May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

3,000th Winner For Richard Fahey

Trainer Richard Fahey saddled his 3,000th winner when Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}) saluted at Ayr on Tuesday evening. Fahey has trained over 150 winners a year for the past six seasons, with his best annual number equaling the then-record of 235 wins. The record has since been broken by Mark Johnston. Among the top horses to thrive at Musley Bank in North Yorkshire were outstanding miler Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), Wootton Bassett (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}), Mayson (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), and Gabrial (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

“I would never have dreamed of reaching 3,000 winners when I started out, to have had 30 would have been enough back then,” the Irishman, who rode over 1000 winners as a jockey before switching to training, told Great British Racing.

“However, I'm obviously delighted to have reached such a fantastic milestone now and the credit must go to all my team as I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

“If I had to pick one highlight, it would have to be Ribchester breaking the track record in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, it doesn't get much better than that.”

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Medina Spirit Draws Post 3 in Preakness; 9-5 ML Choice

Medina Spirit (Protonico), who crossed the wire first in the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, drew Post 3 at the post-position draw at Pimlico Race Course Tuesday afternoon. Trained by Bob Baffert, the colt was installed the 9-5 morning line favorite in the field of 10. Baffert is also represented by Concert Tour (Street Sense), who will break from gate 10 under Hall of Famer Mike Smith. The Gary and Mary West homebred took the GII San Vicente S. and GII Rebel S. earlier this season. Third choice on the morning line at 5-1, GIII Lecomte S. scorer Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) will exit post 5 under Irad Ortiz Jr., while GIII Withers S. winner Risk Taking (Medglia d'Oro) drew the nine hole. The Chad Brown trainee will be accompanied by Jose Ortiz. Also conditioned by Brown, Crowded Trade (More Than Ready), third in the Apr. 3 GII Wood Memorial last out, was given a 10-1 chance on the morning line while drawing post four. Post position and odds for the other Preakness contenders are: Rombauer (Twirling Candy) (Post 6, 12-1), Unbridled Honor (Honor Code) (Post 8, 15-1), Keepmeinmind (Laoban) (Post 2, 15-1), France Go De Ina (Will Take Charge) (Post 7, 20-1) and Ram (American Pharoah) (Post 1, 30-1).

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Does Inadequate Sleep Affect Equine Memory?

As a prey species, horses have evolved to sleep in unique ways that will allow them to be nearly constantly vigilant about predators. One way they can stay on alert is dozing while standing up. Though they don't enter the necessary rapid eye movement (REM) phase in this position, they are able to fulfill some sleep requirements. To get deep REM sleep, the horse must lie down.

Though horses can cope with short periods of REM sleep, it's imperative that they are able to enter this regenerative sleep phase. Dr. Linda Greening and colleagues from Aberystwyth University created a study to determine the cognitive effects on horses if environmental factors precluded them from entering the REM sleep cycle.

The researchers tested environmental effects on equine sleep patterns using two light regimes and two different depths of straw bedding. The team then tested each horse to see if his cognitive performance was affected by sleep patterns.

The team placed 10 adult horses into two groups for the five-week experiment. Each group had either the lights on or off overnight and straw bedding at nearly two inches or nearly six inches for six days. The horse then measured the horse's response to a cognitive test.

The team found that the horse's sleep stages were affected by both the lighting and the depth of bedding. Horses that were bedded more shallowly spend more time standing, meaning they didn't enter the REM sleep cycle.

The lighting and bedding did not have a significant impact on the memory test, which included placing four buckets around the arena and asking the horse to remember which one contained feed.

Read the full study here.

Medina Spirit Draws Post Three, Installed As 9-5 Favorite For Preakness Stakes

The first place-finisher in the Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit has been installed as the 9-5 favorite for Saturday's running of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Conditioned by Bob Baffert, the 3-year-old son of Protonico will leave the starting gate from post position three under jockey John Velazquez.

The Preakness post position draw was originally scheduled for Monday, May 10, but officials pushed the draw back to Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. after trainer Bob Baffert announced Sunday that Medina Spirit's post-race sample from the Kentucky Derby returned a positive result for betamethasone. Baffert initially claimed the colt had never been treated with betamethasone, but on Tuesday morning announced that he had been treated with a topical ointment containing the medication.

An agreement was reached Tuesday afternoon between Baffert's attorney and the Maryland Jockey Club to allow Baffert's horses, both Medina Spirit and Concert Tour, to run in the Preakness. For more details about that agreement, click here.

The full field for the Preakness Stakes is as follows:

Ram – D. Wayne Lukas – 30/1
Keepmeinmind – Robertino Diodoro – 15/1
Medina Spirit – Bob Baffert – 9/5
Crowded Trade – Chad Brown – 10/1
Midnight Bourbon – Steve Asmussen – 5/1
Rombauer – Michael McCarthy – 12/1
France Go De Ina – Hideyuki Mori – 20/1
Unbridled Honor – Todd Pletcher – 6/1
Risk Taking – Chad Brown – 15/1
Concert Tour – Bob Baffert – 5/2

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