in the 100m dash — the others took 43 to 44 strides," he said.

"He had the larger stride length by about 5 per cent, but that alone did not cause him to win.

"He won because he was able to maintain the same — or maybe only 2-3 per cent less — stride frequency as the losers."

Winx's last win took her career earnings over the $13 million barrier, closing in on Makybe Diva's all-time prizemoney record of $14.52 million.

Equine exercise physiologist Dr David Evans said a champion horse like Winx has several other key qualities which set her apart from her rivals.

"It boils down to her anatomy and physiology, in other words the structure of her heart, her blood system and her muscles," Dr Evans said.

"She has to be built with the right muscle structure, she has to have the right amount of muscle relative to her body weight and she has to have the right type of muscle fibres.

"So not all muscle fibres are the same and she has to have the right mix of muscle fibres to enable her to sprint."

But those looking to spot a champion racehorse in the making may find it is very difficult to pick these qualities by sight in a foal.

"Back in the '80s there was enthusiasm for taking a biopsy and testing a small amount of muscle, but that didn't go anywhere because you're taking a couple of grams of muscle from a 500-kilogram horse.

"So you can't predict their sprinting ability from a tiny sample of muscle like that.

"Basically the best way to see what they can do is take them to a racetrack and test them over 400 and 600 metres and see what they can do."

Winx's ability to turn on speed at will was perhaps never more evident than at her last run in the Warwick Stakes, where she missed the start by five lengths but managed to pull off a dramatic comeback to clinch victory.

Winx caught the lead horse in the shadow of the post to win by barely a nostril in her final stride.

The performance has already drawn comparisons with Phar Lap's legendary comeback in the 1931 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.

"Both Phar Lap and Winx were left flat-footed at the start and trailed off by about five lengths," Dr Putt recalls.

"Phar Lap's was probably more sensational because he raced hard to catch up and passed some of the tailenders only to get pocketed by other riders.

"His jockey Jim Pike had to drop him back to get out of the pocket so he could come around wide and close on the leaders.

"Phar Lap actually got to the front by about a half-length before the finish line but then had to hold off the others as he fatigued."

But even having studied the sport's greatest racehorses, Dr Putt had to concede:

"In some ways Winx's win would have been more breathtaking for observers at the course because it was only in the last stride that she won," he said.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jan 2016 at 2:04pm

The Making of a Champion: Runhappy is Trained Like No Other

  • January 06, 2016 12:40 PM


The stories behind some horses run deep, and for Runhappy, there are numerous layers that should be peeled back before you can fully appreciate his excellence on the racetrack. Controversies aside, the son of Super Saver is one of the more interesting horses to hit American soil in recent years. What follows is less about the soap opera, but rather more about an alternative way of thinking. As good as this colt is, and still could become, the bigger story may be a new way of training, or if you prefer, a very old way.


There has been a unique plan for Runhappy ever since he was plucked out of the Keeneland September Sale of 2013 for $200,000 as a yearling. Not long before, Bill Pressey met Jim McIngvale and Laura Wohlers, and the like-minded trio have been working together ever since. All three share a strong belief that the modern training techniques of today fall far short of what is best for the horse. Their ways of doing things may seem radical, but actually they prescribe to the old methods of training used by so many Hall of Fame conditioners of the past.


No drugs. A happy, healthy horse. In discussing their unique method of training with Pressey this morning, these are themes that the Exercise Physiology scholar came back to on several occasions. With that alone, he had my full attention.


Because their methods are counter to the current norm of doing things, McIngvale, Wohlers, and Pressey have had trouble in finding trainers that are willing to fully follow their program. Because of this, trainers have come and gone, none more famously than Maria Borell, the trainer of record for five of Runhappy’s victories, but the team will not waver in their steadfast belief that their method is best.


Runhappy was specifically selected by McIngvale and Wohlers as a conformationally sound horse. The team knew that they would need a horse, at the very least, durable enough to stand up to their program, and within their program, this type of horse could thrive in a way that has become nearly unheard of in modern American racing.


There is no benefit for these athletes not to be allowed to run fast often enough, according to Pressey. He believes that the training intensity of a thoroughbred race horse should be closer to the racing intensity. It seems simple enough. Prepare your horse properly for the task they are to perform, and the results will come. Pressey said the idea of hard training is a misnomer, rather he refers to the program that Runhappy has been on as an individualized exercise prescription.


Pressey went on to explain that sparse training methods of today are damaging to our horses. Injuries often happen when horses are asked to do things they are not ready to do. Training a horse to have strong muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and knowing what your horse is ready for, and not ready for, not only cuts down on the need for excessive use of pain medication, but also helps prevent injury.


Bleeding in racing will always happen to some extent, but Pressey says that most of it can be avoided by strong lungs, rather than Lasix. Lungs that are prepared for the exercise that they are about to undertake, are far less likely to produce blood. Work a horse consistently four furlongs in fifty seconds, and then expect them to run much faster and longer in races only creates problems. Because of their training methods, Team McIngvale is able to run their horses, like Runhappy, drug free.


Drug free, Runhappy exercises differently than other horses, but he also enjoys the benefits of being part of the McIngvale stable. Unlike other race horses, he is turned out four hours a day, and has regular massage therapy -- no expense is spared in making sure that their horse is kept happy. Happy to work fast and run fast.


Technology has come a long way, even in racing, and on Pressey’s recommendation, the McIngvale team uses an E-Trakka device to record and analyze their horses’ heart rate, as well as running characteristics such as speed and stride. The device is built into the saddle blanket, and tells Pressey everything he wants to know about Runhappy’s conditioning every time he exercises.


Without getting overly technical, Pressey analyzes a horse’s speed and intensity, while looking at his heart rate. Through this, the overall conditioning, or lack of conditioning, can be better understood. Therefore, they are looking for reasons to move forward, rather than is the practice of most trainers today, of looking for reasons to back off.


It goes without saying that Pressey is tickled pink, that in Runhappy, the team has found a horse that can play out their training regimen to perfection. He’s well aware that the winner of the Grade 1 King’s Bishop and Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and soon to be Eclipse Award Champion is a very special horse, but he is also pleased that one of only a handful of horses they have been able to train the way they want a horse to be trained, has proven to be such an amazing success story.


As for the future racing career of Runhappy, he will remain in Texas enjoying some time off, before getting back to training in March. The Grade 1 Met Mile, on Belmont Stakes day, is the first major goal of 2016, but Pressey expects the winner of 7-of-8 lifetime to probably make one start before that, which could come in the seven furlong Churchill Downs Stakes, on the first Saturday in May. It is by no accident that big races, on bigger race days would be on Runhappy’s dance card. Pressey believes that McIngvale desires Runhappy to be a horse of the people, and to show the star off to as many fans as possible.


When I asked Pressey which Breeders’ Cup race Runhappy would be pointed to in 2016, he said that the horse would let them know. Remaining consistent to the overall conditioning plan, before the Met Mile, the son of Super Saver will have eight furlong works. Works in the neighborhood of 1:36 to 1:38. In other words, as part of the program, Runhappy will train like an athlete does, and will not graduate to the next step (greater distance) until he satisfactorily passes the same test in the mornings.


He went on to say that if Runhappy progresses in his training and conditioning and can come back to a heart rate of approximately 130 beats per minute within two minutes after a high intensity workout at longer distances, then there will be no reason why the star runner will be limited to one-turn races. Even the Breeders’ Cup Classic at ten furlongs is not out of the question. Runhappy has the big stride and the breeding for it, according to Pressey. Of course, if he were to run in the Classic, he would have already proved that he can athletically handle the distance by working ten furlongs in preparation. If the numbers come back right after a work Pressey estimated in the 2:05 range, then they believe Runhappy will be prepared for the test of America’s richest race.


Happily, Pressey believes there is a good chance that a five-year-old Runhappy would continue to run in 2017, but he realizes there are breeding considerations that will arise. He calls McIngvale a sportsman, though, and as long as Runhappy remains happy and healthy, American racing could be graced by a throwback champion the likes of which has not been seen for years. The type of horse that could change the way horses are trained tomorrow, and for years to come.

http://www.horseracingnation.com/blogs/zatt/The_Making_of_a_Champion_Runhappy_is_Trained_Like_No_Other_123

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 4:50pm
Double post but equally relevant here Smile

Distance preferences – more to do with mentality than physiology

October 1, 2015

While analysing the performance of the Race Modlr computer model in different types of races, something that became apparent was the fact that the model’s analysis of horse’s distance preferences was adding virtually nothing to the accuracy of its race predictions. This raised the question, why?

That doyen of thoroughbred breeding Federico Tessio staunchly believed that good horses were fast horses and that a fast horse would beat a slow one whatever the distance. Our mathematical model of how horses fatigue in relation to their ability, based on treadmill research into their physiology, largely supports this. It suggests that Frankel was physiologically capable of winning a July Cup over 6f or one of the Cup races over 2m. Race Modlr’s computerised handicap rated Frankel a 145 over 1m and throwing that into the aforementioned mathematical model suggests he’d have been a high 120’s sprinter or stayer.

It infers that distance is much less of a factor in determining the outcome of races than pundits frequently make out. The reason for this is likely to be that the range of distances over which horses race is actually very compact when compared with humans. In human terms a sprint is 100m to 200m, a middle-distance race 800m to 1500m and a staying race 5000m up to 26 miles. Physiologically these require very different body compositions, sprinting making use almost entirely of fast twitch muscle and anaerobic respiration (energy production without oxygen), staying using lots of slow twitch muscle and being almost entirely aerobic (energy production requiring oxygen).

If we compare how slow humans go at the shorter end of middle-distance races i.e. 800m with how fast they go in sprints and compare that with how fast a horse can run and how fast it actually runs over the various race distances horses contest, we quickly see that physiologically the extremes of horse race distance are not that different. We know a human flat-out can manage 100m in 9.5s. The average speed for the 400m world record is 16% slower than at 100m and at 800m 32% slower. Plotting this graphically, we get a curve looking like this:

Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 13.43.58

We also know that a racehorse flat-out could manage a furlong in about 10s. The average speed over 5f is 15% slower than this, but at 8f it is only 22% slower, at 12f only 25% slower and at 2m only 29% slower. If we use the equation that defines the curve seen on the chart to work out what that means those race distances equate to in human terms we find the following:

5f = 300m

8f = 415m

12f = 476m

16f = 560m

Even the 3m 2f Cheltenham Gold Cup is only roughly equivalent to a human 1500m race, albeit a steeple chase.

Excluding Usain Bolt, who is something of a freak, were there a 300m world championship for humans then the 200m champion would probably be favourite. Over any of the other distances mentioned, 415m, 476m or 560m then the world 400m champion would probably be favourite. What this suggests is that in reality only two horse types are required on the flat, sprinters and non-sprinters because apart from 5f and 6f the physiological requirement of all the other distances is much the same. The ability of a 7f horse to stay 1m 4f is more about its mental make-up than its physiological make-up, since provided it settles then physiologically it will stay.

Interestingly, what this confirms is that by accident or design the evolution of the the English Triple Crown which tested a horse’s speed over 1m and its ability to settle over 1m6f was in all likelihood a truer test of the racehorse than the current focus on racing between 1m and 1m2f. Today’s approach simply repetitively testing the same thing.

Our approach to predicting distance preferences in Race Modlr has revolved around retro-engineering the work conducted on the equinome project where horses have been identified with three genetic variations for distance preference. The equinome project confirmed the presence of these genotypes by looking at the best distance of horses exhibiting them. Conversely, since we know the best distance of each horse from our computerised ratings we can predict the probability of each sire and dam being of a given genotype, and consequently the probability of their progeny being of a given genotype. We can then predict the probability of any given distance being a horse’s best.

Testing the accuracy of these predictions against all horses aged three-years-old and upwards that have raced on the flat in 2015, we found a strong relationship between the average observed best distance of a group of horses and their predicted best distance. Unfortunately, accurately predicting individual horses to within one furlong seems almost impossible with a success rate of about one in six. What holds much more statistical validity is separating the sprinters from the non-sprinters. Of horses with a predicted best distance of less than 1m, 70% produced their best form over 7f or less. The one horse prominent in the betting for next year’s 2,000 Guineas this pertains to is of course Shalaa.

Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 13.40.59

At the other end of this research is Gleneagles. Our model actually considers him to have more potential to stay than Jack Hobbs or the 2-y-o Deauville, second favourite for next year’s Derby. Given that Gleneagles always seem to settle beautifully, you have to wonder what might have been over further.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 12:42pm
This applies to racing also, you know, those 'untractable' ones who refuse to leave the mounting yard, go onto the track or load. Unfortunately it won't let me copy the full article Disapprove

YOUR HORSE WON'T FORGET STRESSFUL EXPERIENCES
Campdrafting started to become popular in Australia in the late 1970s. I was about eighteen when I started competing at local campdrafts and like most eighteen year olds, I thought I knew everything. However, after getting cracked off (disqualified) more times than I care to remember, it finally dawned on me that maybe I didn’t know that much after all.
Around this time, I was given a stock horse gelding called Caesar. He was very fast and very athletic and he’d already won a couple of campdrafts. However, Caesar had been pushed far too hard at every campdraft he’d ever been in. He’d been kicked and spurred when he was already trying his hardest.
Under the pressure of competition, it’s all too easy to keep asking for more and more, even though your horse is already trying his hardest. If you keep kicking and spurring a horse that’s already doing his best, it won’t be long before the horse starts to become very nervous and worried, whenever he’s in a competition situation. And this is exactly what happened to poor Caesar.

http://fearfreehorsetraining.com/blog/your-horse-won-t-forget-stressfull-experiences

Your Horse Won't Forget Stressfull Experiences

09/29/2015

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Campdrafting started to become popular in Australia in the late 1970s. I was about eighteen when I started competing at local campdrafts and like most eighteen year olds, I thought I knew everything. However, after getting cracked off (disqualified) more times than I care to remember, it finally dawned on me that maybe I didn’t know that much after all.

Around this time, I was given a stock horse gelding called Caesar. He was very fast and very athletic and he’d already won a couple of campdrafts. However, Caesar had been pushed far too hard at every campdraft he’d ever been in. He’d been kicked and spurred when he was already trying his hardest.

Under the pressure of competition, it’s all too easy to keep asking for more and more, even though your horse is already trying his hardest. If you keep kicking and spurring a horse that’s already doing his best, it won’t be long before the horse starts to become very nervous and worried, whenever he’s in a competition situation. And this is exactly what happened to poor Caesar.

Every time I rode into the yard at a campdraft, Caesar immediately remembered all the previous stressful experiences he’d been through and he became very nervous because he expected another bout of kicking and spurring. It got to the point where he’d stop thinking and he’d rear or “freeze up”. His mind stopped working in its normal logical manner because the stress was way too much for him.

I thought that I’d be able to teach Caesar to relax by working him at home. I spent months walking him around cattle and working them in the yard. Caesar gradually improved and started to relax, so the next season I took him to some campdrafts.

And guess what? Nothing had changed. Under the pressure of competition, Caesar immediately became very nervous. He hadn’t forgotten all the stress that he’d been subjected to. It was burned into his mind. He expected another bout of kicking and spurring and he’d shut down and stop thinking altogether.

It took me a while to realise that poor old Caesar had been overdone and would never be a reliable campdrafter. So I sold him to a local fellow who just wanted a horse to ride and they got along fine.

About eight years later riding "Digger" at Picton Show. The best Camddrafter I've ever ridden.

This was a very good lesson for me. It taught me that you can’t expect any horse to forget any stressful experience that he’s subjected to. You can’t overdo your riding or training and think that it doesn’t matter. You can’t keep asking a horse for more and more when he’s already doing his best.

Over the years, I’ve seen many horses like Caesar. Horses that have been pushed too hard when they don’t understand what’s wanted. Horses that try to avoid going into the yard at a campdraft. Horses that rear and jump at the start of a competition or a race. Horses that stop thinking and rear or “freeze up” when things get too much for them.

I’ve had many such horses sent to me for training. Although most of these horses can be improved at home, under the pressure of competition they’ll revert to their old behaviour.

You must be very careful whenever you compete with your horse. In the heat of the moment, you may get worked up and push your horse too hard. And if you do, you can’t tell him to forget the stress and trauma that you’ve subjected him to.

Ooops, only gave me a blank so assumed no paste Embarrassed


Edited by Gay3 - 02 Oct 2015 at 12:43pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Bi Carb Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2015 at 11:16pm
Originally posted by linghi11 linghi11 wrote:

it's shameful and will put an end to competition from medium/small trainers who can't afford such vets


Its happening right under our noses.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote linghi11 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2015 at 10:31pm
it's shameful and will put an end to competition from medium/small trainers who can't afford such vets
to the victor
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bi Carb Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2015 at 10:04pm
Microdosing is the new black.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aurelius Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2015 at 9:00am
Sounds like the ex skier wants to atrract some high profile owners.

Maybe he should study the Mick Burles 'The Cleaner' method.

Stand in the back of the truck on a ship for a couple of hours, get unloaded and drive to the track and blow the treadmill trained opposition away.

Horses may be similar to human champion athletes.

They train there mind to observe, expect and overcome pain. The average athlete thinks 'Geez my legs are sore I'm not sure how much further I can run.

The champion athlete welcomes the pain and challenges his or her legs to override there steely determination and will to win.

Horses may think similarly ignoring their tired legs because they refuse the other to run past them.

And then came sophisticated DRUGS.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Geraldo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Sep 2015 at 4:59am
I've never eaten artichokes, globe, jerusalem, or otherwise.

Head-Maarek is one of the old school of trainers for both her horse-feeding policy and method of training, which hasn’t changed over the years. “I feed my horses wholesome natural food of oats, carrots and artichokes, with no added vitamins,” she said.
TBV - where it is the Silly Season all year round.
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