fracture | Horse Racing Free Tips

Saturday’s Insights: Pricey Night Of Thunder Filly Makes First Start At Keeneland

5th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 3:08 p.m. ET.
SCARLET POPPY (IRE) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) makes the races after she was purchased by Stonestreet Stable and M.V. Magnier for 800,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The Wesley Ward trainee has a trio of gelding half-brothers who have won stakes in Europe, including Ross Castle (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}), Snazzy Jazzy (Ire) (Red Jazz) and Ten Year Ticket (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar (Ire).

Also drawn is Ready for Shirl (More Than Ready), who is out of GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf victress Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}). Both were bred and raced by Charles Fipke, along with Perfect Shirl's half-sister MGSW Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}), the dam of another Fipke homebred, Canadian three-time champion Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown). Once again, Roger Attfield serves as this owner's go-to conditioner. TJCIS PPS

4th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 2:36 p.m. ET.
Fracture (Uncle Mo) debuts for Katie Rich Farms under trainer Daniel Leitch. A half-brother to GI Manhattan S. hero Instilled Regard (Arch), the homebred's second dam is champion 3-year-old filly Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold), who produced MGISW Good Reward (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPS

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Injured Sea Bay Has Successful Operation

Fresh off his nine-length victory in the G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten on Sunday, Sea Bay (Ger) (New Bay {GB}) was diagnosed with a fracture in his left foreleg about an hour after that win. The operation, to insert four screws to stabalise the limb, was successful on Monday morning Galopp Online reported.

“He's back in his box,” trainer Henk Grewe told Sport-Welt later that day. “It's still plastered, we hope that the plaster will come off quickly. The forecast is very positive that next year we will see the same Sea Bay we saw this year.”

A winner at first asking at Hannover, the Gestut Winterhauch runner was fourth in the Listed Grosser Preis des Laki's im Ko-Quartier in September before Sunday's win.

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New Study Will Help Determine Exercise Effects On Bone Health

Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) are investigating whether mile-long trot sets might protect foals from leg fractures later in life. Leg fractures can happen in any horse, but lower leg fractures are of more concern in horses that race or jump competitively. Most fractures occur in horses that are between two and 10 years old.

Dr. Annette McCoy, Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery at the UIUC College of Veterinary Medicine and member of the research team, notes that mild exercise early in life stimulates bone growth in horses – particularly in areas prone to fracture — though how is not completely understood. McCoy will see if parallels can be drawn from human medical studies, which have shown that kids who exercise are less prone to injury as adolescents and adults. The bone changes the human subjects experience from exercise seem to be sustained over time.

McCoy and her team will study 12 Standardbred foals housed on the university farm beginning when they are eight weeks old. The scientists will perform a baseline CT exam to measure bone density and volume on the forelegs of each foal. The foals will then be split into two groups: one group will complete an eight-week exercise plan where they trot rapidly over 1,500 yards once a day, five days per week; the second group will serve as the control and will not be exercised. In a previous study, McCoy found that foals living outside were relatively inactive nearly 85 percent of the time.

At 16 weeks old, the foal's forelegs will be scanned again to compare bone development. At 12 months old, a final CT scan will be performed. A computer model will predict the effects of exercise interventions on bone properties.

Study: Though Gnarly-Looking, Orbital Fractures In Horses Often Heal Well

A horse with a broken orbital bone can be a sight to behold – the horse's head is often massively swollen and he may be unable to open the eye on the affected side. It can be impossible to imagine a horse with this type of injury ever being able to go back to “normal,” but a study has shown that most horses with occipital fractures have a good prognosis for both retaining their sight and returning to work.

A study from North Carolina University, led by Dr. Joseph Gerding, used 18 horses referred to the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine clinic for orbital fractures. The horses were injured by rearing in a confined area, running into a stationary object, or by being kicked. Fifteen of the horses had surgery to stabilize the bone.

Horses that had received kicks to the occipital bone had higher risk of trauma to the eye, vision loss or eye removal. Horses with this type of injury also had a likelihood of having fractures in other bones as well, possibly involving the sinuses and creating a massive nosebleed. If other bones were involved, the favorable outcome from occipital bone surgery becomes more guarded.

Horses that were injured from rearing may have additional complications that require more aggressive treatment. Sinus and skull X-rays and CT scans can help diagnose orbital fractures and assess if any other bones are involved.

The study team found that surgery to stabilize a broken occipital bone was often successful in restoring function and appearance, as 13 of the 18 study horses returned to their previous level of use.