October, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Irad Ortiz Suspended Three Days For Vosburgh Ride

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. has been suspended three days by NYRA stewards, reports the Daily Racing Form, for “careless riding” in the G1 Vosburgh Stakes on Oct. 9 at Belmont Park.

Ortiz rode second-place finisher Firenze Fire, and while there was no official inquiry or objection, the Equibase chart indicates that Firenze Fire “angled in early under urging bumped Baby Yoda forcing that rival into Good Effort and bothering both foes.”

Ortiz will serve the days on Sunday, Oct. 24, and Oct. 28-29.

Experts Weigh In On OTTB Nutrition And The Challenges Of Finding A Balance

Feeding an off-track Thoroughbred (OTTB) comes with many challenges, especially in the first months after retirement. That's why the topic was featured prominently during the educational seminars at this year's Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium.

Dr. Bill Vandergrift, nutritionist and founder of EquiVision, and Dr. Jyme Nichols, director of nutrition for Bluebonnet Feeds and Stride Animal Health, fielded common questions about feeding OTTBs during a seminar on Oct. 15.

A few key takeaways:

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for feeding Thoroughbreds after they leave the track, and that was likely true while they were on the track also. Vandergrift said that some track trainers will provide horses a complete feed, which means they're giving a commercial grain mix that's already fortified with the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Others will customize their feeding plan a bit more, choosing a more basic feed and then customizing a mix of supplements to fit each horse.
If at all possible, Vandergrift and Nichols agree that the best way to begin feeding an OTTB who is new to you is to find out what they were eating before they came to you. That may mean asking the racetrack trainer or adoption program where the horse came from. Then, you want to tailor a feeding program that's as close as possible to what the horse is already used to.
Nichols said that many times, new owners are tempted to make a bunch of changes as quickly as possible to a horse's diet with the goal of getting the horse onto a program they see as healthier. Perhaps surprisingly, she suggests pumping the brakes on that plan.

“We have to remember they're going through a huge change in their environment [when they first come off the track,” she said. “They've lost their friends. That's one thing research says, is just the simple act of taking a horse away from the horses they're familiar with is a major stress event … plus the stress of moving to a new owner, new barn, new stall. Everything is coming down on this horse from a mental aspect.”

Match the initial feed program to what the horse is already used to for one to three weeks after the horse moves into the new barn, and even then introduce changes slowly, Nichols suggested.

When Nichols does begin crafting a new dietary plan for an OTTB, she's most interested in getting basic vitamin and mineral requirements covered first, which can be accomplished with a complete feed. After that, she said she's not too inclined to add supplements to a horse's diet, with the exception of a prebiotic and a probiotic, which can help the horse overcome some stress.
Changes, including moving, showing, or medical events, can seriously impact the bacteria in a horse's gut. Vandergrift said that for many years, he believed that once the stressful event was over, the horse would naturally regenerate the healthy gut microbes they lost during stress. Recently however, he has discovered it's not so simple – those microbes need the right environment to flourish, and it's difficult to supplement them effectively. The most important microbes in a horse's gut are anaerobic, meaning that most of them can't live in the presence of oxygen, so feed manufacturers can't effectively produce many live probiotics in the form of a supplement. Prebiotics, however, are designed to jumpstart the growth of healthy gut bacteria and that's why he leans towards supplementing a horse with prebiotics.
Vandergrift also said that to build a good nutrition program for an OTTB, he likes to know why the horse retired. Was the horse injured? Did the horse spend a lot of time on stall rest recuperating from an injury? Or was the horse turned out for a period of time before coming to their new home, eating mostly forage but a less complete grain meal? A horse's injury or health status can relate to the amount of inflammatory mediators floating around in the body, and Vandergrift said that can change what he wants to feed the horse.
There are lots of reasons a horse's personality may seem “hot” or a horse may seem spooky, but Nichols and Vandergrift said you can't rule out their diet. A diet includes a lot of extra sugar can result in extra inflammation in the horse's body, which may make them appear jumpy or difficult – not strictly as a result of extra calories themselves, but because high sugar, high carbohydrate diets tend to lead to systemic inflammation which can have the horse feeling unwell.“A horse who has higher levels of systemic inflammation is one of those horses who's very difficult to put weight on,” he said. “They're going to be very hyperreactive. A lot of times that systemic inflammation, at least in part, is going to manifest itself in the digestive tract.”Researchers are learning more and more about the relationship between the horse's digestive tract and its brain. Vandergrift said that the gut produces more serotonin in a horse than the brain does. Serotonin is a brain chemical which, among other things, controls the fight/flight response. An unbalanced gut that's not producing enough serotonin can result in a horse who appears to be stuck in “flight” mode, according to Vandergrift.
If a horse is having a difficult time putting on weight, or comes to a new owner as a neglect or starvation case, Nichols said the first place to check is the horse's mouth. Some horses lose weight not because they're not being fed enough, but because they can't effectively break down the food they're getting to access all the nutrients in it.
There's a lot of buzz these days about avoiding soy as an ingredient in horse (and human) feed. Vandergrift said a lot of it is based on misconceptions about the ingredient, particularly concerns that it is genetically-modified and may have anti-digestive enzymes in it.

“I've seen articles on the internet that talk about anti-digestive enzymes or anti-nutritive components and how you shouldn't feed soy or eat soy,” said Vandergrift. “What they fail to mention is that the soybean meal that's been incorporated into an animal diet has been cooked the same way you cook your food before eating it. That cooking kills all the anti-nutritive factors.“

Soy has been fed to horses since before any of us were born, let's put it that way. We don't have any two-headed horses out there and we don't have any dead horses because they consumed soy. Soy is a safe ingredient to feed.

”People also have concerns that soy may contain estrogenic compounds; Vandergrift said in his experience, there are horses who are unusually sensitive to these ingredients, but it's very uncommon.

People often assess their nutrition program in part by looking a horse's topline, but both nutritionists agreed that's not the best way to know if a feed program is working. The topline, especially over a horse's back, is influenced by a lot of things other than fat, as it's comprised of muscles and ligaments as well. Back pain, poor conformation, poor foot balance, weakness, age, and even genetics can influence the way a topline develops. Most experts say the best way to assess a horse's weight is to use the Henneke Body Condition Score system.

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Attempt To Mask Lameness Results In ‘Inhumane Treatment’ Penalties

The Delaware Park stewards have suspended and fined an owner, trainer and assistant trainer for “improper or inhumane treatment” of a horse diagnosed last spring with a 50% tendon tear.

Four related Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC) rulings in the case involve a gelding named Food and Wine (War Front) who was disqualified from a June win because of a drug overage.

After returning sore from that victory because of a bowed tendon that a veterinarian said required eight to 12 months off, Food and Wine was put back into training in September and purportedly drugged in an attempt to mask lameness and get the gelding off the restricted list.

But instead of being cleared to race based on that supervised workout, Food and Wine again pulled up lame.

According to the rulings, a veterinarian then reported the series of incidents to the stewards.

As a result, after appearing at an Oct. 15 stewards' hearing and waiving his right to counsel, owner Jose Luis Rosales, 37, has been fined $2,500 and suspended 30 days.

Trainer Linda Manchio, 76, who did not appear at her hearing, has been fined $2,500 and suspended 30 days. The Oct. 15 DMTC ruling against her stated that she has not been to Delaware Park all year despite stabling and starting horses there.

Assistant trainer Belinda Manchio, 58, whom the Delaware Park stewards deemed to have been the licensee in charge of the day-to-day care for Food and Wine, attended her hearing, waived her right to counsel and was fined $1,000 and suspended 15 days.

TDN could not immediately reach Rosales or either of the Manchios for comment. It was unclear if appeals were in the process.

Here's how the allegations unfolded according to the four DTRC rulings (three dated Oct. 15 and one from Aug. 5):

Five-year-old Food and Wine, with a 2-for-15 record, wired a June 2 turf allowance at Delaware Park. At one point in the race, the 14-1 shot opened up a 10-length lead under jockey Tomas Mejia (who has since been suspended 10 years by New Jersey regulators for using an electrical shocking device in a race at Monmouth Park).

But after Food and Wine coasted home by four lengths at the wire, he “returned sore and was placed on the State Veterinarians List,” three of the Oct. 15 DTRC rulings stated.

Then, according to the rulings, on June 14, “the Practicing Veterinarian performed an Ultrasound on Food and Wine [that] reveled a 50% tear in his tendon (Bowed Tendon). The Veterinarian recommended 8 to 12 months off to recover.”

Subsequently, on Aug. 5, the stewards ruled that Food and Wine had tested positive for an overage of methocarbamol, a Class 4 and Penalty Category C skeletal muscle relaxant, after his June 2 win. Linda Manchio waived her right to have a split sample tested. Food and Wine was DQ'd from the win and Linda Manchio was fined $1,000.

Meanwhile, instead of getting the time away from the track that the practicing veterinarian had recommended, Food and Wine was instead placed back into training. He breezed three furlongs in :38 at Delaware Park on Sept. 25.

One of the DTRC rulings states that the gelding's owner, Jose Luis Rosales, “contacted the State Veterinarian to schedule a breeze in order for Food and Wine to be removed from the Vets List and be eligible to race.”

That workout was scheduled for Oct. 3. According to the ruling, “Food and Wine worked a half-mile in :50.60 and pulled up lame. Food and Wine remained on the Vets List.”

After the stewards began investigating, it was revealed in the ruling that, “Food and Wine was treated in August with Prednisolone Pills and Naquasone Powder. Owner Jose Luis Rosales ordered the treatment of Naquasone on Sept. 27 and an injection of Dexamethasone on Sept. 27 and 28 [in the] days prior to Food and Wine's workout.”

The ruling continued: “Stewards determined that the ordered treatment[s] by Mr. Rosales for Food and Wine were to take away any lameness so that Food and Wine could work and be removed from the Vets List to race.”

One of the Oct. 15 rulings noted that “Trainer Linda Manchio shall bear primary responsibility for the proper care, health, training, condition, safety and protection of horses in her charge.”

The ruling also stated that, “During testimony in this matter, Trainer Linda Manchio has not been to Delaware Park in 2021, her stable has been in the care of her Assistant Trainer Belinda Manchio. Linda Manchio did not follow the recommendation of her Practicing Veterinarian for Food and Wine.”

Belinda Manchio's ruling stated that the stewards determined she “shall assume the same duties and responsibilities as imposed on a registered Trainer” for the “proper care, health, training, condition, safety and protection of horses in her charge.” The ruling noted that she, too, “did not follow the recommendation of her Practicing Veterinarian.”

All three Oct. 15 rulings stated that the conduct of the suspended licensees “does adversely affect the public's confidence in the reputation of Thoroughbred racing in Delaware and is not in the best interest of horse racing.”

As an owner, Rosales has five wins from 29 lifetime starters dating to 2019.

Linda Manchio's record on Equibase dates to 1976, the oldest year available for training stats in that database. She has 192 wins from 2,254 starters during that time, but had no starters between 2003 and 2020. There are no other rulings listed against her in The Jockey Club's rulings database.Att

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Knicks Go to Stand at Taylor Made

Four-time Grade I winner and one of the favorites for 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter–Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker) will retire to Taylor Made Stallions at the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced Monday. Campaigned by Korea Racing Authority, Knicks Go is currently the top-ranked older horse on the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup.

“The KRA's goal was to buy and race in the U.S. with an eye toward developing stallions,” said Jun Park, racing manager for the KRA's United States stable. “As his name suggests, Knicks Go is a horse that was selected by a genome selection program called K-Nicks, which was designed to help select optimally excellent racehorses and stallions. To have done this for such a short time and to already have a multiple Grade I-winner like Knicks Go is very gratifying. We are excited to stand him at Taylor Made, and we look forward to his next career as a stallion.”

An earner of $5,553,135 thus far in his racing career, Knicks Go has registered triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures of 113, 111, 108 (twice), 107, and 104 and has recorded two track records at Keeneland, one of them in winning last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile where he stopped the clock in a sizzling 1:33.85. He also established a new course standard in his prep for the Dirt Mile, winning an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles by 10 1/4 lengths in a brisk 1:40.79.

Breaking his maiden on debut in July of his 2-year-old season, Knicks Go went on to capture that year's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland with a 5 1/2-length romp. He was then second to eventual champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Dominating the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. to start his 5-year-old campaign, he also proved uncatchable in winning the historic GI Whitney S. at Saratoga in August by 4 1/2 lengths after crushing his rivals by 10 1/4 lengths in his prior start, taking the GIII Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows in July with a career-best 113 Beyer. He most recently cruised to a four-length score in the GII Lukas Classic S. Oct. 2 at Churchill Downs in his final prep for the Breeders' Cup.

“He really is what a horse is supposed to be,” Brad Cox said of Knicks Go. “They are supposed to get faster and stronger as they get older. He's a little bit of a throwback horse as far as accomplishing things early and then still being in training three years later.”

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