May, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Racing Industry, Animal Welfare Organizations Announce Collaborative Effort To Ban Horse Slaughter

On Tuesday, a diverse group of equine industry and animal welfare organizations announced the “Final Stretch Alliance to End Horse Slaughter”—a collaborative effort to permanently ban the slaughter of American horses. In an open letter to congressional leaders, including US Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and US Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the alliance urged federal lawmakers to pass the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R.3355/S.2732) to permanently ban horse slaughter in the US and end the export of American horses for slaughter in other countries.

The supporting members of the “Final Stretch Alliance to End Horse Slaughter” include: The Jockey Club, the U.S. Trotting Association, the Stronach Group, the Breeders' Cup, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, The Jockey's Guild, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the Maryland Horse Council, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), the Animal Welfare Institute, the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation, and many other industry voices.

Despite congressional efforts that have effectively blocked the operation of horse slaughterhouses on US soil since 2007, tens of thousands of American horses continue to be shipped to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses that supply other countries with horsemeat. With the Triple Crown horse racing season underway and public attention on equine sports, equine industry and welfare groups are calling on federal lawmakers to take action during this critical moment by passing the SAFE Act to end this sad chapter in American history.

In the open letter, the groups highlight a recent poll indicating that an overwhelming majority of Americans (83%) oppose horse slaughter. The letter explains how, despite robust, innovative partnerships between equine industry and welfare groups to support horses transitioning between careers, the looming threat of the horse slaughter pipeline continues to significantly harm industry, enthusiasts, and adoption organizations:

“Racing industry groups have demonstrated real leadership in committing resources for aftercare and career transition programs, instituting and enforcing track policies against sale to slaughter, and spearheading state and federal policies prohibiting horse slaughter. These programs are critical, but until the law shuts down the slaughter pipeline itself, no horse, no matter how beloved or decorated, will be truly safe.”

The SAFE Act would close this legal loophole to stop the funneling of American horses to slaughter for human consumption abroad. Introduced by a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers, the SAFE Act is currently sponsored by nearly half of the US House of Representatives.

“Despite the overwhelming desire among Americans to see horses protected from harm, tens of thousands of horses are transported out of the US each year to be killed abroad,” said Cathy Liss, AWI's president. “Racehorses continue to fall victim to this grisly and predatory trade, so we appreciate the leadership and collaboration of key stakeholders in the racing industry to shutter the slaughter pipeline once and for all. As trusted companions, horses enrich our lives in countless ways; passing the SAFE Act is paramount to ensuring their welfare and safety.”

Click here to read the open letter issued by the “Final Stretch Alliance to End Horse Slaughter.”

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Study: Equine Temperatures Remain Elevated Long After Exercise Concludes

Rising temperatures affect everything on the planet, and horses are no exception. Dr. Elisabeth-Lidwien Verdegaal, an equine internal medicine specialist, says that horses are especially at risk of heat-related issues as they have not been able to acclimate to rising ambient temperatures, reports The Horse.

To better understand how a horse's body temperature increases during exercise, Dr. Verdegaal and a study team had 13 endurance horses and 12 trotting Standardbreds swallow a “smart” thermometer, which transmits real-time data about the horse's core body temperature.

The horses were raced in winter in Australia at moderate speeds for 25, 50, and 75 miles and at intense speed for 5,000 feet.

The scientists learned that each horse is unique in how it heats up and cools down. On average, endurance horses reached peak core temperatures (averaging 102.2 degrees F) nearing the end of each 25-mile leg of the race.

The Standardbreds were hottest (averaging 101.8 degrees F) in the first 40 minutes on average when they stopped racing. Nearly half the Standardbreds had temperatures above 102.2 degrees F over an hour after finishing the race, even when outdoor temperatures were only 64.4 degrees F.

The researchers concluded that cooling-down time is imperative, and horses should be monitored for up to an hour once racing or exercise exertion concludes. Additionally, horses should not be trailered sooner than one hour after competition.

The team also noted that the horses' heart rates did not accurately reflect their temperatures. Many horses still had an elevated core body temperature after their heart rate dropped below 64 beats per minute, which is the level at which the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) allows horses to continue in competition. Dr. Elisabeth-Lidwien Verdegaal suggested that number be reduced to 60 beats per minute to ensure horses are safe to continue competing.

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The scientists also note that a generalized protocol to avoid heat stroke may not be ideal since horses respond differently to heat. The team hopes that the use of the thermometer pill will become more commonplace as horse owners and caretakers become increasingly concerned with their horse's safety and wellbeing. Horse owners will need to consider the horses' training level, hydration, cool-down effectiveness, and acclimatization to the weather.

Joe, Shake Em Loose Rematch To Occur On Grass In James W. Murphy

After meeting twice on dirt, round three of the Joe vs. Shake Em Loose series will take place on turf Saturday in the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes on the Preakness (G1) undercard at Pimlico Race Course.

The one-mile test for 3-year-olds, which drew a field of 11, is part of a spectacular 14-race program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.75 million in purses headlined by the 147th renewal of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The race was first run in 1966 as the Woodlawn Handicap then as the Woodlawn Stakes from 1967 in honor of the Woodlawn Vase, the trophy presented to the winner of the Preakness Stakes. It was renamed in 2010 for the late trainer James W. Murphy, who was a stalwart in Maryland racing.

First race post time is 10:30 a.m.

Joe and Shake Em Loose could be running in the Preakness, but they are meeting earlier in the program, Race 10, on grass where both are winless in one start each. J R Sanchez Racing's Stable's Shake Em Loose, owned and trained by Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon, won the first meeting with Joe, edging the Maryland-bred even-money favorite by 1 ¾ lengths in the Private Terms on March 19 at Laurel Park. Joe took the rematch in the Federico Tesio there on April 16 by head or his stablemate Mr Jefferson, with Shake Em Loose third.

The Tesio is a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the Preakness, but Joe's owner-breeder Stuart Grant, who races as The Elkstone Group, opted not to supplement into Maryland's signature race. Sanchez-Salomon did consider the Preakness, but after working his gelding Sunday said he would enter the Murphy.

Sanchez-Salomon claimed Shake Em Loose for $16,000 on Nov. 19 and he has won three of five starts. The son of Shakin It Up sold for $1,000 as a yearling in 2020. He drew Post 8 and will be ridden by Jevian Toledo.

“He's a horse that's still learning a lot,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “He's doing better and better, day by day, training-wise and everything. He's mentally still growing up a lot. Knock on wood, nothing happens to him. He's very sound, very clean everywhere. You never know from one day to the next but he is good now.”

In his only try on turf on Oct. 8 at Laurel, Shake Em Loose found trouble leaving the gate and finished 11th in the field of 12, more than 15 lengths behind the winner. Sanchez-Salomon said it's time for another race on grass.

“I'm pretty excited to run him on the turf,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “He's got a lot of pedigree for it. I think the competition will be softer, too.”

Grant had degree of difficulty in mind when choosing a path for Joe, who is trained by Michael Trombetta. Joe debuted with a loss on turf on Oct. 24 then reeled off three straight solid wins, ran second in the Private Terms and won the Tesio. He was named Maryland's champion 2-year-old male of 2021.

“We're very happy with Joe,” Grant said. “He's training really well. He's developing as a horse. I guess our view is, he's going to be a good, fun horse. He'll be really competitive on overnight stakes, he should be competitive at a Grade 3 level. Frankly, right now. I just don't think he's a Grade 1 horse. And I don't want to, just for my own ego, throw him in a place where he doesn't belong.”

Though Joe has a turf pedigree as a son of Declaration of War out of an Arch mare, he had trouble in the career-opening grass sprint. It was the only time he has finished off the board.

“Mike swears that he trains like a turf horse, and he's certainly bred like a turf horse,” Grant said. “The question is, does he step up as a turf horse? If he steps up he could be a graded-stakes horse. If the change of surface really lets him pick up. We just felt that this was the time. We're Maryland-based, it's good race in Maryland, so we're going to give him a shot. If he likes the surface, he's going to be really, really tough in there. If he doesn't like the surface, we're going to look pretty stupid to do that. I don't know what's going to happen.”

Still, Grant said that going into the Murphy is a logical play. He will be ridden from Post 10 by Victor Carrasco and is rated the 3-1 second choice on the morning line.

“You'd like to think that you do some of your homework and you look at breeding and if they've got no turf pedigree whatsoever, that may be grasping at straws,” he said. “This one's got a turf pedigree. Yes, we're experimenting, but not without some foundation.”

Sanchez-Salomon said he is looking forward the next round of the series with his in-state rival.

“That will be fun, to compete against Joe again,” he said. “Hopefully, we'll have a better trip this time [than the Tesio], and we'll see.”

Donegal Racing's Ready to Purrform, a son of Kitten's Joy trained by Brad Cox, has won two of his three starts, including the Laurel Futurity on Oct. 2. The 5-2 favorite on the morning line, he will be ridden from Post 5 by Florent Geroux.

Epic Luck, co-owned by Mark Ashby and William Gotwals, won the Kitten's Joy on grass last year at Colonial Downs in his second career start.

Bird Mobberley LLC's Local Motive has wins in a pair of dirt stakes and returns to grass for the first time since his victory in the Hickory Tree on Aug. 2 at Colonial Downs.

Also entered in the Murphy are Tag Stables' Uncaptured Spirit, Hickory Made Stables' World of Fools, Jeremy Brooks' homebred Wow Whata Summer, two-time turf winner Determined Kingdom, Charles Blanford's Crabs N Beer, and the Danny Gargan-trained Riot House, who enters the Murphy off a pair of turf wins at Gulfstream Park.

Multiple Stakes Winner Carotari Tops $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint

With four stakes wins and 17 in-the-money finishes in 24 starts, William Branch's Carotari is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the 17th running of the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint Saturday on the Preakness (G1) program at Pimlico Race Course.

Named for the late Hall of Fame sportscaster Jim McKay, an important figure in Maryland racing, the Turf Sprint is for 3-year-olds and up going five furlongs.

Carotari, trained by Brian Lynch and to be ridden by Luis Saez, will be making his 2022 debut in the Jim McKay. He completed last year's campaign with an allowance victory at Keeneland going 5 ½ furlongs and scored under Saez in the five-furlong Janus on the New Year's Eve card at Gulfstream Park. The 6-year-old son of Artie Schiller drew Post 2 in the 10-horse field.

Living The Dream Stables' 6-year-old Seven Scents, trained by Brad Cox, will be making is 40th career start in the Jim McKay. A five-time winner at the distance, he drew Post 3 and is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line.

“He's a horse we claimed and won at Keeneland,” Cox said. “Five-eighths, I think that will suit him well.”

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Bank, a son of Bernardini for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong. Bank drew the rail and is rated at 12-1 under Joel Rosario.

“We have Bank trying the turf for the first time, who pedigree-wise should excel,” Asmussen said. “He's coming off a solid comeback race at Oaklawn.”

Gordon Keyes' homebred Grateful Bred ran second to fellow comebacker True Valour in the April 23 King T. Leatherbury at Laurel, his first race since his popular front-running triumph in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint last October. He is 2-for-2 at five furlongs on grass, including a restricted allowance win at Pimlico in his 2021 season opener in June.

The McKay also drew Raul DelValle's 8-year-old Arthur's Hope; Paradise Farm Corp.'s Mr. Hustle; Crown's Way Racing's Smokin' Jay; The Wolfman, making his turf debut; Hollis, the beaten favorite in the Whitmore (G3) on March 19; and C.L. Hess Jr.'s Concrete Glory.

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‘A Lot Of The People We Knew Never Grew Up’: Jockey Ken Tohill Reminisces After 4,000th Winner

Jockey Ken Tohill celebrated the 4,000th winner of his career on Sunday at Prairie Meadows Racetrack in Altoona, Ia., when the Doug Anderson-trained Rainbow Surebet proved victorious in the fourth race on the card. In so doing, Tohill became the 79th jockey to reach the 4,000-win milestone.

“It's a milestone that seemed a long ways away a few years back,” said Tohill, 59. “This is a goal we set about five years ago, really a major accomplishment. I want to do this as long as I'm an asset on the racetrack and not in the way.”

Tohill grew up in the racing industry; his mother was a horse trainer and his father was a jockey. He was more interested in dirt bikes than horses as a child, but that changed when he realized he could get paid to gallop horses on the track.

“That was a much better deal,” he said, laughing.

At the age of 16, Tohill rode his first race at California's Solano Race Place, and he won his first race just two starts later at Pleasanton. Tohill admits that he was lucky early in his career, thanks to his father's connections, and said it took him three years to really learn how to ride races.

“When I was young my dad had a lot of friends who let me starting riding before I was ready,” Tohill said. “The kind of horses I got to ride were because of my dad being friends with a lot of trainers, so I didn't go through as rough a spot as I should have.”

His relationship with his father was cut short when the elder Tohill went down in an accident in Spokane, and spent the next nine years in a convalescent home until he passed away in the late 1980s.

“I always figured the racing gods would never take two from the same family, so I was safe and he was watching over me,” said Tohill.

Tohill stayed in Northern California for the early part of his career, riding alongside the winningest North American rider of all time, Russell Baze. It was difficult to win races there, and along with many of his friends, Tohill became discouraged.

“Baze was winning probably 40 percent of the races, and it kind of takes the wind out of your sails,” said Tohill. “It was so hard to really focus, and a lot of the people we knew never grew up… Everybody was outlaws and a only few of us became adults.”

Tohill really began to make his mark when he stepped away from Northern California to ride in New Mexico. He was the leading rider at Sunland Park for several years in the early 2000s, and continued to win races when he began to spend his summers in Iowa.

The jockey has finished in the top 100 for wins in North America 12 times since 2000, and he won a career-high 221 races in 2005 to finish 20th nationally.

“I like to be able to move a horse up,” Tohill said. “I'm lucky enough to have pretty good relationships with most of the animals I ride, and I like to hunt for what makes 'em tick, and what makes 'em reach.”

Tohill's wife, Robyn, is his biggest supporter.

“I'm sure that's why I'm still here,” he said. “She keeps me out of trouble, and she's been a major part of my success. We've been together for 20 years.”

Another of Tohill's major influences is the indefatigable Jon Court, with whom he rode earlier in his career. Court sits just ahead of Tohill's milestone with 4,242 victories, and recently won the 2022 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) aboard Last Samurai.

“I hope I'm not done yet, because my friend Jon Court set the bar pretty high,” Tohill said. “I'm really proud of him getting things going. I know it's been fun for me to watch his career.”

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