Another View of Modern Racing From Bobby Trussell

[miff]

Culture Change

 
Fifty years ago, the average number of lifetime starts per runner was more than 40. Now, shockingly, it is less than 14. Why? What has changed so much?

Conventional wisdom is that the Thoroughbred breed had become more fragile as we have emphasized speed and early maturity over soundness and stamina. But on the other hand, we are working with the same basic gene pool we had 30 years ago. Horses like Nashua, Bold Ruler, Damascus, Northern Dancer, Native Dancer, and Hail to Reason were tough as nails, but their descendants are soft as butter.

However, in Europe and Australia horses are much heartier. Many are American-bred. Consider the top filly Finsceal Beo, by American-as-apple-pie Mr. Greeley. She won the Stan James English One Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) May 5, came back a week later to just miss in the French equivalent, and then two weeks later won the Boylesport Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-I). I myself have U.S.-breds training in England that routinely run every seven to 14 days. We can no longer just point to pedigree as the reason our horses are weaker, because our pedigrees in other locations are producing tougher horses.

It occurred to me that perhaps the racetracks have changed or become harder over the last 30 years, resulting in more injuries. I consulted racetrack maintenance guru Joe King who explained that for the most part, conventional dirt tracks have not changed much over the past 30 years. It's not the tracks.

Soundness is not the only issue or even the biggest reason why horses run less nowadays. Horses are not as tough constitutionally as they used to be. Every time they run a big race, they seem to be knocked out for weeks. Again, why?

It is my belief that our horses are over-medicated to the point that they are seriously weakened. Over the last 30 years, horses have received more and more medication and have raced less and less. The drugs not only don't work; they are counter-­productive. Just look at other countries where they medicate less and race more. All drugs are toxic and our 2- and 3-year-old horses receive dozens of drugs in a given month. My average vet bill here is more than $800 per month.

The trainers are letting the vets run the game. The real problem is not illegal drugs, but the legal ones that they train and race on. Salix and Bute are given out like candy. These drugs have major side effects; just ask the humans who take them. Salix, which is used for works as well as races by many trainers, is a diuretic that depletes minerals and dehydrates a horse. Bute causes ulcers, a common ailment on the backstretch. Horses need more time to recover from their drug "hangover" after a race.

I believe another contributing factor is shoeing. This is not just my pet theory, but the opinion of many prominent veterinarians and blacksmiths. We have changed the way we shoe horses over the last 30 years. Simply put, horses today don't have as much heel as they used to. This causes "crushed heel syndrome," recently described in an issue of The Blood-Horse. The basic theory here is that a horse's coffin bone needs to be parallel to the ground. If it is not, it causes all kinds of problems, especially in the hock, stifle, and hips. If you look at pictures of old-time horses, they have less toe and a lot more heel, especially behind.

Finally, I believe there is a tendency by trainers to be too aware of their win percentage stats. Trainers don't want to lose. You see first time starters showing four to five months of breezes. That's ridiculous. Years ago, trainers and handicappers were acutely aware of form cycles. Horses would run throughout the year, often every seven, 10, or 14 days, and they would go in and out of form. But they would keep running. When a horse got good, the trainer was desperate to run him "right back" while he was good. Horses don't "bounce" if you run them back quickly. Witness the very formful Preakness (gr. I) run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

So what's the bottom line?

With the advent of synthetic tracks, there will be no excuse for horses to run as seldom as they do now. But we will need to wean ourselves off the tremendously counter-productive drug culture. Salix should be banned, period. And blacksmiths—please—more heel!

Bobby Trussell is the co-owner of Walmac Farm near Lexington.

[TGJB]

Also--

1-- We breed many more horses than we used to, which results in many fillies being taken off the track much earlier. Less campaigns=less starts.

2-- I would argue that the horses being much stronger (whether through improvement of the breed over time or steroids and other drugs) causes them to be less sound, since it places greater stress on bones, tendons and ligaments (see Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle).

3-- 30 years ago most horses were raced by their breeders. Now virtually all are bought at auction, and so bred for the market-- which wants good looking, muscular fast horses. We don\'t breed for soundness.

4-- The stat I would like to see is starts per year per runner, and I would also like to see it for sires and trainers. Well bred horses are pulled from training much earlier, so their number of lifetime starts is less.

By the way, I talked to Joe King when I was researching \"Are Racehorses Getting Faster\". He couldn\'t tell me whether cushion depth had changed or much about composition changes at NY tracks, and nothing about other tracks. They started keeping records later, and Porcelli was responsible for them keeping really detailed records.

[richiebee]

Thank you Miff.

[fkach]

This is a very timely post.

I was just about to point out that this year\'s 3YO crop has been pretty darn sound so far.  Curlin and Hard Spun raced in all the Triple Crown races, but are still firing big shots into the late summer and fall. Before the Derby a lot of people were saying that Curlin was rushed too fast in the spring just to make it. Hard Spun has really never been out of training since last year.

Street Sense and AGS have been handled in the more modern conservative fashion, but both have been fairly active all year and are still firing big also.

One thing that needs to be considered is that many of the top modern trainers \"believe\" that fewer starts and more time between races lead to more consistent performance. So the number of starts had to go down regardless of the soundness issue. Even if they are correct about the consistency and peak performance aspect of this, no one has demonstrated that more time and fewer races is the best way to earn the most money or maximize the chances of a horse getting black type.

[TGJB]

You are focusing strictly on stake horses, which are treated differently, and don\'t represent the breed as a whole.

By the way, Curlin was given two breaks after the TC.

[fkach]

Yes, I was focusing on stakes horses and lightly raced ALW types that are considered prospects. But to some degree, it appears that even some of the higher level claimers and statebreds in NY are handled differently than they used to be.

It might make sense to also compile the stats for starts per year away from the major racing centers where a handful of trainers that like to space races have a ton of horses.

You have to admit that this has been a pretty rugged group of 3YOs.  The conventional wisdom here has been that if you run in all three Tripe Crown races you are toast. This year, it wouldn\'t be a complete shock if the major actively raced 3YOs make up the triple in the Classic.

[TGJB]

Only two of the top 3yos ran in all 3 TC races, and only one of those has been campaigned regularly after that. That might have something to do with all 4 making it to the BC.

[fkach]

Yea but both that campaigned in all 3 made it and both of them had very active campaigns before and after the Triple Crown. The other two were given breaks, but Street Sense certainly hasn\'t had an easy campaign by modern standards. Typically, by this time of the year we are busy convincing ourselves that the 2nd string and late developers are better because everyone else is out. ;-)

[TGJB]

Curlin did not have an \"active campaign\" after the TC.

[fkach]

Even 30 years ago horses used to get a break after the Triple Crown. I\'ll take a 9 race campaign like Curlin\'s over what we\'ve been getting in recent years from our best horses.

[jma11473]

TGJB, as far as starts per year per runner, the Jockey Club lists it as 11.3 in 1960, 9.21 in 1980, 7.94 in 1990, 7.1 in 2000, and 6.37 in 2006.

http://www.jockeyclub.com/factbook.asp?section=10

[Barry Irwin]

Jerry hit on one of the two key issues regarding the ruination of the breed when he mentioned commercialism. With commercialism comes a lack of responsibility of the breeder, as the breeder does not have to consume or rely upon the product.

The other major reason for the denigration of the breed is the manipulation by veterinarians of the limbs of young horses. They forgot to pay heed to the old margarine commercial that warned about fooling around with mother nature.

[fkach]

>With commercialism comes a lack of responsibility of the breeder, as the breeder does not have to consume or rely upon the product. <

This is very short term thinking on their part.

The economics of this sport never cease to amaze me. I\'m not an expert on horse values, but it seems to me the income streams don\'t even come close to justifying the prices paid for horses. It\'s as if \"the greater fool theory\" is not applicable to horse racing because there really is an endless stream of fools paying higher and higher prices.  I realize there are intangible benefits to thoroughbred ownership that account for some of that, but I think there has to be at least some correlation between the quality of the asset (the horse), it\'s ability to earn (which is partly dependent on soundness and ability to race often), and the ultimate values. If some aspects of the quality keep deteriorating, something is going to hit the fan.

[alm]

Many of the posts on this string have an element or more of truth to them, making it a worthwhile read.

As for the weakening of the breed leading to the weakening of the business I don\'t think there is a connection.  If racing income was the only source of income available to an owner, the business would have closed down long ago.

It\'s not the only source...clearly.  A breeder-owner can realize a profit racing/selling or participating in gambling, which is a source of unreported income the owner can try to access.  For sure, an owner is going to have more inside information than the average fan in that regard.

It\'s been good for me.

[bloodline bob]

TGJB -

When I wrote the Final Turn piece I was limited to 735 words so I cut a lot out. I had a long conversation with Joe King and we talked about every track. I had a theory that the tracks had changed dramatically over the past 30 years both with limestone base replacing clay and deeper cushions being added to make up for the harder base. He said that the only tracks which have limestone bases are the winterized tracks or tracks used for Standardbreds. As for the cushions he said they have not changed appreciably and that goes for all non limestone based tracks and he specifically mentioned all 3 NYRA tracks, Churchill,Santa Anita (old track) etc. He said the cushion may be 1/4 inch more now than it was 30 years ago but he thought that was negligible. He also said you have to be very careful in how you measure the cushion.  It can vary by more than an inch depending how fluffed up it is when you measure.

I think your point on steroids is right on the mark. But that is my point. The medication is counter productive. By the way I have had horses with Bobby Frankel and Patrick Biancone and they are both very anti steroid and view the fact they don\'t use them as a factor in their success.

And yes the breed has been weakened.  I don\'t deny that. People are trying to breed a good looking yearling which will sell. But what sells?  Yearlings which look like rocket ships, big hip, well muscled because these do often make good race horses albeit fragile. But my other point is our horses are much tougher than we think when raced in other locations where they don\'t medicate nearly as much. And I\'m talking about legal medication. This is the real problem, not illegal medication in my opinion.

Synthetic tracks could and should change this. Horses won\'t bleed as much because they are less stressed. The use of Lasix should naturally decline unless this mindless drug culture persists. Minerals won\'t be depleted from the drugs, horses will recover faster and run back sooner, field sizes will go up. Trainers won\'t feel pressured to run sore horses.  Horses will hang around longer kind of like many grass horses do now. Our racing should start to look more like other countries.

Bob Trussell aka