I wonder where this man will be in 10 years time, he appears to be very wealthy and full of ideas, the way Mother Nature and genetics have designed the thoroughbred they won't go much faster but if the cheats get their grubby hands on certain drugs they will go faster further if that's understandable , just like the F1 the more you stoke the boiler the quicker they will implode, they are not designed for that , a fit , well, healthy thoroughbred will race to his optimum if circumstances allow, I'm for progress, and change, but not for change sake.
I wonder where this man will be in 10 years time, he appears to be very wealthy and full of ideas, the way Mother Nature and genetics have designed the thoroughbred they won't go much faster but if the cheats get their grubby hands on certain drugs they will go faster further if that's understandable , just like the F1 the more you stoke the boiler the quicker they will implode, they are not designed for that , a fit , well, healthy thoroughbred will race to his optimum if circumstances allow, I'm for progress, and change, but not for change sake.
Corrrect
These know alls arent horsemen.
You can read computer print outs til your arse bleeds , isnt much use to you if the horse hasnt eaten for a week because the heavy workload is crushing him.
I wonder where this man will be in 10 years time, he appears to be very wealthy and full of ideas, the way Mother Nature and genetics have designed the thoroughbred they won't go much faster but if the cheats get their grubby hands on certain drugs they will go faster further if that's understandable , just like the F1 the more you stoke the boiler the quicker they will implode, they are not designed for that , a fit , well, healthy thoroughbred will race to his optimum if circumstances allow, I'm for progress, and change, but not for change sake.
Corrrect
These know alls arent horsemen.
You can read computer print outs til your arse bleeds , isnt much use to you if the horse hasnt eaten for a week because the heavy workload is crushing him.
I am not sure you have really listened to what he has to say.
If you have, I fail to see how you can come to that conclusion ?
I wonder where this man will be in 10 years time, he appears to be very wealthy and full of ideas, the way Mother Nature and genetics have designed the thoroughbred they won't go much faster but if the cheats get their grubby hands on certain drugs they will go faster further if that's understandable , just like the F1 the more you stoke the boiler the quicker they will implode, they are not designed for that , a fit , well, healthy thoroughbred will race to his optimum if circumstances allow, I'm for progress, and change, but not for change sake.
Bode Miller knows plenty about drugs, both legal and otherwise.
This is why I hate seeing 'let up..............40 - 60 odd days', physiologically & anatomically it's nowhere near sufficient time for complete healing
Current training regimes may be too hard on the legs of racehorses, findings suggest
Microscopic fractures were found in the front leg bones of nearly all
the euthanized racehorses used in a recent Australian study, including
those whose deaths had not resulted from a catastrophic fracture.
The study team found a telling trend in the bone damage they saw in
the Thoroughbreds. It was worse among the older horses and those with
longer careers, which indicates accumulating injury due to chronic
overload of the racehorses’ joints.
Dr Ebrahim Bani Hassan and his fellow researchers at the University of Melbourne, writing in the Australian Veterinary Journal,
said the findings suggest racehorses might need longer and
better-managed breaks during their careers to ward off bone fatigue,
which is recognised as a common factor in catastrophic race fractures.
The scientists set out to examine the prevalence of microscopic bone
fractures in the lower legs of Thoroughbreds that had been euthanised in
Melbourne. They related those findings back to the training history of
each animal.
Their work involved the careful examination of leg bones taken from
83 Thoroughbreds that had died or been euthanised on Melbourne
metropolitan race tracks or at the University of Melbourne Equine
Centre.
In all, the study team sourced bones from the lower forelimbs of 38
Thoroughbreds, and those from the lower hindlegs of a further 45
racehorses.
The bones were examined using a scanning electron microscope for
evidence of microfractures, as well as undertaking an assessment of bone
density.
The background of the horses, who were aged from two to 10, revealed
they had careers that ranged from 0 to 66 race starts, with earnings
that varied from nothing to nearly $2.7 million for one animal.
Of the 38 horses from which forelimbs were collected, 21 had been in
training at the time of their deaths. Most were put down as a result of a
leg fracture. Of the 17 not in training, four had died as a result of
fractures. The other deaths resulted from cardiac arrest, gut problems,
joint infections, ataxia, ligament problems or kidney issues. The
period of time since their race training ceased ranged from 1 to 59
weeks.
Twenty-four of the 45 horses from which hindlimbs were collected had
been in training at the time of death, nine of which resulted from
fractures, including one pelvic fracture and one broken shoulder.
Of the 15 training horses without fractures, deaths variously
resulted from exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH),
cardiopulmonary problems, serious gut issues, tendon injury, bleeding
into the chest, and one from cancer.
This left 21 who were not in training. Eight of them suffered
fractures, half of which involved the leg bones. The others died as a
result of EIPH, gut problems, neurological issues, trauma, septic
arthritis or lymphoma. The longest had been out of work for two years.
Palmar/plantar osteochondral disease – a degenerative condition
affecting the lower leg bones – could be seen in 65.8% of the forelimb
horses and 57.8% of the hindlimb group. This condition is generally
considered a result of “bone fatigue”, which occurs when damage
accumulates from repeated loading, also known as stress fractures.
Such fatigue injuries begin at the microscopic level and accumulate over time to become visible to the eye.
Under the microscope, microfractures were identified in the forelimbs
of 97.4% of the horses. The density of these tiny front-leg fractures
increased with age and the number of race starts
Changes in the subchondral bone – that’s the layer of bone just below
the cartilage in a joint – were common among the Thoroughbreds in the
study, the authors said, with the accumulation of damage seen in horses
with longer careers being consistent with bone fatigue.
The authors acknowledged it was likely that subchondral bone damage
was over-represented in the group because most had died as a result of a
catastrophic bone fatigue injury.
However, the fact that the microscopic prevalence of subchondral bone
injury was worse in older horses with longer racing careers was
noteworthy. It was, they said, consistent with fatigue failure of the
bone related to accumulated training distance.
Rest from race training may allow some degree of repair in the
microscopic damage, they said. However, the burden of damage in this
population suggested that, in general, the horses might need more time
off from intense training than is currently the case to minimise the
risk of bone injury.
Bani Hassan and his colleagues noted that plantar osteochondral
disease can be seen with the naked eye in up to 80% of Thoroughbreds
undergoing post mortems.
“Knowledge of the prevalence of bone fatigue is helpful for an
understanding of its importance and to enable development of training
strategies that will reduce the risk of injury becoming a clinical
problem.”
They said small numbers of microfractures in subchondral bone are
likely to be of limited significance in racehorses. “However,
accumulation of numbers of microfractures in horses appears to be
abnormal.”
Just how much damage needs to accrue before a clinical effect is apparent remains unknown.
“Based on the information obtained from the race records and trainer
and veterinarian interviews, many of the horses in this study were
performing well and were not reported to be showing signs of lameness in
the weeks prior to presentation.”
Most lameness detection methods relied on detecting unevenness in the
gait to identify pain in a limb, they noted. “Therefore, symmetric
distribution of musculoskeletal lesions, as often occurs with plantar
osteochondral disease, would mean that subchondral bone injuries may go
unnoticed.”
Bilateral symmetric injuries are consistent with repetitive overload injuries in equine athletes, they said.
Bani Hassan was joined in the study by Michiko Mirams, Eleanor Mackiea and Robert Chris Whitton.
The study received backing from the Rural Industries Research and
Development Corporation of the Australian Government, Racing Victoria
and the University of Melbourne.
Prevalence of subchondral bone pathological changes in the distal metacarpi/metatarsi of racing Thoroughbred horses. Bani Hassan E, Mirams M, Mackie EJ, Whitton RC. Aust Vet J. 2017 Oct;95(10):362-369. doi: 10.1111/avj.12628
Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
Ever wondered what your horse gets up to at night in his stable?
This
film shows 8hrs in the life of a stabled horse via time lapse camera,
condensed into 8 minutes. Even at 8 minutes long I would recommend
watching this – it does give a great indication of just how boring it
must be for a horse to be locked in a small room with water, their own
droppings and ad-lib hay if they're lucky.
Commonsense rather than science imo but that's pretty rare these days
Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
<div ="sqs-block -block sqs-block-" -block-="2" id="block-3f09cb04bae63e2c0e36"><div ="sqs-block-"><h1>WHAT DOES A STABLED HORSE DO AT NIGHT?</h1>
Ever wondered what your horse gets up to at night in his stable?
This film shows 8hrs in the life of a stabled horse via time lapse camera, condensed into 8 minutes. Even at 8 minutes long I would recommend watching this – it does give a great indication of just how boring it must be for a horse to be locked in a small room with water, their own droppings and ad-lib hay if they're lucky.
Commonsense rather than science imo but that's pretty rare these days
I'd imagine the option of a small yard and cover would be perfect or would a proper highly strung thoroughbred ( as they should be ) be a danger to itself with too much room to move ?
What if you were to learn that your horse is living with a hidden
malformation? A skeletal abnormality that could be affecting it every
day, changing the way it moves, creating a string of other physical
problems, and possibly underlying the hard-to-pinpoint problems you’ve
been noticing for months or even years ?
And that might even be causing a level of inherent instability that could be putting the rider in danger?
Sadly, this isn’t a hypothetical question. Instead it’s a reality that is only now being slowly uncovered.
And like the proverbial stone rolling down a mountain, the issue is
gathering momentum as the equine industry, owners, breeders and
researchers learn about it.
It’s a skeletal malformation and it can’t be corrected.
It’s congenital, ie inherited, so is present from birth.
It has been in some lines of TBs for hundreds of years.
It creates biomechanical issues due to asymmetry and lack of anchor points for key muscles.
At its worst, it can contribute to neurological issues such as Wobbler syndrome.
Some horses are so unstable, they are more prone to falling (not good news for jockeys).
It can cause constant pain and associated behavioural changes.
It’s primarily found in
Thoroughbreds, Thoroughbred crosses and Warmbloods, but has also been
identified in European breeds, Quarter Horses, Arabs and Australian
Stock Horses.
The problem behind this is a congenital malformation of the C6 and C7
cervical vertebrae (ie, base of neck) – and it’s pretty nasty.
I’ve written about the work of Sharon May-Davis on this blog before
and here I’m going to do so again. Through her many dissections per
year, gross anatomist Sharon has become the first person to
comprehensively document and quantify this problem.
In doing so, and publishing her findings in peer-reviewed journals,
she has triggered a minor research avalanche as others take up the
subject.
Those
of us fortunate to attend Sharon’s many equine dissections in Australia,
New Zealand, Japan, and Europe have been learning about this for some
time. For bodyworkers and hoof trimmers, it has dramatically changed our
work. I believe I’ve worked on several horses with this problem,
including an eventing horse, a dressage prospect, and a TB intended for a
child.
It is,
not to put too fine a point on it, an extremely serious problem that is
in some cases grave for the horse concerned and can potentially cause
injury or loss of life for the rider.
The following is an amended version of an article that I wrote for
the Winter 2017 edition of Equine News, a NSW, Australia print magazine
that sponsored one of Sharon’s series of public lectures on this issue.
Sharon May-Davis’s path with this research began some 20 years ago.
In February 1996, a Thoroughbred called Presley came down unimpeded in a
race in Grafton, NSW, fracturing his pelvis, a hock bone, and right
front fetlock.
Three years later, Sharon examined his bones, and saw something strange in his last two cervical vertebrae and his first ribs.
Fast forward to 2014, when Sharon published the first of her four peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, concerning a congenital malformation in the sixth and seventh cervical (neck) vertebrae.
Although the problem had been mentioned briefly in papers, this was
the first time that a researcher had accurately described and quantified
the problem in its various forms.
Sharon’s unique perspective, gained as an anatomist who dissects
between 15 and 20 horses per year, had certainly placed her in a
position to do so.
The horse’s seven cervical vertebrae – made simple
Horses have seven vertebrae in their necks, labelled C1 to C7. Of
these, four have unique shapes. Most horse people are familiar with C1,
the first vertebrae known as the atlas, as it can be both seen and felt
by hand with its distinctive ‘wing’ at the top of the neck.
Almost as well-known is C2, the second vertebrae, known as the axis.
Both atlas and axis have unique shapes for a special reason: they
support the heavy skull and anchor the muscles that control the head’s
movement.
Heading down the neck, C3, C4 and C5 are broadly similar in shape,
with each being a bit shorter and blockier than the one above.
However, C6 and C7 are both slightly different on the ventral (lower) side, for here they provide insertion points for muscles arising from the chest.
C6 has transverse
processes (the protrusions extending outwards) that are different to
those of neighbouring bones, with two distinctive ridges running the
vertebrae’s length. C6 also has two large transverse foramen, the
openings that the arteries pass through.
C7 is the shortest
and squattest cervical vertebrae of all. Its transverse processes are
shorter, while there are also two facets that articulate with the first
ribs. C7 has no transverse foramen.
At least, that’s how the vertebrae should be in a normal horse.
So, what is wrong with the malformed C6 and C7 vertebrae?
In certain horses, these last two vertebrae are rather different, being malformed.
Sharon has identified the manifestations of this problem as a
congenital (inherited) malformation affecting some Thoroughbred horses,
and horses with Thoroughbred blood in their ancestry.
In C6, there is a problem with the two ridges of the transverse processes, as one or both can be partially absent.
When both are partially missing, it is common for one or two ridges
(ie, parts of the transverse processes) to appear on C7 instead.
Also, the articular processes (the oval surfaces on the upper side,
where each vertebrae links to its neighbours) can be radically different
sizes. There can also be an additional arterial foramen or two.
The level of asymmetry can be radical.
The secondary problems this malformation causes
Being at the base of the neck, the asymmetry of C6 and C7 can cause
alignment problems all the way up the vertebral column, leading to
osteoarthritis of the articular facets.
It can also contribute to Wobbler Syndrome (Cervical Vertebral
Stenotic Myelopathy), due to narrowing and/or malalignment of the
vertebral foramen/canal, the opening through which the spinal cord
passes. Not all Wobbler cases have this particular malformation, though.
A further problem is that the lower part of the longus colli
muscle, which is involved in flexing the neck, would normally insert on
the transverse processes of C6 and C7. When these processes are
malformed, the normal insertions are not possible.
This means there is a serious symmetry problem in the junction of the
thorax and neck, which can have a deeper effect on the horse’s
neurology and proprioception, as well as respiration.
In a few cases, horses with both the C6 and C7 problem also have
malformations of the first sternal rib, on one or both sides. This can
cause problems beneath the scapular and further issues with muscular
attachments.
Associated stability problems can have far-reaching consequences for
the horse, not to mention some serious safety issues for the rider. The
safety issue can’t be stated often enough.
(Add to this the fact that the horse’s nuchal ligament lamellar does
not attach to C6 and C7, and often only feebly to C5, then you can see
that this is a high level of instability in a critical area. Read more
about Sharon’s findings on the nuchal ligament here – How the Anatomy Books Unintentionally Fail us Over the Nuchal Ligament.)
Read on for information on for signs that this problem may be present in the living horse…
Why hasn’t this problem been noticed in regular veterinary interventions?
The answer is quite simple. While neurological issues may have been diagnosed, the exact cause has often remained hidden.
Both Thoroughbred horses and Warmbloods are known to have higher
incidences of Wobbler Syndrome than other breeds, and while this is
certainly not always due to C6-C7 malformation, the malformation has been found in some when dissected.
For example, the following dissection image appears in a veterinary
account of large animal spinal cord diseases. It clearly shows a
malformed C7 vertebrae, very similar to the one in the above image, but
without giving any further categorisation.
The difficulty lies in the deep location of the lower cervical
vertebrae. While normal radiographs can show all or some of C6, they are
unable to penetrate the deeper tissues beneath the shoulder to image
C7.
Nevertheless, the malformation can be identified in radiographs of C6, once you know where to look.
Since Sharon’s first paper appeared, the School of Veterinary
Medicine, University of California, Davis, has reviewed its history of
radiographs from horses with Wobbler Syndrome.
While the problem has been identified primarily in TBs, it affects most breeds with TB blood in the ancestry to some degree.
Sharon May-Davis reports that to date, published, peer-reviewed
journal papers have tallied 136 out of 471 horses as exhibiting
congenital malformation of C6.
These have been in a range of breeds including Thoroughbreds (39%),
Thoroughbred crosses (27%), Warmbloods and European breeds (30%),
Quarter Horses (11%), and Arabs (11%). Standardbreds have also shown the
problem, although the numbers included in studies are very small.
A common question is whether it’s known which TB lines predominantly
carry this problem. The answer is: Yes. However, it is now so
disseminated amongst the modern equine population beyond TBs, that it is
of little help to identify them.
“Eight Belles… might have been genetically predisposed to breaking down.”
Exploring the views of a TB lineage
expert, this American article from 2009 asks why certain TB lines were
prone to breaking down on the track – Eight Belles Breakdown: A Predictable Tragedy.
It must be remembered that these horses are those already brought to
veterinary attention and/or euthanized for a related or unrelated
reason, so the percentages may be higher than those for the general
horse population. At the same time, the malformation might have played a
major part in the horses’ decline, due to the many locomotory and
postural problems it can lead to.
It’s all very well looking at these bones post mortem, you might say.
Yet how can I tell if my horse has this problem? Or a horse that I
might want to buy?
Some answers are forthcoming. As Sharon has frequently assessed
horses before dissecting them – usually from video – she has been able
to observe that many of these horses lack stability. (Indeed, in many
cases, it is this very instability has directly led to the horse being
euthanized, and ending up on the dissection table.)
As her research has progressed, she has also been able to identify
many biomechanical and locomotion traits that make these horses
‘suspicious’ or at least ‘of interest’. Unsurprisingly, these problems
have been particularly noticeable in horses with both a malformed C6 and
C7.
For owners and equine
professionals, here are some signs that can raise initial suspicions.
All can also be caused by other problems, so a group of signs is more
common than an individual indication.
Some of these horses have a problem with standing square in front,
and will always keep one foot further forward. This can persist despite
all attempts to improve the horse’s body and to train the horse to halt
squarely.
Horses with the more serious malformations will often stand base-wide.
Such horses can become very unbalanced on uneven ground, and sometimes
in work. They easily become unbalanced when a hoof practitioner works on
a forefoot.
With such asymmetry in the skeletal structure, these horses have serious lateral flexion issues that can’t be overcome.
When required to elevate the forehand, many will experience
difficulties, due to the absence of correctly inserted musculature and
incorrect articulation through the joints of the lower neck.
A high level of asymmetry may be seen in the shoulders, with one scapula sometimes positioned very wide,
with no improvement after chiro, osteopathy or bodywork. This is
particularly so with the C6-C7 problem and associated first sternal rib
abnormalities.
There may be scoliosis along the entire spine.
There may be an obvious scoliosis to the underside of the neck.
The problem may lead to heavily asymmetric loading of the forefeet, so may be accompanied by a severe high foot/low foot issue (this is not in itself a sign of the C6-C7 problem).
If you suspect your horse has the C6-C7 issue
First, note that many horses do just fine with a C6 problem. It is
those with the bilateral C6 and unilateral/bilateral C7 issue that tend
to show the more worrying problems.
If your horse is showing ongoing signs of instability, it’s important
to seek veterinary advice, so that neurological issues can be ruled
out. (As this a recently recognised problem, it may be worth printing
out the abstracts from the journal articles listed at the end of this
page and handing them over.)
If the more severe malformations are identified by
radiograph, it is important to remember that in some cases this can
cause discomfort and pain to the horse, and it is not going to improve
over time.
On the contrary, the cervical vertebrae of some older horses with the
C6 and C7 malformations often display advanced osteoarthritis of the
articular processes, as shown in the header image of a 19-year-old
Thoroughbred’s malformed C7.
At the moment, that question is wide open. The findings published by
Sharon May-Davis have triggered ongoing research on an international
level. There are certainly ramifications for breeders in more than one
equine sporting industry.
Connections have been made with a number of falls on the racetrack
that have caused injury, and worse, to both horse and jockey, as well as
other runners. Similar things can be said for the sport of eventing,
where unforced errors can have equally catastrophic effects.
It is entirely possible that at higher levels, pre-purchase
examination radiographs will come to include a check on C6. While it’s
not possible to radiograph the deeply positioned C7, we do at least know
that this will only be present if the C6 anomaly exists.
Vets in some countries are proving faster at picking this up than
others. While papers are being published, it clearly takes some time
for information to filter down.
And until more is known, this problem is being unknowingly propagated every breeding season.
Of course, many horses harbouring the milder manifestations of this
problem at C6 level are functioning very well. All horse owners can do
is be aware that this issue exists, make use of this information if a
problem arises, and await further research findings.
As a Canadian Sport Horse Association (CSHA) performance horse
breeder, I would like to know which Thoroughbred lines predominantly
pass on this problem. I think it is important even if so many
performance horse breeds have Thoroughbred in them. As a sport horse
breeder I have never seen an issue with any of my equines, but I would
like to be able to knowingly avoid certain lines if I know of a
“possible problem” (which I still feel hasn’t become a serious issue
yet).
Sharon May-Davissays
Hi Vicki,
I got a clear warning not to name the Thoroughbred sire line !
Even within the last month we (European colleagues and myself) got
another warning to be careful with our research and to go slow. With a
potential 30% in Warmbloods, there are a lot of breeders that stand to
lose if this congenital malformation became a reason for loss of
purchase. Which by the way has just happened at a major European
Warmblood auction!
Remember, mine and other necks are on the line and when I got my
first informal death threat in 2005, I had my children in the car.
So I would recommend the congenital malformation to be detected by radiographs with the right technician who can read them.
At this point in time, the radiographs and CT scans have all revealed
an abnormal vertebral canal. In other words, not one had normal
vertebral canal aperture for the spinal cord to pass through nor
Thoracic Inlet aperture. Furthermore, the preliminary radiographic
protocols written and accepted for a Japanese journal will be posted
next week in English. This paper describes the radiographic view and
also, as per a previous paper (re “Longus colli”) the potential
influence on the trachea caused by this congenital malformation.
This later paper describes asymmetrical: biomechanical forces;
entheses patterns, neurological dysfunction among other issues and the
table that Jane posted identifies these also. This paper along with the
1st sternal rib paper notes clinical findings pre and post mortem along
with a maternal link. Including embryonic mortality and confirmed C6 and
C7 spontaneous abortions of 3rd trimester foals.
The 3 spin off papers from UC Davis (De Rouen et.al), Utrecht Holland
(Veraa et al.) and Italy (Santinelli et al.) confirm these congenital
malformations and took the findings into other breeds; Warmbloods,
Standardbreds, Arabians and Quarter Horses to name a few. So in total 7
papers on the subject.
In fact, I have personally seen or know of it in New Zealand, Japan, UK, USA, Europe and of course Australia.
Research is a slow and time consuming journey and it took 15 years
from discovery to publication and I think this was a miracle considering
the number of road blocks I encountered.
Cheers
Sharon
Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
The trial of a new Australian-engineered veterinary
screening technology in the USA has been hailed a huge success, with the
New York Racing Association now implementing the system on a more
permanent basis.
StrideSAFE, a technology developed by Australian
company StrideMASTER and Kentucky-based Equine Analysis Systems, uses
data captured by a microchip in a horse’s saddlecloth during training
and racing to relay information about its movement.
The
data is available immediately and can be compared against a benchmark
to identify changes in horses’ stride length and stride frequency, which
are often red flags for a more serious, musculoskeletal injury.
That
opinion appears to have been backed up in the recent US trial, where
the StrideSAFE system was used on New York tracks between July 2021 and
April 2022.
During that 10 month period, data on 6,458 starts
was captured from 2,659 individual horses, although the data was only
monitored by authorities and not relayed to trainers.
Of the horses that sustained serious injuries, StrideSAFE predicted more than 90% of those injuries in advance.
During
the period of the trial, 27 horses suffered what was classified as a
serious injury or were euthanised following a race - 25 of those horses
received a red flag in races preceding the race in which they were
injured.
StrideSAFE CEO David Lambert said the successful trial meant the technology could now be used to save horses lives.
“To
achieve this level of predictive accuracy in the initial roll out of
the product is very exciting and there is further refinement to be made
as we accumulate more data,” Lambert said.
“We have already
identified from the trial data that all the injuries and fatalities
within the red-flagged group (25 horses) were in the top half of the
injury risk index for the red flagged horses.
“With further
analysis we will be able to reduce the number of red flags without
impacting the accuracy of the system and thereby reduce the number of
horses that require clinical follow up by up to 50%.
“It’s also
important to note that within the red flag group there are horses with
soundness issues. These soundness issues may or may not lead to injury,
so arming trainers with this information enables them to monitor the
higher risk horses more closely.”
Hawke said it was rewarding to
see the technology adopted in the USA and he hopes the results of the
trial prompt other international racing jurisdictions to consider its
application.
“When we set out on this path three years ago, the
objective was to develop a practical screening tool that could identify
horses at increased risk of injury in time for us to intervene,” Hawke
said.
“We are pleased to say that is now a reality.
“And
because of the cost-effective, non-invasive nature of the system, every
horse in every race can be easily monitored, making screening of the
entire participant horse population viable.”
Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
Ciaron Maher’s stable might already be at the forefront when it comes to utilising sports science in horse racing but the training juggernaut has no plans of slowing down, in fact Maher believes he is only scratching the surface when it comes to his revolutionary investment.
Perhaps ahead of the one of the stables more experimental moves in recent times with All-Star Mile winner and bold front runner Pride of Jenni stretched out to 2000 metres in Saturday’s Australian Cup, Racing.com sat down with the country’s leading trainer on the importance of science and the role it plays in his training.
“It’s no secret every sport in the world has improved with it and I think it makes a huge difference,” Maher professed.
“It’s something I will be investing a lot more time, money and resources into.
“It makes such a difference, I can see the horse in front of me and think it looks similar to last time around, but when you put the hard facts behind it, it makes you make better informed decisions.”
Maher employs a team of analysts to pore over seemingly endless amounts data which includes stride length, stride frequency, heart rate and sectional times each morning for horses who have worked across all of the stables training bases Australia-wide.
With up to four years of data collected and dating back to the likes of Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet for comparison, the team is looking for any shift in performance metrics which could play a role in racetrack performance.
That team is headed up by Josh Kadlec-Cavanagh, who formally used his bachelor of statistics to assist wagering companies, but is now on the other side of fence is his role of Head of Data and Performance at Ciaron Maher Racing.
For something so technical, a simple WhatsApp message is sent at the end of each day to Maher and his assistant trainers to any 'red flags' raised from the mornings workouts.
So what makes Pride of Jenni so special according to the numbers?
“Her action is huge,” Cavanagh reveals.
“She just clicked over eight metres maximum stride length leading into the All-Star Mile which is huge for a horse.
“And she can sustain this huge stride length with a decent cadence as well.
“Her recovery, we have horses that are better than her but we have horses in terms of recovery that are not as good as her but she sits above the median in terms of the population of the stable.
“She is on this upward spiral and she’s definitely not lightly raced anymore.
“She has continued to improve each preparation and she’s up there now with the top five per cent, even two percent, of the population in Australia.”
The question everyone wants to know is will Pride of Jenni sustain her brutal tempo for 2000 metres?
What you can bet on is nobody will be watching more closely, or have a better understanding of the sectionals, than Cavanagh.
“Obviously the trick will be getting out the 2000 metres and I think Declan (Bates) has well come to terms with the splits she will have to go early to get the distance,” Cavanagh explains.
“She won’t be able to go that same tempo she has over a mile but coming back that fraction.
“I had a look after the All-Star Mile and the figures to the 800 metres, in the last 10 years there had only been a couple of horses that had produced those figures and they were beaten respectively 18 and 20 lengths.
“She’s done something there that is out of the box and that’s quite amazing.”
Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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