Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

WATCH: Catching Up With Kentucky Derby, Queen’s Plate Runner State Of Honor At LongRun

Running in either the Kentucky Derby or the Queen's Plate – known today as the King's Plate – is a monumental achievement that signifies a horse's place among the top 3-year-olds of his class in the U.S. and Canada, respectively.

State of Honor was the rare horse that ran in both first jewels of the U.S. and Canadian Triple Crown, which he accomplished in the spring and summer of 2017.

Today, the 9-year-old To Honor and Serve gelding resides as a pensioner at LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society in Hillsburgh, Ontario, among a field of 16 geldings and sharing a property with greats including 2017 Canadian Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd.

An Ontario homebred for Manfred and Penny Conrad, State of Honor won just once in 14 career starts, but he ran in high-level competition on both sides of the border.

He began his racing career at Woodbine in the barn of trainer Mark Casse, making his first two starts in stakes company, which included a third-place effort on debut in the Victoria Stakes. After finding his footing in maiden special weight company to earn his first win, State of Honor climbed the ladder once again to run second in the Coronation Futurity in his 2-year-old season finale.

Casse brought State of Honor to Florida for the start of his 3-year-old campaign with eyes on the Triple Crown season. Though he never got a statement win on the Triple Crown trail, he earned his place in the conversation with runner-up efforts in the listed Mucho Macho Man Stakes, the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, and the G1 Florida Derby, along with a third in the G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes.

If he wasn't the one setting the pace, he was rarely far off it, conceding in the end to the likes of future Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and future Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit.

State of Honor left the gate in the 2017 Kentucky Derby at odds of 54-1, which made him the second longest price on the board. Under jockey Jose Lezcano, he led the way through the race's opening half-mile before getting headed by Always Dreaming after six furlongs. He then faded to 19th, beating only Thunder Snow, who was quickly pulled up after the break and did not finish the race.

A month later, State of Honor regrouped for a bid at the Canadian classics, starting with the Plate Trial Stakes, where he finished third in a tight finish after setting the early fractions.

He set the pace once again in the Queen's Plate under jockey Patrick Husbands, but he gave way after a mile and flattened out to finish eighth. His final start came in the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, where he set the pace through the top of the stretch and finished third.

Support our journalism

If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.

State of Honor came out of the Prince of Wales with a bowed tendon, after which the Conrads retired and gelded the horse before sending him to LongRun.

“When I first met State of Honor, I was just impressed by his size,” said LongRun's Tania Veenstra. “You don't often see racehorses that are 17-plus hands. He was just a really nice horse. He was friendly and easy to work around.”

After a gradual acclimating process, State of Honor was introduced to LongRun's sanctuary herd, a 10-acre field of geldings living out their days on the rural Ontario farm, about 65 kilometers from Woodbine.

In any gelding field, there is an unspoken pecking order amongst its residents, and Veenstra said State of Honor occupies a high spot in his field; though it's not quite as high as his status as one of the field's biggest horses might suggest.

“State's near the top of the hierarchy, I'd say – if you want to call it a hierarchy,” she said. “He has a couple buddies that are at the top, and he'll usually be one of the first that are fed, or he pushes his way in there and makes sure he gets fed.

“He's a real dude,” Veenstra continued. “He's huge, but he's a softie. He can push his way around a little bit, but he's not mean. He's like 'Okay, get out of the way. I'm coming through.' He does it in a gentlemanly way.”

The Conrads remain active in State of Honor's life in his retirement, fully sponsoring his stay at LongRun. They visit about every six months, and LongRun chairperson Vicki Pappas said they are in plenty of contact between visits.

“If they run a horse that does well, I like sending them an email to congratulate them,” she said. “They're back and forth. They come to our open houses, or they come up by themselves to see the big horse. We're obviously humbled to be entrusted with the care of a horse like that with his retirement from racing.”

The video below can be found on the Paulick Report's new TikTok account. To view more videos on our TikTok, and to subscribe, click here.

@paulickreport Abead of today's King's Plate at Woodbine, let's check in with State of Honor, who ran in both the 2017 Kentucky Derby and Queen's Plate. Today, he lives at LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement in Ontario. #horseracing #foryou #paulickreport #kentuckyderby #wherearetheynow #horses #thoroughbred #thoroughbredsoftiktok #aftercare #StateOfHonor #QueensPlate #KingsPlate #KP23 ♬ original sound – Paulick Report

The post WATCH: Catching Up With Kentucky Derby, Queen’s Plate Runner State Of Honor At LongRun appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

NYRA To Honor Funny Cide At Saratoga On New York Showcase Day Aug. 27

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will pay tribute to Funny Cide, one of the most successful and popular New York-breds of all time, on New York Showcase Day, Sunday, August 27, at Saratoga Race Course.

Funny Cide, who died earlier this summer due to complications from colic, earned more than $3.5 million during his six-year racing career, including a history-making victory in the 2003 Kentucky Derby when he became the first New York-bred to win the “Run for the Roses” and was later named the 2003 Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3-Year-Old Colt.

Funny Cide gained a large-scale national and even international following after his ownership group, Saratoga Springs-based Sackatoga Stable, traveled to the Kentucky Derby in a yellow school bus, a nod to the everyday fan, that continued throughout the 2003 Triple Crown series. Following his Derby win, Funny Cide would go on to complete two-thirds of the Triple Crown with a victory in the Preakness before coming up short in the Belmont Stakes.

“Few of us will ever forget Funny Cide's remarkable 2003 season, which helped shine a light on the growing success of the New York-bred program,” said NYRA President & CEO Dave O'Rourke. “NYRA is honored to celebrate his life and career on this most appropriate of days: New York Showcase Day at Saratoga.”

Funny Cide's remains will be buried at Saratoga during a brief ceremony starting at 11 a.m. inside Gate C and just a short distance from the horse path. Saratoga Race Course will be the final resting place for the two-time New York-bred Horse of the Year, allowing his passionate fan base to pay their respects in an area accessible to the public.

“Funny Cide was instrumental in helping to elevate the New York-bred program to national prominence and was a fan favorite wherever he ran,” said Najja Thompson, executive director of New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. “His connection to the city of Saratoga Springs extends beyond being foaled locally at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds and campaigned by Sackatoga Stable. Residents of the city and racing fans understand the great impact he made on our sport. It is an honor to have him recognized on New York Showcase Day and for visitors to Saratoga Race Course to be able to pay their respects to him going forward.”

Funny Cide's connections, Sackatoga Managing Partner Jack Knowlton, trainer Barclay Tagg, assistant trainer Robin Smullen and Hall of Fame jockey Jose Santos, will be on hand to sign an array of memorabilia, including Funny Cide posters and bobbleheads, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Jockey Silks Porch. Suggested donations will benefit the Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) and the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, a pair of non-profit organizations dedicated to the care and well-being of members of NYRA's backstretch community.

Later in the afternoon, following the annual running of the Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, NYRA will present a video compilation of his career, including his signature Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and 2004 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. Funny Cide retired in 2007 and resided at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, until the time of his passing in mid-July.

“Sackatoga Stable is most appreciative of NYRA's recognition of the impact Funny Cide has had on and off the track throughout his storied career,” said Knowlton. “We are particularly proud of the impact he has had on the New York-bred program in its growth since his 2003 Kentucky Derby victory. Always a fan favorite, it is particularly fitting that Funny Cide's remains will be buried at Saratoga Race Course in a place where fans can remember the 'Gutsy Gelding.'”

New York Showcase Day will highlight the continued success of the New York-bred program with six stakes for state-breds worth a combined $1.25 million. The card will include the $250,000 Albany, a nine-furlong test for sophomores and five $200,000 stakes, including the Fleet Indian for sophomore fillies; the West Point Handicap presented by Trustco Bank for 3-year-olds and up; the Yaddo Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up; and a pair of sprints at six furlongs in the Funny Cide, presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, for 2-year-olds; and the Seeking the Ante for juvenile fillies.

Highlighted by the 154th edition of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26, the 2023 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course continues through Monday, September 4.

Racing is conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day.

For more information about Saratoga Race Course visit NYRA.com.

The post NYRA To Honor Funny Cide At Saratoga On New York Showcase Day Aug. 27 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Study: Acetaminophen Shows Promise For Pain, Fever Relief In Foals

Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter painkiller that can also help reduce fevers in infants. Dr. Jenifer Gold of Wisconsin Equine Clinic and Hospital in Oconomowoc wanted to determine whether the drug, also called paracetamol, could benefit foals with fevers and accompanying pain.

Gold and a team of researchers administered a single dose of acetaminophen (either 20mg or 40mg per kilogram of weight) to eight healthy Quarter Horse foals (three colts and five fillies) that were between seven and nine days old.

The foals' blood and biochemistry panels were checked before the drug was given and then eight times over a 48-hour period after the drug was given to quantify plasma acetaminophen concentrations. Blood was also tested seven days after acetaminophen administration.

The researchers found no adverse reactions in any of the foals, and blood and biochemistry profiles remained within normal limits. They did find that disposition of acetaminophen in the foals' blood was comparable to adult horses. They report that these results are encouraging for the potential use of acetaminophen in foals for fever and pain reduction.

The team notes that the safety and optimal dosing levels to treat pain and fever in foals is still undetermined. More research is needed, specifically related to the effects of acetaminophen on the liver; liver toxicity is a significant concern in people taking elevated doses of the drug.

Eye See You: Equine Viewing Preference Can Indicate Stress Response

A new study has shown that which eye a horse uses to look at a new object may affect his heart rate, giving clues to his stress level.

The two hemispheres of the equine brain have important functional differences, particularly regarding the sensory systems. The left hemisphere seems to be involved in the analytical categorization of stimuli; the right hemisphere processes negative stimuli and responds to threats, causing a stress response.

Dr. Martina Felici of the University of Pisa in Italy noted that the eye a horse uses to look at novel stimuli may help detect a horse's stress level in a non-invasive way. She said that these findings may have physiological and behavioral consequences, as well as possible practical implications for horses.

To test their theory that eye use affects cardiac response, the researchers used 20 horses, 11 mares, and nine geldings from two stables. They tested the horses by rapidly inflating an orange balloon in their presence.

The team predicted that horses using their left eye (the right hemisphere of their brain) to look at the balloon would have a greater degree of variability seen on electrocardiograms (therefore, would be more stressed), compared to horses that used their right eye to look at the novel stimuli (and used the left side of their brain).

Each horse was videoed to determine which eye it used to look at the balloon and had a five-minute EKG recorded. The horse was not tied, so was able to view the balloon out of whichever eye it preferred.

Five minutes of electrocardiograms were recorded for each horse, and video analysis was used to determine which eye each of the horses used to view the balloon. The balloon was presented randomly depending on where each horse was positioned in the stall.

They found that horses that spend longer looking at the balloon with their left eye had ECGs that showed greater variability than the horses that looked at the balloon out of their right eye, supporting the hypothesis that horses that looked at novel objects out of the left eye had more emotional reactions.

The scientists concluded that which eye a horse uses to look at a novel object can be related to a horse's heart rate response, which can reflect that the animal is stressed.