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Research Update: Severity Of Stomach Ulcers Affect Horse Behavior And Heart Rate

Stomach ulcers affect 36 to 53 percent of horses used for recreation. Stomach ulcers refer to sores along the lining of the horse's stomach from prolonged exposure to normal stomach acid. Management, diet, exercise, and stress can all play a role in the occurrence of stomach ulcers in horses. Researchers at Clemson University and Cairo University evaluated the effect of severity of stomach ulcers on horse behavior and heart rate associated with pain.

The researchers examined eight horses (between 4 and 15 years old) that were part of a larger study and had been induced and diagnosed via endoscopy with stomach ulcers. Half of the horses had mild ulcers and the other half had severe ulcers. For three consecutive days, the researchers 1) monitored the horses' heart rates for two hours daily and 2) videoed horse behavior daily for three two-hour periods (morning, noon and evening).

Horses with severe ulcers had higher heart rates (63 beats per minute) and ratios of low to high frequency waves (5 percent) than horses with mild ulcers (51 beats per minute, 3 percent). Elevated heart rate and frequency ratio are known indicators of stress and anxiety. Regardless of the time of day, horses with severe ulcers more frequently displayed the following behaviors compared to those with mild ulcers:

  • eating
  • passing feces and urine
  • kicking their belly
  • swishing their tail
  • pawing
  • shaking their head
  • looking back
  • moving their tongue in and out of their mouth
  • being restless

The results of this study suggest an association between horse behavior and heart rate with severity of stomach ulcers. Horses with severe ulcers tended to express more signs of stress through behavior and heart value indicators. Additional research is needed to better understand the relationship between these signs and pain associated with stomach ulcers varying in severity. However, these results highlight the importance of recognizing potential behavior and heart responses to stomach ulcers in horses.

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Proposed HISA Drug Control Program Rule Changes Sent For Public Comment

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) has sent a set of proposed changes to its drug control program to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for public comment.

The proposed changes to HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program will be posted on the federal register. Historically, public comment has been for 14 days. It is currently unclear, however, exactly when the proposed changes will be posted to the federal register.

After the public comment period, the FTC will then decide which proposed changes to approve or deny. Until then, the current ADMC rules will remain in place.

The proposed changes–substantial in many parts–concern six different areas of the ADMC program, the red-lined documents for which can be read here: General Provisions, The ADMC Protocol, the Prohibited Substance and Methods list, testing and investigation standards, laboratory standards for accreditation, and arbitration procedures.

A slate of proposed changes includes the following:

 

  • A ban on the “injection or attempted injection” of any substance–prohibited or not–during the “Race Period,” though with certain extenuating circumstances. The race period is 48 hours before post-time or before a vet's list workout. The proposed rule change pertains to “any type of injection, including (without limitation) intravenous, intramuscular, intra-articular, peri-articular, peri-tendinous, epidural, intra-dermal, or subcutaneous.”

 

  • Updated rules on permissible actions from a “covered person” during a provisional suspension or a period of ineligibility, and revised sanctions for breaking these rules. This includes a ban on purchasing or claiming horses during this time, or from being “employed or otherwise engaged or contracted in any capacity involving Covered Horses.”

 

  • Revisions to split sample analysis, including a new provision requiring the relevant laboratory to “create a video recording of the opening and identification of the B Sample,” which ultimately will be sent to the responsible person and the horse's owner.

 

  • The document concerning “Arbitration Procedures” has been heavily revised regarding how arbitral body and internal adjudication panel members are selected, who can sit on them, and how such proceedings are conducted. They include expanding the arbitral body selection process to include possibly “contracting a third-party organization to administer the Arbitral Body.”

 

  • Updated sanctions for positive tests involving drugs deemed “human substances of abuse.”

These drugs include Cocaine/Benzoylecognine, Methamphetamine, Methaqualone, Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), Methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA), Methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA), Oxycodone, Phencyclidine (PCP), and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

 

In a press release, HISA wrote how the proposed changes to the ADMC rules “were developed after months of dialogue with and feedback from racing participants across the country,” including the horsemen's group advising HISA.

“During this time, the proposed rules were shared with industry members for informal comments and published on HISA's website for additional industry input,” the press release states.

The post Proposed HISA Drug Control Program Rule Changes Sent For Public Comment appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Forte Settles in at Spendthrift

It didn't take long for champion Forte (Violence – Queen Caroline, by Blame) to settle in at Spendthrift Farm and after just a few weeks of breeder inspections, the 'TDN Rising Star' is already booked full for his first year at stud.

“Any time you get a chance to show a champion off to your breeders, it makes the sales team's job pretty easy,” said Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker. “He has been hugely popular and is completely sold out. Most every mare that he got is a blacktype mare, so he's going to get a huge chance.”

With an introductory fee of $50,000, Forte follows in the steps of Spendthrift sires like champion Jackie's Warrior, who stood for the same fee in his debut year last year, and the fast-starting first-crop sire Omaha Beach, who joined the roster in 2020 with a $45,000 fee.

“When Omaha Beach came in, he got the mares and then the next year Authentic got the mares,” explained Toothaker. “Jackie got the mares last year and so Forte will get them this year. He's a beautiful horse and we're so glad to have him here.”

The first champion 2-year-old to join the Spendthrift roster in over 40 years–since the likes of Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Lord Avie– Forte broke his maiden by nearly 8 lengths at Belmont, earning 'Rising Star' honors in that debut in May for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. The Todd Pletcher trainee would later score three straight Grade I victories in the Hopeful S., Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile, where he bested MGISW Cave Rock (Arrogate) and eventual GI Preakness S. victor National Treasure (Quality Road).

Forte wins the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland | Horsephotos

It was a roller coaster of a 3-year-old campaign for Forte, as he continued his win streak in the GII Fountain of Youth S. and GI Florida Derby but was forced to scratch from the GI Kentucky Derby as the favorite due to a foot bruise. Off a 10-week layoff, he returned to the starting gate for the GI Belmont S. and was runner-up to Arcangelo (Arrogate). Before his final career start in the GI Travers S., Forte earned a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure in a hard-fought victory in the GII Jim Dandy S.

A quarter crack forced him to retire ahead of his bid in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“He had some hiccups along the way, but still the talent came through,” said Toothaker. “The horse had so much class and he was just so push button. I think he just knew where the wire was. That was our biggest comment about him is that if you ever got in a dogfight with him, he knew how to win.”

Toothaker said that Forte first came on Spendthrift's potential stallion list after his win in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, where he defeated fellow 'Rising Star' Loggins (Ghostzapper), a horse co-owned by Spendthrift.

“That race really puts him on our radar to try to get something done and we were able to get a deal done with Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola. We were thrilled we were able to get him secured late in his 2-year-old year. We got to ride the roller coaster this year, but it was all worth it.”

A $110,000 Keeneland September buy, Forte is out of the multiple stakes-winning Blame mare Queen Caroline, who just sold for $3 million to John Stewart at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Toothaker said that Forte's physical is reminiscent of his sireline and has been another bonus to his credentials as breeders have stopped by the farm since his arrival.

“He's got that Medaglia d'Oro length to him,” he said. “He stands over some ground and he's such a good mover. You see why Jacob West picked him out. He just drops his head and motors when you show him. Breeders have loved that when you bring him out on the end of the shank. He's just got a classy look to him. We're thrilled to have him and so happy we can show him off to all of our breeders.”

The post Forte Settles in at Spendthrift appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Noble Indy Fell From the Kentucky Derby To Racing In Puerto Rico, But A Good Samaritan Came To His Rescue

Fred Hart didn't own, train or breed Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy), the winner of the 2018 GII Louisiana Derby and the seventh-place finisher in that year's GI Kentucky Derby. But he did have a connection. An owner and breeder of modest means, he owned Noble Indy's dam, Noble Maz (Storm Boot), buying her for $9,000 at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October Yearling Sale. He would later lose her in a $25,000 claimer, which turned out to be her last race.

But even that minor role in the career of Noble Indy, who was bred by WinStar Farm, turned Hart into his biggest fan. He visited him at WinStar as a baby, went to as many of his races as he possibly could and spent time at Todd Pletcher's barn at Palm Beach Downs when the horse was in Florida.

“I owned the mother of Noble Indy and I bought her for $9,000 and she went on to earn $327,000,” Hart said. “She's my one claim to fame in racing.”

Noble Indy broke his maiden for WinStar at first asking and thereafter raced for the partnership of WinStar and Mike Repole and looked like a nice prospect from the start. He added a Gulfstream allowance to his debut win, then finished third in the GII Risen Star S., his final prep for the Louisiana Derby. After the Kentucky Derby, he was never again the same. He lost nine straight until winning a 2019 allowance race at Belmont for Repole, who had earlier bought out WinStar.

It was clear he was no longer a stakes-caliber horse and he struggled to even win allowance races. Noble Indy wound up in a $35,000 claimer at Gulfstream on Feb. 24, 2021. He was claimed by Saffie Joseph, Jr. who didn't fare much better than Pletcher. On Feb. 10, 2022, Joseph lost him to trainer Gustavo Delgado. Four starts later, all of them defeats, he was on his way to Camarero in Puerto Rico, the lowest rung on the racing ladder and a perilous place for horses nearing the end of their careers.

“At some point his ability went south,” Hart said. “The next thing I new he was back in again for $35,000 and it wasn't long after that he was in Puerto Rico. The purses are terrible there. Why any person would ever send a horse to Puerto Rico is beyond me.”

Hart reached out to Kelley Stobie, the co-founder of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc. He wanted to bring Noble Indy home.

The problem was that the new owner, Skull Stable PR, wanted $35,000 for the horse, way more than he was worth at that point. Stobie told Hart the best thing to do was to be patient and wait to see if the price would come down.

“Once the horse came to Puerto Rico, a lot of people contacted us,” Stobie said. “My thought was that if you didn't want to see the horse come to Puerto Rico, why didn't someone claim him when they had the chance at Gulfstream Park? When that didn't happen, everyone saw this as my problem. The only person that was really nice to me and understood my situation was Fred. We are in dire straits down here financially. Everyone looks at what's going on down here and figures it's not their problem. Fred was the only one who appreciated how hard it is down here. He wasn't breathing down my neck saying 'you've got to get this horse back.' Fred was really humble and understood the situation.”

Noble Indy made five starts in Puerto Rico, losing every time. He did run second and third but finished sixth, beaten 10 lengths in what has turned out to be his last race, an $11,000 allowance on Feb. 10 of this year.

Hart and Stobie tried again and the owner was still asking for $35,000. Eventually the price got down to $10,000, still too much as Harty and Stobie saw it for a horse who had little to no value anymore as a race horse. As Hart understands it, Noble Indy then had some screws inserted in his left front ankle in last-ditch effort to return him to form. When that didn't work out, Skull Stable finally relented and agreed to give him away for free.

Hart was ecstatic.

“I became sentimentally attached to this horse and was afraid harm would come to him if he stayed in Puerto Rico,” Hart said. “I just wanted to get him out of there. That's who I am. I get sentimentally involved with something.  It's terrible what can happen to these horses. If I didn't get involved, I thought no one would. I was worried this horse would end up dead. This is a success story because this horse is getting out of Puerto Rico alive.”

Noble Indy, who, somewhere along the way was gelded, remains in Puerto Rico with Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc. The intention is to send him to Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. Before he can come to the U.S., Stobie needs to figure out the quarantine requirements and how to pay for the cost of transporting him back to the U.S. Repole solved that issue Monday, as he told the TDN that he would personally cover those expenses.

“The horse has problems but nothing that will prevent him from living out a nice life on the retirement farm,” Hart said. “There's going to be a good ending to the story.”

The post Noble Indy Fell From the Kentucky Derby To Racing In Puerto Rico, But A Good Samaritan Came To His Rescue appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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