December, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cellulitis: A Challenging Condition To Cure

Cellulitis is a sudden, painful skin infection that requires aggressive, immediate care. Most commonly affecting the hind legs, many horses recover readily, but complications are possible, and chronic flare-ups are a possibility.

Cellulitis occurs when bacteria penetrate the epidermis of the skin and multiplies in the subcutis, which is made up mainly of fatty and connective tissues. Primary cellulitis has no specific point of origin and exactly how it penetrates the skin is often unknown. Secondary cellulitis occurs when bacteria enter tissues through a known route, like a wound or surgical incision.

Cellulitis can be caused by a variety of bacteria and needs to be treated promptly. Left untreated, the infection can affect bone, tendon or synovial structures. Sepsis and laminitis can also occur.

Signs of cellulitis include:

Dramatic swelling that comes on rapidly and feels firm
Heat
Pain that tends to appear when the horse is asked to step forward rather than bear weight
Fever
Wetness: the swelling can progress rapidly to the point where fluid leaks from cracks in skin that is overstretched

A vet may take X-rays or do an ultrasound to rule out other possible issues like a joint infection or fracture. He or she may also culture the fluid weeping from the leg; this will help determine what bacteria is involved so that the proper antibiotic can be administered.

The primary treatment for cellulitis is intravenous antibiotics, as well as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories to help with pain and swelling. Cold hosing or ice boots or bandaging can also help.

Horses with secondary cellulitis tend to recover more rapidly. Though some cases of cellulitis can be managed at home, severe cases may need to be referred to an equine hospital.

Horses that have had even one episode of cellulitis become susceptible to chronic cellulitis, specifically in the same limb, whether the skin was permanently damaged from the extreme swelling or because circulatory and lymphatics systems have been damaged to the point that they are unable to mount an immune response. Horses that have had cellulitis even once should be monitored carefully as even the tiniest wound may initiate a new round of cellulitis.

Tips to avoid cellulitis recurrence:

Turn out the horse as much as possible in dry condition
Use shampoo sparingly when bathing
Avoid sharing grooming tools and sterilize them regularly

Top Stories of 2020

If nothing else, 2020 was a news-making year. From the indictments to the coronavirus to the passage of the Integrity Act, the news started early and just kept on coming.

For the first time ever, the TDN eclipsed 8 million pageviews. What were the most popular stories among those? We took a look back at the most-read stories of the year; while the indictments and the virus dominated the news, we also found some surprises.

Standardbred Horseman John Brennan Dies of Coronavirus, March 10, 2020.

Coming on the heels of the indictment news, the first racing-related death from COVID-19 was our most-read story of the year.

Cox Refuses to Take Rockingham Ranch Horses, by Bill Finley, March 10, 2020.

Published the same day as the number one story of the year and one day after the indictments, this story details Brad Cox’s unwillingness to take horses formerly trained by Jorge Navarro for Rockingham Ranch. It outstripped even the original indictment story in number of reads.

Jason Servis, Jorge Navarro Face Federal Indictment in Doping Scheme, by Bill Finley and Alan Carasso, March 9, 2020.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed indictments against Thoroughbred veterinarians and trainers, including Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro Monday in Manhattan. A total of 27 defendants were named in four separate indictments, alleging that the two trainers and 25 others engaged in a `widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants’ control.'” So began the story that would continue to make news for the rest of the year.

Empire Maker Dies, by Alan Carasso, January 20, 2020.

At the age of 20, Empire Maker succumbed to a rare disease that compromised his immune system. We took a look back at his legacy.

Woodford Team Voting for Independence, by Chris McGrath, February 6, 2020.

McGrath’s profile of Shannon Castagnola at Woodford Thoroughbreds was his most-read story for us in 2020.

Baffert Unveils Another Into Mischief Monster, November 22, 2020.

The debut of WinStar Farm’s Life Is Good (Into Mischief) was our most read race-result of the year and sixth most popular story overall.

Harness Trainer Rene Allard Latest Arrested in Doping Scandal, by Bill Finley, March 13, 2020.

Harness trainer Rene Allard, the second-leading trainer at Yonkers at the time of his arrest, brought the number of individuals known to be involved in the doping scandal to 29.

Letter to the Editor, Brad Weisbord, on his Battle with COVID-19, March 23, 2020.

“On Monday (3/18) my wife said to me in the middle of the night, `What’s wrong with you? You’re gasping for air.’ On Tuesday morning, I could not get out of bed.” Weisbord would go on to test positive for COVID-19.

Florida Racing Prepares to Say Goodbye to Calder, by Bill Finley, October 2, 2020.

Finley chronicles the last-ever season at Miami’s Calder Race Course, which had been in operation since 1971.

Despite Fears of Getting Caught, Alleged Doping Conspirators Chatted and Texted Anyway, by T.D. Thornton, March 9, 2020.

“The indictments also yield another startling revelation: That some of the defendants–particularly Navarro–allegedly expressed a fear of getting caught by communicating their alleged wrongdoings via phone conversations and text messaging. Yet they allegedly persisted in making alleged doping plans using their mobile devices anyway.” Thornton details those key 2019 conversations.

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Casino games: Poker recognition. Part two.

A complex nature of poker generated in poker community a discussion on what dominates in this casino game: skills or success. Most of the people believe that poker is a casino game the outcome of which depends on skills of a casino player and only a small probability is given to a chance. This thesis is confirmed by facts. For instance, legendary poker players have won WSOP poker championship for many times independently on a number of participants. Thus, Johnny Moss has triply become a poker champion (in 1970, 1971 and 1974), a three-time poker champion is the greatest player of the 20th century Stew Ungar, he won WSOP in 1980, 1981 and 1997. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chen have twice tried on Gold WSOP winner bracelets. In poker as in any other kind of sports there is an elite of poker players who win great tournaments every year or take prize places. Just sport compound of poker let make poker player rating, every year the first places are occupied there by the poker the casino and poker rooms community.

As to the opinion of the states on the nature of poker, here everything’s more complicated and sophisticated. As a rule, in many countries the authorities don’t make any difference between gambling games and poker. However such a fuddy-duddy approach has recently tried to break the poker community. Poker and casino games fans unite themselves in associations, public entities trying to prove to the officials that poker can not be put together with roulette or slot machines.

Sometimes the authorities themselves understand that. For instance, in the United States poker can be played not only in casinos but in special card rooms the activity of which is allowed only on the territory of the states where gambling business is prohibited. Thus, on the territory of California successfully work 91 card rooms, in Florida 16, in Washington 112, the state of Montana counts even 493 card rooms. The income of American card rooms (not including casinos) in 2006 made more than 1 milliard dollars. The activity of these organizations are severely controlled by the government. For instance, the legislation of Florida fully regulates the rate of the stakes in poker. This year in June got effect the law according to which the stakes in limited poker games are allowed to be increased from 2 to 5 dollars, in unlimited Texas Hold’em maximum allowed rate of buy-in makes 100 dollars.

However these states are predominantly exceptions. Unfortunately poker for most of American officials is a gamble. For most of them but not for everybody. In June 2007 a congressman Robert Wexler introduced to the House of representatives of the USA a draft law named “Skill Game Protection Act”. According to this draft law such games as poker, bridge, chess should not fall within the scope of the law because on the author’s mind they are games where skills dominate over a chance. A very serious political force acting on the side of poker is a senator Alfonse D’Amato who together with the organization “Poker Players Alliance” fights for a fair and objective attitude of the authorities to the favourite game.

But if in the USA the process of poker recognition as a skill game has just begun in some other countries poker scored off the conservatism of the officials.

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I Never Thought We’d Be Able To Go Twice’

When longtime family friend and Thoroughbred trainer Todd Fincher starts throwing around labels like “really special,” owner/breeder Joe Peacock, Jr. definitely starts to get his hopes up.

“That actually makes me more nervous,” said Peacock, 62, chuckling genially. “Todd doesn't generally talk about horses like that.”

Fincher was describing a 2-year-old colt who, at that point, had done little more than break his maiden over suspect company in a 5 ½-furlong contest at Remington Park. Third-generation Peacock homebred Senor Buscador missed the break in that race, rallied six wide and got up to win by 2 ½ lengths, but his final time of 1:03.78 wasn't particularly newsworthy.

However, the trainer's faith in the colt, and Peacock's returned faith in the trainer, convinced the owner to enter the colt in Remington's $200,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 19. It was a massive step up, both in distance and in class, but Fincher remained confident.

“Todd told me, 'I won't guarantee you that he'll win this race,'” recalled Peacock. “Then he added, 'I will guarantee you that his talent's gonna shine through.' It certainly did!”

Senor Buscador missed the break once again and was 17 lengths behind the field early on, making his connections nervous from the start. The colt needed just 1:37.87 to change their minds, showing up with a powerful late rally to pass all nine of his rivals and win the one-mile contest by 5 ¾ lengths.

“If we can ever get him out of the gate, he'll be really dangerous,” Peacock quipped. “To do that in just his second lifetime start, though, that was pretty impressive.”

Compared to older horses racing earlier on the same card, Senor Buscador put up a quality time for the mile. Dont Tell Noobody, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding, won the one-mile $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes in 1:39.50. Dipping In, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly, won the $70,000 Useeit Stakes at one mile in 1:40.69.

Unfortunately, Senor Buscador was not eligible for the 10 Kentucky Derby points usually offered to the race's winner. The 2-year-old son of Mineshaft raced on Lasix in the Springboard Mile, and the 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby will not award points unless horses compete without the race-day medication.

Moving forward, that won't be a problem for Senor Buscador, Peacock said.

“(The Springboard Mile) was only his second lifetime start, and he's a late foal, born in May, stretching out from 5 ½ to a mile stakes,” Peacock explained. “Todd just felt like (running on Lasix) was the right thing to do just as a precaution, but obviously going forward on the Derby trail, we'll be running without it.

“We're not really worried about it.”

Should the colt's abilities prove just as eye-catching without Lasix, he will easily make the jump to most Kentucky Derby pundits' top ten lists as the 2021 season approaches. Fans and analysts will likely see Senor Buscador back in action at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., possibly as early as the G3 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 16.

The colt's name is loosely translated from Spanish to Mr. Prospector, the result of a family-wide contest to name the year's foals and a play on the fact that Mr. Prospector appears on both top and bottom of Senor Buscador's pedigree.

It marks the second time in the past three years that Peacock's family have had a horse on the Kentucky Derby trail. In 2018, Senor Buscador's half-brother Runaway Ghost won the G3 Sunland Derby to earn his spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Their Derby dreams fell apart, however, when Runaway Ghost suffered a fractured shin and had to be given time off, missing the Run for the Roses.

Connections of Runaway Ghost celebrate in the winner's circle after the Sunland Derby

It had felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so the entire Peacock clan decided to take the trip to Louisville, Ky., anyway.

“We already had all the plans in place,” Peacock explained. “We took Friday and went over to Shawhan Place where the mares are, and then it rained all day long on Saturday, but we still had fun.

“You know, we really enjoy the whole process, from owning the broodmare, determining who you want to breed to, raising the foal, and then seeing it out on the racetrack. I know that's not the way people are in this business very much anymore, but we love every part of it.”

It was one of the last trips Peacock would take with his father, the family patriarch Joe Sr., who passed in September of this year at 88 years of age. It was the elder Peacock who first fell in love with racing in the 1960s, coordinating trips from the family's home in San Antonio, Tx., over to Ruidoso in New Mexico to watch Quarter Horses strut their stuff on the track.

“That's kind of the closest place in Texas you can go to get to the mountains, so that's where we ran the horses in the beginning,” Peacock explained. “Eventually he switched over to Thoroughbreds, and since it's hard to get open-company races to go in New Mexico, we started running them all over. We took trips to Santa Anita, to Hollywood Park; we went to the races a lot. It was a wonderful childhood.”

Peacock Sr. purchased the family's foundation broodmare, Snippet, by Alysheba, at the dispersal sale of family friend Joe Strauss in the late 1990s. An Illinois-bred out of a G3-winning daughter of Damascus, Snippet won four allowance races on the track and earned just shy of $70,000. Peacock sent her to California's Old English Rancho for a mating to multiple G1-winning millionaire Peaks and Valleys (Mt. Livermore).

Miss Glen Rose, the resultant Kentucky-bred filly, didn't do much on the track, but it was a different story altogether with her daughter, Rose's Desert.

Rose's Desert was foaled in New Mexico in 2008, sired by the unraced Desert God (Fappiano-Blush With Pride, by Blushing Groom). The filly showed such promise in her early days that Peacock Sr. turned to a new up-and-coming trainer when she was ready for the track.

Fincher was winning a large number of the New Mexico-bred stakes races, and Peacock Sr. called him up out of the blue to offer him the chance to train Rose's Desert.

“The rest, as they say, was history,” Peacock Jr. said fondly. “She turned into an amazing race mare, and we trust Todd implicitly with all our racehorses, from breaking them to running on the track.”

Rose's Desert raced 15 times, winning 10 and finishing second the other five times, and was never beaten more than 1 ¼ lengths. Seven of her wins came in state-bred stakes races, and she earned a total of $626,035.

“She was just such a cool horse to have in the barn,” Fincher said. “She's definitely my all-time favorite. She was just unbelievably fast.”

An ankle chip ended the mare's career prematurely in 2013, and the Peacock family decided to send her after the best stallions in Kentucky. Her first mating to Ghostzapper produced Runaway Ghost in 2015, a horse who may have missed his chance at the Kentucky Derby but earned $783,509 and won eight of 15 lifetime starts. He'll stand his first season at stud in 2021 at Double LL Farms in Bosque, N.M.

Rose's Desert visited Curlin next, producing stakes-winner Sheriff Brown, and then produced a filly by Ghostzapper named Our Iris Rose, after the family's matriarch. Our Iris Rose is still in training, and while she's had a couple minor issues along the way, Peacock Jr. expects she'll be able to live up to her family's talent as a 4-year-old in 2021.

Senor Buscador is sired by Mineshaft, and marks Rose's Desert's third stakes winner from four foals on the ground. The mare took a year off from the breeding shed in 2018, then aborted a filly by Quality Road last December due to placentitis. Currently she's carrying a filly by Candy Ride due in February, and Peacock said he has no set plans for the 12-year-old mare's future.

Of course, should Senor Buscador continue to progress along the Kentucky Derby trail, a return visit to Mineshift could be on the horizon.

“It's a good problem to have, but we definitely haven't decided anything,” Peacock said. “We're just so grateful to her… I ought to take her some roses the next time I see her.”

Senor Buscador is listed as bred by both Peacock and his father, so his Friday night victory in the Springboard Mile was that much more special. The entire family, including Peacock's two sisters, his mother, five children, and six grandchildren will try to attend the colt's next start, whether it be in New Orleans or elsewhere, and cheer him all the way to Louisville.

“I guess nobody really knows what to expect, with everything this year,” Peacock said. “It would be incredible to take this horse to the Kentucky Derby. I never thought we'd be able to go twice.”

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