It may be the third Saturday in September but visions of the first Saturday in May will be blooming when the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs serves as the first points race for the 2024 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.
Month: September 2023
Positive Drugs Tests: Trainer Luke Comer Banned For Three Years
Trainer Luke Comer has had his licence suspended for three years over positive drugs tests and ordered to pay over €750,000 in costs by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).
The billionaire owner-trainer, who is also a major sponsor of Irish racing under the Comer Group banner, has seven days to lodge an appeal.
The suspension will begin on January 1, 2024, and is the result of a long-running investigation carried out by the IHRB, with the regulator describing the case as “unprecedented”.
As well as being ordered to pay the €750,000 in costs relating to the case, Comer was hit with €85,000 in total fines after 12 horses in his care tested positive for anabolic steroids.
He Knows No Fear, who became the longest-priced winner in Irish racing history when landing a Leopardstown maiden at odds of 300-1 in 2020, is at the centre of what is one of the biggest doping scandals the country has seen.
A hair sample from He Knows No Fear, taken after he finished fourth in the Listed Trigo Stakes at Leopardstwon in October 2021, was found to have contained MD and MT.
A further 11 horses also tested positive for anabolic steroids following out of competition testing carried out by the IHRB at Comer's yard in November 2021.
Along with He Knows No Fear, samples were taken from Old Tom Higgins, Boxing Hero, Grand D'Espagne, Aircraft Carrier, Powerful Don, Wee Jim, Great Moon, Our Man Flint, Questionare, Green Force and Blyto. All tests returned positive.
Comer denied that he or any of his staff were involved in the doping of the 12 horses at an extensive hearing that took place at the IHRB headquarters on the Curragh.
The 65-year-old has been involved in racing for over three decades and his first big-race victory was achieved with Chimes At Midnight in a Group 3 at the Curragh in 2001.
Since then, Comer has been associated with another Group 3 scorer in Kargali, while Raa Atoll provided him with his biggest day on a racecourse when landing a Group 2 contest at Hoppegarten in German in 2019. Last year was Comer's best in terms of numbers with 11 winners recorded domestically from 254 runs.
His extensive sponsorship of Irish racing through Comer Group features the €600,000 Irish St Leger, a race that was won last weekend by Eldar Eldarov, and the Irish St Leger Trial.
The post Positive Drugs Tests: Trainer Luke Comer Banned For Three Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Get Out Of My Space! Pasture Size And Equine Aggression
Though turnout has long been known to make a healthier horse, a new study from The Ohio State University suggests that the space available to the horse while he is outside is also important.
Scientists at the school's Agricultural Technical Institute determined that a minimum of about one-tenth of an acre per horse is necessary to minimize aggression and reduce stress.
Prompted by students in Dr. Jessica Suagee-Bedore's facility management class, the study used 12 healthy horses that were familiar with each other. The students first determined each horse's flight zone by allowing each horse to eat, then walking a second horse toward the eating horse until he showed signs of aggression like pinning his ears or turning his hindquarters toward the approaching horse. The study team then measured the distance between the horses. On average, each horse had a flight zone of about 33 feet. That figure was then used to calculate the total amount of space a horse would need in any direction to avoid contact with another horse: the result was 3,681 square feet.
The second phase of the study kept four horses (two geldings and two mares) in different-sized pens for one hour. One pen offered 3,681 square feet per horse; one offered 2,831 square feet per horse; and the last gave each horse 1,981 square feet per horse.
The scientists drew blood before turnout in the pens and at 15 and 60 minutes after turnout. The horses were observed for signs of stress and aggressive behavior like kicking or chasing. When not in the pens, the horses were kept in individual stalls.
Horses kept in the larger pens had lower levels of blood cortisol 15 and 60 minutes after turnout. The horses in the smaller pens did not demonstrate decreased cortisol levels, and they displayed aggressive behaviors more often.
The study team said that more research is needed into blood cortisol levels over a longer period of time, and to see how horses react in the different-sized pens when food is involved.
Suagee-Bedore noted that the study focused only on the amount of space needed per horse to reduce stress, not to support grazing. The minimum acreage per horse needed to support nutritional intake and pasture growth is 2 acres per horse.
The post Get Out Of My Space! Pasture Size And Equine Aggression appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
St Leger: Desert Hero bids to take Classic win at Doncaster for King and Queen
Desert Hero, owned by the King and Queen, will bid to provide the first Royal win in a Classic for nearly 50 years when he runs in the St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday.
