Flightline’s jaw-dropping 19 1/4-length victory Sept.
Month: September 2022
Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Saturday, September 24
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Saturday's meetings at Newmarket, Chelmsford City, Ripon, Haydock, Chester and Market Rasen.
EDRC Considers Proposals To Identify High-Risk Runners Via Wearable Technology, Combat Equine Gene Doping
The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council met via Zoom on Friday, Sept. 23, to consider a pair of research proposals aimed at improving racehorse welfare. The council will reconvene to vote on the following two proposals at a later date.
“Identifying Racehorses in Danger of Catastrophic Injury Through Analysis of Motion Sensor Data Collected During Training and Racing”
Dr. Warwick Bayly and Dr. David Lambert proposed that wearable technology be utilized during an upcoming race meet at Churchill Downs to develop a protocol by which horses at high risk for a fatal musculoskeletal injury are identified within five minutes of the end of a race, in a way that is both financially and logistically tolerable for all parties.
The technology was employed beginning at Saratoga in 2021 and continued at Belmont and Aqueduct, as detailed by Dr. Scott Palmer, equine medical director of the New York State Gaming Commission, during the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit this June. It consists of StrideSafe sensor which can be placed in the horse's saddle cloth, and measures acceleration in three dimensions. Each horse has a different pattern or “fingerprint” at high speeds that would be described as normal; the data becomes most useful when it can be compared to both a horse's normal pattern during races and morning workouts as well as a standard of “sound” horses.
Based on existing data, Bayly expects a study of 2,000 horses to generate 240 “red flag” horses, which may be at risk. The study would specifically look at those red-flagged horses that generate a welfare value of six or greater; in other words, horses whose data is six or more standard deviations away from the mean. Approximately 20 of the 240 red-flagged horses would be expected to have a welfare index of six or higher.
Dr. Sue Stover, professor of surgical and radiological science at the University of California-Davis, has long been one of the foremost researchers into catastrophic injuries in racing, bolstered by years of data gathered by the California Horse Racing Board. She's also the chair of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's racetrack safety standing committee and a member of the HISA board. She estimates that of those 20 with welfare indexes above six, 10 would require advanced imaging to be diagnosed (either nuclear scintigraphy or a PET scan). The study would provide a $1,500 subsidy to encourage such diagnostics.
The study would also include teaching regulatory veterinarians how to interpret the data generated by the sensor, and in knowing where to start looking at a horse if the lameness can't be seen with the human eye.
“Tackling Emerging Threats to the Kentucky Racing Industry by Development of an Equine Gene Doping Program”
Dr. Scott Stanley's proposal is aimed at working toward identifying the abuse of gene doping to enhance athletic ability in equines.
Human medicine is currently able to identify transgenes in humans; gene doping has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2003 under the position that transgenes threaten the integrity of sports competition.
Among the potential applications of gene doping in equines are: increased muscle mass, shortened healing time, increased aerobic metabolism, and increased pain tolerance and overall endurance.
Stanley proposed a two-year project which includes two aims: first, to adapt the existing digital droplet PCR technology to identify equine transgenes, and second, to utilize the ddPCR to validate specific gene doping targets in horses.
The post EDRC Considers Proposals To Identify High-Risk Runners Via Wearable Technology, Combat Equine Gene Doping appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Weekend Lineup: Cotillion, Pennsylvania Derby Lead Graded Stakes Bonanza At Parx
If you like large, competitive fields, Parx Racing is the place for you on Saturday as the Bensalem, Pa., track's 13-race card features five graded stakes, led by the Grade 1 pairing of the Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies and Pennsylvania Derby for 3-year-olds. The races are chock full of quality and quantity with the Pennsylvania Derby's 11-horse field boasting four Grade 1 winners. A sixth stakes, the ungraded Parx Dirt Mile, features $1.6 million earner and multiple graded stakes winner Mind Control, who comes back to defend his title in the race.
The Parx morning line maker set G1 Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba as the 5-2 favorite over Cyberknife, a two-time Grade 1 winner (Arkansas Derby, Haskell), installed as 3-1 second choice. Cyberknife defeated Taiba by a head in the Haskell, so there's not much to separate them.
Zandon, winner of the G1 Blue Grass Stakes and never worse than third in seven career starts, and G1 Florida Derby winner White Abarrio are the other Grade 1 winners in the lineup.
Secret Oath was made the 2-1 favorite in the Cotillion in a field of nine sophomore fillies and this D. Wayne Lukas filly has danced most of the dances this year, winning three of seven starts, including the G1 Kentucky Oaks and facing colts and geldings in the Arkansas Derby (when third) and Preakness (fourth).
The other graded stakes on Saturday's Parx card are the G2 Gallant Bob Stakes for 3-year-olds going six furlongs, the mile and one-half G3 Greenwood Cup, and G3 Turf Monster going five panels on grass, the latter two races for 3-year-olds and upward.
On Sunday evening, Remington Park in Oklahoma presents its two biggest Thoroughbred races: the Remington Park Oaks and Oklahoma Derby, both G3 events. There are six other stakes on the evening as purses exceed $1 million.
Here's a quick look at some of this weekend's graded stakes:
Saturday
3:32 p.m. – Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing
Todd Pletcher-trained Fearless will be heavily favored in a field of nine after winning the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga and will have no trouble handling the Greenwood Cup's 1 1/2-mile distance. Magic Michael is back to defend his title for trainer Jamie Ness.
4:35 p.m. – Grade 2 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing
Provocateur is another from the Pletcher barn, which has entries in seven of the 13 races, and though no match for Jack Christopher in the G1 Woody Stephens in June was a sharp winner of the Jersey Shore Stakes last out at Monmouth Park. To be ridden by champion jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., the Into Mischief colt was made the 4-1 morning line favorite in a field of 14. Scaramouche loves the Parx surface, winning five of six local starts for trainer Guadalupe Preciado, and gets John Velazquez in the saddle.
5:20 p.m. – Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing
While Secret Oath has proven her quality throughout 2022 she didn't scare anyone away from the entry box in this $1-million race going 1 1/16 miles. Chief among her opponents is Green Up, winner of the Cotillion prep at Parx, the Cathryn Sophia Stakes on Aug. 23 for Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. That was the Upstart filly's fourth consecutive triumph but the Cotillion will be her first graded stakes attempt. G2 Mother Goose winner Gerrymander was trounced last out by Nest and Secret Oath in the G1 Alabama, but can better that performance. Shahama finished second to Gerrymander in the Mother Goose, then won the G3 Mother Goose. She seems to be improving for Pletcher.
6:10 p.m. – Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing
Much of the attention will be on Cyberknife and Taiba, the 1-2 finishers in the Haskell Stakes last out, but contention runs much deeper than that in this terrific renewal of the Pennsylvania Derby. Zandon has never been worse than third in seven starts, and was only beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Rich Strike when third in the Kentucky Derby. He was nosed out by Cyberknife for second behind Epicenter in the Travers last out after losing another battle to Epicenter in his previous start in the G2 Jim Dandy. Skippylongstocking captured the G3 West Virginia Derby last out after finishing third in the Belmont Stakes in June and will likely be on or close to the lead in here. The expected front-runner, as he was in the West Virginia Derby, will be We the People, who gets Flavien Prat in the saddle for this race.
Sunday
9:14 p.m. – Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park
With Cyberknife a leading contender for the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, Brad Cox sends Best Actor – 5 3/4-length winner of the G3 Smarty Jones Stakes last out at Parx Racing – to Remington Park in search of the trainer's fourth consecutive victory in the G3 Oklahoma Derby. He'll have Ken McPeek-trained Rattle N Roll – winner of the G1 Breeders' Futurity in 2021 – to beat. Other contenders include Steve Asmussen-trained King Ottoman and a pair of Robertino Diodoro runners, Red Knobs (Manitoba Derby winner) and Great Escape (G3 Canadian Derby winner).
The post Weekend Lineup: Cotillion, Pennsylvania Derby Lead Graded Stakes Bonanza At Parx appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
