January, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Study Finds Many Horses Show Pain-Related Behaviors During Saddling

A horse that fidgets in the crossties, pins his ears or swishes his tail may be trying to say something — that he's not enjoying tacking and he's not looking forward to the ride ahead. A horse that exhibits other behaviors—some not necessarily seen as “angry”–may be trying to say the same thing.

Drs. Dyson, Bondi, Routh, Pollard, Preston, McConnell and Kydd studied 193 horses from 11 different locations to discover what their tacking up and mounting behaviors meant. The horses were used for both pleasure and competition, and were ridden by both amateur and professional riders.

The research team designed a protocol that tracked 64 abnormal behaviors for tacking up and 30 abnormal behaviors for mounting. These included things like biting, fidgeting, pinning ears and swishing tails, as well as head tossing, staring, sticking out the tongue, licking and nose rubbing.

The team studied the horses for eight minutes, then completed a systematic palpation of where the saddle sits and the surrounding areas to detect sensitivity.

Ten abnormal behaviors while tacking was the most common number seen, though one horse displayed 33 abnormal behaviors (out of 64). The most common behaviors included a reluctance to open the mouth for the bit (16.8 percent); chomping on the bit (67 percent); head tossing (12.4 percent); and avoiding the bridle (10.9 percent). The majority of horses stared (61.1 percent) or turned their head back while being bridled (56.5 percent).

Abnormal behaviors during mounting ranged from none to 12 (out of 30). The most common behavior was fidgeting, with tail swishing (17.1 percent), chomping on the bit (16.8 percent); stretching out (14 percent); yanking down on the reins (12.4 percent); and tossing their head (10.9 percent) seen most often. Nearly 8 percent of the horses had to be held while the rider mounted.

The researchers concluded that many of the behaviors the horses exhibited during tacking up and mounting are abnormal, meaning they differ from the behaviors a horse exhibits at rest. These behaviors typically indicate that a horse is stressed or in pain, possibly from oral issues, tack or work. The team also found that 78.2 percent of the saddles used had the potential to be painful and compromise performance.

The researchers concluded that owners should be aware of these abnormal issues and possibly investigate their underlying causes.

Journalist Paul Haigh Dies at 76

The British racing press room has lost one of its legends with the passing of former HWPA Racing Journalist of the Year Paul Haigh, who has died aged 76.

In truth, Haigh, who received his crowning accolade at the Derby Awards ceremony in 1993, was never much seen in the press rooms of British racecourses even at the best of times because he was a feature-writer rather than a reporter. And when he chose to make race-meetings the subject of his features, he would be as likely to watch the action on television in his living room (or in a betting shop) as from the stands through binoculars. But it was this detachment that made his writing so special: he wrote from the point of view of someone more at home throwing his pencil at the TV in disgust as the horse which he has backed starts to weaken than rubbing shoulders with grandees in the Committee Room.

Haigh's entrée into the game came via a route no longer available, as a boardman in a betting shop, marking up the prices before the races and the results afterwards, with the Extel commentaries the sound-track to his working days. His passion for the game and his command of the language came to the attention of Pacemaker editor Michael Harris, who signed him up as one of the magazine's feature-writers. That he took to this like a duck to water was shown by the fact that in 1984 he won an award as specialist columnist of the year for a trade publication in the Magazine Publishing Awards. When the Racing Post was founded in 1986, he was hired by founding editor Graham Rock to write a column (which could and would be on pretty much any subject) two or three times a week. He filled this role until 1993. Thereafter he became a freelance writer but still contributed to the Racing Post intermittently until 2009.

Haigh's political persuasions—ie left-wing, anti-establishment—underscored his output, his belief in the importance of fairness and natural justice under-pinning his work to at least the same extent that his passion for the sport did. Overall, though, the principal ingredient in his work was humour. A Paul Haigh column would probably enthuse the reader and very possibly get him thinking—but, most of all, it would almost certainly make him laugh.

Michael Harris, under whom Haigh worked both at Pacemaker and a few years later at the Racing Post, said in that newspaper's tribute to his former colleague, “His writing was as good as anything I've ever read on horseracing. Not necessarily from the point of view of his opinions, but certainly from his wonderful style of writing and the humour it conveyed.

“He consistently showed all the attributes of a great columnist in that he was controversial, irreverent and often very funny. He was a wonderful raconteur but along with that he was also obstinate and difficult to control. He would say what he thought and to hell with the consequences.

“The genius of Paul Haigh was in his writing ability and journalistic skills. He wrote with an Orwellian clarity to the point where even his great nemesis, the late John McCririck, once said that Haigh was always a good writer and sometimes a great writer.”

As well as for his many memorable Racing Post and Pacemaker columns, Paul Haigh will perhaps be best remembered for his books, most notably The Racehorse Trainer, which was published by Partridge Press in 1990 and contained profiles of 21 of the world's leading trainers at the time, the words written by Haigh and the photographs taken by George Selwyn. For anyone looking to compile a time-capsule of the racing world in the final quarter of the 20^th century, this book would have been an automatic selection.

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Colonel Liam’s Pegasus a Win for All Connections

The journey from Missouri to Hallandale Beach proved to be more than worth it for owners Robert and Lawana Low when they watched their speedy gray colt Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) flash past the wire to win the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf.

While Robert Low said they were confident going into the Pegasus, they were unconvinced that the newly-turned 4-year-old had to win by a landslide in order to be considered a top contender in his division.

“I think it was a really nice field,” he noted. “There were some really nice horses with some good numbers, but he didn't disappoint.

While the Lows enjoyed the victory from the winner's circle, another couple celebrated from their farm in Ocala.

Colonel Liam became a dream come true for Ron and Suzanne Fein when he was their first seven-figure pinhook in 2019.

“He came on like gangbusters,” Ron Fein said of the race with enthusiasm. “It was terrific- just beautiful movement. I had always been thinking dirt, so he surprised me. I think he'd be good on dirt or turf; He's just a superhorse.”

The Feins have been pinhooking both weanlings and yearlings for 22 years at their Superfine Farms in Ocala. Throughout their journey in the business, they've worked closely with Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables. Fein credits Dunne for finding Colonel Liam at the 2018 Keeneland September Sale.

“He saw the horse and asked if I liked him,” Fein recalled. “I thought he was a nice-looking colt. He had good conformation and looked like he was going to be quick, but I didn't think he was anything special, special.”

Colonel Liam sells for $1.2 million with the Wavertree consignment at the 2019 OBS April Sale. | Wavertree Stables

After signing the ticket for $50,000, Fein brought the colt home to Superfine Farms, where he and his wife break six to eight yearlings each year.

By the time Fein delivered the colt to Wavertree in the weeks leading up to the OBS April Sale, the youngster had been transformed.

“When we took him over to Ciaran, his eyes lit up,” Fein recalled. “He had gained a lot of leg, his body had filled out and he looked absolutely gorgeous. He was a beautiful mover. We use Racing Edge Training Center and we kept getting comments from trainers and riders that they thought this horse was something special.”

The April-foaled gray was out Amazement (Bernardini), a daughter of dual Grade I winner Wonder Again (Silver Hawk) and a sister to Red Raven (Smart Strike), a stakes winner in Japan. He hailed from the family of Grass Wonder, a champion 2-year-old in Japan.

After breezing :20 4/5 at the sale, Colonel Liam caught the eye of several top bidders, including the Low's agent Jacob West.

“I was relying on Jacob's evaluation of him,” Low explained. “We noticed in his pedigree, he had a strong female family. Jacob, with his connection to the Taylor brothers, has a lot of appreciation for Unbridled's Song and that sire line.”

Colonel Liam sold to the Lows for $1.2 million and, while the Feins had had several pinhooks come close to the seven-figure mark over the years, the colt became their first million-dollar sale.

“I think that was probably one of the most exciting days of our lives when he sold for all that money,” Fein said. “We thought that he was going to get close to a million and then it kept going and going.”

“We were pretty close to the top of our budget,” Low admitted. “Usually those million-dollar purchases are just the kiss of death, but this one is working out so far.”

Colonel Liam was sent to Todd Pletcher and made his debut in April on the dirt. He was elevated to first via a disqualification, but Low said they were a bit disappointed with the effort after reviewing the numbers.

After a third-place finish in his next start, Pletcher decided to switch the sophomore over to the grass. The colt responded with a 2 3/4-length romp in an allowance at Saratoga.

“I don't think the numbers really described how impressive that particular race was,” Low said. “We had a big sigh of relief that this guy was going to be worth it after all.”

Stepping into stakes company next in the Saratoga Derby Invitational S., after getting bumped and pinched at the start, he finished behind eventual Grade I winners Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman (GB}) and Gufo (Declaration of War), and was a nose short of third after stablemate No Word (Silent Name {Jpn}).

“He had a really tough trip,” Low said. “At the end he had a lot of run left in him with no where to go and no way to get through. He was less than a length from the winner even with all the trouble he had, so we thought we had the best horse in that race.”

Colonel Liam didn't disappoint in his final start leading up to the Pegasus with a 3 1/4-length win in the Tropical Park Derby.

Off as the 5-2 favorite in his first Grade I bid in the Pegasus, Colonel Liam maintained a ground-saving position in the middle of the field, but was shifted out wide by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. going into the stretch and outdueled stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) to win by a neck.

“I thought he might have had too much to do as they came into the turn, but he figured out a way to get there,” said Low. “Irad did an excellent job and they got up. He galloped out nicely, went back to the barn and ate every oat.”

Low reported that while they're still enjoying reliving the win from this past weekend, the GI Old Forester Turf Classic S. on Kentucky Derby Day is an intermediate goal for the colt's 2021 campaign, although they may find another spot before then.

While the colt has only had six starts so far in his career, Low said the emotional roller coaster they've experienced already has made the horse unforgettable for both him and his wife.

“I think it's the anticipation that you have a nice horse,” he said. “Then you get some reality along the way with those first two dirt races. So you kind of have some ups and downs, but those downs are what make the good times so good.”

Low, owner of the Missouri-based trucking company Prime Inc., and his wife Lawana have been hooked on racing ever since their first Grade I winner in 1996 when Capote Belle (Capote) won the GI Test S. and then the GI Humana Distaff H. the following year.

Today, their racing stable has roughly 14 horses, of which half are in training with Pletcher and the others are split between Danny Peitz and Steve Margolis. They also are working to expand their breeding operation on their farm in Missouri.

Low said their all-time favorite horse they've owned is Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), who won the GII Rebel S. and GI Arkansas Derby in 2018, but succumbed to a battle with laminitis following his bid in the GI Kentucky Derby that year.

“He was a dream horse,” Low recalled. “That guy was so smart and even through all his medical issues, he was a gentleman and courageous all the way.”

The tragic loss of Magnum Moon, Low said, makes Colonel Liam even more special for the couple.

“We understand how precious and how courageous these horses are,” he said. “They go out there and put it all on the line. So I think it makes us appreciate having a good, healthy horse. It doesn't really change what happened with Magnum Moon emotionally, but it does give you an appreciation to live in the moment and take it all in.”

Ron Fein and his wife Suzanne recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their Superfine Farms in Ocala. | Fasig-Tipton

The Lows may have several opportunities to make it to the winner's circle on big race days this year as they look forward to the return of two 4-year-old fillies. Dual graded stakes-winning turfer Sweet Melania (American Pharoah) and Grade II-placed Spice Is Nice (Curlin) are both expected to make their 4-year-old debuts by late spring.

When asked how he and his wife enjoyed the win on Pegasus Day, Low responded with a laugh, “We worked that bottle of champagne over real well, then we came back to Missouri in the early evening and have been quarantined since. But the quarantine is a small price to pay, so now we're just taking it all in and enjoying this horse.”

As for the couple who first put a saddle on the newly-crowned Grade I winner, the Feins celebrated the 25^th anniversary of their farm days after Colonel Liam's victory. Fein said they have several promising pinhooks preparing for the upcoming 2-year-old sales, including a colt by Practical Joke and another by Arrogate.

“We believe in quality,” he said. “We try not to get overloaded with horses and we give most of them to Ciaran to finish off. He's the best that there is in the business. We have been very lucky together and it's been a great relationship. The man has a fabulous eye and it's nice doing business with honest people.”

When asked if he has any regrets over selling Colonel Liam or if he's happy to enjoy the memories of their dream-fulfilling sale, Fein responded, “Let's put it this way- you never stop riding the high of a million-dollar sale.”

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ITBA Awards Honour Todd Watt Among Top Breeders

Dolphins swimming in the Venetian canals may have been pandemic fake news, but that the world will have benefited environmentally is one of the few upsides to the coronavirus crisis. What is not fake news is that many heads and livers will have been feeling better on Sunday morning than would otherwise be the case following the annual ITBA Awards, but that is the only benefit to missing out on what is always one of the social highlights of the racing year.

Attendance at this event is not for the faint-hearted or the early-to-bedders. Traditionally, gongs are still being handed out past midnight and then the celebrating begins, on the dance floor, in the residents' bar and often through to the breakfast table. Like pretty much every other event of the past year, the ITBA Awards, celebrating the best performances by Irish-bred horses on the Flat and over jumps, was forced into a virtual format, but that didn't stop it being a memorably emotional evening.

Ireland's reputation as a country of Thoroughbred breeders of the highest calibre has long been a cause for celebration but before we toast the best in show for 2020, the award which will have lightened the lockdown gloom the most among the tight-knit breeding community was the Rathbarry Stud-sponsored ITBA Special Recognition Award for Todd Watt. The masterful Tattersalls auctioneer has been absent from the sales for the last few years since suffering a stroke but, with the awards presentations posted in individual video segments across social media channels throughout the evening, viewers and followers were able to see Todd receive his award from Niamh Woods. That he is missed as much as he is loved was clear from the many deserving tributes from his friends and colleagues, both in the moving film and subsequently on Twitter.

“All through his career in Tatts, he was our go-to guy, not just for me but for all the Irish,” said Eddie O'Leary of Lynn Lodge Stud, summing up the regard in which Watt is held by many vendors at the sales.

Fellow Tattersalls auctioneer John O'Kelly added, “Todd Watt is the great ambassador. A lovable character; everybody in the industry has huge respect for him. He sold horses with a smile on his face, he made people feel good, and no stone was unturned to ever get somebody an extra bid for a horse.”

Horseracing and breeding are not immune to the financial concerns generated by the Covid pandemic but in Ireland some comfort must be taken in the close links between the industry and government, which is doubtless the envy of other racing nations. This was evident in the fact that the Taoiseach Micheal Martin gave a video address at the start of awards evening, recognising the major contribution of the bloodstock world to Ireland's economy.

“The tumultuous events of 2020 and the continuing pandemic have had a significant impact on your industry,” he said. “An important pillar of government policy is to ensure that the horseracing and Thoroughbred industry achieves its maximum potential and, in so doing, continues to contribute to economic and social development across a wide geographic swathe of the country. It is estimated that the Thoroughbred industry has an annual economic impact of €1.9 billion, with direct and indirect employment of up to 29,000 people. Additionally the industry brings a high level of international investment into Ireland. The Irish racing and breeding industry is extremely competitive at a global level. We are the third-biggest producer of Thoroughbred foals in the world and estimates place Ireland behind only the United States as the biggest public seller of bloodstock globally.”

Three of those foals produced in 2018 led to Derek and Gay Veitch's Ringfort Stud being named Breeder of the Year. The Co Offaly-based farm had a year to remember with its 2-year-olds in particular, with Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) winning the G2 Gimcrack S. and G2 Lowther S. at York's Ebor meeting, followed by the G2 Flying Childers S. win of Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). The latter and Miss Amulet both went on to be placed at the Breeders' Cup, and Minzaal was the second consecutive Ringfort-bred winner of the Gimcrack following Threat (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}).

“The best 2-year-olds that we had in 2020 were all by stallions out of Tally-Ho. I love it because they were cheap horses to produce, just farm costs and running costs, and they've ended up great racehorses which has helped us immensely with the mares,” said Derek Veitch. “The couple of days in York was amazing. To have the Lowther winner and then the Gimcrack winner for the second year in a row was just incredible and very satisfying for us.”

Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was the toast of the Longines World's Best Racehorse ceremony last week and he was recognised again in the award to his breeder Dermot Weld's Springbank Way Stud in the Older Horse of the Year category. Ghaiyyath's former stable-mate Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) earned the Three-Year-Old Colt of the Year award for his breeder Godolphin, while the Two-Year-Colt of the Year was the G1 Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), bred by The Hon. Kenneth Lau of Kangyu International Racing at John Tuthill's Owenstown Stud.

“It is very exciting to have bred Supremacy from one of the first mares I have owned,” said Lau. “Thank you to Owenstown Stud for raising Supremacy and to Ed Sackville for buying [his dam] Triggers Broom (Ire). We sold her very good Cotai Glory (GB) colt at Book 1 to King Power and we have a lovely Cotai Glory filly to race. Tiggers Broom now visits Frankel (GB).”

It is overseas that the best Irish-bred fillies excelled in 2020. Trained at Ballydoyle by Aidan O'Brien, the Coolmore-bred Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was unbeaten in her three starts, all in England, in the 1000 Guineas, Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. Farther afield, the 2-year-old Aunt Pearl (Ire) was also unbeaten in three races in America, culminating in her becoming the second daughter of Lope De Vega (Ire) to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf after Newspaperofrecord (Ire). Aunt Pearl was bred in partnership by Ballylinch Stud and the French-based Ecurie Des Charmes.

A highlight of Saturday's afternoon's racing was the success of Shishkin (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}) in the G2 ITM Lightning Novices' Chase but it was his victory in last March's G1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival which sealed his Best Novice Hurdler award for breeder Clive Bennett.

Philip and Jane Myerscough received the award for the Best Novice Chaser, another Cheltenham winner in Champ (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}), while Hurdler of the Year was Paisley Park (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}), who won the title for the second year for breeder Michael Conaghan. The Chaser of the Year was another multiple winner, the great Altior (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), bred by Paddy Behan who has now won five consecutive ITBA awards.

One of the most popular prizes given at this event is the annual Wild Geese Award which recognises the success of Irish men and women overseas. Recent recipients include bloodstock agent Mags O'Toole, Keeneland's Geoffrey Russell and the late Gerry Dilger of Dromoland Farm.

As awards host Leo Powell said, this year's winner has ventured just about as far from home as it is possible to be: New Zealand. Gordon Cunningham may have settled a long way away but his Irish roots are not forgotten, as the name of his successful Curraghmore Farm in Waikato suggests.

The Waterford native is a grandson of legendary Irish trainer Michael Collins, and thus cousin to current trainer Tracey Collins, who succeeded her father Con at Conyngham Lodge on the Curragh.

“We were always excited to go to the Curragh for the summer and of course Uncle Con was an icon for our family and we were inwardly very proud of just being in his presence or being able to visit Conynhgam Lodge, where mum was raised,” said Cunningham in a video made at last week's Karaka yearling sale.

He added, “I know there are many people around the world who are worthy of this award and I feel very privileged to be considered worthy of it. I'm very grateful to the ITBA and would like to congratulate all the other recipients of awards thought the evening. I would like to acknowledge my late Uncle Dick Collins and my Aunt Bernie, who took my younger brother and I under their wing when our father passed away when I was pretty young. They brought us up to the Curragh every summer. From my first summer at Lisieux [Stud] I knew horses were going to be my life.”

Among the notable graduates of Curraghmore Farm are Melbourne Cup winner Efficient (NZ), Australian champion 3-year-old Fairway (NZ) and Hong Kong champion stayer Liberator (NZ).

Andrew Seabrook of New Zealand Bloodstock said, “Gordon takes it to another level. He's more focused on breeding quality and good horses than getting the top price in the sale ring. He's so focused on just getting the very best out of a horse and he reads the market so well.”

The wide world of bloodstock boasts many graduates of the Irish National Stud breeding course, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. Further celebration is due in that the government-owned stud itself has now become the first organisation to be inducted to the ITBA Hall of Fame.

“The Thoroughbred industry in Ireland is something which we are justifiably proud of as world leaders, and having an organisation like the Irish National Stud that essentially belongs to the people is very important,” said Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby.

In accepting the award, the Irish Minister of Agriculture John McConalogue acknowledged the stud's “continued determination for excellence” and said, “I am delighted to be accepting the 2020 Hall of Fame award on behalf of the National Stud. This is in recognition of the stud's invaluable contribution to the Irish Thoroughbred industry over many decades, from the stallions it stands to the world-renowned breeding course and the impact it has as a national tourist attraction. This award sees the Irish National Stud join an august group which includes JP McManus, David and Diane Nagle, Jim Bolger, Sadler's Wells and Michael Osborne.”

While Ireland and Britain remain under strict lockdown, with racing continuing behind closed doors and sales online, there are currently few opportunities for the industry's participants to meet in person. What the ITBA successfully pulled off on Saturday night was bringing people together, albeit virtually, in recognition and celebration of one of Ireland's best attributes: its deserved reputation as a centre for equine excellence. Congratulations to the ITBA team and to all the award winners.

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