Willie McCreery - the leading Irish flat trainer who is a master at the game of patience
By Lissa Oliver
Master at the game of patience
![Willie McCreery – master at the game of patience There is nothing superficial about Rathbride Stables, a traditional yard on the very coalface of the history-steeped Curragh Plains of Kildare. And there’s nothing superficial about Willie McCreery, either. Like most modern yards, the atmosphere is relaxed. McCreery appears laid back, and the staff arrive at 7 a.m. and calmly set about their tasks—the routine as smooth as a well-oiled machine. There are no instructions being given and none needed; teamwork is at its finest.But there’s a keenness here, too—a simmering energy beneath the calm exterior. McCreery is quietly watchful and aware of every nuance. This is a man who loves what he does and just happens to be very good at it, too. The Wall of Fame in the office bears testament to the success—no better example being Fiesolana, the Gp1 Matron Stakes heroine. Improving every season and gaining a first Gp1 win for McCreery and his team as a five-year-old, she’s a good example, too, of McCreery’s patience and expertise with fillies and older horses, for which he has gained something of a reputation. Her now five-year-old Galileo colt, Up Helly Aa, is also keeping Group company under the tutelage of McCreery.This is thanks largely to the patronage of owner-breeders. While some trainers survive on sharp two-year-olds and trading, McCreery acknowledges that having the perceived luxury of time with horses that have a longer career ahead comes with its own challenges. ‘Not selling horses and training for owner-breeders brings even more pressure’, he points out. ‘A win becomes more important, and then when they’ve had their win, you’re looking for black type. If they don’t get a win, it’s worse than if they don’t race at all; poor performances run the risk of devaluing the whole family. It comes down to making the right call, being sure enough from what they’re doing at home that they can do well and improve the family; or maybe having to risk the decision not to run them’.Rathbride Stables, once home to Flashing Steel and where the Irish Grand National winner is now buried, has been home to McCreery since 2010. He had taken out a licence and sent out his first winner two years earlier. The original loose boxes are companion boxes, with the window through to the next box at the feed trough. ‘They can have a chat with their neighbour and have a nibble at the same time’, McCreery says. ‘It encourages them to feed, and I’m a fan of anything that gets them eating well.‘I feed as best as I can. I hope to be second to none in that respect. I use a combination of Connolly’s Red Mills mix and nuts, and also alfalfa imported from Italy. I’ve picked it up along the way. I’m a firm believer in staying ahead of your feed, and if a horse is a little off, cut back straight away. I feed four times a day’. McCreery starts his day in the yard at 6 a.m. with the first of the feeds, and he’ll turn out any of the horses not working that morning. That day’s runners will go out in the paddocks in the evening after returning from the races and again the next morning. Rathbride has 40 acres of turnout paddocks, as well as a 400m covered wood chip ride, and is currently home to 60 horses.It’s ideally situated and well chosen. ‘We can just walk across to the gallops; we’ve the vet just beside us, and we’re within an hour of six tracks. As an example, I had a horse injured on the Old Vic gallop at 7.40 a.m. and he was X-rayed, diagnosed and back in his box—all by 9 a.m. I’m very lucky; any issue at all, and I have the vet with me in five minutes. I can drop blood samples in and have the results in 10 minutes’.In the pre-COVID days, McCreery liked to give his horses days out, particularly at Dundalk where they could walk round the parade ring in front of a race crowd and gain experience. He also found the local equine pool a great help for horses who enjoyed it, but that’s now closed. ‘I would love to be near a beach; sea water does a great job’, he says. ‘But I’m not a fan of spas. They can mask the injury, and the problem is still going to be there. They’re okay for sore shins’. Training racehorses was always in his blood; McCreery’s father Peter had enjoyed great success as a National Hunt trainer, and his older brother Peter Jr by coincidence sent out Son Of War to win the Irish Grand National the year before Flashing Steel’s success. We might wonder why McCreery chose the Flat in preference.‘I’ve no preference, I’d be happy training both, but I was just led that way’, he says. ‘I suppose I veered more to Flat fillies because of owner-breeders. If people have a horse that needs a bit of time, they’ll send it to me because I’m known for that type of horse’.This could be due to McCreery’s strong background in breeding. As well as growing up with racehorses, he served his time on the renowned Irish National Stud diploma course. He went on to work in Australia, Japan and America. Having returned home and worked at KIldangan Stud, he served as assistant trainer to Charles O’Brien for eight years before setting up on his own. His experience and the insight gained from the breeding sector has certainly stood him in good stead.‘A lot of what I’ve learnt comes from running a large commercial stud where we were foaling 100 mares in a season’, he says. ‘I picked up horsemanship. When you’re raising them, you know when they’re a racehorse—you can see when they have that fighting spirit. I also know about the doctoring that can be done on a young horse, which can impact on their racing but not for the sales. I know what to look out for and consider. ‘I see a big problem in the overpopulation of farms and the rate of Rhodococcus equi infections. The foal recovers, but what about the effect on lung capacity? Should that be recorded on the catalogue page? I believe that if a foal has had surgery, that should be on the catalogue page, but it’s not. Time spent standing in is going to impact on development at a crucial stage. My stud background has definitely been an advantage in so far as the youngstock side. I can see joint problems and other problems, and I know how to deal with them’.McCreery is also scathing of the amount of scoping carried out at the sales, to the point that even professionals forget the simple basics. ‘I’ve seen vets walking round with the scope hanging over their shoulder!’ he complains. ‘One guy put it down on the floor, then wondered why I refused to let him use it on my horse’!At the sales, McCreery relies on his own judgement. ‘I do all my own buying at the sales myself; I didn’t really like some of the horses agents were fetching out to show me. I used to buy cheap fillies with faults that I knew I could train, but then I’d find that I couldn’t sell them on afterwards. Because of the faults, agents wouldn’t look at them.‘I try to buy the quick types, as I get given late-maturing horses, so it’s a way of having some early two-year-olds, but I’m not really known for my two-year-olds. I always go round the sales with horses marked off in the catalogue, but very often a groom will pull out another horse for me to see and if it’s a correct horse and I like it, I’ll take a chance on it, so usually I don’t end up with the horses I’d marked off at all!‘There are some studs I won’t buy from because they only breed a sales horse. You look in a catalogue and see mares ruined being bred to the wrong horse. I’ll only look at those sent from the studs I know breed a racehorse’.When it comes to buying cheaper horses and having to forgive some faults, McCreery is careful. ‘I won’t forgive wind. Ninety percent of horses have wind issues; we’ve bred that into them now. Bad feet can be tricky, too. I wouldn’t like a curvy hock; you end up married to them then. I look at them as if I’m going to be selling them in a year’s time; I look at them like a vet. I don’t like a flashy walker; I like to see them more relaxed and professional. And I hate the fact they are all given so much tranquiliser at the sales; you get a totally different character when you get them home’.Prior to taking out his licence, McCreery’s vast experience hadn’t been limited to horses, and he also brings a lot of knowledge from another sporting world, having played Gaelic football at the highest level. He was a midfielder for the famous Kildare team that won a national title in 1998, while still working by day with Charles O’Brien. ‘I learnt a lot from our manager Mick O’Dwyer’, he acknowledges. ‘I think the biggest thing was that when he had you 100% fit, he tried to get you 110% fit and lost three players to injuries. I learned from that. A lot of horses lose their races at home on the gallops. When a horse is 100% fit, it can’t get any fitter. I learnt to back off and not do too much with them. ‘That’s the greatest skill. What John Oxx did with Sea The Stars—that was a phenomenal feat, and we won’t see it again. To win six major Gp1 races in six months, that was an incredible achievement and it’s a wonderful thing for us to learn from. It’s what we all have to aim for, even with a low-class handicapper, that ability to keep them fresh and at their peak from the beginning of the season to the end. It’s things like that that I love. ‘I see myself as a conditioner of racehorses, not a trainer. Getting a horse ready for its first time at the track takes a lot of work, but from then on it’s just a matter of keeping them fit, and they don’t need much work at all. I like to use their races as their work. I weigh them once a week and before and after races. Their weight can tell you if they were trying or not. ‘On the gallops I love my horses finishing together. That way, they are all confident; they all go home happy. When they go to the races for the first few times, I like the jockey to make it an enjoyable day for them. Billy Lee is our jockey, and he won’t punish a horse; they’ll come on all the better for it. Most horses try their heart out; they know that when a jockey goes “giddy up”, they need to go faster. Billy Lee and Nathan Crosse are horsemen, and my apprentices are all drilled in the same: why hit a horse when he’s trying his best?‘It’s about keeping them mentally happy and when they run it doesn’t kill them, there’s plenty more for next time; they can keep improving. With some trainers that first run is a horse’s best run; they went all out for that win and gave everything, and there’ll be nothing more to come from them. ‘It’s all about knowing when to stop. If I’m not sure about a horse, I’ll run it over a shorter distance and it will recover quicker. I’ve found from experience that if I’m doubtful about them getting a trip and I run them over shorter, I’m usually right. Individuals will get given a break if they’re not growing or they look a bit sad, but I like to keep going with the two-year-olds. I’m not a two-year-old trainer; their early races are bonuses. It’s their three and four-year-old career I focus on. Horses are not mature until they’re four, so I won’t do too much with them in their first season. My owners know what they bought themselves and know I won’t push them’.Typically, his horses, who step straight out onto the Curragh from the yard, will have a four-and-a-half-kilometre hack over to the gallops. Those that need it will have stalls practise, but otherwise he prefers not to put them through the stalls, as there’s always a risk they may get a fright and then develop an issue.‘I love to use the grass gallops, and I especially like bringing them up Walsh’s Hill. It has a quarter-mile width and provides good ground from March to November. It has a little incline the whole way up, and if the Lord ever gave me a field, it would be this one. Some of my horses have never turned a bend until they get to the races!‘I’m in the yard at six and matching riders to horses on the board—that’s so important. If any rider calls a horse a bad name, they never ride it again; it’s clear they don’t get on together. Some riders have a good energy, and some have a bad energy; and horses are very sensitive to that.”McCreery has gleaned plenty of knowledge from the people he has worked with and the roles he has experienced, but he reveals, ‘By far the biggest help to me as a trainer was when I worked at Kildangan Stud, and I did a course in managing people. That taught me an awful lot. Every staff member has good traits and bad traits, so good management is about finding what they like doing and what they can do. The skill is in getting them to use their skill and be beneficial to the yard. It’s the same in every walk of life and in every business. If you leave people doing things they’re not good at and don’t enjoy, they’ll leave.’Staff retention is a big problem, and recruitment is an issue not only limited to Ireland. ‘It’s a huge problem and getting worse by the day’, McCreery agrees. ‘It’s a worldwide problem, and I worry about the state we’ll be in in 10 years’ time. There is so much being introduced—Health and Safety and insurance getting more expensive. It’s a lot harder now in the administration side of things’.McCreery also notes a change in modern culture and work ethic. ‘Young people only want to ride out; they don’t want to do anything else. They don’t like early starts and working weekends or bank holidays. They’re not as driven. For every one good person you get, 10 go through your hands. There’s no loyalty. ‘People are getting heavier; it’s a tough game to get into for any kids. The educational facilities tell them they can have a good career ahead, and they then get disgruntled when they don’t get on as a jockey. All trainers want a good apprentice, but if they’re not good, owners don’t want them on their horse. You bring on an apprentice as best you can, but at the same time you can’t jeopardise your business. Apprenticeships and educational facilities are an integral part of recruitment, but the reality is that it’s like the soccer youth academies—only the very few will make it’.Ideas have been cited in the past for every trainer to take on an apprentice to train rather than rely on the educational facilities, but McCreery has his doubts. ‘If you have a bad teacher, you get a bad pupil; it won’t work that way. It’s important to be guided by the right person. The only way for apprentices to learn is from the good riders around them, and the Irish jockeys are among the best in the world. You can put any of our top 10 jockeys anywhere in the world, and they’ll be in the top 10 there. Visiting jockeys find it hard to ride here; it’s so tight.‘The reality is most jockeys have very poor winning percentages and it’s tough, but they have to deal with it. My old manager, Mick O’Dwyer, used to say [that] when someone pats you on the back, they’re just looking to see where to put the knife! As a jockey walks back in from a race, they can be aggressively accosted and verbally abused, so it’s important kids are protected from that and know how to deal with it’.However, there is a growing shift in culture and a lack of respect among some younger people that can prevent them from learning the traditional way – ears and eyes open and mouth shut. ‘It’s unfortunate, but the older jockeys used to offer advice to the younger ones. But now, if an older jockey goes over and says something to them, the youngsters tell them to f*** off’!Perhaps a bigger issue is the scope of the education provided at racing academies. McCreery picks up on something that should be fundamental, given the modern issues of height, weight and mental wellbeing.‘They should be taught how to cook’, he insists. ‘It’s farcical. They come out of work and go to the chip shop! I’m astonished at their lack of basic; it’s fundamental. As soon as my apprentices arrive here, I take them to a nutritionist. They learn to cook and to eat the right things’.He is, however, blessed with good staff who have been with him throughout. ‘Our apprentices are Nathan Crosse and Jack Cleary. Mick Clarke—he’s my head lad and assistant—he’s been here 10 years. Eddie Dempsey is our travelling head lad. Cathy Canon is in the office; she does the accounts. My wife Amanda and Brian Donoghue are in the office, too; they do all the horse side. And John Breen has been with me 10 years looking after the yard’.The restrictions placed on working hours is another headache faced by European trainers and, as McCreery points out, ‘Animals don’t know what day of the week it is. When I worked in America, there was no difference between a weekday or a Saturday or Sunday. I can see that in the near future we’re going to have to hire more people to work less days, like in France. We’ll have weekend workers, kids from college. Owners will never be happy to accept a fee increase; the only way is to have more staff working fewer hours. But staff won’t be getting a full week’s wages, so they won’t stay’.Many trainers are looking ahead with trepidation, but perhaps that was always the case and it has certainly never stopped aspiring young people taking out a licence. McCreery had the full support of his wife Amanda when he decided to start up on his own, her own career providing financial support until such time as she could join the Rathbride team.‘I don’t think it’s too difficult for a young trainer to start out’, McCreery believes. ‘You can rent a yard or even just a few boxes and start with just two horses. I started off with just €20,000 and 12 horses, in the height of a recession. There is so much to learn off other trainers, and you either pick it up fast or not at all. You make mistakes, and you learn by them. If you don’t do everything right and efficiently you won’t succeed’.The topic of the moment is social media, and the stress and pressure it can cause where once it was promoted as the newest tool in marketing a business. McCreery isn’t a fan and doesn’t do Twitter. ‘Where do you stop’? he says. ‘It takes up so much time. The bigger yards can do it, where they have someone employed just to keep it up to date. I don’t get owners from social media. Do trainers really need advertising? The minute you have runners, they are your advertisement.’A consistent problem in Ireland has been the treatment of owners at racecourses—a situation that is improving rapidly but still bringing complaints from some trainers. It has been highlighted by some that there can be a tendency for racecourse staff to behave more like “bouncers” than “greeters”, which can undermine the hard work trainers have put in to securing owners.It has also been argued that Ireland doesn’t have room for two authorities, in the form of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), but McCreery would disagree.‘HRI has done a great job keeping racing going’, he acknowledges. ‘It’s hugely important to keep the structure that we have in place—to keep the two bodies neutral. HRI is responsible for the promotion of the industry, and the IHRB controls the regulations. We’ve the best racing and breeding in the world, and we cannot afford to jeopardise that status. We are a nursery for the rest of the world, and that trade is very important; it keeps trainers going. Every weekend in the USA the grass races are won by former Irish-trained horses and look at their success in Australia and Hong Kong. We need to be totally transparent and 100% honest; we set the standards in racing worldwide.“I think our stewarding is very good. I know some call for professionals and ex-jockeys instead of amateurs, but I would be very afraid of professionals once they’re on a salary; they can be got at and controlled. At least with our amateur stewards, they are respectable and they’re doing it because they want to give their time; they can’t be got at. I would have a fear of professional stewarding being tampered with. France’s stewarding has gone a bit mad, I feel; Europe has to come together and unify the rules. As things stand, it’s very unfair on jockeys.‘The biggest problem is the Handicapper—we only have the one, and no one questions him. It’s hard to have a conversation with him; it just turns into an argument. There should be Handicappers for different length races, with more specific knowledge of those horses. A horse needs to be rated 80 to win a maiden, so why should the runner-up be punished and raised? The runner-up should be dropped 3Ibs.”Obviously, HRI will be undergoing a change this year as CEO Brian Kavanagh moves on to a new role at The Curragh Racecourse and Training Grounds, and his successor is sought. ‘Brian Kavanagh gets things done, instead of talking about it he just does it’, McCreery says. ‘He has kept racing going throughout the pandemic, and he’s done great for prize money. He has been hugely beneficial to us especially in the redevelopment of the Curragh training grounds. ‘I suppose you could argue that trainers didn’t get enough input; we did and we didn’t, but that’s probably not a bad thing. We know how to train, but it was probably better to leave it to the experts. The grounds are brilliant. In the future I would love to see a dedicated horse crossing, but that’s a council issue’.As conversation turns to the infrastructure of the Irish industry, McCreery paints a positive picture and has few complaints. ‘I would like to see more median auction races and fillies maidens—for my own preference—as it’s very hard to win with cheap fillies. Claimers are now part of the programme, and people understand them a lot better. A lot didn’t understand them at first, but it’s your chance to handicap your own horse, and it’s also a chance to get rid of a horse. At the same time, owners can buy a horse from a claimer that’s ready to run. They used to be very popular with syndicates, but COVID has led to the loss of a lot of syndicates’.There is one area in which McCreery would like to see more action taken. ‘We really, really have to address welfare or we won’t have racing. We need a proper committee’, he warns. ‘The racehorse is a phenomenal animal and we’re very lucky to be working with them’.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/517636f8e4b0cb4f8c8697ba/1625059615945-9P7NV0L6S8ROD7UIAUB0/IMG_3830.JPG)
There is nothing superficial about Rathbride Stables, a traditional yard on the very coalface of the history-steeped Curragh Plains of Kildare. And there’s nothing superficial about Willie McCreery, either. Like most modern yards, the atmosphere is relaxed. McCreery appears laid back, and the staff arrive at 7 a.m. and calmly set about their tasks—the routine as smooth as a well-oiled machine. There are no instructions being given and none needed; teamwork is at its finest.
But there’s a keenness here, too—a simmering energy beneath the calm exterior. McCreery is quietly watchful and aware of every nuance. This is a man who loves what he does and just happens to be very good at it, too. The Wall of Fame in the office bears testament to the success—no better example being Fiesolana, the Gp1 Matron Stakes heroine. Improving every season and gaining a first Gp1 win for McCreery and his team as a five-year-old, she’s a good example, too, of McCreery’s patience and expertise with fillies and older horses, for which he has gained something of a reputation. Her now five-year-old Galileo colt, Up Helly Aa, is also keeping Group company under the tutelage of McCreery.
This is thanks largely to the patronage of owner-breeders. While some trainers survive on sharp two-year-olds and trading, McCreery acknowledges that having the perceived luxury of time with horses that have a longer career ahead comes with its own challenges.
‘Not selling horses and training for owner-breeders brings even more pressure’, he points out. ‘A win becomes more important, and then when they’ve had their win, you’re looking for black type. If they don’t get a win, it’s worse than if they don’t race at all; poor performances run the risk of devaluing the whole family. It comes down to making the right call, being sure enough from what they’re doing at home that they can do well and improve the family; or maybe having to risk the decision not to run them’.
Rathbride Stables, once home to Flashing Steel and where the Irish Grand National winner is now buried, has been home to McCreery since 2010. He had taken out a licence and sent out his first winner two years earlier. The original loose boxes are companion boxes, with the window through to the next box at the feed trough. ‘They can have a chat with their neighbour and have a nibble at the same time’, McCreery says. ‘It encourages them to feed, and I’m a fan of anything that gets them eating well.
‘I feed as best as I can. I hope to be second to none in that respect. I use a combination of Connolly’s Red Mills mix and nuts, and also alfalfa imported from Italy. I’ve picked it up along the way. I’m a firm believer in staying ahead of your feed, and if a horse is a little off, cut back straight away. I feed four times a day’.
McCreery starts his day in the yard at 6 a.m. with the first of the feeds, and he’ll turn out any of the horses not working that morning. That day’s runners will go out in the paddocks in the evening after returning from the races and again the next morning. Rathbride has 40 acres of turnout paddocks, as well as a 400m covered wood chip ride, and is currently home to 60 horses.
It’s ideally situated and well chosen. ‘We can just walk across to the gallops; we’ve the vet just beside us, and we’re within an hour of six tracks. As an example, I had a horse injured on the Old Vic gallop at 7.40 a.m. and he was X-rayed, diagnosed and back in his box—all by 9 a.m. I’m very lucky; any issue at all, and I have the vet with me in five minutes. I can drop blood samples in and have the results in 10 minutes’.
In the pre-COVID days, McCreery liked to give his horses days out, particularly at Dundalk where they could walk round the parade ring in front of a race crowd and gain experience. He also found the local equine pool a great help for horses who enjoyed it, but that’s now closed. ‘I would love to be near a beach; sea water does a great job’, he says. ‘But I’m not a fan of spas. They can mask the injury, and the problem is still going to be there. They’re okay for sore shins’.
Training racehorses was always in his blood; McCreery’s father Peter had enjoyed great success as a National Hunt trainer, and his older brother Peter Jr by coincidence sent out Son Of War to win the Irish Grand National the year before Flashing Steel’s success. We might wonder why McCreery chose the Flat in preference….
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How breastplates and breast girths can inhibit performance
By Dr Russell Mackechnie-Guire
Using pressure mapping and gait analysis technology, scientists have now measured how breastplates and breast-girths can compromise the horse’s jump and stride at gallop.
Breast girths and breastplates are routinely used to prevent the saddle moving backwards at home on the gallops, and on the track. Post-race bruising to the pectoral muscles, sternal abrasions, soreness and even lacerations caused by a breastplate are often accepted consequences of keeping the saddle in place. But evidence is mounting that, in addition to the physical factors, a poorly designed breastplate or badly fitted breast-girth could also be restricting the horse’s gallop and compromising its jump during a race, therefore impacting the horse’s locomotor efficiency, performance and athletic potential.
Recent research in the sports horse has demonstrated that breastplates have a significant negative effect on the horse’s action over a fence. A further pilot study looking at how breast girths and breastplates affect the racehorse indicates that they influence the movement of the shoulder and forelimbs whilst galloping, potentially comprising gallop efficiency.
Jumping short
PIC 1– Pliance pressure mapping revealed the point of peak pressure common to all breastplates in the test occurred at the point of take-off.
In the sports horse jumping study, scientists used Pliance pressure mapping (pic 1) to identify areas of peak pressure beneath traditionally fitted breastplates. A sensor mat placed between the breastplate and the horse’s skin recorded levels of pressure throughout the jump cycle. Regardless of breastplate design, the highest pressures were consistently seen in the centre of the chest (located on the midline over the sternal region), at the moment of take-off as the horse’s shoulder, elbow and knee were flexed and the shoulder was in its most forward position (point P, pic 2).
PIC 2 - Without a breastplate (top), the horse’s jump forms a smooth parabolic trajectory over the fence from take-off to landing (A).
Alongside pressure mapping, two-dimensional gait analysis was utilised to determine how pressures created by breastplates affected jumping technique. Markers were placed on the horse’s joints, and the horse’s jump was analysed at a rate of 300 frames a second—approximately 25 times faster than the human eye. The data quantified any changes in joint and limb angles. The findings demonstrated that the whole jump is adversely affected by the breastplate design and resultant pressures from the point of take-off to, and including, the stride immediately after landing.
Without a breastplate, the horse’s natural jump is a parabolic (symmetrical) curve, with the highest point an equal distance between take-off and landing. In the study, a breastplate was shown to shorten the horse’s landing position by 0.5m compared to landing with no breastplate.
With a breastplate (bottom), the horse’s lead foot makes contact with the ground much closer to the fence (B), and the landing phase of the jump is steeper.]
This pattern of an altered trajectory was scientifically recorded under experimental conditions over one single oxer fence (1.2m) on a level surface. Applying the same principles to the racehorse, the negative impact that this would have when galloping would be magnified. If the horse’s trajectory over a brush fence is shortened by the same distance as it is over a 1.2m jump, this is likely to have a significant effect on gallop efficiency—in particular stride rate, length and frequency. Over a course of 12 National Hunt fences, if half a metre of ground is lost (as a function of the altered landing trajectory) at every jump, this would require six metres to be made up over ground—potentially the length of a winning stride.
Crash landing….
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Doping control in European racing the role played by the EHSLC
By Dr Paull Khan
AN Q&A INTERVIEW WITH HENRI POURET,
CHAIR OF THE EUROPEAN HORSERACING SCIENTIFIC LIAISON COMMITTEE
In this issue, we continue our series of Question and Answer sessions with the chairs of international committees in the European and Mediterranean regions. We began (Issue 72) with the subject of classifying the major, Black Type races across Europe, with our interview with the chair of the European Pattern Committee, Brian Kavanagh. Here, we move on to the subject of doping control, which is the remit of the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee. Its chair, Henri Pouret, answers your questions.
The EHSLC lists these amongst its Terms of Reference:
With the aim of achieving uniformity of approach, to provide advice to the Racing Authorities of the member countries on policy, scientific and procedural matters concerning the Rules of Racing as they relate to prohibited substances.
To recommend alterations to the Rules of Racing as they relate to prohibited substances.
To recommend common policies and procedures where appropriate in the areas of sample collection, sample testing (including confirmatory analysis) and prohibited substances, and to monitor compliance by the member countries with these policies and procedures.
To agree whether specified drugs fall within the List of Prohibited Substances.
To recommend the need, where appropriate, for new or varied threshold levels, for inclusion in the Rules of Racing.
To promote liaison and discussion between the official racing laboratories and the official racing veterinary surgeons of the member countries.
To promote inter-laboratory drug testing programmes, and to monitor the results vis-à-vis the official racing laboratories of the member countries.
To agree with research priorities and to promote joint approaches, where appropriate, for their achievement.
To publish detection periods, agreed jointly between the official racing laboratories and other interested parties in the member countries for therapeutic drugs commonly used in the horse.
To exchange drug intelligence and other relevant information between the member countries.
Pouret, who has a background in law, is the Deputy CEO of France Galop, in charge of racing and also represents France on the International Federation of Horseracing Authority’s (IFHA’s) Harmonisation of Racing Rules Committee.
Q: Let’s get some definitions out of the way first. One of the EHSLC’s Terms of Reference is ‘to recommend the need, where appropriate, for new or varied threshold levels, for inclusion in the Rules of Racing’. What is the difference between a ‘threshold level’ and a ‘screening limit’?
‘Threshold level’ and ‘screening limits’ are two critical indicators for doping control determined in urine and/or plasma.
A ‘threshold level’ is a numerical figure adopted by racing authorities for endogenous substances produced by horses and for some plants traditionally grazed and harvested to horses as feed. International thresholds are recommended by the IFHA’s Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices and approved by the IFHA Executive Council.
A ‘screening limit’ (SL) is also a numerical figure determined by experts for legitimate therapeutic substances. Some are harmonised internationally and some are harmonised regionally (e.g,. within EHSLC for Europe).
Both ‘threshold level’ and ‘screening limit’ are applied by racing laboratories as a reference for the reporting of positive findings.
Q: On the IFHA website, there are lists published of ‘international screening limits’ and ‘residue limits’. How do these differ?…
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Prick test: Could the ancient Chinese therapy of acupuncture be a trainer’s secret weapon?
By Alysen Miller
At first glance, the Curragh (Ire) based trainer Michael Grassick Jr. may appear to have little in common with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Yet both have embraced a practice derived from traditional Chinese medicine in their quests to leave no margin left ungained when it comes to minimising pain and maximising performance.
Acupuncture may be a controversial subject for some within the equestrian community, but its potential to treat illness and injury and alleviate pain in horses is increasingly being recognised.
“My father used to use it a lot when he was training, so when I took over [in 2013], I continued it,” says Grassick Jr. “I found it very successful. If the lads feel something isn’t quite right, like they’re leaning a little bit or hanging a little bit, then you call the physio. He will pinpoint the area, and we’ll work on that area and usually you wouldn’t need him to look at it again.”
“It’s something I was interested to witness—seeing them, how they respond,” he continues. “You’d see they’d be a lot freer in themselves.”
Although acupuncture has been part of the programme for the equine inhabitants of his family Fenpark Stables for a number of years, it was a brush with Bell’s Palsy that finally convinced Grassick of the benefits of the technique. “One side of my face went numb on me about five or six years ago. They put me on drugs, but the only thing that really got it back 100% was acupuncture.”
So what exactly is acupuncture, and how does it work? Here comes the science bit—concentrate. Acupuncture works by stimulating the sensory nerves under the skin and muscles. Tiny intradermal needles penetrate the skin just enough to stimulate collagen and elastin production—two of the main structural proteins in the extracellular matrix. During this process, the acupuncturist may feel the needle being gripped by the surrounding tissue —a phenomenon known as ‘needle grasp’. A 2001 study by the University of Vermont College of Medicine further revealed that gently manipulating the needles back and forth causes connective tissues to wind around the needle—think spaghetti twirling around a fork—and sends a signal to the fibroblasts (a type of cell that produces the structural framework for such tissues) to spread and flatten, promoting wound healing.
But wait, there’s more. Under MRI, it has been shown that acupuncture causes the body to produce pain-relieving endorphins. Furthermore, it is believed that acupuncture stimulates the central nervous system. This, in turn, releases chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord and brain. These biochemical changes may further help the body’s healing process.
So what’s not to like? According to the British-based acupuncturist, Dietrich Graf von Schweinitz, the scientific benefits of acupuncture have been lost in translation. ‘The trouble with acupuncture is that it has a messy historical baggage’, explains Graf von Schweinitz, ‘that led the Western world to believe that this was metaphysical, spiritual, “barefoot doctor’ territory”’. ‘Qi’ (pronounced “chee”) may be best known as the last refuge of a scoundrel in Scrabble, but in traditional Chinese medicine, the concept of qi refers to the vital life force of any living being. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe the human body has more than 2,000 acupuncture points connected by pathways, or meridians. These pathways create an energy flow—qi—through the body which is responsible for overall health. Disruption of this energy flow can, they believe, cause disease. Applying acupuncture to certain points is thought to improve the flow of qi, thereby improving health. Although in this sense, qi is a pseudoscientific, unverified concept; this linguistic quirk has meant that medical science has been slow to embrace the very real physiological benefits of acupuncture. ‘The ability of neuroscience to unravel more and more of acupuncture physiology is becoming quite staggering’, says Graf von Schweinitz.
A softly spoken American, full of German genes whose accent betrays only the slightest hint of a southern drawl, Graf von Schweinitz was an equine vet for 30 years until he sold his practice to focus on animal acupuncture. ‘I grew up on a farm in Georgia. My parents both came from rural farming backgrounds. So I was around horses all my life. I actually had my first taste of acupuncture at vet school. In my final year there was an acupuncture study going on in the clinics on horses with chronic laminitis or chronic navicular’. Like Grassick, he has personally experienced the benefits of the technique. ‘In my first job as a vet, I got kicked and was treated by a client who was an acupressurist [a close cousin of acupuncture that involves pressing the fingers into key points around the body to stimulate pain relief and muscle relaxation]. The result in terms of pain control was so bizarre and staggering I just thought, “I’ve got to know more about this”, and started my mission’.
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What does the future hold for Maisons-Laffitte racecourse and training centre?
By Katherine Ford
A visitor arriving at Maisons-Laffitte from Paris is greeted as he crosses the bridge over the Seine by a spectacular view of the town’s 15th century baroque chateau. Signage announces arrival in ‘Maisons-Laffitte, Cité du Cheval’.
The racecourse is currently inactive, but the town still revolves very much around the horse, of which approximately 1,000—half of them racehorses—are stabled in the wooded parkland. Supporters of the racecourse hope that a project will be validated to see the track reopen as soon as 2023, while the training community is revitalised following a 1.5 million Euro investment in facilities, and the team is keen to attract new professionals.
France Galop CEO Oivier Delloye explains, ‘The situations with the racecourse and the training centre are two separate subjects. France Galop is focused upon ensuring continuity for the training centre. We have not closed the door to the possibility of racing returning to Maisons-Laffitte, but if this does happen, it will not be organised by France Galop.
‘There is no racing currently planned for Maisons-Laffitte, and none for next year or in the future unless new elements enter the picture. France Galop is working in partnership with the town council because if there is to be a future for the track, it will certainly involve both parties; and the mayor is very keen for the racecourse to re-open. The idea is to seek a new economic model to make use of the buildings and facilities and therefore finance their upkeep, while France Galop would contribute the prize money and a share of the maintenance costs. This is the model used for provincial racecourses in France, and the system works; however, the costs involved in Maisons-Laffitte are higher than at the country tracks. It is important that any racing at Maisons-Laffitte in the future be organised to a high standard in accordance with the track’s status as a Parisian and premium track.
‘Earlier this year, France Galop published a call for expressions of interest and will analyse which projects could be compatible with a commercial exploitation of the racecourse and buildings, in conjunction with the organization of racing. We have received a number of dossiers including some quite creative concepts—from varying profiles of operators to envisaging different ways of promoting the site, which is recognised as being exceptional. The responses are a mixed bag with some quite structured and some more exotic ideas. We hope to be able to select one or two projects to work on a viable business plan. France Galop will not validate any project unless we are certain of its financial sustainability as the last thing we want is for the racecourse to open and then close again shortly after, or for the new operator to lose money and call in the racing authorities to help out. The whole process will be carried out in full consultation with the town of Maisons-Laffitte and in a best-case scenario, racing could return in 2023’.
Ironically, when the racecourse was closed by France Galop to reduce expenditure, the French racing authority announced an ambitious investment programme of 1.5€ million to modernise and improve the town’s racehorse training facilities. Olivier Delloye is pleased with the results: ‘I visited Maisons-Laffitte last week and found that there was a very positive atmosphere with trainers optimistic about the future. It is clear that the professionals based in Maisons-Laffitte have not lost clients due to the closure of the racecourse, and recent results show that the facilities are perfectly adapted for training all types of horses—from juveniles to top milers and the best steeple-chasers of Auteuil’.
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Nutrition Analysis - Understanding equine feed labelling
By Dr Catherine Dunnett, BSc, PhD, R.Nutr
Understanding a bit about feed labelling and feed manufacturing is worth the drudge, as it can help you make better choices for your horses in training and maybe even save a few pounds or dollars. Whilst the information that a feed manufacturer must legally provide can vary from country to country, it is broadly similar. The purpose of feed labelling is primarily to give information about the feed to a potential customer, allowing informed choices to be made. However, it also provides a measure against which legislators and their gatekeepers can ensure feed manufacturing is consistent and that the feed is not being misrepresented or miss-sold.
The on-bag information is most often separated into what’s known as the statutory statement (or the legally required information) and then other useful information which features outside of the statutory statement. The statutory information can be found in a discrete section of the printed bag, or it could be located on a separate ticket, stitched into the bag closure. Whichever is the case, this is the information legally required by the country’s legislators and which the feed manufacturer is legally bound to adhere to. Typically, the information required within the statutory statement includes for example:
Name, address and contact details of the company responsible for marketing and sale of the feed.
The purpose of the feed, for example for pre-training or racing.
Reference to where the feed has been manufactured. Some companies do not have their own manufacturing facility and will use a contract manufacturer. In the UK, a feed mill manufacturing feed must be registered and on the UK list of approved feed business establishments and there is a number, colloquially known as a GB number, which refers to the feed mill’s registration. A useful snippet is that if this GB number changes on pack, this may mean that the manufacturer has switched to a different mill.
A list of ingredients in the feed in order of inclusion. The first ingredient will have the highest level of inclusion and the last being the least level.
A declaration of analysis, which is used to describe the nutritional characteristics of the feed is quite limited in what can legally be declared. There is a predefined legally binding list of analytes that must be declared in this section, which depends on the type of feed. For example, this might include percentage protein, oil, crude fibre, ash, as well as the level of added additives such as copper, vitamins A, D and E, as well as any live microbiological ingredients, or preservatives, binders etc. In addition, the analysis must be carried out using specific laboratory methodologies set out in the legislation. Feed manufacturers are allowed some tolerance on analysis, or limits of variation around their declaration to account for variation in sampling and manufacturing as well as the analytical variation itself and this can be as high as 10-20% in some instances for example.
The level and source of additives. For example, added copper must be declared and the level (mg/kg) and source (copper sulphate or if as a chelate, copper chelate of amino acid hydrate) stated.
Any additives (i.e., ingredients that don’t contribute to the nutritional value of the feed) can only be used if they appear on an authorised list of additives—meaning they have passed scrutiny for safety and efficacy. This list of additives pre-Brexit was maintained by the EU and since Brexit, whilst we can theoretically modify on our own terms, the reality is that we have largely adopted the EU list.
There is a lot of useful information that is not legally allowed within the statutory statement that you will often find on a separate section of the bag, or indeed on a company website. For example, other analyses such as percentage of starch and sugar are often useful when choosing an appropriate feed and an estimate of the level of digestible energy (DE MJ/kg) is also helpful. Feeding guides also generally appear outside the statutory statement and can be quite useful. Whilst I am a firm believer in looking at the horse to help set the required amount of feed, feeding guides do give vital information, particularly about the likely minimum amount of this feed required to deliver a suitable level of vitamins and minerals.
When being first really counts…
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TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter - Richard Phillips
Britain's first ever National Racehorse Week will take place 12-19 September this year, thanks to the brainchild of Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire trainer, Richard Phillips. When fan pressure led to singer Taylor Swift withdrawing from performing at the Melbourne Cup, Phillips became aware how little people know about racing. ‘If they knew more about it, they would be more comfortable about racing’, he says.
Phillips has been training since 1993, enjoying success with star chasers Time Won’t Wait, Gnome’s Tycoon and Noble Lord, while La Landiere provided his first Cheltenham Festival winner. He has also won awards for his charity work, including the 2021 Community Award at the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards, the 2014 Voluntary Award at the Animal Health Trust Awards and the 2011 Pride Of Racing Award from Racing Welfare.
‘I am delighted to see the idea of National Racehorse Week spring into life. It is a fantastic opportunity for our owners, staff, trainers and jockeys to come together for a common love of the racehorse. Racing can sometimes be divided, but the one thing we all agree on is our love of the horse. National Racehorse Week will be our chance to show the public and policy makers that racing has absolutely nothing to hide. We have a great story to tell, so let's get it out there and tell it’.
National Racehorse Week has gathered momentum and support from across the racing industry and is funded by the Racing Foundation, The Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust and Great British Racing, in partnership with the National Trainers Federation. It is also the first public engagement of the Horse Welfare Board's Equine Welfare Communications Strategy, funded by the HBLB. Phillips is particularly keen to see MPs involved and visiting their local yards. ‘If racing is then discussed, they will be in a position to know more about it’.
As he points out, you never know who might walk into your yard and the influence that may have on them in the future. ‘The public sometimes thinks racing and racehorse ownership is not accessible, but it is and this is our opportunity to show that. So many of us do so much every day and put the health of our horses before our own. This is our chance to engage with local people, invite them into our yard to meet our staff and get into conversation with them’.
Rupert Arnold, Chief Executive of the National Trainers Federation, is equally enthusiastic. ‘There has been overwhelming and enthusiastic support from trainers. Everyone wants a chance to show their respect for the racehorses to whom they give such exceptional care. I am confident that trainers and their staff, who forge such a close bond with their horses, will grasp the opportunity provided by National Racehorse Week’.
It's not too great a leap of imagination to see National Racehorse Week becoming International Racehorse Week, or at the very least European Racehorse Week in years to come. It is a concept easily adopted by other countries and could work in tandem with existing stallion trail weekends, incorporating every aspect of the thoroughbred’s life— ‘from cradle to grave, a life well lived’, as Phillips says.
‘It’s everybody’s duty to do something and it should be enjoyable, not a chore. We can show people how much we do for horses and how much they do for us. Celebrating the racehorse benefits everyone’.
If you are a trainer and interested in finding out more information please contact Harriet Rochester, harriet@nationalracehorseweek.com
To register visit www.nationalracehorseweek.uk
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Can we use biomarkers to predict catastrophic racing injuries in thoroughbreds?
Promising developments in quest to prevent catastrophic racehorse injuries
University of Kentucky study shows association between mRNA biomarkers and catastrophic injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses—a positive step forward in the development of a pre-race screening tool.
By Holly Weimers
Catastrophic injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses is a top-of-mind concern for the global racing industry and its fans. That sentiment is shared by researchers at the University of Kentucky and their collaborators, who are working to learn more about changes happening at a cellular level that might indicate an injury is lurking before it becomes career or life ending.
Could it be possible to identify an early marker or signal in horses at risk of catastrophic injury, allowing for intervention before those injuries happen? And, if so, might this type of detection system be one that could be implemented cost effectively on a large scale?
According to Allen Page, DVM, PhD, staff scientist and veterinarian at UK’s Gluck Equine Research Center, the short answer to both questions is that it looks promising.
To date, attempts to identify useful biomarkers for early injury detection have been largely unsuccessful. However, the use of a different biomarker technology, which quantifies messenger RNA (mRNA), was able to identify 76% of those horses at risk for a catastrophic injury.
An abstract of this research was recently presented at the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ annual meeting in December 2020 and the full study published January 12 in the Equine Veterinary Journal (https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20423306). In this initial research—which looked at 21 different mRNA markers selected for their roles in encoding proteins associated with inflammation, bone repair and remodeling, tissue repair and general response to injury—three markers showed a large difference in mRNA levels between injured and non-injured horses.
For almost four years, Page and his University of Kentucky colleagues have been analyzing blood samples from almost 700 Thoroughbred racehorses. The samples, collected by participating racing jurisdictions from across the United States, have come from both catastrophically injured and non-injured horses in a quest to better understand changes that might be happening at the mRNA level and if there are any red flags which consistently differentiate horses that suffer a catastrophic injury.
According to Page, the ultimate hope is to develop a screening tool that can be used pre-race to identify horses at increased risk for injury. The results of this study, which was entirely funded by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s Equine Drug Research Council, suggest that analysis of messenger RNA expression could be an economical, effective and non-invasive way to identify individual racehorses at risk for catastrophic injury.
Joining Page in the research from UK’s Gluck Center are Emma Adam, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM, DACVS, assistant professor, research and industry liaison, and David Horohov, PhD, chair of the Department of Veterinary Science, director of the Gluck Center and Jes E. and Clementine M. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair.
Previous research has shown that many catastrophic injuries occur in limbs with underlying and pre-existing damage, leading to the theory that these injuries occur when damage accumulation exceeds the healing capacity of the affected bones over time. Since many of these injuries have underlying damage, it is likely that there are molecular markers of this that can be detected prior to an injury.
The identification of protein biomarkers for these types of injuries has been explored in previous research, albeit with limited success. The focus of this project, measuring messenger RNA, had not yet been explored, however. The overall objective was to determine if horses that had experienced a catastrophic injury during racing would show increased inflammatory mRNA expression at the time of their injury when compared to similar horses who were not injured.
The genetic acronyms: A primer on DNA, RNA, mRNA and PCR
This research leverages advances made in genetics during the last several decades, both in a greater understanding of the field as well as in applying that knowledge to specific issues facing the equine industry, including catastrophic breakdown in racehorses.
The genetic code of life is made up of genes and regulatory elements encoded by DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, which is found in the nucleus of cells in all living organisms. It is arranged in a double helix structure, similar to a twisted ladder. The rungs of that ladder are nucleotide base pairs, and the ordering of those base pairs results in the specific genetic code called a gene. The genetic code in the genes and the DNA tell the body how to make proteins.
RNA (ribonucleic acid) is created by RNA polymerases, which read a section of DNA and convert it into a single strand of RNA in a process called transcription. While all types of RNA are involved in building proteins, mRNA is the one that actually acts as the messenger because it is the one with the instructions for the protein, which is created via a process called translation. In translation, mRNA bonds with a ribosome, which will read the mRNA’s sequence. The ribosome then uses the mRNA sequence as a blueprint in determining which amino acids are needed and in what order. Amino acids function as the building blocks of protein (initially referred to as a polypeptide). Messenger RNA sequences are read as a triplet code where three nucleotides dictate a specific amino acid. After the entire polypeptide chain has been created and released by the ribosome, it will undergo folding based on interactions between the amino acids and become a fully functioning protein.
While looking at inflammation often involves measuring proteins, Page and his collaborators opted to focus on mRNA due to the limited availability of reagents available to measure horse proteins and concerns about how limited the scope of that research focus would be. Focusing on mRNA expression, however, is not without issues.
According to Page, mRNA can be extremely difficult to work with. “A normal blood sample from a horse requires a collection tube that every veterinarian has with them. Unfortunately, we cannot use those tubes because mRNA is rapidly broken down once cells in tubes begin to die. Luckily, there are commercially-available blood tubes that are designed solely for the collection of mRNA,” he said.
“One of the early concerns people had about this project when we talked with them was whether we were going to try to link catastrophic injuries to the presence or absence of certain genes and familial lines. Not only was that not a goal of the study, [but] the samples we obtain make that impossible,” Page said. “Likewise for testing study samples for performance enhancing drugs. The tubes do an excellent job of stabilizing mRNA at the expense of everything else in the blood sample.”
In order to examine mRNA levels, the project relied heavily on the ability to amplify protein-encoding genes using a technique called the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). By using a variety of techniques, samples from the project were first converted back to DNA, which is significantly more stable than mRNA, and then quantified using a specialized machine that is able to determine the relative amount of mRNA initially present in the individual samples. While it is easy to take for granted the abilities of PCR, this Nobel Prize winning discovery has forever changed the face of science and has enabled countless advances in diagnostic testing, including those used in this study.
The research into mRNA biomarkers….
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