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Racing’s Worker Shortage Isn’t Just A Lack Of Grooms — In Some Places, It’s Exercise Riders Too

As racing continues to grapple with questions about how to offset labor shortages for grooms and hotwalkers, some trainers tell Thoroughbred Daily News they worry the talented exercise rider is also becoming a dying breed.

Though some larger operations have not encountered this problem, some smaller shedrows have seen experienced hands retire without an influx of young riders to replace them. Some trainers attribute the issue to a lack of an educational pipeline, saying that many riders show up at the track wanting to gallop without having learned proper equitation or horsemanship outside a racetrack setting. In some places, like California, a shrinking number of training centers and farms also reduce the number of learning centers that have traditionally educated young riders and young horses together.

Besides that, the TDN reported, the pay for most exercise riders hasn't kept up with inflation, and there are limited opportunities for an experienced exercise rider to advance (unless they plan to become a jockey). Combined with the seven-day-a-week nature of a physically demanding and risky role, the job doesn't look like a good bet to young people with other employment choices.

A poor or inexperienced rider can be dangerous to others on the track if they can't stop or settle a horse, or can fail to identify lameness or asymmetry that could signal a problem with the horse.

Some in the industry are hopeful that training schools like the North American Racing Academy can help fill the gap of upcoming riders, while others wonder if trainers should reach out to other equestrian disciplines like show jumping to find riders who can modify existing skills for the track.

With Four Stakes Wins, Russell Unanimously Voted Jockey Of The Week

With four stakes wins on the Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program at Laurel Park, Sheldon Russell was unanimously selected as Jockey of the Week for Oct.19 through Oct. 25. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing industry experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Just a month into his return to racing from a broken wrist, Russell put an exclamation mark on his comeback with four wins capped by a record-setting victory aboard Monday Morning Qb in the Maryland Million Classic, trained by E. “Butch” Reid, Jr. With a textbook ride by Russell, Monday Morning Qb hit the wire in 1:48.13 over a fast main track, the fastest Classic since the race was moved to its current distance in 2009.

Russell also captured the Starter Handicap with trainer Dale Capuano's Jumpstartmyheart in the first race and went on to win the Distaff with Hello Beautiful trained by Russell's wife, Brittany, and the Turf with Pretty Good Year, trained by Kelly Rubley. Russell also finished third in the Ladies with Mosalah and in the Turf Sprint Handicap with Godlovesasinner.

“It's just fantastic. I haven't really been back that long. We sort of came back Preakness week and I was able to pick up a Preakness mount and sort of pick my head up a little bit,” Russell said. “Business has been great, so I can't really complain. My agent, Marty Leonard, has done a great job.

“Going into today I had nine mounts and looking at all of them, you think they all sort of had a live sneaky outside chance,” he added. “It was good that Dale's horse put me on a good start to the day. When you win some races early on in the day it sort of gives you a second win and you want to win another one, but four wins is great. I couldn't have asked for a better day.”

Russell's weekly stats were 14-5-0-2 for a 35.71% win and 50% in-the-money with total purses of $273,958.

Russell out-polled fellow riders Kyle Frey who tied for second with most wins for the week, Trevor McCarthy who won three stakes races on Maryland Million Day, Irad Ortiz, Jr. who was the leading money-earner for the week and Edgard Zayas who tied for second in number of wins with Kyle Frey.

The post With Four Stakes Wins, Russell Unanimously Voted Jockey Of The Week appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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High-Tech Tool To Diagnose Rainrot

Rainrot is a common, painful skin condition affecting horses that are exposed to rainfall for an extended period of time. Caused by an opportunistic bacterium, a horse exposed to wet, humid conditions can rapidly develop a crusting infection that causes tight scabs in a drip pattern down his back, rump and flanks. Rainrot can also show up on areas of the horse that are in contact with wet grass, like on the lower legs and muzzle.

Though many horses can be treated for rainrot with over-the-counter products, older horses and those with comprised immune systems tend to get more-severe infections that may require veterinary intervention. When dealing with a severe case, a vet will generally sample the crusts and examine it under a microscope, looking for the specific bacteria that causes rainrot.

A New option available to veterinarians is the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. This DNA-amplification technique is commonly used in gene sequencing and forensic analysis, as well as for diagnosing infectious diseases. Extremely sensitive, PCR is a routine diagnostic test for most labs and it's affordable: The test isn't as expensive as most cytology tests.

Once run, it can differentiate between rainrot and other skin conditions, which will assist in determining a course of treatment, shortening the trial-and-error efforts sometimes needed to assist with healing.

Nicholls to make decision on whether Cyrname runs at Ascot or Wetherby on Thursday

Trainer Paul Nicholls will now delay his decision on whether Cyrname runs at Ascot or Wetherby on Saturday until declaration time on Thursday.

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