laminitis | Horse Racing Free Tips

Preakness Stakes Winner Bernardini Dies Of Laminitis At Age 18

Preakness winner and Eclipse champion Bernardini has been euthanized at Jonabell Farm due to complications from laminitis.

Homebred by Sheikh Mohammed in the early days of Darley's ownership of Jonabell Farm, Bernardini won six races in a row during a dazzling 2006 sophomore campaign, earning Eclipse champion 3-year-old honors and being rated world champion 3-year-old.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, the son of A.P. Indy broke his maiden in his second start at Gulfstream Park in March by almost eight lengths before capturing the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct in April. He then won in the Preakness, giving Sheikh Mohammed his first victory in an American Triple Crown race.

Later that summer, he easily won the G2 Jim Dandy and G1 Travers Stakes by nine and seven lengths at Saratoga, before a dominant six-and-three-quarter length victory in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup against older horses at Belmont Park, earning a career-best 117 Beyer. He finished his career with a runner-up finish to Invasor in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Bernardini was piloted in all of his stakes wins by jockey Javier Castellano.

Bernardini retired to stud at Jonabell Farm for the 2007 breeding season as one of the most highly anticipated stallion prospects in recent memory. He did not disappoint. He sired no fewer than four G1 winners in his first crop: Travers and Cigar Mile winner Stay Thirsty, Woodward and Cigar Mile winner To Honor and Serve, Frizette winner A Z Warrior, plus Italian Gran Criterium winner Biondetti.

In his ensuing northern hemisphere crops, his top performers included Godolphin's homebred G1 Travers and G1 Woodward winner Alpha, Bobby Flay's G1 Humana Distaff winner Dame Dorothy, Shadwell's homebred G1 Vosburgh winner Takaful, and Stonestreet's G1 winners Cavorting and Rachel's Valentina, the latter a homebred daughter of Medaglia d'Oro's great daughter Rachel Alexandra.

Bernardini also shuttled to Australia for eight seasons between 2008 and 2015, siring G1 winners Boban, Ruud Awakening, and Go Indy Go. In total, he has sired 80 Black Type winners, 48 Graded Stakes winners, and 15 G1 winners worldwide.

In recent years, Bernardini has been making a name for himself as one of the best broodmare sires in the history of the breed. In May 2021, he became the youngest stallion ever to reach 50 Black Type winners as a broodmare sire. Bernardini currently has 54 black type winners, 32 graded stakes winners, and 11 G1 winners as a maternal grandsire, including Maxfield, Catholic Boy, Serengeti Empress, Dunbar Road, Colonel Liam and Paris Lights.

Bernardini was cared for during his 15-year tenure at Jonabell by his longtime groom, Philip Hampton.

Michael Banahan, director of farm operations for Godolphin USA, said, “Bernardini was one of a kind. From the day he was born, he exuded class. He was that crop's best foal, best yearling and best racehorse. His brilliance was only surpassed by his wonderful character. He will be sorely missed by all on the farm but especially by his handler for the past 15 years, Philip Hampton. It was an honor to be a custodian of this classic winning stallion whose legacy will live long as a broodmare sire.”

Tom Albertrani, Bernardini's trainer, said, “Bernardini was such a majestic animal. He was very talented, one of the best horses I've ever been around. I just feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to train him. He was a star.”

Jimmy Bell, President of Godolphin USA, said, “Bernardini was Sheikh Mohammed's first winner of a Triple Crown race – and a homebred one, too – and then a leading sire. We have been blessed to have him. A beautiful horse, and a lovely character, we are lucky to have so many of his daughters on the farm to continue his legacy.”

The post Preakness Stakes Winner Bernardini Dies Of Laminitis At Age 18 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Bernardini Dead at 18

Classic winner and leading sire Bernardini (A.P. Indy-Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American) was euthanized July 30 at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Central Kentucky due to complications from laminitis. The 18-year-old stallion, a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed's operation, has stood at Jonabell since he was retired for the 2007 breeding season.

“Bernardini was one of a kind,” said Michael Banahan, director of farm operations for Godolphin USA. “From the day he was born, he exuded class. He was that crop's best foal, best yearling, and best racehorse. His brilliance was only surpassed by his wonderful character. He will be sorely missed by all on the farm, but especially by his handler for the past 15 years, Philip Hampton. It was an honor to be a custodian of this Classic-winning stallion whose legacy will live long as a broodmare sire.”

Sheikh Mohammed purchased Bernardini's dam, 1995 GI Hollywood Starlet S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Cara Rafaela, privately in 2002 with Bernardini in utero. The mare was eventually named 2006 Broodmare of the Year primarily due to Bernardini's exploits. The son of A.P. Indy burst onto the racing scene as a 3-year-old for Darley, following an off-the-board debut with six straight victories, including daylight wins in the GI Preakness S., GI Travers S., GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, GII Jim Dandy S., and GIII Withers S. He was retired after finishing second to eventual Horse of the Year Invasor (Arg) (Candy Stripes) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Tom Albertrani trainee, who marked the first American Classic winner for Sheikh Mohammed, was honored as the 2006 Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Colt.

“Bernardini was such a majestic animal,” said Albertrani. “He was very talented, one of the best horses I've ever been around. I just feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to train him. He was a star.”

With his racing career complete, Bernardini entered stud at Jonabell and quickly delivered with four Grade/Group I winners in his first crop. With 12 crops of racing age to date, Bernardini has sired 48 graded winners and a total of 80 black-type winners, with progeny earnings barely shy of $100 million. His Grade/Group I winners globally number 15. Among his top runners in the U.S. are triple Grade I winner Cavorting, Travers and GI Cigar Mile winner Stay Thirsty, Travers and GI Woodward S. winner Alpha, and Woodward and Cigar Mile winner To Honor and Serve. Bernardini also shuttled to Australia for eight seasons, where his top runners from that foray include New Zealand 2-year-old champion and G1SW Ruud Awakening (Aus). Bernardini ranked 20th on the Lifetime Active Sires List at the time of his death.

For all of Bernardini's accomplishments as a sire, it is as a broodmare sire that he may make the biggest and most lasting impact. For the 2021 season, he currently has the highest percentage of graded stakes winners to starters of all broodmare sires with active runners. In May, he became the youngest stallion in history to hit the mark of 50 black-type winners as a damsire. Among the 54 stakes winners out of his daughters are 32 graded winners and 11 Grade I winners, including Maxfield (Street Sense), Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), Serengeti Empress (Alternation), Dunbar Road (Quality Road), and Colonel Liam (Liam's Map).

“Bernardini was Sheikh Mohammed's first winner of a Triple Crown race–and a homebred one, too–and then a leading sire,” said Godolphin USA president Jimmy Bell. “We have been blessed to have him. A beautiful horse, and a lovely character, we are lucky to have so many of his daughters on the farm to continue his legacy.”

The post Bernardini Dead at 18 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

New Scale Makes It Easier To Track Progress In Endocrine-Related Laminitis Cases

Laminitis can be an insidious disease, sometimes coming on so subtly that indications are missed until horses are blatantly lame. The ability to grade lameness according to its severity can be helpful to determine if a treatment is working and to assess the efficacy of new treatments.

A scale had previously been developed to describe levels of lameness in horses that have laminitis from a specific episode, like starch overload or sepsis, but this scale wasn't necessarily applicable to horses that have laminitis caused by chronic endocrine disorders, which are common in overweight horses.

Dr. Alexandra Meier and a research team created a method for grading endocrine-induced laminitis. Called the Meier Scale, it uses five symptoms to determine severity of lameness: palpation of digital pulse, gait at the walk, weight shifting, response to lifting the foot and gait while turning in a circle.

To test the scale, the research team used 80 horses and ponies with endocrinopathic laminitis that were referred to 16 veterinary practices in Germany. Independent veterinarians assessed the severity of laminitis using the original scale and the new Meier scale. The vets assessed the horses on the day of diagnosis and again on days four, nine, 14, 25 and 42. Pain medication was withheld for 24 hours before the exams took place.

The scientists found that patient improvement was difficult to determine using the older method, but the Meier method was able to identify more subtle changes. The team also noted that there was significant variation in improvement of each clinical sign; for example, the horses remained lame when asked to turn in a circle for much longer than they shifted weight.

The researchers conclude that the Meier method provides a reliable and consistent method for monitoring endocrinopathic laminitis and its potential response to treatments.

Read the study here.

Get The Scoop On Horse Feed From An Equine Nutritionist

Let's go back in time to 1821—for sake of entertainment, you can be a horse.

You're a drafty fellow, and there are fields to plow, wagons and carriages to pull and the five-day workweek has yet to be heard of, especially for a horse out on the farm. Like the steady workhorse that you are, you're hoofing 10 to 15 hours per day, expending a lot of energy and calories. Your source of food includes grazing low-quality forage (hungry yet?).

Dr. Jyme Nichols, director of nutrition at Stride Animal Health, says this is about the time cereal grains were introduced into horses' diets. The grains most popular and accessible to feed horses included corn, barley and oats. Knowing horses required higher levels of fiber, as it's safest for them and their diet, oats had the highest level of fiber and was a natural choice to feed for extra calories that provided horses with extra energy.

“Fast forward to present day – we have horses kept in stalls or in small turnouts, and they may have very limited hours of riding. That horse that used to work 10, 12 or 14 hours a day now maybe only works an hour a day when we have time to ride them. The rest of the time, they spend eating. But they are still receiving the same concentrated grain meal that we were giving them many years ago when they were working so hard. If you take a high-starch feed like that and overfeed them, you can make a horse very excitable or crazy,” said Dr. Nichols during an interview with Valley Vet Supply.

Equine nutrition is complex – there is no sugar-coating that; however, Dr. Nichols warns there is plenty of “sugar-coating” when it comes to our horse's grain choices, and that along with high starch are just a few aspects to consider relating to our horse's nutritional program.

With insight from Dr. Nichols, let's review top equine nutrition FAQs.

Does my horse need supplements?

The answer to that is never black or white. It depends on what you are doing with your horse; how old your horse is; whether you're feeding your horse a forage-only diet or whether your horse is on feed. It also depends on if your horse is dealing with certain problems, like if they have arthritis, gut issues or specific needs that are outside of what we would consider 'normal,' more basic nutritional needs.

Does protein make horses hot?

No, it doesn't. It is the starch and sugars in what you are feeding that make horses hot. There is some confusion about protein—it's commonly thought that horses need more feed, more protein and more nutrients, so we're going to feed this higher-protein feed. But what owners may not realize, is that when they were feeding that higher-protein feed, they were also feeding more of it. It wasn't necessarily the high protein that was making the horses become excitable. It was the fact they were feeding a really large volume of a high-starch, high-sugar feed.

Nutritionally, how can I manage or prevent a “hot” horse?

If you have a horse that is naturally more excitable and anxious, one of the better things you can do is look for a diet that is high in fiber and pull your calories from fat sources. Those fat sources are called “cool energy calories,” meaning it gives horses the calories that they need, but it's not going to make their mind and their attitude hot and excitable. For energetic horses, avoid high starch feeds. Refer to the feed tag for the “NSC,” which is the combination of starch and sugar. “NSC” stands for non-structural carbohydrates. You get to that number by adding the starch number on the feed tag to the sugar level. As a general rule of thumb for feeds considered “low starch,” if you were to add the starch and the sugar together, that number shouldn't be over 22 percent.

Can sugars impact certain horse health conditions?

For PPID horses or Cushing's horses, starch and sugar are really important in the diet to help manage. If you have a horse with a medical sensitivity, such as a horse with Cushing's, laminitis or equine metabolic syndrome – the medical sensitivity to sugar means you need to make sure that your NSC is under 12 percent. After that, you want to make sure you're feeding at the recommended levels of the feed. If you're not – and let's say that particular feed calls for 6 pounds per day and you're only feeding those horses 3 pounds per day, you're shorting them in important trace minerals or vitamins.

How do you nutritionally manage a horse that ties up frequently?

There is not a generic answer. But keep horses off green grass [which has higher sugar content]; feed low-starch, low-sugar feed; and make sure you have a proper balance of trace minerals, macro nutrients and vitamins. Also, ensure they have daily exercise.

How do I know if my hay is meeting their basic needs?

First off, do a visual check and body condition assessment of your horse. Look at rib cover – you should be able to easily feel but not easily see, ribs. Next, you'll want to look at the topline. You want the horse's topline to be essentially flat. If they can hold water on their spine on a rainy day, that tells you they're in a bit of an excess body condition. But if rain were to pour on them and just run off, and their spine peaks up like a mountain, then that tells you their body condition is probably a bit under. But the most concrete thing you can do is get your hay tested. Getting that information is the most important thing you can do, because forage is the foundation of your horse's diet and it is so important to understand what you are feeding.