Jessica Harrington | Horse Racing Free Tips

IFAR: Why The Term ‘Retraining’ May Not Be Best For OTTBs

The International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) kicked off its 2021 virtual conference on Tuesday with a panel of international racing leaders discussing the importance of Thoroughbred aftercare to the health of the sport.

Irish trainer Jessica Harrington, American trainers Graham and Anita Motion, Aga Khan Stud racing manager Nemone Routh and former British eventing team coach Yogi Breisner gathered to offer their thoughts on the state of aftercare and its interaction with other equestrian sports.

A few key takeaways:

Breisner, who has worked with many former racehorses, believes a language shift is in order when discussing off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). Often, the process of transitioning a horse from the track to another discipline is framed as “retraining,” but Breisner points out that conveys an implication that the horse's earlier training was somehow wrong.”Actually most racehorses I've taken don't need much true retraining,” he said. “They've already learned a lot.”
Routh said that aftercare in France, where the Aga Khan Stud is based, now receives financial support from France Galop, racing's regulatory body there. Previously it had been dependent on charitable donations, but Routh said after a certain point that was no longer sustainable. France Galop now encourages people to share their stories of their OTTBs as part of its tactic to market racing.
Also in France, racing connections are expected to pay for a horse's castration and transport to an accredited rehoming center. That can be a tough pill to swallow, especially for owners who are also discovering the horse that once had value as a racing animal may be retiring with very little market value. Routh suggests owners who set aside as modest a sum as two weeks' training fees could be enough to make sure the owner doesn't feel surprised by those retirement costs later.
Harrington believes education is key for new owners, especially those who join in as part of a large syndicate where they are able to approach racehorse ownership with no equine background or racing experience. Many don't even know a horse can live another 20 to 25 years after its racing retirement, let alone that they will need to find a new vocation for that time. “I think people don't think about it,” she said. “I think it's ignorance rather than willfully saying, 'I'm not going to look after my horse.”
Motion believes part of the key to making aftercare sustainable — particularly in the United States, where it's still so reliant on charitable giving — is to think twice about whether a horse needs to go to a retirement organization, where they will be on the organization's books for many years. Motion believes that many horses are suitable for some kind of active job where they might be useful as privately-owned animals, and that retirement sanctuaries are often asked to shoulder the burden of horses who could find vocations elsewhere.
Breisner said there could be more exchange between the racing and sport horse world as far as the education of riders. As stable help has become more difficult to find in Britain, Breisner said he sometimes has racing staff who ask to spend time training with him to improve their overall horsemanship, which benefits the racehorses they'll work with on and off the track. Likewise, he suggested that the many international racing schools that train jockeys and exercise riders could also include education on the basics of transitioning OTTBs off track. Riders who have the skills to be versatile will benefit the horses they work with.

The next IFAR virtual session will focus on aftercare for racing administrators and regulators and will take place April 13 at 8 a.m. Eastern. Registration is free and is available here.

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IFAR Forum Kicks Off April 6

Registration remains open for the fifth International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR), to be held virtually in a series of live webinars each Tuesday, beginning Apr. 6 through Apr. 27. Each session begins at 12 p.m. GMT (8 a.m. Eastern time) and lasts approximately one hour.

“With nearly 300 registrants already, we are excited by the enthusiasm demonstrated by the Thoroughbred industry for what will truly be a global event,” said Di Arbuthnot, chair of IFAR. “Between educating on aftercare best practices, offering case studies on aftercare programs in various jurisdictions, and showcasing the versatility of racehorses in second careers, the four sessions that compose the 2021 IFAR will be 'must-see' viewing for all who are impacted by the Thoroughbred.”

The opening session, entitled “Aftercare-Racing's Responsibility,” will provide an update on IFAR's activities from Arbuthnot and feature perspectives from Yogi Breisner MBE, equestrian coach (U.K.); Irish trainer Jessica Harrington; Graham and Anita Motion, the owners of Herringswell Stable; and Nemone Routh, racing office manager for the Aga Khan Studs. The discussion will be moderated by international racing broadcaster Nick Luck.

The schedule of upcoming webinars, including speakers, moderators, topics, biographical information and the link to register may be found here. All sessions are free of charge, but do require registration.

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Jessica Harrington: Covid Casts A Different Light On Communication

It has been a strange year and the Covid pandemic has meant that we have had to revolutionise the way we try to keep owners informed. We use a very good system now called Racing Manager and we do a lot of videoing of the horses, talking to their lads, talking to the jockeys. Because people haven't been allowed to come racing we interview the jockeys in the parade ring before racing, take photos of the horses in the parade ring and afterwards and then another video with the jockey's summing up of the race, whether good, bad or indifferent. It's something we have really had to embrace—normally we would ring people but now we have really had to step outside the box and I hope owners have found it useful.

We don't just do the horses, we have been making funny videos around the yard as well and just trying to make it as though the owners were here. Some people haven't been able to see their horses for well over a year or 18 months, so it's very strange. Some people in Ireland have been able to get down to the yard when they can but for the people who are abroad, very few of them have even been able to get into Ireland.

On the Racing Manager the owners also get pedigree updates if anything else in the family has won, which is great as it can be hard to keep track of all of that. I find it a very good platform to keep people informed.

I have a horse for the Irish National Stud, Kojin (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), which is part of their racing club, and they get great fun out of the app when the videos go up; there are always lots of replies to it and I hope it makes the club members really feel involved, not just in their horse but in every horse in the stable.

We've recently launched a new website and I think it's really important for the fans of racing as well, to see videos of the horses that they've been following on social media or on the website, especially when they haven't been able to go racing.

There's no doubt that Covid has made us look at things in a completely different way.

Roll on the Flat

We're looking forward to the Flat season. We have around 70 2-year-olds coming in and this year for the first year I actually have quite a few more older horses, and that's rather exciting that so many of them have remained in training.

Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Valeria Messalina (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Silence Please (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) all won either Group or Listed races last year and they have all stayed in training.

Then of the colts and geldings we have the Niarchos Family's Free Solo (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), who has run very little in his career but he was placed twice in listed races last year and he is now back as a 4-year-old. Then I have the 4-year-old Lobo Rojo (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) for Ballylinch Stud. Leo De Fury (Ire) (Australia {GB}) has also stayed in training. He's now five and was a Group 2 winner last year for Zhang Yuesheng, who has also has the 4-year-old Harpocrates (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who won up in Dundalk recently. Indigo Balance (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was second at the Curragh on Sunday, has come back from Australia. I trained him as a 2-year-old and he then went to Peter and Paul Snowden. He returned in the middle of last year but he took a long while to acclimatise so he didn't run last season.

Then there's Njord (Ire) (Roderic O'Connor {Ire}), who who won the big handicap at Ascot on Champions Day, and of the fillies I have Flor De La Luna (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who won a maiden in the autumn for her breeder Kirsten Rausing and I think she's a nice filly.

So I have a really good team of older horses, including a new horse who is new to our yard: King Of Comedy (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). It will be interesting to see how he gets on. I'm not sure I'll ever improve on John Gosden but he came to me in the autumn and he is pencilled in for a race on Sunday at Naas, but it will depend on what the ground is like.

The Younger Brigade

Among the 3-year-olds we have the two good Lope De Vega (Ire) colts Lucky Vega (Ire) and Cadillac (Ire). I think they will both go directly to their respective Classic targets: Cadillac will go to the Irish 2000 Guineas and Lucky Vega will go to Newmarket. That's my thinking at the moment but I reserve the right to change my mind!

Then there are quite a few 3-year-old colts who have just had the one or two runs which I think are quite exciting, like Taipan (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), who won on his only start for Fiona Carmichael, Ace Aussie (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Mcpherson (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) and Hell Bent (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})—the types that were always going to be 3-year-olds.

We are also lucky to have some nice 3-year-old fillies with Classic entries. Oonadatta (Ire) (Australia {GB}) was very good last year and was placed in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. She and Sacred Rhyme (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Loch Lein (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}), Golden Lyric (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Zaffy's Pride (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) all seem to have done well over the winter. And of corse there are some that didn't run last year who were never going to be 2-year-olds, such as Pappina (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who has an Irish Oaks entry. I feel I have a really nice balance of horses.

On the 2-year-old front I have some really well-bred horses including the full-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) who is called Discoveries (Ire), and a filly by Sea The Stars (Ire) out of Green Room who probably won't make a 2-year-old but she is a lovely filly and is a half-sister to the Group 1 winners Together Forever (Ire) and Forever Together (Ire). It's really exciting to have a nice bunch of 2-year-olds but we don't know how fast they can go yet.

We also have the full-brother to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) named Paris Lights (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) for his Australian breeder Bob Scarborough who also co-owns Oonadatta. Bob is a fantastic and very enthusiastic owner and we've enjoyed increasing the Australian connections in our yard, which includes OTI Racing and several Australian members of our Alpha Racing syndicate which we are running again this year with eight 2-year-olds.

Syndicates The Way Forward

Alpha Racing was set up by Richie Galway with Patrick Cooper doing the buying and it's in its third year now. The members of the syndicate have had a lot of fun so far, especially with Cadillac, and we're trying to set up some more syndicates on a slightly different level, basically with the aim of trying to get younger and new people into racing.

The It's All About The Girls syndicate is still going strong and they have one 3-year-old and three 2-year-olds to race this year. They've been a very lucky syndicate and have had winners every year and for a small investment. It's been great fun, which is what it's all about.

We are fortunate that the investment in Irish racing from overseas has remained strong even throughout this difficult year, and equally importantly the smaller syndicates are still going. That's the one thing I thought might be affected; I was worried that perhaps people might give up when they couldn't go racing. But thankfully most people are hanging in there and saying 'at least we have the racing'. They are able to watch it and still get great fun out of that, but of course it is nothing like actually being there when your horse runs.

I think this year was the first time in 45 years that I haven't been to Cheltenham, but it is as it is. I just hope that when we all get back out there we will be able to remember the art of socialising.

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Yulong Looking For Luck In The Guineas

Yuesheng Zhang has built up an Irish stable with enviable horsepower while shopping with a relatively modest budget over the last few years. His stable star is undoubtedly last year's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who looks to someday have a future at stud both in Europe and at Zhang's Yulong property in Victoria, Australia.

For now, though, connections have set their sights on the May 1 G1 2000 Guineas in Newmarket, with the colt preparing at Jessica Harrington's yard in good nick.

“I saw Lucky Vega last week and he is in great form,” confirmed Yulong's European Racing and Bloodstock Manager Michael Donohoe. “He's turned into a beautiful physical; he's after growing, getting strong and putting on nearly 40 kilos from his last race last year. Physically he's after developing a huge amount, which you like to see. We're hoping that bodes well that he will train on from two to three. Physically and in his work so far the guys are very happy with him. Shane [Foley] sat on him last week and he was very happy with him.”

“The main early season goal is going to be the Qipco 2000 Guineas in Newmarket on May 1,” Donohoe confirmed. “Rather than taking in a trial we'll probably head straight there, although that might change. No disrespect to the Irish or French Guineas–they may be an easier target–but Jessie is keen to go straight to Newmarket. Our only slight worry, and it's probably not a huge problem, is the trip. He's extremely strong and looks very much a sprinter physically, and there is plenty of speed in his pedigree. And we know Lope De Vega can get some very fast horses. He has shown a lot of speed in a couple of his races so it's just whether he gets the mile or not. We don't think he's going to stay any further than a mile with his running style.”

One of nine yearlings purchased in his crop by Donohoe for Yulong in Europe, the Kilcarn Stud-bred Lucky Vega was a €175,000 Goffs Orby yearling, having also been sold on the Co. Kildare grounds when bringing €110,000 as a foal. He broke his maiden at first asking on June 8 last year, the day Irish racing resumed after a 2 1/2-month absence in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and though his owner was unable to travel to attend any of his races, Lucky Vega continued to go from strength to strength throughout the campaign. He was second to Law Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}) in the G2 Railway S. in July before turning the tables on that rival and the likes of The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) and G1 Dewhurst S. winner St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) with a 3 1/2-length win in the Phoenix. He could finish only fifth after being repeatedly hampered in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., and regrouped to be a strong second in the G1 Middle Park S. behind Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}).

“His win in the Phoenix, he was very good that day,” Donohoe recalled. “He was caught in a pocket and when he got out he showed some serious acceleration. The form of that race held up pretty well; Law Of Indices and St Mark's Basilica were behind him.

“You can draw a line through his run in the National S; he was extremely unlucky. It's just one of things, it wasn't jockey error, it's just racing. And then he ran against Supremacy [in the Middle Park] and was very good, and there were some proper horses behind them. We were very happy; we were very disappointed with the National S., and although we would have liked to have beaten Supremacy in the Middle Park, Supremacy is an extremely talented horse as well. It'll be interesting for them to match up again and we wouldn't mind taking him on again over six or seven furlongs. His run in the Middle Park reaffirmed our belief in him, that he's a very good horse.”

Donohoe noted that Zhang has moved his entire Irish stable, which numbers around 25, to Harrington, and that he has a handful of other 3-year-olds to look forward to.

“Aside from Lucky Vega there are a couple nice 3-year-olds that broke their maidens last year and look progressive,” he said. Those include Aussie Ace (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who broke his maiden at second asking at Cork before finishing down the field in the G2 Beresford S., and a “very nice” filly by Free Eagle (Ire) called Soaring Sky (Ire), who was bought for €15,000 from the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale. “She won her only start at Dundalk at the back end of last year and she looks like a progressive filly,” Donohoe said. “Mr. Zhang also has a nice 3-year-old by Footstepsinthesand (GB) called Deputy Sandy (Ire), and he looks quite progressive.”

Zhang added nine yearlings at the European sales last year, and with the addition of three homebreds has 11 juveniles to go into training with Harrington. Understandably, Zhang was keen to repeat the dose with Lucky Vega's sire.

“We were keeping a close eye on the Lope De Vegas and they were extremely hard to buy, but we have two nice Lope De Vega colts called Lucky Kuna and Lucky San Jore,” Donohoe said. “Lucky Kuna was bought in France at the Arqana [Deauville Select Yearling Sale for €150,000]. Lucky San Jore was bought from Book 2 in Newmarket [for 50,000gns] and he's very nice. He looks quite precocious even at this stage. I was talking to Shane Foley and he gave him a little half speed during the week and he thinks that he could be one for those early season races.”

Zhang isn't only concentrating on colts, however. His 2021 juvenile lineup includes a pair of well-bred Galileo fillies: a three-quarter sister to G1 Irish Derby winner Trading Leather (Ire) purchased for £185,000 at Goffs Orby last year and a half-sister to four-time Group 1 winner Novellist (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) picked up for 305,000gns at Tattersalls.

“With Mr. Zhang's farm in Australia he's always on the lookout for some well-bred fillies and we bought two nice Galileo fillies,” Donohoe said. “So if lightning can strike twice we'll be happy.”

Zhang's Irish stable is completed by a handful of older reliable performers like Barbados (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a 5-year-old gelding who was twice stakes-placed last year after being purchased privately from Ballydoyle; 2020 G2 Mooresbridge S. winner Leo De Fury (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who was gelded at the end of the season; and Ancient Spirit (Ger) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a listed winner and twice group placed last year at five.

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