ITBA Mental Fitness And Resilience Seminar Sheds Light On Mental Health Awareness, Resources

In an industry where the hours and expectations fall far outside of the typical 40-hour work week, peers are also your biggest competitors, and the fine line of balance between work and life can be nonexistent, the struggle with mental health is prevalent among the Thoroughbred industry's participants. However, growth of understanding through research, increased discussion and an expanded network of resources is hoping to change all of that, as shared in the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (ITBA)'s Mental Fitness and Resilience in the Thoroughbred Industry online seminar, held Wednesday evening, in association with Equuip.

Nearly 70 participants across Ireland and elsewhere tuned in to the panel led by Dr. Jennifer Pugh, Senior Medical Officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Lisa O'Neill, Welfare Coordinator of Equuip, and Dr. Ciara Losty, a sports psychologist for The Jockey Pathway.

“When your mental fitness is in a good place, you have clear space for thinking, you make better decisions, your mind is clear and you have a structure and a pathway to how you handle things. When you're in a negative mindset and you don't have a lot of mental fitness, everything's scrambled and you may not be able to make good decisions,” said Pugh, as she dove deeper into the definitions of mental fitness and resilience. “Whether you're big or small, there are challenges at every single level and success brings its own challenges as well. Mental health difficulties don't belong to one particular group, we are all susceptible to them.”

“The other thing that's important here is that you don't have to be in the middle of a major life event to need resilience, I think you're probably facing times every single day in your work where you need to be resilient. If something's stressful for you, it's stressful for you, you can't put it in a compartment.”

Alcohol misuse, depression, anxiety and psychological distress were all common mental disorders identified in Mental health difficulties among professional jockeys: a narrative review, a study conducted in 2021 where 105 jockeys across the UK were surveyed. The researchers identified four core categories of stressors experienced by jockeys, relating to competition (ex. pressure, injuries), the wider racing industry (ex. making weight, workload, travel demands), interpersonal challenges (ex. relationships with trainers, expectations) and career stressors (ex. career uncertainty, transitions).

“Mental health is really an area that is being discussed more, it's an area that we're talking about a little bit more in society and it's an area that is being researched more, but I would say overall, it is probably lacking behind some of the physiological sciences or some of the sciences that support the physical performance of certain things,” said Losty. “When we compare and put these statistics with other sports and other athletes in other areas, the jockeys are generally outliers. They are presented with much higher common mental health disorders.”

The study also revealed that burnout was a common feature among the jockeys, along with the high prevalence of adverse alcohol use, and nearly a quarter of the jockeys revealed that they were contemplating retirement.

“Racing is such a one-man's game. You're paddling your own canoe. You think 'I must be strong by myself, I just keep it to myself, I handle everything else.' I drive myself everywhere, I sort all of my rides, I sort my finances. You just become independent because you absolutely have to be, and I think it drips into the psychological side as well,” said one jockey who participated in the study.

However, when asked about why they were not seeking out support from medical professional health services in the study Barriers and Facilitators to Help-Seeking for Mental Health Difficulties Among Professional Jockeys in Ireland conducted in 2022, barriers included 'a need to appear strong in front of others' and a stigma towards accessing support services, a lack of knowledge about the support services available, confidentiality concerns and a self-stigma about asking for help.

“Confidentiality is a big part of my work as well, in that jockeys are very concerned about that if they actually seek out support, how confidential that particular service will be and how others will perceive that. If a trainer knows that a jockey is getting some kind of health support, are they maybe going to make different decisions about putting that jockey up on a horse? Will that affect their perception of that jockey from a hardiness type of perspective? These are some things to think and reflect on,” explained Losty. “If we understand these risk factors, we can put in programs and supports in place very early. It's okay to seek out support.”

Losty shared a similar study conducted in 2021 on Racehorse Trainer Mental Health: Prevalence and Risk Factors, which revealed many of the common mental health disorders that impact jockeys also impact trainers, in the form of depression, alcohol use, distress and anxiety. The stressors for trainers revolved around career dissatisfaction, lower levels of social support and financial difficulties, which would increase the likelihood of meeting the threshold for depression and anxiety.

“They are under pressure from owners to ensure high performance, a high standard, and they are also required to manage the staff. They are looking after staff welfare and they're looking after the horses' welfare, which again is high stress, and not a 9-5 role or somewhere where you can just leave your job at the gate when you leave the yard,” said Losty.

Though there has not been as much research in a broader sense on employees across Ireland's Thoroughbred industry, outside of the specific roles of jockeys and trainers, O'Neill referenced research from several studies conducted in Australia and the UK on stable staff that revealed they were experiencing extreme fatigue and poor sleep habits, along with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Stressors included high workloads, poor work-life balance and a lack of training and career progression.

She explained that an industry-wide staff shortage was negatively influencing an already stretched workforce, dealing with increased workloads, heightened demands and intensified hours.

“Stable staff and those in the breeding sector are the largest population, they're the largest cohort within the Thoroughbred industry and they're the most important. They are the people that are the backbone of the industry. They're passionate, they're dedicated, they're determined to commit their lives to the care and welfare of the horses. Their dedication is vital to the welfare of the industry,” said O'Neill. “It's very notable that you don't see them as statistics, but they're real, they are individuals. They are the people that we need to be able to develop interventions with in this country, which we hope to be able to do in the future.”

Farmers are very relatable to those in the equine industry, and Thoroughbred industry more specifically, as they are a unique cohort themselves, often situated in rural, isolated places with isolated work and a seemingly endless workload, as independent sole traders.

“In general we are pre-wired to be negative about ourselves and hard on ourselves, so if we're not able to believe in things like, 'I am loved. I am worthy. I am good at this. I have good friends. I make good relationships. I'm successful,' then we start to feel the opposite of all of that and that can be a horribly negative space to live in,” said Pugh. “In general, the higher our self-esteem, the better our mental fitness is.”

In terms of moving forward and offering further support to those in the Thoroughbred industry, a common message among the panellists was an increased emphasis on removing the stigma that asking for help reveals weakness, when in reality, it's one of the bravest things an individual can do. This begins with education on what mental fitness and health is and what services are available to those in the industry, with a request for organisations to take a bigger role in sharing this information.

Helping to increase mental health literacy among those in the industry is a main priority. Along those lines, encouraging individuals to analyse what support they are getting for themselves and what they could offer in terms of support was also discussed.

“You don't take your car to the garage when it breaks down, you service it regularly so it's able to ferry you to and fro. So it's very important to be able to look after yourself. Often the greatest strength is to be able to ask for help and I think it's very important for everyone to realize that there is support out there for anyone who does need help,” said O'Neill.

Losty shared the major points that fall under 'how to be a good adult,' which can be applied broadly in every day life, including listening to people, giving them time and space, looking for windows of opportunity to have those important conversations about someone's mental health, not judging them and using personal experiences to relate to the conversation at hand.

“You don't have to have the answers for them, but you can be that key 'one good adult' or that link person for them to engage in those support services. Again, it's about not being afraid to have those conversations,” said Losty.

A new concept that the panellists shared will hopefully be rolling out in the next few months is that of 'Well-Being Champions,' where individuals who are interested will undergo resilience training, mental health awareness training, risk management training, and bullying and harassment training. After training, the well-being champions will serve as an extra source of support for their peers in the industry.

O'Neill also shared that further research will be conducted on relevant industry personnel to explore the challenges and difficulties they face, organizing a panel of external counsellors across the country and including mental health training within the overarching field of first aid training.

Though the lives of those in the industry revolve around the horses, first and foremost, it's crucial that industry participants remember that their well-being and mental health is just as important. There is never a bad or wrong time to ask for help and accept support.

For more information on this seminar and the information discussed, visit the ITBA website.

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After Battling Substance Abuse Issues, Belmont Winner Jeremy Rose Launches a Comeback

Back in 2005, when he won the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S. with Afleet Alex (Northern Afleet), Jeremy Rose was convinced that the run he was on would never end. He was just 26, had already won more than 950 races and had won an Eclipse Award in 2001 as the nation's top apprentice. Rose was well established as one of the top riders in the Mid-Atlantic region, was earning in the mid-six figures every year and his best years seemed yet to come.

“It may sound arrogant, but I thought there was no stopping me,” Rose said. “I was on a roll. Alex put me on a pedestal, allowed me to go to a place few jockeys get to go. I was winning a lot of races, making good money. I was being flown all over the country to ride for people like Graham Motion. I couldn't do anything wrong. It was awesome.”

Seventeen years after Afleet Alex won the Belmont, Rose will not be riding at Belmont Park this Saturday but some 150 miles to the south, down the road to Delaware Park. He's 43 now and has ridden just two winners on the year. But he's not feeling sorry for himself. After all that he's been through, the addiction to opiods, the battle with alcohol, some 2 1/2 years away from the track, he's just happy to be back.

“I really let things get out of control,” he said.

Afleet Alex ran well in the GI Kentucky Derby, but finished third behind Giacomo (Holy Bull). It was in the Preakness that he showed his talent and his athleticism. Afleet Alex was making what looked like a winning move coming out of the far turn when Scrappy T (Fit to Fight) bore out in front of him, causing Afleet Alex to clip heels with his rival. For an instant, it appeared that Afleet Alex was going to go down in what could have been a horrific spill, but he somehow righted himself and carried Rose to a 4 3/4-length victory.

Come Belmont time, there was little doubt who the best 3-year-old in training was. Afleet Alex, in what would be his last-ever start, blew the field away, winning by seven lengths.

“I thought Jeremy rode a tremendous race,” winning trainer Tim Ritchey said afterward.

Rose finished the year with 178 wins and had 221 in 2006 and 288 in 2007.

Afleet Alex nearly goes down in the Preakness | Horsephotos

He may have thought there was nothing that could stop him, but that was proven wrong in 2008. In a race at Delaware Park, Rose struck his mount, Appeal to the City (Appealing Skier), with his whip in the eye, causing the eye to hemorrhage. He said he did not mean to injure the horse, but the Delaware Park stewards took no mercy. They initially suspended him for six months, a penalty that was reduced to 90 days on appeal. The incident happened shortly after Eight Belles (Unbridled's Song) had broken down in the Derby, and animal rights activists were not in a forgiving mood and pointed their slings and arrows at Rose, who was the target of death threats.

“Mentally, it took me a long time to bounce back from that, if I ever did bounce all the way back,” Rose said. “That was something I didn't let go of. They sent emails to commissions that they were going to kill me. They said they were coming in to take my dogs away from me. I got crucified.”

Rose was eventually able to put the incident behind him, but he was about to face a problem much more debilitating. As happens with most every jockey, riding started to take a toll on him. In constant pain, he thought he was doing the right thing when he went to a doctor for help. He was prescribed OxyContin.

“I can't remember exactly when I started,” he said. “I had all kinds of old fractures. My neck was hurting. My back was hurting. If you're a jockey and you're not racing, unless you have disability insurance, no money is coming in. You have to keep riding and you have to win races.”

When the drugs were first given to him, he had no idea how dangerous they were.

“I was driving to New York with an agent friend of mine and I had either Oxy or Percocet in the cup holder and he saw them and said to me, 'Do you know those pills are just like heroin?' I said, 'How can that be, a doctor prescribed them to me,'” Rose said. “Up until the time I was prescribed OxyContin, I literally had never taken a drug. At most, I was a social drinker. I would have a couple of beers and that was it. So when I got prescribed pain pills, I thought it was like getting ibuprofen. I had no idea it was even a narcotic.”

As is so often the case with opiods, they took over Rose's life. Desperate for the drug, he started buying them on the street and said he was taking as much as 300 milligrams a day.

For the most part, he was able to hide the addiction from trainers and owners, but anyone paying attention to his numbers could have told that there was something wrong. He won just 78 races in 2012 and 59 in 2013. He said that he was in and out of rehab over the next couple of years and was able to finally stay clear of the pills in 2014. But that wasn't the end of his problems.

He replaced one addiction with another. Alcohol became his next issue.

“The pills are easier to stay away from than alcohol,” he said. “You have to buy them on the street corner or go to a doctor to get them. Alcohol is on every corner. I can be sitting in a parking lot and see three liquor stores right in front of me. I could get alcohol any time I wanted and it was, for the most part, socially acceptable. I went from one thing to another and let things get out of control with alcohol. One thing about alcoholics, we like having instant gratification. That's why you like alcohol and drugs. You get that right away. For a jockey, it's the same thing when you win a race–instant gratification.”

In 2019, a year after he got married, he was in the midst of another miserable year in which he would win just 35 races. So, he walked away. His last mount that year came at Parx on Dec. 7. He knew it was time to focus on his mental health and his substance issues and, at least for a while, forget about being a jockey. He spent much of his time working at his family's pizza shop in Lewistown, Pa. and faced his demons head on. He said he has been sober for more than two years.

Rose with Afleet Alex | Horsephotos

For a while, he didn't know if he was going to come back or not, but he never strayed too far from the sport. A few times a week, he would travel from his home in Pennsylvania to work horses for trainer Anthony Pecoraro.

“When you go away one of two things can happen,” he said. “You either forget about it completely or you start getting the itch to come back. I kept coming in and worked horses for Pecoraro. That kept me in the game a little bit. The more I did it the more I got that itch to ride again.”

He made his return on May 12 at Penn National, finishing fifth in a starter optional claimer aboard Special Beam (Divining Rod) for Pecoraro. Thirteen days later, he had his first winner since coming back, guiding Our Sweet Pea (Micromanage) to a win in a $12,500 claimer. He won again on June 1, again for Pecoraro. He entered Wednesday's card at Delaware with a record of 2-for-9 on the year.

He knows that the days of his vying for leading rider at Delaware are probably in the past.

“Do I have the ability and do I still think I can ride a smart race? Yes,” he said. “And I'm as fit as I've ever been. I don't feel like I've really aged. I'm still solid and I'm as light as I've been in years. I left the room today at 114 pounds and it's been all natural. It's not like I've been killing myself to cut weight. I think I can ride at that level. Am I going to get those horses? That is the issue. To be realistic, probably not. You have these guys at Delaware, younger riders who are good, like Jaime Rodriguez. Now that I've ridden against him a few times I can see that he is a very natural, very gifted rider. The trainers are going to go with someone like him. That's just the way it is. There are trainers I have a background with and they might give me a shot. If I'm in the top five in the standings, to me, that will be a good meet.”

After the 2005 Belmont, he never got another chance on Afleet Alex, who came down with a hairline fracture in his left front cannon bone and was retired. He knows it's highly unlikely that he'll ever get a mount like that again. But there's no point in fixating on his past, the good or the bad. He'll watch the Belmont on television Saturday and try to win some races at Delaware Park. There will be no complaints.

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‘Riding For Freedom’: Champion Jockey’s Memoir Includes Battling Personal Demons, Addictions

Top Canadian Jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva released his first book on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Riding for Freedom is a raw personal memoir on his struggles to overcome an abusive father and debilitating addictions to survive the high stakes world of horse racing.

In his 16 triumphant seasons racing at Woodbine Racetrack, Eurico Rosa da Silva won seven Sovereign Awards as the outstanding jockey in Canada. He rode horses to victory in two consecutive Queen's Plate races and won the World All-Star Jockeys Challenge against top jockeys from France, Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Born on a dairy farm in an impoverished community in rural Brazil, da Silva determined at an early age that he would become a champion jockey. With implacable focus, he pursued his goal, first in Brazil, then through Macao to Canada, where he earned a reputation as an intensely focused and good-humored competitor.

But the real challenge in his life had little to do with horse racing. Since his childhood in Brazil, da Silva had been engaged in a much more lethal contest against a deep-seated anger that sometimes threatened to derail not just his career, but his life as well.

The negativity and self-doubt consumed him and sent him down a path of self‑destruction that led him to despair even in his great moments of victory. With the support of a qualified therapist, Da Silva began his greatest race – to free himself from his sex and gambling addictions along with the tyranny of his past.

More than an account of Eurico's rise to international renown in the high stakes horse‑racing world, this is also the story of his conquest of the demons that haunted him throughout his career. From his birth and early years in Brazil, this book describes his ascent to the highest ranks of his athletic profession. It also lays bare his struggle to heal the emotional scars inflicted by an absent and negligent father, and his victory over the forces that threatened at times to end his life.

Riding for Freedom by Eurico Rosa da Silva is now available on Amazon.

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Arizona Dept. Gaming Launches Wellness Program

At the December Arizona Racing Commission meeting, Arizona Department of Racing steward Magdaleno Perez announced the launch of the Healthy Humans, Healthy Horses track wellness program, created to address the growing substance abuse problem at the state’s racetracks by supporting racing participants who may be suffering from addiction.

“I commend Magdaleno and the entire racing team in their diligent efforts to move this project forward,” said ADGaming Director, Ted Vogt. “The Healthy Humans, Healthy Horses program will directly support Arizona horsemen and create a safer and healthier backside, driving us forward in meeting our mission to ethically and effectively regulate horse racing, while ensuring it is conducted in a socially responsible manner.”

The 2021 winter meet at Turf Paradise kicks off Jan. 4 and the Arizona Department of Gaming–Racing Division will implement the following measures:

  • Suspension reductions for those who seek help with substance abuse
  • Random drug testing for licensees on horseback
  • Partnering with subject matter experts to address the influx of substance abuse
  • Adjusting fines and suspensions for repeated drug-related offenses
  • Proactively connecting those seeking help with substance abuse to available resources statewide

“A big thank you to the Racing Division for their hard work to support the Arizona racing community,” said Racing Commission Chair, Rory Goreé. “It is a priority for the Commission to help ensure the health and safety of racing participants, and this project furthers that goal while providing necessary aid to those in need.”

For more information, click here.

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