Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures 2020 - minimising risk from equine infectious disease - how it will hopefully help support education on equine infectious disease

By Celia M Marr

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

COVID-19 has affected all corners of the thoroughbred world and has changed lives, work patterns and the social activity that underpins racing. One of its minor impacts was that this year, the Gerald Leigh Memorial Lecture series, usually coordinated by Beaufort Cottage Educational Trust at the National Horseracing Museum, Palace House, Newmarket each summer, was cancelled.

This annual lecture series is supported by the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust in honour of Mr Leigh’s passion for the thoroughbred horse and its health and welfare. Coincidentally, the topic which had been selected for 2020 was Minimising Risk from Equine Infectious Disease. Finding that a meeting was impossible, the trustees organised for presentations to be filmed remotely, and these are now available online.

THE LECTURES SERIES INTRODUCTION BY NICK WINGFIELD DIGBY, CHAIRMAN, BEAUFORT COTTAGE TRUST

Gastrointestinal disease is a common problem in foals and youngstock with potentially serious illnesses involved. Dr Nathan Slovis, director of the McGee Center, Lexington, Kentucky, USA, explained that by six months of age, 20% of foals will have had infectious diarrhoea. Dr Slovis presents a concise and very practical account of how we can minimise risk of infection in this age group. 

The specific causes of gastrointestinal disease vary with age. Foals frequently display mild diarrhoea at around the time of the foal heat, generally a problem that will clear up uneventfully. Major infections in foals include rotavirus, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile. Infectious disease can be life-threatening if infection leads to shock, so every gastrointestinal case should be assessed carefully; early intervention is critical. 

Vaccines are available to help minimise risk of rotavirus but prevention relies primarily on proper hygiene and appropriate choice of disinfectants, which vary depending on the particular microorganism concerned.

PRESENTATION BY DR NATHAN SLOVIS, DIRECTOR OF THE MCGEE CENTER, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY

Diagnosis: PCR and ELISA technologies

The speed and availability of laboratory testing have been revolutionised in recent years with the introduction of ELISA and PCR technology. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is an immunological assay commonly used to measure antibodies, antigens or proteins. An ELISA test relies on finding a molecule which is unique to a virus or bacteria and is used to find several equine pathogens, including rotavirus, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens.  

PCR technology rapidly makes millions to billions of copies of a specific DNA sample, allowing the lab to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it to a large enough amount to study in detail. Rapid tests are now available, which have revolutionised the diagnostic approach across a huge range of equine infections; relevant to foal diarrhoea is that this technology is used for rapid testing of faecal samples for Salmonella.

In addition to being extremely quick, both PCR and ELISA tests are very sensitive. Dr Slovis emphasised how important this is in early identification of diseases with the potential to spread rapidly in young horses.

Auditing environmental contamination

All the speakers in the webinar series spoke of the importance of robust biosecurity and common themes emerged in all four webinars regardless of the animals’ age or whether respiratory, skin or gastrointestinal infection is involved.

Dr Slovis’ clinical practice includes offering services to identify areas of environmental contamination. This involves a detailed inspection of all areas on the farm together with laboratory testing for the common pathogens. Key benefits of a facility evaluation service are to help support staff education and to highlight areas of weakness in biosecurity practices; and farmers and vets can work together to devise practical solutions to farm-specific problems. In his webinar, Dr Slovis shows some great examples of what not to do, which are drawn from his extensive experience of advising on biosecurity practices in equine facilities.

THE PRESENTATION BY PETER RAMZAN, A MEMBER OF THE RACING TEAM AT ROSSDALES LLP, NEWMARKET, UK:

Infectious challenges in young horses on training yards

Peter Ramzan, member of the Racing Team at Rossdales LLP, Newmarket discussed how to reduce risks when horses move into training. Piet is a fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and has written extensively on a range of disorders affecting horses in training. He summarised three areas relevant to this age group: lower respiratory tract disease, ringworm and the rare but sporadic disease threats such as strangles and neurological herpes.

Lower respiratory tract disease

This problem is mainly responsible for coughing and affects around 80% of two-year-olds and 25% of three-year-olds. Research in Newmarket has shown that for every 100 horses, there are around 10 cases each month, but prevalence varies between yards and seasons with a peak in early spring. Bacteria are believed to be a more common cause than viral infection, but both can cause coughing and can occur simultaneously. 

Prevention is better than cure

Exposure to disease-causing microorganisms is inevitable and cannot be prevented, but risk of clinical disease can be reduced by optimising immunity. It is helpful if exposure occurs prior to or early in training. Ramzan concluded that homebreds that have bypassed public sales and the inevitable mixing with other horses there are at greater risk of interruptions to their training when they do enter yards as two-year-olds. He went on to emphasise that it is not necessarily helpful to aggressively treat respiratory infections in pre-training—better to let infection run through yearlings and young two-year-olds, providing that they remain mildly affected as this helps them build immunity to protect them during their racing careers.

As well as discussing the biosecurity measures which apply across all age groups and disease threats, particular points that Ramzan emphasised for reducing the impact of infectious disease in training yards included the importance of avoiding the introduction of yearlings to the main yards before the end of the season and adoption of a strategic vaccination programme. Vaccines should be given to horses in a year ahead of the influx of yearlings while maintaining immunity throughout the racing season; autumn and spring boosters are most likely to achieve this.

Antimicrobial stewardship

It is increasingly clear that overuse of antimicrobials is promoting resistance to these potentially lifesaving drugs. Vets and trainers should avoid their use, except where bacterial infection is highly likely,  or ideally confirmed with laboratory testing. Ideally the lowest class of antibiotics should be used first, reserving protected classes, such as enrofloxacin and ceftiofur. Ramzan shared data from his practice over the last two decades which showed an alarming increase in resistance to oxytetracycline, which is the commonly used antimicrobial. Conversely, in the same period, oral trimethoprim sulphonamide, which is not used as much as it could be, has had a rise in sensitivity, likely because it is not used as often as it could be.

Herpes virus Type 1: a uniquely challenging foe

Professor Lutz Goehring,  head of Equine Medicine and Reproduction at Ludwig-Maximilian University, in Munich, Germany, has had a distinguished research career focussed on equine herpes type 1 (EHV1). This virus has the potential to cause both abortion storms and outbreaks of neurological disease in all age groups, including horses in training. 

PRESENTATION BY PROF. LUTZ GOEHRING IS HEAD OF EQUINE MEDICINE AND REPRODUCTION AT LUDWIG-MAXIMILIAN UNIVERSITY, IN MUNICH, GERMANY.

Are you aware of the risks of EHV? ==================================

Equine Herpes Virus is a real threat to horse health and performance. Racing yards can be particularly vulnerable to outbreaks, but there are some easy steps you can take to reduce the risks.

Dr Wendy Talbot, vet at Zoetis explains: EHV is a contagious viral infection causing respiratory disease, abortions and neurological disease. Carrier horses show no clinical signs, but the virus can be reactivated at any time and spread to other horses and this is more likely to happen during times of stress. ^1,2,3

EHV can be transmitted by direct horse-to-horse contact and by nasal or ocular discharge, which can spray or travel through the air over short distances. It can also be spread by sharing infected equipment, and via people who have been in contact with infected horses. This is why it’s crucial to have good biosecurity measures in place at yards, races, training and sales events. ⁴

Signs of the virus can be visually obvious or very subtle: horses may have a nasal discharge, weepy eyes, swollen glands and a cough and fever or a less noticeable lethargy, lack of appetite and reduced performance. ^1,5

Vaccination against EHV is important because it helps tip the balance in favour of the horse’s immune system and reduces viral shedding.

Vaccination programmes should run concurrently with rigorous hygiene and isolation protocols to help minimise the risks of EHV spreading.

It’s also important not to mix unvaccinated horses with vaccinated ones to provide the best level of protection. ^6,7

If you think any of your horses may have any symptoms of respiratory disease,isolate them immediately and contact your vet to discuss the next course of action.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FOLLOW THIS LINK

1. Slater J (2014) Equine Herpesviruses. In: Equine Infectious Diseases. Eds., D.C. Sellon and M. Long, Saunders, St. Louis. P151-169

2. Allen GP (2002) Respiratory Infections by Equine Herpes Virus Types 1 and 4. International Veterinary Information Service.

3. Slater J. What is Equine Herpes Virus? Accessed August 2019 https://www.horsedialog.co.uk/Health/WhatisEHV.aspx

4. Allen, GP (2002) Epidemic disease caused by equine herpesvirus-1: recommendations for prevention and control. Equine Veterinary Education; 14(3):136-142.

5. Davis, E. (2018) Disorders of the respiratory system. In: Reed SM, Bayly WM, Sellon DC, eds. Equine Internal Medicine, 4th ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier:313-386.

6. Lunn, DP., et al. (2009) Equine herpesvirus-1 consensus statement..J Vet Intern Med. 23(3). 450-461

7. Equine herpesviruses: a roundtable discussion Philip Ivens, David Rendle, Julia Kydd, James Crabtree, Sarah Moore, Huw Neal, Simon Knapp, Neil Bryant J Richard Newton Published Online:12 Jul 2019 https://doi.org/10.12968/ukve.2019.3.S2.1

EHV1, like its virus relatives that cause cold sores in humans, has the ability to become latent. This means that the virus can sit in an inactive form in certain nerves and lymph node tissues, only to be reactivated and start to spread amongst groups of horses. While latent, the virus is out of reach of the immune system. Latent infection with EHV1 is widespread in horse populations globally.

Reactivation of EHV1 is not a common event, but it is associated with “stressful” situations such as mixing with new horses, transport, above-normal exercise, and in mares with foaling. Understanding the mechanisms involved in reactivation, spread to other horses and subsequent uptake of the virus into tissues—such as the placenta and fetus to cause abortion and to the spinal cord to cause neurological signs and paralysis—has been the main focus of Prof Goehring’s research career.

EHV1 is easy to kill with soaps and disinfectants when it is outside the body, again highlighting the importance of good biosecurity practices in studs and training yards. The virus spreads from horse to horse when there is close contact and droplets breathed out by an infected horse are inhaled by another. Shortly after inhaling the virus, there is a short temperature spike and then a second more intense spike usually occurs 8-10 days later. Neurological signs or abortion will typically come days or weeks after this second temperature spike.

Outbreak mitigation 

Early detection and effective quarantine are the mainstays of EHV1 outbreak prevention. In the face of a potential outbreak, swift action to stop spread is critical. Movement on and off the property must cease. Horses with subtle clinical signs—slight nasal discharge, lymph node enlargement and fever—can now be tested very quickly for EHV1 using a nasal swab PCR. Horses should be tested to identify any that are shedding the virus; and any which are positive must be removed to isolation. Horses housed near these individuals should be quarantined in case they are incubating the disease. Horses in the early stages of infection may benefit from treatment to prevent neurological complications.

Distance is the key to stopping this droplet-aerosol infection; and although the distance does not need to be great, more is always better. Traditionally racehorses exercise in strings. An exercising horse which is shedding virus creates a tail of viral particles trailing behind it. In his webinar, Prof Goehring talked about the advantages of increasing distance between exercising horses and showed the benefits of exercising alongside rather than one behind the other. When there is infection around, consideration should also be given to the order horses go out to exercise, with those least likely to have infection exercising first.

Immunity, current and future vaccines

Following infection or vaccination, horses produce both antibodies and specialised cells with the ability to fight off EHV1 infection. Vaccination can be expected to reduce both the clinical signs and the shedding of virus if they are challenged. However, this immunity gradually wanes with time and with currently available herpes virus vaccines, repeat vaccination every six months is recommended

. 

It is also important to understand that there is a balance between immunity level and infectious dose such that horses which are challenged with a very high dose of virus are more likely to develop fever than those that are exposed to a low dose—this again highlights the importance of effective biosecurity practices on studs and training yards. 

Finally, although not yet available for equine herpes viruses, novel sub-unit vaccines introduced for similar herpes viruses in humans have been shown to cement latent virus into its hidden location and stop reactivation. Prof Goehring suggested this technology may be the light at the end of the tunnel for horses because this novel approach may reduce the likelihood of the outbreak initiation, which begins with reactivation of latent virus. 

PRESENTATION OF DR. RICHARD NEWTON, DIRECTOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DISEASE CONTROL AT THE ANIMAL HEALTH TRUST, KENTFORD, UK.

Lessons from the European flu epizootic 2019

Although current attention is on COVID-19, it is important to reflect on lessons from the equine influenza outbreak which affected many countries in Europe last year. Dr Richard Newton, epidemiologist and an authority on equine infectious disease, coordinated much of the UK’s surveillance and communication during this outbreak, working at that time at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, Suffolk.

Equine influenza is a contagious rapidly-spreading viral respiratory disease. Common signs of infection include fever and coughing; and coughing is an important factor in spread as infected particles are released and can spread over wide distances to affect others. Unlike EHV1, there is no carrier or latent state, and the flu virus needs chains of transmission to persist in a horse population; an infected horse has to pass the virus on to another in order for the infection to perpetuate in a group. Vaccination is used to break these chains of transmission by reducing susceptibility. However, flu virus evolves continuously, constantly producing new strains; and in order to be effective, vaccine strains must keep up with this evolution and be updated periodically. 

The R number: what does it mean?

The R number, or basic reproduction number, is the number of cases on average that one case generates over the course of its infectious period. If the R number is less than one, the chain of transmission will die out, and infection will cease. Vaccination plays a major role in reducing the R number by limiting the number of susceptible animals.

Lessons from 2019

Flu occurred in several countries in Europe last year. In the UK, we saw two waves of this infection whereas other countries, notably Ireland and Holland, had different patterns. The Clade 1 strain of virus involved in the 2019 outbreak had not been seen in Europe for over a decade.

Flu mainly affects non-vaccinated horses but can occur in vaccinated animals, particularly if a new strain challenges a population. Fortunately, prompt action by the British Horseracing Authority last year minimised flu occurrence within our racing population. In January, based on information coming out of other European countries,  the BHA veterinary committee advised six monthly booster vaccinations.  

A six-day stoppage in racing and horse movements after flu was identified in a racing yard in early February. The majority of flu outbreaks occurred in unvaccinated horses, and the second spike seen in the summer of 2019, was associated with horse gatherings at shows and fairs. Nevertheless 18% of flu cases involved appropriately vaccinated animals, some of which might have been vaccinated after contracting infection, while many of the others were nearing the time when a booster was due. 

The UK’s racing populations are highlight connected, and the racing stoppage was prompted by the occurrence of flu in vaccinated animals. This break provided the necessary pause during which the scale of infection could be assessed. A huge number of racehorses were tested, and Dr Newton explained that an important conclusion from this experience was that there is a need to scale up lab testing capacity to support such a response in future, particularly if we were to be challenged by a completely novel strain of flu.

What did we do well?

Racing heeded the earliest warnings with its six-month booster recommendation, applied a lockdown and implemented test and trace and finally, on releasing lockdown, racing applied biosecurity precautions, concepts now familiar to us all in relation to COVID-19. 

Dr Newton acknowledged that these lessons were missed or ignored outside of racing, leading to a second wave in  the non-thoroughbred during the summer; and horse owners and event organisers did not adequately embrace the simple messages regarding the importance of vaccination and isolation. Many of the outbreaks which occurred last summer were associated with the introduction of new animals on a premise. The UK horse population has a low national vaccine coverage, estimated at around 40%—a statistic which puts the UK in a poor light compared to other European countries where uptake in the general horse population is much higher. 

Do we need to improve vaccines and vaccine strategy?

Vaccine strains are continuously reviewed by The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)  panel—critical work which in the UK is supported by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Currently there is insufficient scientific evidence to recommend an equine influenza vaccine strain update, although this might not be far away. On the other hand, reducing booster vaccine intervals is clearly beneficial. Flu vaccines work by stimulating the horse to produce antibodies which decline with time. There is variation in vaccine response between individual horses with some animals less well protected than others. Dr Newton reviewed information from multiple studies and outbreaks and concluded the weight of evidence overwhelmingly supports a six-monthly booster. Increasing vaccine uptake across the national herd will involve improved education in the non-thoroughbred world but is critical to supporting herd immunity. Improved awareness will benefit all horses including thoroughbreds.

Take-home messages

All four speakers highlighted practical biosecurity measures as critical in reducing the risks of infectious disease. Vaccines are essential for both flu and EHV1. They are not infallible, and ongoing research will lead to improved vaccine technology. Most important of all is that education of people working with thoroughbreds, and across the wider equestrian world, will help support early recognition and management of disease when it occurs. This year’s Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures will hopefully help support this education by making information on equine infectious disease available online.

CLICK HERE FOR USEFUL RESOURCES ON VETERINARY ADVICE RELEVANT TO THE THOROUGHBRED

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News from the EMHF - It is time to celebrate - The European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation is 10 years old

By Dr. Paull Khan

The European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation is 10 years old. A mere stripling when compared to its counterpart regional federations in other parts of the globe, the Asian Racing Federation (ARF, formed in 1960) and Latin America’s yet more venerable OSAF (Organizacion Sudamericana de Fomento del Sangre Pura De Carrera – established 1958). So what has been the story of our first decade?

Who better to turn to first than the ‘Father of the EMHF’, Bjorn Eklund, ex-CEO of the Swedish Jockey Club? “I think I got my thoughts about the need of European racing integration and cooperation when I visited my first International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) conferences in the late eighties. I say 'visited' and that is what it really was, from my point of view. They were grand meetings and offered a lot of hospitality but not much by way of discussion or democratic interaction. Everything seemed to have been discussed and decided in advance by the big racing nations. I asked some representatives from the minor racing countries if it was always like this. The answer was 'yes', and they were not too happy about it.

“So, together with my friend Harald Dörum from Norway, I invited some of the minor European racing nations to a meeting in Stockholm in 2000. The result of the meeting was an informal organisation called the European Racing Development Conference (ERDC). It was mostly a network organisation which met once a year. After a few years, we were able to arrange the meeting during the ‘Arc weekend’ in Paris, which increased the interest and more and more organisations took part. As chairman of ERDC I was invited twice to speak at the IFHA meeting by invitation of its chairman, Louis Romanet. And he was the first to suggest an integration into IFHA by setting up a European (and Mediterranean) organisation for both the big racing countries and the minor ones.”

Paull Khan, Behcet Homurlu, Bjorn Eklund, Dominique de Wenden, Brian Kavanagh and Zsolt Hegedus.

And so it was that representatives of 18 countries—Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway, Poland,  Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey—gathered in Stockholm on June 1st 2010, and resolved to found the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation. Italy, a notable absentee, hosted the second meeting, three months later, and was included amongst the 19 founder members listed in the federation’s by-laws. Brian Kavanagh, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland and a vice-chair of the IFHA, was chosen as chairman, a position he still holds today. 

Areas of focus suggested by those attending that inaugural meeting, as revealed by its minutes, included several which have become key themes for the federation: information exchange; tutorship, including in practical aspects of racing administration; and advocacy within the European Union amongst them. Zsolt Hegedus, representing Hungary, argued that it was extremely important for the major European racing nations to visit the developing ones to assess and assist them.

Within the first couple of years, during which time the Czech Republic and Lebanon came on board, the need for a more formalised secretariat became apparent and, in 2012, I was delighted to be approached and commissioned to give one day per week of my time to become its secretary-general—an arrangement that applies to this day.

Over the past eight years, we have sought to maximise the value derived by the members and to raise the profile of the federation, both within the racing and wider equine sector and in European political circles. 

‘EMHF Chair, Brian Kavanagh and Secretary-General, Paull Khan dwarfed by the feared Pardubice fence at the 2018 Executive Council trip.’

Two formal meetings are held annually—an Executive Council meeting involving nine member countries, in addition to the General Assembly—and we have been determined to fulfil Hegedus’s wishes by holding these meetings over as wide a spread of countries as possible. In this way, our members have been able to experience the wondrous breadth of horseracing in our region. From the quirky Grand Steeplechase de Flanders at Belgium’s Waregem, to the swashbuckling ‘White Turf’ meeting on St Moritz’s frozen lake; from the urban oasis that is the racecourse in Casablanca, to the beauteous setting of Jersey’s elevated Les Landes racetrack. Small wonder that the EMHF membership is as one in recognising that the racing product and experience offered by each of its countries is unique and to be treasured and protected. 

All EMHF members pay the same membership fee (currently €1,750pa). But those with the largest racing industries contribute in kind by hosting and delivering seminars on aspects of racing administration. This educational element of the federation’s work is among its most important. Topics have included farriery, handicapping, licencing, doping control, racetrack management, marketing and many more. Memorably, in 2016, Mark Johnston delivered a Trainer Masterclass to a rapt audience who had travelled from far and wide to Bratislava to hear him discuss the intricacies of purchasing and selling bloodstock, sourcing owners, recruiting and retaining staff, media relations, planning horses’ campaigns and many other aspects of the trainer’s job and art.

How do the ‘smaller’ racing nations view these efforts? Omar Skalli is CEO of Morocco’s racing authority; SOREC and has been a vice-chair of EMHF since its inception. “Since the very beginning,” he explains, “the aim of the founders (I was one of them) was to put EMHF, unlike equivalent structures, on these three strategic axes:

- Sharing practical experiences on structural themes for racing authorities

- Active participation of all members in defining topics of common interest

- A desire to develop the entire racing ecosystem

“Morocco has fully benefited and learned from this sharing to develop its own racing ecosystem, and I am proud to see that the EMHF is faithful today to these objectives and in line with what I had hoped and expected back in 2010.”

Several developing racing nations have elected to join the EMHF in recent years, including Azerbaijan, Channel Islands, Greece, Libya, the Netherlands and Portugal. …

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Price money & the Covid impact - will prize money ever return to pre-COVID-19 levels? - Lissa Oliver looks into the various pots of prize money and the racing authorities’ recovery plans

By Lissa Oliver

We are in a period of uncertainty throughout the global business world, with the loss of many businesses and a need for government aid among others. Racing is no exception, but is the COVID crisis truly affecting European prize money levels or is it simply a new excuse?

In Ireland, 2020 began with great optimism as Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced a five-year strategic plan—its first in ten years—aiming to increase annual government funding to €98 million by 2024. The Irish State contribution to racing in both 2020 and 2019 stands at €67 million. HRI also hoped to have prize money increased to €90 million by the end of the five-year period and increase minimum race value to €12,500. Two weeks later, the COVID emergency erupted, and prize money for the year ahead was reduced by at least 10% and up to 50% at the highest level.

Deutscher Galopp produced a similarly upbeat reflection on 2019 as the year began, with imports well above average, negative trends reversed and prize money continuing an upward curve, with a further increase maintained for 2020. Then came COVID and Dr Michael Vesper, president of Deutscher Galopp, announced that due to having no spectators prize money would be cut by 50%, but minimum levels of €3,000 would be retained. 

This is a common picture across Europe, even when the new year had not brought with it such high expectations. The Norwegian Jockey Club announced that the association was in a difficult financial situation and prize money in the big races would be reduced. 

Prize money reduction, and fluctuation, is nothing new. At the higher end of the sport, the Group races have seen a steady decline in prize money since the turn of the century in all bar Ireland and Britain, although increases to the average prize value overall suggests simply a fairer distribution of the pot across all levels. The average Irish prize value, however, shows a recent decline and the financial focus appears to be more on quality racing. Nevertheless, the average prize money in Ireland last year only just topped 2015 levels and failed to match the heights of 2005. In Britain, 20 years have made a scant impact on average prize money, which more or less remains at 2000 levels. Are trainers also having to operate at fees unchanged for 20 years as inflation increases their costs?

Although we are far from any economic recovery and racing continues behind closed doors in many jurisdictions, racing authorities are making recovery plans and hoping to return to pre-COVID levels by year end. Other measures to lessen the personal economic hardship on industry professionals are also in place, and this will also ultimately impact overall recovery.

Deutscher Galopp asked participants to halve their fees and German betting companies to waive all fees until there was a full resumption of racing.

“This is a bridging period between the phase without races and the one with races in front of spectators. It therefore lasts as short as possible and as long as necessary,” said Jan Pommer, managing director of Deutscher Galopp.

All races have been broadcast live and free of charge on the Deutscher Galopp website and other digital platforms during this period. “We want to make the best of this situation and present our great racing to even more people. We hope to win new fans like this,” Pommer said.

Charlie Liverton

In March, France Galop stopped collecting the access fees for horses stabled in the training centres at Chantilly, Deauville and Maisons-Laffitte and regional training centres—a measure in place until at least  May 1st 2020. It also granted trainers who rent their boxes a suspension on rent payments for as long as racing remained suspended. Funds collected from fines were redirected to trainers to help relieve the financial blow of the lockdown. The fund contained €540,000, and if split evenly among all 381 eligible trainers each would receive €1,417. France Galop, however, gave trainers the opportunity to forego the aid to further assist those in need. 

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) provided emergency financial support of £22 million (€24.5m) to help racing people, businesses and communities cope with the crisis. British racing’s main charity, the Racing Foundation, holds the proceeds from the 2011 sale of the Tote, and the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) also stepped up with a substantial package of grants and loans. 

The Chief Executive of the British Racehorse Owners Association, Charlie Liverton, said at the time, “Racing’s leaders want to act as quickly as possible to protect livelihoods and address hardship. We hope this funding will go a long way to supporting the most vulnerable. We also support the Levy Board’s decision to ensure that there is enough money still available to get racing back on its feet once we resume.

“People across racing, including many owners, are currently facing significant financial challenges whilst continuing to maintain payments. They need the prospect of racing activity and prize money to support their costs and get the sport moving again. We would like to thank trainers and everyone else who have worked so hard to ease costs and care for horses in these most trying of times.” …

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Thoroughbred Tales - showcasing the good work of the unsung heroes of racing - celebrations were in order when Stormy Girl provided Rebecca Menzies with a first ever Black Type success

By Sally Anne Grassick

The Thoroughbred Tales family continues to grow on social media with each new guest host and, as any family would be, we were delighted to see one of our own have the biggest success of their career shortly after hosting the account. Stormy Girl provided Rebecca Menzies with a first ever Black Type success when she won a Listed raced over six furlongs at Pontefract last month. 

Rebecca’s “Thoroughbred Tale” started when she joined Ferdy Murphy’s team during a gap year that ended up turning into a training career. When Murphy relocated to France, she struck out on her own with a yard of just eight horses in York. In 2016 she relocated to Howe Hill Stables in County Durham, formerly the home of John Wade, where she trains a dual purpose string of 65 horses, which keeps her and her team busy all year long. 

“We started out as a jump yard, but I soon realised that we couldn’t afford to keep a full yard rented if we only had a few horses running during the summer,” explains Rebecca. “We are located close to the A1 and have five racecourses within an hour or so of the yard, so it also made sense commercially to give it a try. We were lucky that a lot of our jump owners supported us by sending a few flat horses when I took out my dual licence. I could see it being a 50/50 split between flat and jumps horses in the future. We had a couple of two-year-old winners last year and that definitely gave us the confidence to pursue that route. The Listed success of Stormy Girl was a huge moment for us all; we have been celebrating ever since! I was confident she was going to run well the time before in a Listed race at York, but she was disappointing and scoped badly afterwards. I never lost faith in her ability though as I have always known that she is the best horse I have had anything to do with to this point. It was nice to have that view confirmed last time. She works on her own at home as I currently don’t have another horse good enough to work with her, and she is ridden out by Nathan Moscrop. I hope there is more to come from her and we have a few options at Newmarket, Newbury or even over in France later in the year. Her owners, Mike and Eileen Newbould of Stonegrave Thoroughbreds, have been really supportive so it is nice to be able to repay that faith with a Black Type filly.”

Every young trainer knows they need big winners to catch the eye of potential new owners, and never more so than in a year as full of uncertainties as this one. “I have had some interest from people who would like to send me flat horses, and it is good to advertise the fact that with the right material at hand, we can train horses to a good level in that sphere. These are difficult times for everyone, not just in racing, so it is important to try and promote yourself and our sport to a wider audience. That was one of the reasons I was keen on supporting Thoroughbred Tales by guest hosting the account for a week. I had been following the project for a while and found it very interesting seeing how other yards and studs operate. I learnt a lot from the week I hosted and enjoyed answering followers’ questions. It has not been easy for owners this year, but the various social media platforms have helped people feel closer to the action. Many of my owners take their horses home on a rest so they are very close to them. It makes it hard when they can’t give them a pat after they’ve won a race so we try to make an extra effort to reward them for all their continued support. There are difficult times on the horizon and every trainer will need to have their owners behind them to get through it.”

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Why a lack of fibre can compromise horse health and performance

Why a lack of fibre can compromise horse health and performance

Gastric ulcers can affect any horse or pony regardless of age, breed, sex and discipline. In fact, it has been estimated that up to 90% of racehorses have ulcers. Clare Barfoot RNutr, Marketing and Research and Development Director at SPILLERSTM explains why……

The problem with stomach acid

The horse has evolved to eat for up to 18 hours a day, with 65% of the gut devoted to digesting fibre. The horse’s stomach produces acid continuously, but they can only produce acid-neutralising saliva when they chew. This means horses on a restricted fibre diet such as racehorses that limited access to forage are more susceptible to gastric ulcers. Feeding meals high in cereals can also increase the risk of gastric ulcers due to excess fermentation in the stomach. Exercise itself may increase gastric acid production and it also increases pressure in the abdomen, which can result in gastric acid ‘splashing’ onto the upper region of the stomach. 

The benefits of forage

The key to reducing the risk of ulcers is to provide as much of the diet as possible as forage (no less than 15g/kg bodyweight dry weight per day) this means 9kg of hay for the average racehorse, whilst restricting starch intake to less than 2g/kg bodyweight per day (1g/kg bodyweight per meal). Feeding plenty of forage and/or chopped fibre forms a protective mat on top of the stomach contents, thus helping to prevent ‘gastric splashing’. It also helps to add chopped fibre to help extend eating time and increase saliva production. Alfalfa is particularly useful as the high protein and calcium content may help to buffer stomach acid. 

How SPILLERSTM Ulca Fibre can help

SPILLERS Ulca Fibre contains short-chopped alfalfa to extend eating and chewing time, encouraging saliva production and increasing the horse’s ability to buffer damaging stomach acid. The high oil content gives slow release energy for optimum condition and a full range of vitamins and minerals includes vitamin E for immune support and muscle health. High-quality protein includes lysine to support muscle development and performance. SPILLERS Ulca Fibre can be fed on its own or in addition to a suitable low starch compound feed such as SPILLERS Ulca Power Cubes.

SPILLERS Ulca Fibre was used alongside SPILLERS HDF Power Cubes in a recent scientific study that was the first to prove that diet can have a beneficial effect on gastric health. Horses that were clinically treated for grade three and four ulcers were split into two groups; one group had their diet changed at the start of omeprazole treatment, while the other remained on the pre-treatment diet. 

The dietary change group maintained their improved ulcer score post treatment, whereas overall the horses in the group remaining on the pre-treatment diet regressed back to their pre-treatment ulcer scores, proving the value of dietary management in reducing the risk of ulcers.

SPILLERSTM Ulca Power Cubes

SPILLERS has also launched SPILLERS Ulca Power Cubes, a high energy, low starch cube for racing and performance horses prone to gastric ulcers. Based on SPILLERS HDF Power Cubes which are a favourite in the racing industry, SPILLERS Ulca Power Cubes are just 12% starch and have added functional ingredients to support gastric health. They are ideal to feed alongside a chopped fibre containing alfalfa to help extend eating time and buffer stomach acid. 

Both products carry the BETA EGUS Approval Mark demonstrating they have been independently assessed as suitable for horses prone to gastric ulcers.

* Luthersson N,  Bolger C,  Fores P ,  Barfoot C,  Nelson S,   Parkin TDH  & Harris P (2019) Effect of changing diet on gastric ulceration in exercising horses and ponies following cessation of omeprazole treatment   JEVS 83 article 102742

To find out more about our feeds and how we can help to support your racing yard, please visit our website www.spillers-feeds.com or call/email one of our dedicated Thoroughbred Specialists.

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Why the fibre you feed matters

It’s not only what’s in a feed that’s important, where it comes from matters too. 

A great source of calcium

Alfalfa is an effective buffer to acidity in the gut due to its abundance in calcium and studies have shown it buffers acidity more effectively than grass-based forages. Just half a scoop of pure alfalfa chopped fibre in each feed will help counteract the acidity produced by feeding cereals.

A study has shown that omeprazole can negatively impact calcium absorption – this has already been shown in humans. Whether this is contributing to an increased risk of bone fractures is yet to be confirmed but it is certainly worth providing additional calcium in the ration as a risk reduction strategy. The calcium in alfalfa is highly bioavailable and so easier for the horse to absorb. Just 1 scoop of Dengie Alfa-A Original provides a 500kgs exercising horse with 1/5th of their daily calcium requirement*. 

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) such as omeprazole have also been shown to significantly impact the bacterial populations in the digestive tract of humans making them more prone to digestive upsets and infections. This hasn’t been explored in the horse to date but if the same effect is seen it reiterates the importance of doing everything else possible to promote good gut health. 

Consistently Clean

When the difference between winning and losing is marginal, doing everything you can to maximise respiratory health and function makes sense. Precision drying is a way of conserving forages that ensures they are as clean as possible and helps to lock-in nutrients as well. Every bag of Dengie fibre is dried by us and we can trace each one back to the field it was grown in. 

Many people don’t realise that some so-called performance feeds contain straw. At Dengie we believe straw is a useful ingredient but not for the performance horse! It’s simply a case of using the right fibre for the right horse. Our feeds are regularly tested for mould with levels routinely below 100 CFUs and often below 10CFUS. To put that in context, sun-dried forages such as hay and straw often contain 1000CFUS or more. 

Tempting the fussy racehorse

Findings from our Senior Nutritionist’s PhD research suggests that hospitalised Thoroughbreds are more likely to go off their feed than other breeds even when gastric ulcers have been ruled out. Interestingly, previous studies have also found that Thoroughbreds experience a higher rate of post-anaesthetic gastrointestinal complications such as colic, reduced faecal output and colitis compared to non-Thoroughbred horses. Dengie Performance Fibre has been developed to try to tempt even the fussiest horse and has proven to be particularly successful. 

*Based on NRC guidance for a 500kgs horse in exercise and a calcium level of 1.5% in alfalfa

For further information please visit www.dengie.com or call +44 (0)1621 841188

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Takashi Kodama - The Curragh based trainer is taking a global perspective - how the racing business has been affected during the Coronavirus shutdown

By Lissa Oliver

The respected Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, often speaks about the dangers of a single story. A single story, or viewpoint, leads to misconceptions and many lost opportunities, preventing us from seeing the many and varied stories within a place, or a person—the multifaceted bigger picture. Ireland’s Curragh-based trainer Takashi Kodama can never be accused of such an error. His is a life of multiple stories; and perhaps this has gifted him with the ability to identify and value the multiple stories of the international thoroughbred industry.

As we talk, Kodama has five fillies waiting to be shipped from South America, to the USA and Ireland. The border had been closed due to the pandemic but was to have reopened in mid-May, so Kodama had everything organised for their export, only to receive last-minute news that the border closure had been extended. He had to spend the day urgently contacting local agents and rightly admits, “It has been my biggest nightmare with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Kodama is no ordinary trainer. Yes, he has his own yard in Kildare and a small string of six horses in training. He faces the same struggles as any small trainer. Yes, he has known major success as a trainer, Pop Rock winning at the prestigious Galway Festival and Elusive Time landing the 2017 Irish Cambridgeshire, a premier handicap, during Irish Champions Weekend at his home track. That saw Kodama honoured with the Special Achievement Award at the 2017 Curragh Racing Awards. 

But unlike many trainers, Kodama has embraced the idea of diversifying and, as a result, has his finger on the pulse of every racing nation as he searches for good value and winners, even if that means sending the horses in his care to other trainers. Even more than a trainer, he is a racing manager.

This brings additional work and issues, as the South American borders testify. “Afternoon here in Ireland is business hours in South America and the USA,” he points out, “and I have six horses in my yard who demand my attention in the morning.”

His passion for horses started a long time ago. “I first started working with horses a few days after my graduation from high school. I went to Hidaka, the main breeding area of Japan, to a pre-training and stud farm. It was supposed to be temporary, but in the typical way of these things I stayed five years!”

Breeding and pre-training are very much interlinked in Japan, so the young Kodama received a good foundation. “I worked at a facility where they did everything. I learnt to ride there, at the age of 18, and my interest went down the training side of the industry. A lot of things seem to happen by chance throughout life, and I met some people who suggested I should go to America. I worked at Santa Anita in California for three years, and then I came over to Ireland, in 1997.

“I got a trainer’s licence in 2002,” he says of his first start in Ireland, “but after three years I realised it was too difficult for a small stable to make a living in Ireland, so I gave up. It is still very difficult for small trainers to survive here.”

Acutely observant of cultures, politics and economies, Kodama is not a man to shy away from obstacles and, crucially, he makes a point of understanding the causes and implications to help him overcome barriers. He had gained from the experience, but it was time to explore different opportunities. “I sent my wife and two daughters to Japan, and I got jobs as a Japanese representative for Goffs and Connolly’s Red Mills. I worked with them for five years, and this brought me fresh opportunities to meet more people day by day.”

During that time Kodama began working for Japanese trainers and owners to assist their international operation. “I attended all the international sales and was familiar with Goffs and Tattersalls, Arqana, Keeneland, Gold Coast, Magic Millions, even Argentinian sales.” His training background also served him well. “I was also able to assist with their international runners in Dubai, Hong Kong, etc. and provided support to get the top international jockeys to ride in Japan, such as Mick Kinane, Ryan Moore, Fran Berry and Craig Williams. From these experiences I got to know more great international racing professionals and was travelling around the world for sales, racing and visiting stud farms.” 

Those five years, Kodama says, were the biggest factor in shaping his life. Four times a year throughout that period, he bought a round-the-world ticket. “I started in Ireland, flew to the USA— visiting Kentucky, California and Florida—then on to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, then back to Europe, to Germany, France, Italy and the UK, and then home to Ireland. I travelled with an economy ticket all the time, but my airline status was Emerald Member!

“I met so many nice, experienced horsemen all around the world: breeders, trainers, sales people, vets, jockeys, farriers. I found that every part of the horse industry in every country in the world has a different history, culture and the way they trust in the knowledge gained from generations going back more than 100 years.

“I have learned so many things and gained an understanding of the fact that there are so many different ways, different schools of thought, different tools, cultures and history everywhere around the world, but we are all the same in our love and passion being passed down through every generation. That is what is holding the horse industry together, beside the financial supports.”

Crucially, Kodama has also acquired a great understanding and depth of knowledge of the financial systems of racing around the world. “I examine the cost of breeding, cost of training, average horse values, market valuations, prize money, etc., and then I find the balance of all costs and prize money and sales money; and from those calculations I can calculate the cost of performance of the horse in each country.”

He also has an in-depth knowledge of the racing programmes for each region of the world, which he values. “I realised how important it was to have a knowledge and sense of judgement of the ability level of international horses and of the racing and breeding level in each country. I can compare the ability of horses in various countries and know their value, for buying and selling, in order to try to find the best value performance horses for my owners.”

Kodama cites European horses as definitely the most expensive in the world. “For the same money, you might buy only a maiden winner in Ireland but could get a Listed winner in some other European country or the USA; and you might be able to get a Group winner in South America. The important thing is to compare these horses’ abilities.” He laughs, a typically cheerful man who belies the pressure he is so often under. “Horses bought with the same budget, if you let them run in the same race together, who will win—the Irish maiden winner or the South American Gp1 winner? That is a difficult question to answer and may be impossible to find, but it is also a very important aspect of my job.”

It’s easy to think of him as a walking encyclopaedia, but he does have a lot of help. “I would not be able to do what I’m doing now without the help of the great horse people around the world I have been fortunate to meet. International jockeys who ride worldwide give me their opinion of each country’s racing and the quality of horses, and that also helps my knowledge.”

Communication is key and is one of the talkative Kodama’s chief talents.

“At one time, text and other mobile communications were not as popular as now. Although it might be much easier to communicate with people around the world right now, actually I feel that many, many of the people I have met directly face to face and have shared a drink with, eaten with, or just sat and had a chat or discussion with—or even sometimes arguing and fighting with them! ...but it’s those personal meetings that are my fortune in life and will be for a long time to come.”

Of course, as much as he relishes learning from others, his true passion is working with horses, and the lure of a return to training was never far from his heart. “In 2010, by chance, I was given the opportunity to train the Japanese Group winner Pop Rock, together with a few other Japanese horses in Ireland. So I renewed my licence and re-opened my yard once more.”

Pop Rock may have broken a few hearts when a narrow second in the Melbourne Cup to his compatriot Delta Blues, but he realised a dream once in the care of Kodama. “Legend Mick Kinane had retired a few years before I renewed my licence, but he very kindly helped me to try and get my first winner as a trainer. I had been with Mick as a translator in Hong Kong and Japan, and every night when we had a nightcap at the hotel bar he told me so much great things about racing and horses. He started riding out Pop Rock for me—at the beginning once a week—but getting closer to the race, he was finally riding out most of the week. We got Fran Berry as Pop Rock’s jockey for his first time out in Europe, at the Galway Festival.” The rest, as they say, is history. “Pop Rock won as my first winner at Galway and as my dream come true!”

Sadly, Pop Rock was injured during running next time out in the Gp1 Irish St Leger and retired after the race. But as Kodama reflects, “My time with Pop Rock and with Mick and Fran gave me another super experience as a trainer. After this great time I was so pleased to be able to support Fran for his first season riding in Japan. And when Pop Rock retired, a friend who I had met during those five years of travel found a great place for him as a stallion.

“I cannot say my training career has been good,” he admits, “but I’ve still got Elusive Time, who won three times for me, including the Irish Cambridgeshire at the Curragh on Champions Weekend, which was my biggest success as a trainer. Elusive Time was also my first winner at the Curragh, when Joseph O’Brien rode. Now Joseph trains two colts by Galileo for my owners, and also a South American Group winner is going to him with the aim of running her in the Dubai winter carnival.”

Elusive Time with Kodama, Ross Coakley and The Elusive Time syndicate after winning The Tote Irish Cambridgeshire.

Kodama has some very good Japanese owners he met during his time with Goffs, and they have provided him with the opportunity to turn his small stable into an international racing operation. “As a trainer, I have had a runner at Royal Ascot, at the Arc meeting; and I have stayed in Dubai for the winter carnival with five horses, even though I was a really small trainer with not much experience and only 8-10 horses in my yard.

“I got horses for these international races from South America, Scandinavia, Italy—everywhere—with help from people I met while travelling. I also had help from every racing authority, through having met on my travels. I really wished I could step up onto the international racing stage as a trainer for these great Japanese owners who had given me fantastic opportunities, but unfortunately I realised I was not good enough as a trainer. I just felt so sad and sad and sad... because I could not give back anything good to these great owners who supported me so much.

“And I kept thinking, thinking, thinking… How can I give something good to these owners? What can I do for them? …

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Starch v fibre intake. Balancing different carbohydrate sources against changing requirements of fitness, injury and recovery

By Catherine Rudenko

Carbohydrates are by far the largest component of any horse’s diet, typically two thirds by weight, yet we often focus more on other nutrients, such as protein—which in comparison forms only a small portion of the total diet at around 8-13%. Carbohydrates, specifically the balance between differing carbohydrate sources, influences three key areas relating to performance.

The choice of carbohydrate influences the type of energy available, providing varying proportions of ‘fast release’ or ‘slow release’ energy. The type of carbohydrate chosen also impacts behaviour, increasing or decreasing risk of excitability and certain stereotypical behaviours. Last, but by no means least, the choice of carbohydrate and the way in which it is fed impacts digestive health and the ability of the digestive system to convert food to ‘fuel’ for the body.

Getting the balance right between the different types of carbohydrates is important for getting the right results when having to adjust the intensity of training, when resting a horse and when working back up through the stages of fitness. 

What are carbohydrates? 

There are different ways of classifying or grouping carbohydrates, depending on whether you take things from the plant’s point of view or that of the digestive anatomy of the horse. Working with the horse in mind, carbohydrates are best classified by the section of the digestive system that they are processed in—either the small intestine or large intestine. The site of digestion determines the type of energy provided, often referred to as fast releasing for the small intestine and ‘slow releasing’ for the large intestine. The group of carbohydrates, known as hydrolysable carbohydrates, are the group behind the description of fast releasing, whilst the group known as fermentable carbohydrates are those forming the ‘slow releasing’ category. Within the fermentable group, there are three sub groups of rapid, medium and slow. 

What are carbohydrates made of? 

There are many types of carbohydrates in the horse’s diet, ranging from simple sugars to more complex structures. They are defined by their degree of polymerisation, which refers to the way in which sugar units are joined together. How a carbohydrate is formed and the type of link present are important as they determine if digestion is possible in the small intestine or whether fermentation in the large intestine is required. This influences the type of energy available. 

For horses in training, the type of carbohydrate of particular interest is the polysaccharide group which includes starch, cellulose, hemicellulose and fructans amongst others. Starch is found in significant quantities in hard feeds, whilst cellulose and hemicellulose, amongst other fermentable carbohydrates are abundant in forages. Pasture is a source of fructans, which can change rapidly depending on growing conditions and daylight hours. 

Structure

Single sugars, also called simple sugars, comprise one unit only. They are categorised as monosaccharides—the most commonly known being glucose. For horses in training this is a highly valuable sugar as it is the main ‘fuel’ for muscles. Glucose forms the basis of many of the more complex structures of interest to horses in training.

When two sugars join together, they are known as a disaccharide—the best known being lactose which is found in mare’s milk. Oligosaccharides refer to more complex structures where more units are joined together—a common example being fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) which many horses in training are specifically fed as a prebiotic to support digestive function. 

Type of Carbohydrate

Polysaccharides, our group of particular interest, are significantly more complex chains that are branched and are not so easily digested as the simple sugars. The branched nature of polysaccharides, such as starch and cellulose, are the result of links between chains of sugars. The type of link present determines whether or not it will be possible for the horse to digest this form of carbohydrate in the small intestine or not.

Starch

Starch is the primary carbohydrate of interest in our hard feeds. It is a hydrolysable carbohydrate, which can be digested in the small intestine, releasing glucose into the bloodstream. For horses in training this is the most important fast release energy source. Starch is found in all plants, with the highest quantities seen in cereals such as oats, barley and maize.

Composition of cereals commonly used in racing feeds

Starch is made up of two types of sugar chains: amylose and amylopectin, which are formed from glucose units. Amylose itself is easily digested, however amylopectin has a different type of bond connecting each branch, which the enzymes of the small intestine cannot break down. Feed processing, which changes the structure of starch and breaks apart the previously indigestible bonds, is therefore a key factor in ensuring that when starch is fed that the maximum amount of glucose is derived. 

Amylose and Amylopectin 

Feed processing comes in many forms, from simply crushing or rolling the grain to cooking techniques including micronizing, steam flaking, pelleting or extruding. The amount of processing required for what is deemed efficient digestion differs by grain type. Oats have a natural advantage within the cereal group as they can be fed whole, although processing can still improve digestion. Barley, wheat and maize cannot be fed whole or simply rolled. They require cooking to ensure that starch becomes available, and the impact of cooking processes is much greater for these grains. 

The availability of starch is assessed through the amount of glucose released into the blood after feeding. The study below shows the effect of steam cooking maize (corn) compared to two processes that simply change the physical appearance, cracking or grinding. Steam-flaked maize is more available as shown by the greater glucose response. 

Starch is a fast release energy source, being digested in the small intestine, and the term can easily be misunderstood. It does not mean that the horse will suddenly run at top speed nor appear to be fuelled by ‘rocket fuel’. The word ‘fast’ relates to the relatively short time it takes for digestion to occur and glucose to be available. …

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On the bridle - scientific research uncovers performance advantages of different types of bridles - reducing bridle pressure

By Dr. Russell Mackechnie-Guire

Using a modified bridle design has a significant impact on whole horse locomotion–front and hindlimb–not just the head. 

Recent scientific advances have seen an increase in performance-based research, particularly in the sport horse world where a podium finish can depend on the smallest of margins. The findings from the sport horse research can be translated to the racing thoroughbred where the shortest distance can put you first past the post. All items of training tack and equipment have found themselves under scientific scrutiny, with some unexpected results which could have significant effects on racehorse performance. 

Perhaps one of the most surprising discoveries was the effect that bridle fit and design has on the locomotor apparatus of the horse (biomechanics). The bridle is a neglected item of tack which has, until now, received little scientific attention.

Ahead of the game

As well as improving locomotion these findings could have a significant benefit when it comes to resolving common issues affecting race performance, such as oral lesions in the commissures (corners) of the lips, tongue lolling and hanging, as well as steering or control issues.  

A sensor mat was used under many different bridles and nosebands to measure and record pressure on the horse’s head in motion.]

Research indicates that these behaviours are likely to occur as a result of the horse seeking relief from bridle pressure and instability. Tongue ties or Australian nosebands are two examples of gadgets traditionally used to remedy these issues, but they have their own welfare and pressure-inducing concerns. A more effective solution would be to remove the primary cause of discomfort which leads to the negative or undesirable behaviour by using a modified pressure-relieving bridle design.

Pressure head

Research using a calibrated pressure sensor mat, which was positioned beneath all parts of the bridle, revealed interesting findings and disproved some long-held assumptions. 

It had long been thought that horses experience bridle pressure directly on their poll. In contrast, the research team found no significant areas of pressure over the poll. Instead, areas of high peak pressure were located at the base of the ears in the region where the browband attaches to the headpiece. Anatomically this corresponds to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The TMJ is an essential part of the physiological apparatus, associated with the swallow reflex and the hyoid apparatus (see anatomy panel). The location of pressure (base of the ear and TMJ) was consistent in all commonly-used headpieces and occurred at the same moment in the stride, regardless of the make or design. 

Important locomotor muscles are all linked to the mouth and tongue via the hyoid.

The research team also used gait analysis where markers are placed on the horse’s anatomical locations (joints), allowing locomotion to be measured. …

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Coronavirus shutdown - the effects on training regimes, racing staff wellbeing and how the racing industry adapts to change

By Alysen Miller

“Business as Usual”: How the Racing Community Learned to Thrive in a Pandemic, and What We Can Teach the Rest of the World

As the coronavirus blazed its pestilential path across the world, altering virtually every aspect of life as we know it, in a quiet corner of northern France it was business as usual. Every morning, accompanied by the sound of birdsong from the surrounding Chantilly Forest and unperturbed by the cacophony of confusion emanating from the corridors of power, 50 kilometres away in Paris, Nicolas Clément put his string through their paces on the gallops of Les Aigles and Les Lions. “The truth is we had to keep the horses ticking over,” he explains. “We did a bit less, obviously, when there was no visibility [about when racing would resume]. I had more time in the afternoon to look at my horses and stuff. But I didn’t change much, to be honest. Because your routine is your work.”

Nicolas Clément

It’s an attitude that is replicated from Newmarket to Norway. In fact, wherever racehorses are trained, European trainers have stoically gone about their business, even as the magnitude of the moment seemed to take on ever-more alarming new contours. Even as London’s Excel Centre was being converted into a field hospital and graves were being dug in trenches in New York City, racehorses still had to be exercised.

Doncaster’s COVID-19 screening process.

It’s a sentiment that is echoed, in virtually identical terms, by Oslo-based Are Hyldmo. “The daily routine hasn’t really changed that much at all,” he says. “Of course, we have had to be a bit more strict about who comes to the stables. I will allow owners to come but not in big groups. We have policies about washing your hands. We’ve used more hand soap in the last few weeks,” he deadpans, with typical Scandinavian understatement.

“I’m not one of the worriers,” chirps fellow Scandinavian Jessica Long from her yard in Malmö. “It’s not just going to go away, so we’ve got to cope with it. The world can’t stop.” The Nordic neighbours couldn’t be more different in terms of their respective responses to the virus: Norway has been praised for its swift and decisive COVID-19 response, announcing a nationwide lockdown on 12th of March that saw the closure of schools and businesses and a ban on sporting events. Sweden, meanwhile, is something of an outlier in its apparently more casual approach to managing the outbreak. Yet the experiences of the two trainers are remarkably similar. “For us it’s been pretty much business as usual,” confirms Long, repeating the trainers’ mantra.

Dr Antonis Kousoulis

All this is not to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic which, at time of writing, has infected nearly 5 million people and resulted in 324,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation. For many, the pathogen itself is only the tip of the iceberg. Millions of adults have reported feeling panicked, afraid and unprepared as a result of the pandemic, according to research from the Mental Health Foundation, a UK-based charity; while almost a quarter of adults living under lockdown have experienced loneliness. “The impact… on mental health can be very hard to manage,” warns Dr Antonis Kousoulis, director at the Mental Health Foundation, in the report. “We fear that we may be living with the mental health impacts of the coronavirus situation for many years to come.”

Yet the racing community has singularly maintained its sense of stoicism—even humour—even in our darkest hours. Now, as the first virulent wave breaks and rolls back and countries across the continent begin to take their first tentative steps out of lockdown, it is worth examining how, as a cohort, the racing community was able to survive and even thrive during one of the most extraordinary periods of human history, and what lessons we might be able to impart to the rest of the world.

“Racing people are incredibly resilient, that’s for sure,” says psychologist Michael Caulfield. “They’ve coped and adapted with extraordinary resilience, and they’ve done it their way. And everyone has found their own rhythm.”

One of the UK’s leading performance psychologists, Caulfield, works with a number of prominent football, cricket and rugby teams, as well as providing support to individual athletes and coaches. Even compared to other sportspeople, he says, the racing world has seemed to weather the storm far better than most. (In a previous life, Caulfield worked as a stable lad and, later, as chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association; so he knows whereof he speaks.) The reason for this resilience, he suggests, is that racing people are inherently a species of risk-takers: “The racing world has always lived with risk. And I think with this situation now, we’re having to teach the world to learn to live with risk again because risk is a part of everyday life. With horses, it’s a part of every hour of your life; financially, in terms of the risk of injury, in terms of the uncertainty. So racing people are better equipped to deal with it than most.” Caulfield acknowledges that some of the restrictions imposed by lockdown, such as not being able to go to the pub with your mates, have perhaps been easier on people who didn’t have a social life to begin with: “How many people from equestrianism do you meet during the week for a night out? You don’t.” …

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BEDMAX celebrate their 20th year in business - Managing Director, Tim Smalley recounts their progress

It is 20 years this Spring since the first yellow bags of BEDMAX shavings began appearing in UK racing yards, but the Northumberland-based family company has put its anniversary celebrations on hold. Like everyone else involved in the racing industry, Managing Director Tim Smalley has been fully occupied adapting operations to steer the BEDMAX team safely through these uncharted waters, and keeping production at record levels to support customers through the most disruptive crisis since the second World War.

“This is clearly a very serious problem we’re all facing, and it will obviously have serious consequences for many of us whose lives and livings revolve around horses. But I‘ve always thought that people who work with horses, and especially with racehorses, are better prepared than most to deal with setbacks and disasters. It’s been wonderful to see racing get back in the saddle again, and we’re looking forward to a return to something closer to normality as soon as possible.” 

Every race starts in the stable... Photo: Sarah Farnsworth, by kind permission of Amanda Perrett, Coombelands Racing Stables.

Growing up surrounded by ponies, hunters and eventers on the family farm in north Northumberland, Tim opted out of horses in his teens and into agricultural engineering, and it wasn’t until he returned from a spell jackarooing in Australia in the early 80s that he started to put the two together in his first racing-based business.

Desert Orchid was one of the first customers for BEDMAX in 2000.

“Mustering cattle in the Kimberleys reignited the horse bug in me, and when I came home I started hunting again and did some point-to-pointing. At the same time my aunt was breeding some successful steeplechasers here in the stables where I now live, including Canny Danny, who won the Sun Alliance at Cheltenham in ’83, and Strands of Gold who won the Hennessy in ’88. I was looking for a way to make a living somehow on the edges of farming, and through my aunt I learned that trainers were looking for an alternative forage to hay. There was some significant research evidence emerging at the time about the damage airborne dust and spores could do to a horse’s respiratory system in the stable, and hay was seen as the main culprit. 

“So my older brother Chris offered me the use of some of his hayfields at Greymare Farm, I restored two old small round-bale balers, and in 1987 we started making dust free haylage. We sealed the bales in yellow bags and called it HAYMAX, and racing customers seemed very happy with it.”

As haylage increasingly became the forage of choice in UK racing yards, it became apparent that traditional straw bedding was – and still is – as likely as hay to contain high levels of inorganic dust and microbial particles small enough to be inhaled deep into the respiratory system of a nasal obligate breather.

“By 1998, there were lots of suppliers making haylage for horses, but trainers were finding it difficult to source a dust free replacement for straw. Many were trying what I would call waste product shavings from the wood processing industries, but those also had a very high dust content, so I started to look at how we could produce a better bedding, and two years later we launched BEDMAX.”

In those two years, Tim tracked down as much of the research into equine respiratory health as he could and consulted trainers and leading equine veterinary experts, and he realised that dust was not the only health threat that horses face in the stable.

“Respiratory damage caused by airborne dust is the most significant health problem that good bedding can help prevent, but it also needs to help maintain good hoof health, it can play a big part in keeping the stable hygienic and suppressing ammonia, and it needs to provide a supportive base for horses to lie down and get the rest they need.

“I’ve always said it isn’t rocket science, but we put a lot of thought into making a top quality all-round healthy equine bedding. We were the first to cut larger shavings because they’re more resilient and supportive both for the hoof and for horses lying down. We dry them at sterilising temperatures but to a controlled 12% moisture content so they don’t dry out hooves and cause cracking. We make them from traceable, renewable timber we source here in the UK, and I prefer to use pine because it offers a unique level of natural antibacterial resistance. And we have always been aware that if we’re asking customers to pay a bit more for purpose-made bedding, it needs to be very good value for money.”

The other benefits Tim Smalley wanted all customers to be sure they got from BEDMAX were consistent quality, dependable supply, and knowledgeable support and service. As sales grew, the company built a second factory in the Midlands and then a third  in Hampshire to keep up with demand, duplicating the unique production process Tim and his brother had built themselves at Greymare Farm, and they have invested steadily  in new technology and more sophisticated dust screening and vacuum extraction to keep BEDMAX shavings at the top of the bedding performance rankings.

BEDMAX has led the British Equestrian Trade Association’s national survey results for the best-selling brand of bedding in the overall UK equestrian market since 2011, but racing still accounts for a large proportion of sales and Tim Smalley still values the approval of racing trainers and vets as the highest benchmark of success.

“Racing trainers were the first to recognise the need for a bedding that reduced dust levels to the lowest possible minimum. Obviously, this is particularly crucial in racing where even small compromises in respiratory health can make a big difference to performance, and racehorses do spend a lot of time in their stables. It gives me a headache even trying to think of all the factors a trainer has to take into account to get the best out of a horse, but I know that every detail is important, and I hope BEDMAX has helped remove or reduce at least one potential health risk.”

From the outset, it has been racing that has driven this family company’s success at home in the UK and then as a global exporter, first to trainers in Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East, and more recently to Japan and mainland China. In January, one of the world’s leading studs ordered a shipment of Northumbrian BEDMAX to be delivered to Australia for their stallions standing for the season down under.

“We’ve travelled a long way from Greymare Farm since those first bags went off in our lorry to Malton and Middleham,” says Tim Smalley, “and it’s a pity our 20th anniversary has been overtaken by the coronavirus. But we’re in this for the long run, and we’re even more deeply committed to supporting our racing  customers and their horses through this setback and on to the next 20 years.”

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Minimising serious fractures of the racehorse fetlock - risk reducing of catastrophic fractures associated with the fetlock joint

By VA Colgate, PHL Ramzan & CM Marr

Minimising serious fractures of the racehorse fetlock

In March 2020, a symposium was held in Newmarket, UK, aiming to devise measures which could be used internationally to reduce the risk of catastrophic fracture associated with the fetlock joint. The meeting was supported by the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust, the Beaufort Cottage Charitable Trust and the Jockey Club with additional contributions from a number of industry stakeholders. On the first day a panel of international experts made up of academic professors, Chris Whitton (Melbourne, Australia), Sue Stover (Davis, California), Chris Kawcak (Colorado), Tim Parkin (Glasgow) and Peter Muir (Wisconsin); experienced racehorse clinicians, Ryan Carpenter (Santa Anita) and Peter Ramzan (Newmarket); imaging experts, Sarah Powell (Newmarket) and Mathieu Spriet (Davis, California); and vets with experience in racing regulatory bodies, Scott Palmer (New York) and Chris Riggs (Hong Kong) joined forces to discuss risk assessment protocols, particularly those based on imaging features which might indicate increased risk of imminent fracture. This was followed by a wider discussion with a diverse invited audience of veterinary and industry stakeholders on how our current knowledge of fracture pathophysiology and risk factors for injury could be used to target risk assessment protocols. A report of the workshop outcomes was recently published in Equine Veterinary Journal.

The importance of risk reduction

With the ethics of the racing industry now in the public spotlight, there is recognition that together veterinary and horseracing professionals must strive to realise an improvement in equine injury rates. Intervention through risk profiling programmes, primarily based on training and racing metrics, has a proven track record; and the success of a racing risk management program in New York gives evidence that intervention can and will be successful. 

The fetlock of the thoroughbred racehorse is subjected to very great loads during fast work and racing, and over the course of a training career this can result in cumulative changes in the bone underlying the articular cartilage (‘subchondral’ bone) that causes lameness and may in some circumstances lead to fracture. Fracture propagation involving the bones of the fetlock (cannon, pastern or proximal sesamoid bones) during fast work or racing can have catastrophic consequences, and while serious musculoskeletal injuries are a rare event when measured against race starts, there are obviously welfare and public interest imperatives to reduce the risk to racehorses even further. The dilemma that faces researchers and clinicians is that ‘fatigue’ injuries of the subchondral bone at some sites within the fetlock can be tolerated by many racehorses in training while others develop pathology that tips over into serious fracture. Differentiating horses at imminent risk of raceday fracture from those that are ‘safe’ to run has not proven particularly easy based on clinical grounds to date, and advances in diagnostic imaging offer great promise.

Profiling to inform risk assessment

Risk profiling examines the nature and levels of threat faced by an individual and seeks to define the likelihood of adverse events occurring. Catastrophic fracture is usually the end result of repetitive loading, but currently there are no techniques that can accurately determine that a bone is becoming fatigued until some degree of structural failure has actually occurred. However, diagnostic imaging has clear potential to provide information about pathological changes which indicate the early stages of structural damage. 

Previous research has identified a plethora of epidemiological factors associated with increased risk of serious catastrophic musculoskeletal injury on the racetrack. These can be distilled into race, horse and management-related risk factors that could be combined in statistical models to enable identification of individual horses that may be at increased risk of injury. 

In North America, the Equine Injury Database compiles fatal and non-fatal injury information for thoroughbred racing in North America. Since 2009, equine fatalities are down 23%; and important risk factors for injury have been identified, and this work has driven ongoing improvement.

The problem with all statistics-based models created so far for prediction of racehorse injury is that they have limited predictive ability due to the low prevalence of racetrack catastrophic events. If an event is very rare, and a predictive tool is not entirely accurate, many horses will be incorrectly flagged up as at increased risk. At the Newmarket Fetlock workshop, Prof Tim Parkin shared his work on a model which was based on data from over 2 million race starts and almost 4 million workout starts. Despite the large amount of data used to formulate the model, Tim Parkin suggested that if we had to choose between two horses starting in a race, this model would only correctly identify the horse about to sustain a fracture 65% of the time. Furthermore, the low prevalence of catastrophic injury means it will always be difficult to predict, regardless of which diagnostic procedure is employed. 

Where do the solutions lie?

A radiograph showing a racing thoroughbred’s fetlock joint. The arrow points to a linear radiolucency in the parasagittal groove of the lower cannon bone—a finding that is frequently detectable before progression to serious injury.

One possible strategy to overcome the inherent challenge of predicting a rare event involves serial testing. Essentially with this approach, a sequence of tests is carried out to refine sub-populations of interest and thus improve the predictive ability of the specific tests applied. An additional consideration in the design of any such practical profiling system would have to be the ability to speedily come to a decision. For example, starting with a model based on racing and training metrics such as number of starts and length of lay-off periods, as well as information about the risk associated with any particular track or racing jurisdiction, entries could be screened to separate those that are not considered to be at increased risk of injury from a smaller sub-group of horses that warrant further evaluation and will progress to Phase 2. The second phase of screening would be something relatively simple. Although not yet available, there is hope that blood tests for bone biomarkers or genetic profiles could be used to further distil horses into a second sub-group. This second sub-group might then be subjected to more detailed veterinary examination, and from that a third sub-group, involving a very small and manageable number of horses flagged as potentially at increased risk, would undergo advanced imaging. The results of such diagnostic imaging would then allow vets to make evidence-based decisions on whether or not there is sufficient concern to prompt withdrawal of an individual from a specific race from a health and welfare perspective. Of course there are other considerations which limit the feasibility of such a system, including availability of diagnostic equipment and whether or not imaging can be quickly and safely performed without use of sedation or other drugs, which are prohibited near to a race start. 

Diagnostic techniques for fetlock injury risk profiling

Currently there is no clear consensus on the interpretation of images from all diagnostic imaging modalities, and important areas of uncertainty exist. Although a range of imaging modalities are available, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and advances in technology currently outstrip our accumulation of published evidence on which to base interpretation of the images obtained.  

Interpretation is easy when the imaging modality shows an unequivocal fracture such as a short fissure in a cannon bone. Here the decision is simple: the horse has a fracture and must stop exercising. Many cases, however, demonstrate less clearly defined changes that may be associated with bone fatigue injury. 

Currently radiography remains the most important imaging modality in fetlock bone risk assessment. With wide availability and the knowledge gained by more advanced imaging techniques refining the most appropriate projections to use; radiography represents a relatively untapped resource that through education of primary care vets could immediately have a profound impact on injury mitigation. The most suitable projection with which to detect prodromal condylar fracture pathology in the equine distal limb is the flexed dorsopalmar (forelimb) or plantarodorsal (hindlimb) projection. On this projection, focal radiolucency in the parasagittal groove, whether well or poorly defined, with or without increased radio-opacity in the surrounding bone, should be considered representative of fracture pathology unless evidence from other diagnostic imaging modalities demonstrates otherwise. 

Computed Tomography (CT) excels at identification of structural changes and is better than radiography at showing very small fissures in the bone. However, additional research is needed to determine specific criteria for interpretation of the significance of small lesions in the parasagittal groove with respect to imminent risk of serious injury. There are good indications that fissure lesion size and proximal sesamoid bone volumetric measurements have the potential to be useful criteria for prediction of condylar and proximal sesamoid bone fractures respectively. With technological advancement, it is likely that CT will be more widely used in quantitative risk analysis in the future. 

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has the ability to detect alterations in the fluid content of bones, which allows assessment of acute, active changes. Indeed standing, low-field MRI has been shown to be capable of detecting bone abnormalities not readily identifiable on radiography and has been successfully used for injury mitigation in racehorse practice for some time. However, when used for evaluation of cartilage and subchondral bone lesions, there is a relatively high likelihood of false positive results.  

PET is the most recent advance in diagnostic imaging. It is being developed in California and, when combined with CT, provides information on bone activity and structure. In these three images of the same fetlock, from different aspects, the orange spots indicate increased activity in the proximal sesamoid bone, which is a potential precursor to more serious injury.

Image courtesy of Dr M. Spriet, University of California, Davis.

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TopSpec - Trainer of the Quarter - Denis Hogan

By Breandán Ó hUallacháin

The TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter award has been won by Denis Hogan. Hogan will receive £1,000 worth of TopSpec feed, supplements and additives as well as a consultation with one of their senior nutritionists.

Denis Hogan was unsure what to expect when Sceptical, a £2,800 unraced purchase at the Horse-In-Training Sale at Doncaster in August 2019, joined him at his state of the art facilities last year. When asked how he approached the initial training of the gelding, Hogan said: “If we got a horse with form, we’d have something to go on, a line of ability, a rating probably, a distance that he races over, whereas when they’re unraced, we’re going off breeding and what they’re bred to do. Like most horses that have never raced, you build them up gradually. He then got a piece of work, and after a fast piece of work or two, we knew he was decent.” He concedes, however, that he wasn’t anxious when initially training the son of Exceed And Excel, knowing from Godolphin he had trouble breathing: “We knew he had issues, we knew his wind wasn’t perfect, but we’ve dealt with them (horses with wind problems) before.”

Though the gelding debuted on the all-weather at Dundalk on 30th October 2019, he had a wind operation after that run, with Hogan admitting “we got away with the first run.” The likeable handler states that the horse isn’t very difficult to train, describing him as “a joy to do anything with. On that score he’s 100% as good as you could ask for with temperament and attitude. His temperament, is absolutely brilliant, he’s so relaxed, calm. Nothing would phase him whatsoever, you could put him anywhere in any size of crowd, even travelling he never gets worked up. You could put him anywhere in a race – up front, out the back, in the middle.” Sceptical’s training routine has essentially remained the same since his arrival. It is quite simple; it doesn’t involve anything special, according to the Tipperary native, who is lucky to have access to a 5-furlong deep sand gallop and another gallop similar to Dundalk for his top charge. “We don’t over gallop him really, he’d be cantering away, and turn him out as much as we can; he might have a gallop at The Curragh or somewhere before a big race, but that would be it really.” Though Sceptical has run on both the all-weather and turf, his training doesn’t change much, irrespective of the surface he’s being prepared for: “No, not massively – much the same, only that the surface is different. I suppose he doesn’t need to be over the top fit for the all-weather, it’s an easy surface and horses skip off it – they tend to take the race quite well, not as hard as soft ground.”

While proudly conceding that he has many race options with a horse of this quality, the Cloughjordan man is cautious about asking too much of his stable star: “We have to be careful we pick the right races now and not over-race him. With a horse like this we have a couple of options, a few different plans. The Group 1 races are literally all overseas now, and right into the autumn, there are winter festivals in every corner of the world nowadays. I’d imagine he’d be kept busy.”

In citing the international success of his fellow county man, Tom Hogan, with the late Gordon Lord Byron, Denis Hogan may be considering some long haul flights for this laid-back individual: “Australia – there’s some big prize money down there, and he could be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup, or the Prix de l’Abbaye, and Saudi has the big racing festival out there in February – there’s tonnes of options out there.”

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Hay quality - sampling - testing protocols - importance of hay quality - for racehorse trainers

By Alan Creighton, Head of Environment and Nutrition Department, The Irish Equine Centre

Late last year, the Environmental and Nutrition Department at the Irish Equine Centre completed a study of hay which was being fed by many of the leading racehorse trainers in Ireland and the UK. The results have answered a lot of the theories we have held over the years in relation to hay quality. The results of this study also have been used to aid hay producers and trainers in making the right choices when it comes to making and feeding hay. The study also highlights the reasons why testing hay is very important.

Good forage is key but the balance needs to be right too.

At this time of year, we are inevitably asked questions in relation to the quality of hay versus haylage. When is the best time to test this year’s forage? How is it stored properly? The obvious difference is that you can get a good idea about hay quality prior to purchase, whereas with haylage you often have to wait until you open that plastic to know your faith. When we look at the top-level trainers in Ireland, the UK and France, the breakdown of who feeds hay versus who feeds haylage is approximately 75% hay versus 25% haylage. The decision to feed a particular forage is often based on availability, cost and storage facilities. Some trainers prefer to feed haylage because they believe this product is a better source of digestible energy and protein. The nutritional content of large batches of haylage can be very variable and without analysing each batch of forage, it is impossible to know exactly what the nutrient profile is. The Irish Equine Centre analyses thousands of samples of hay and haylage every year for both hygiene (mould and bacteria levels) and nutritional content. The reality is that we get both hay and haylage with extremely good nutritional and hygiene values; we also get hay and haylage with very poor nutritional and hygiene values. It is really important for trainers to realise that constantly changing forage types is extremely detrimental to horse health and is often responsible for gastric problems and colic. Ideally you should produce or purchase enough of the same batch of good quality forage for the whole season. It is our experience from testing forage that getting haylage with consistent nutritional values can be very difficult. This is mainly due to the variants in moisture content. Hay that is well made and stored well does tend to be much more consistent and therefore better for overall horse health.

Haylage has a much higher moisture content than hay which therefore means that more haylage is required to be fed as compared to hay to meet the daily recommended guidelines for dry matter intake. Haylage can contain higher crude protein, fat and digestible energy. If a trainer feeds that amount of haylage as suggested in guidelines, the animals tend to get too heavy. When feeding haylage, the spoilage process can begin quickly if the bale is exposed to air; this may be due to damaged wrapping or not using the bale quick enough once opened. Fungal spores will develop, and this should be carefully assessed before feeding. This is a major problem we encounter on a regular basis. Often trainers are feeding big bales of haylage to a small number of horses, which means the bales are exposed to air for a prolonged period of time. Pathogenic fungi will develop very quickly and often lead to both respiratory and gastric problems. For that reason, the Irish Equine Centre recommends that opened bales of haylage are used inside of four days in the winter and three days in the summer. This recommendation will often determine the choice between hay and haylage as you would therefore need to be feeding a larger number of horses to feed large bale haylage. 

The digestive system of the horse is designed to graze constantly. Digestive disorders such as stomach ulcers increase when we move too far away from constant grazing. Horses are designed to have a regular intake of forage. Since the horse's stomach continually secretes acid, gastric ulcers can result when the horse is not eating regularly. Saliva in the mouth contains bicarbonate which buffers (neutralises) acidity in the gut. More chewing produces more saliva, and the chew time with hay is a lot longer than with haylage. The horse therefore produces a lot more saliva when fed hay as compared to haylage. Horses also tend to eat haylage quicker which often leads to longer periods with no forage in the stomach.

Both hay and haylage are prone to fungal contamination in different ways. With haylage, the fungal contamination occurs as a result of inadequate fermentation or when air pockets or punctures occur in the plastic. Fungal problems in hay occur because of high moisture levels during the baling process and because of inadequate storage during winter months. We have now shown that those fungal problems are compounded and elevated since farmers have moved away from the traditional small bale and moved to large round or rectangular bales. 

Racehorses are athletes, and they need a fully functioning respiratory system to maximise performance. IAD, COPD, RAO (all forms of equine asthma) and EIPH (bleeding) are respiratory conditions that are major causes of poor performance in racehorses. Fungi and mycotoxins are now recognised as a major cause of these conditions, and in particular the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus is the main culprit. Fungi that penetrate the airways can cause unwanted inflammation and can be infectious, toxic, allergenic or all three combined. The further the distance a racehorse is asked to race, the more detrimental this inflammation will be to performance. The main sources of this fungus are hay, haylage, straw and oats. This fungus is a storage fungus and so it propagates in stored foodstuffs overtime where the moisture level is above 14%. When the fungus contaminates a foodstuff or bedding, the horse has no choice but to breathe in the harmful spores in their stable environment. The fungus also causes a level of immunosuppression, which often can be the precursor to secondary bacterial and viral diseases.

An Irish Equine Centre study in 2006 showed that Aspergillus contamination levels in hay produced in Europe for racehorses that year was approximately 50% as compared to 37% in haylage and 13% in the North American hay used in Europe at that time. This was a very worrying statistic as forage can often make up to 60% of the racehorse’s diet. The cost of North American hay in Europe was significantly higher than barn-dried European hay. The temperate climate in Ireland, the UK and northwestern France can make it difficult to make and store hygienic hay as compared to North America. Scientific information available for farmers to aid in the production of hygienic hay is now limited as government research facilities have concentrated on silage and haylage production for cows. It has long been the contention of the Environment and Nutrition Department that apart from the difficulties with making good hay, it is actually how we store hay in our damp climates that predisposes the hay to fungal contamination. We have always felt that hay which is uncovered in storage will act like a sponge and absorb moisture from the air during our damp winters. When the temperature is mild, this moisture encourages fungal growth on the outside of bales.

In order to help hay producers and consequently help trainers, the Irish Equine Centre felt we needed to establish the following: 

1. The links between the effects the different hay preservation methods and storage methods have on the moisture levels of the hay and the resulting fungal and mycotoxin presence. 

2. To determine the prevalence of pathogenic fungi and mycotoxins (secondary metabolites) in hay produced by five of the biggest producers of hay for racehorses in Ireland and the UK over a two-year period. 

3. Determine the most suitable time during storage for trainers to test their hay. Prior to this study, the IEC recommended the month of September.

The study looked at hay produced and stored over a two-year period. Five hundred twenty-five samples were taken post-harvest, post-storage and at three intervals during storage in hay barns. The moisture levels were taken at each sampling interval. All the samples were tested for pathogenic fungi and a panel of six mycotoxins. …

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News from the EMHF - the pandemic’s effects on Europe’s smaller racing nations and their trainers

By Dr. Paull Khan

There is no racing nation that has escaped the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the major racing powers, in Europe and beyond, has been well chronicled. Racing industries in France, Great Britain and Ireland have all taken a significant financial hit with the period of forced inactivity. But what has been the experience of the smaller countries, with lesser financial resources with which to buffer themselves? Here we look at the situation in six countries—Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Slovakia—to try to get a sense of what the coronavirus crisis has meant for their racing generally and their trainers in particular. And what we see is a highly variable picture; while for some the impact—at least to date—has been mild, and there is confidence around the long-term prospects for the sport. For others, it has threatened the very existence of horseracing in the country.

The six countries between them boast just 228 trainers: 135 professionals and 93 amateurs. In several cases, the number of horses in the entire country falls short of those in a single large yard in Britain, France or Ireland. They average fewer than 10 horses in training each.

The importance of international competition is noteworthy. Of our six countries, only Greece operates pretty much as ‘an island’, with Greek-trained horses making few forays abroad, and no foreign-trained raiders entering its races. The rest are not self-sufficient. They rely on (i) races in neighbouring countries in which their horses can take part and/or (ii) horses from neighbouring countries bolstering the numbers in their own races to provide competitive sport. This is why COVID-related restrictions on international travel have been a key concern.  

BELGIUM

Belgium’s three racetracks—at Mons, Ostend and Waregem—normally stage some 170 races per year. The cessation of racing started on March 5th and, at time of writing, a resumption behind closed doors was hoped for at the end of June. It will not be possible to reschedule all the races, and a reduction in opportunities of some 40% is expected.

Belgian trainers already rely, to a large extent, on supplementing race opportunities at home with those abroad—predominantly making raids across their southern border to France—to which over 80% of foreign raiders are directed. France’s closure to foreign runners therefore represented a significant blow. 

Some owners transferred their horses to France when French racing resumed ahead of that in Belgium, but the damage was limited to seven horses. 

Marcel De Bruyne, racing director at the Belgian Galop Federation, looks forward with optimism for a recovery next year: “I think and surely hope that 2021 will look like 2019, but our industry depends, to the tune of some 85% of revenues, on French premiums, (via the PMU). When they return to operating as in 2019, we will probably too”.  

GREECE

Konstantinos Loukopoulos

Racing at Greece’s only racecourse, Markopoulo near Athens, was halted on March 14th and at time of writing it was hoped the cessation would be limited to three months. This crisis has come at a time when the Greek racing industry was pulling itself out of a slump which threatened its closure. A dozen years ago, the number of horses in training servicing racing was buoyant, at 1500. But by 2015 the tally had slumped to a scarcely-viable 250. This figure is critical to Greek racing since it has yet to attract foreign runners and relies entirely on local horses to populate its race fields. By 2019, through concerted efforts, numbers had recovered to 420, and prospects looked good. Konstantinos Loukopoulos is racing manager at Horse Races S.A., the company which holds 20-year pari-mutuel betting rights and the right to organise races in the country. He explains: “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis hit us at the moment of our growth, as more than 170 new horses had come to Greece after our relaunch in 2019; and our newly introduced ratings-based handicapping system had started to work out well”.

“Our original schedule for 2020 was for 360 races (53% more than 2019). However, due to the period of closure, we will lose many races. In order to partly recover the loss, we will provide the option for up to 10 races per fixture, at least for the first month. Our goal is to give as many opportunities as possible to horses to get a run”.

Greece has mirrored the approach of many larger racing nations when determining where the axe of prize money cuts should fall. Those at the bottom end of the scale will escape, while the top races will see cuts of 13%-20%.

“Our races are open to all runners from abroad and we welcome any owner/trainer who wants to come and run in Greece. For our 2000 Guineas, Derby and Oaks there is a provision that the horses must be in Markopoulo 40 days prior to the race. For trainers that want to come for a specific period of time, we have in place incentives; and we can make, also, ad hoc facilitations, covering for example stabling costs.”

How does Loukopoulos view prospects for racing in his country? “We all are in uncharted waters and guessing is risky”, he answers. “I would say that one of the biggest issues that faces all racing industries—and especially the small ones—is the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19. Having said that, our major concern is the impact on the economy and the forecast for a recession of ~10%. Therefore, we may face a pause to the positive trend we created last year. On the other hand, I have to mention that Greek racing is now in better shape than in previous years”.

This is a view shared by Harry Charalambous, chair of the Greek Professional Trainers Association for Racehorses: “It’s been very hard for Greek racing. In 2019 we were shut for five months” (while disputes over administrative power were playing out), “and now we’re three and a half months closed with COVID. But things were going really well early this year, with 10 races and 80-100 runners per meeting, and I think we will get over it pretty quick”.

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch gallop racing sector is, on most measures, the smallest of our six countries. In common with several other European countries, it has but the one remaining racecourse, but what sets it apart is the fact that only 35 gallop races are staged at Duindigt in a normal year. The importance to trainers and owners of race opportunities abroad is as keenly felt in Holland as anywhere. 

The situation for its eight professional and 20 amateur trainers could have been described as somewhat precarious even before the ravages of COVID-19. Sad, therefore, that the degree of disruption caused by the virus has been greater here than in most countries. Racing was stopped on March 15th and, as of early June, there is still no clear indication of a resumption date, with local and national governments taking different views as to the risks involved.

Racing at Holland’s sole gallop track at Duindigt.

Camiel Mellegers, racing secretary of the Dutch racing authority Stichting Nederlandse Draf- en Rensport (SNDR), predicts half of this year’s planned races will be run in the remainder of the season (for, as a consequence, half of the prize money). “This is as far as we can tell at the moment. Rescheduling will be a discussion to be had after we have re-started racing and as a result that might change in a positive way”. …

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The differences between a healthy/unhealthy biome - gastrointestinal disease - disturbances of the gut bacteria

By Carol Hughes

Gastrointestinal diseases and upsets are common in thoroughbred racehorses, causing discomfort, loss of performance and even mortality. Every common gastrointestinal disease can be linked back to disturbances (dysbiosis) of the gut bacteria. Currently, new gene technology is driving research at an intense rate, providing new insights into the equine microbial community (1) and providing both trainer and the vet with a powerful and accurate analytical tool to improve health and manage disease.  

The gastrointestinal tract of the horse is colonized by trillions of microorganisms, which includes 1,000-1,500 different species, making up around 95% of the biome; the other 5% are made up of archaea, protozoa, fungi and viruses. Though most studies concentrate on identifying species of bacteria and linking to health and disease. Other members of the biome have equally important roles to play. In the racehorse, a major player is the Enterobacteria phage PhiX174, which is a bacterial virus that protects the horse against E-coli (2).

The microbial community has co-evolved with the host, performing essential and vital activities such as the extraction of energy and nutrients from foodstuff, synthesis of vitamins, interaction with the immune system and cross talk with the brain, which is thought to affect temperament and behaviour. Taxonomic and functional compositions of the gut microbiome are rapidly becoming viable indicators of horse health and disease.

Each member of the microbial community has a different but synergistic role, which is beneficial to the health of the horse; e.g., the fungi break down the indigestible parts of forage plants, such as the polysaccharides, whilst the ciliate protozoa contribute to the process by producing a wide range of enzymes that the horse is unable to make, impacting and benefitting the immune system. Microbial fermentation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin reduces the structural and non-structural plant wall material into carbohydrates, proteins (amino acids) and lipids, and produces volatile and short chain fatty acids (2a), which are the primary source of energy for the horse. The bacteria contribute the most to the degradation of ingested food, producing the final components of the fermentation process, which are acetic, propionic and butyric acid, methane and carbon dioxide.  

The gastrointestinal tract of the horse is sensitive to change, stress, environment and medication, which cause imbalances or dysbiosis (3). Establishing or profiling a healthy baseline in the horse is difficult as variations exist between individuals, breeds, diets and locations; the thoroughbred racehorse is a very different animal to the Shetland pony or an Irish Draught. Fitness training alters the microbiome further; for these reasons it is important to study the thoroughbred as a population separate from other breeds and to analyse, where possible, racehorses training in a similar environment and location.

With this in mind, since 2017 there has been an ongoing project to study and profile the microbial populations of over 1,000 racehorses based in Newmarket, throughout the racing season; and the data produced has been used to develop profiles of the differences between a healthy/unhealthy biome. The project utilizes the cutting-edge Illumina MiSeq technology, which is the most accurate and up-to-date, preferred by genomic researchers around the world. 

The Biome In Health

Elite racehorses have higher levels of a super-phylum bacteria 

Questions asked….

Elite racehorses are trained to achieve peak fitness, but is it possible that they can gain an extra edge from the input of the hind gut bacteria?  

How different is the microbiome of a Group 1 horse, and is it possible to identify the bacteria responsible for the extra edge? 

Answers found….

Human scientists have known for some time that the microbiome of an elite human athlete is different (4), with faster metabolic pathways (amino acids and carbohydrates) and higher levels of faecal metabolites (microbial-produced short-chain fatty acids) acetate, propionate and butyrate associated with enhanced muscle fitness. The human and elite equine athlete do share similar microbial profiles, having higher percentages of the bacteria that manufacture short-chain fatty acids and higher levels of the super-phylum verrucomicrobia; these increase as the season/training progresses. 

Image of the analysis of the microbiome of a Group 1 horse, compared to a non- group horse.

What is known about this super-phylum? 

It has two main members: Methylacidiphilaceae and Akkermansia

1. Verrucomicrobia Methylacidiphilaceae thrive and proliferate on the ammonia produced from the degradation of starch and protein (5), whereas starch produces very high levels of ammonia. The bacteria make enzymes (ammonia monooxygenase) (6), which convert ammonia into nitric oxide (7). The nitric oxide has three major benefits to a racehorse:
   
   

   1. Helps repair and renew the gut wall (8)

   2. Enhances performance and increases exercise tolerance (9)

   3. Improves vascular function and metabolism (10)
      
      
      

2. Verrucomicrobia Akkermansia is a mucus-eating specialist, living and thriving within the gut wall, digesting mucin from the mucosal lining (10a) with a unique ability to metabolise galactose and melibiose (11) for energy. Akkermansia in the human biome significantly increases the numbers of metabolic pathways. Horses with gastric ulcers have very low levels, perhaps indicating its function in both performance and disease.      

Comparing percentages of the super-phylum amongst other breeds/locations/environments gave good insight into how important and relevant verrucomicrobia is to the racehorse. 

Verrucomicrobia varied significantly from group to group; the lowest levels were found in the sedentary and/or companion animal group which was comprised of 250 horses (gently hacked or unridden companions). The Carneddau are an ancient herd of wild horses that graze freely in the mountains of Snowdonia, and the Pottokas are from Spain. The CCI-L group was made up of 10 horses eventing at International One Day Event Level.

The Non-Group horses were based in Newmarket and analysed at the height of the flat season in July, whilst the Group 1 horses started the season (Feb) with levels of 10%; these levels increased as the season continued until finally levelling out at 23% in July through to September when the testing finished. 

Fig 3: The microbiome of Group 1 horses indicating higher diversity and stability.

Fig 4: Image of thoroughbreds in training diagnosed with EGGD.

Why the horses diagnosed with Equine Glandular Gastric Disease had lower levels of verrucomicrobia is unknown at this time, horses with EGGD had a completely different profile to the healthy Group 1 horses. See Fig 3 and 4. …

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Radiofrequency therapy - used for reducing pain - managing inflammation - aiding tissue repair - reducing muscle spasm

By Helen Walsh, BSc, MCSP, HCPC

It’s the phone call guaranteed to chill any trainer’s blood in the days after a win: ‘A prohibited substance has been detected; your horse has been disqualified’. 

It’s a devastating blow. The reward for all the blood, sweat and tears leading up to a race win is snatched away to be replaced by questions, namely ‘how’ and ‘when’?

Any Currency ‘winning’ the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, 2016.

This nightmare scenario happened to trainer Martin Keighley back in 2016 at the Cheltenham Festival with Any Currency in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. After a brilliant win and much celebration, a test revealed traces of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA), a synthetic cortisone. It’s one that can legally be used in training for appropriate conditions, which it had been, but must not be present on race day. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) refuses to give advice regarding detection times for intra-articular injections as there isn’t enough data to determine an exact time; and there are lots of variants that could lengthen the duration it can be detected in the body.

Any Currency had been given the injection 42 days before competing. This is a substantial amount of time, and no one would have thought it would still be present in the horse’s system. Keighley was cleared of any wrongdoing, but the win—his first Festival victory—wasn’t reinstated. 

This experience made Keighley even more cautious about using medication; he swore that this situation would not happen again. He already had animal physiotherapists working on his yard, providing regular performance maintenance and rehabilitation for the horses. As much as possible, medication was being avoided. 

It was in September 2019 when one of his veterinary animal physiotherapists, Hannah Ashton, had arranged a lecture on electro-physical agents in tissue repair with the world-renowned Professor Tim Watson. During this lecture, research was presented on radiofrequency (RF). Far from it being just another electrotherapy fad, Prof Watson presented published lab work and clinical data using radiofrequency 448kHz as a direct current on the human body. 

Trainer Martin Keighley with Lord Condi.

Hannah discussed this with Martin Keighley and the yard’s vet; having always been a great advocate of equine welfare, Keighley was keen to see if this could help in the treatment of injured horses but also prevent injury in the first place. They began a trial with the technology for three weeks and were amazed by the results; the tech became part of the horse’s ongoing maintenance and for rehabilitation when indicated following injury. Looking back at their data, they have seen a dramatic reduction in medication and reduced vet call outs; the horse’s wellbeing has improved with this addition to an already exceptional care package.

He isn’t the only one embracing this technology, having been widely used by Premier League football clubs for several years and been spotted in the videos posted via social media by cyclist Chris Froome of Team Ineos, and in national press with pro tennis player Rafael Nadal. It is delivered in their recovery, pre-training and before competition as well as when any injury occurs. 

At this year’s Cheltenham Festival there were several successful horses who have received this treatment as part of their training and care plan in the lead-up to race day. Physiotherapist Polly Hutson mentioned her use of the technology in an interview with Radio 5 Live during day three of the Festival, right before two of the horses she treated finished second and first in the following races.

Hannah Ashton (Cotswold Horse & Hound Physiotherapy) treating one of Martin Keighley's 2020 season hopefuls.

So, what is radiofrequency in therapy?

It is an electromagnetic current operating at 448kHz that passes out of an active electrode and is in contact with the body; this current travels through the body to wherever the ‘return’ plate is located. The therapist can decrease the power so that nothing is felt, or increase it and the body will feel a warm sensation. It's relaxing when applied and is effective for reducing pain, managing inflammation, aiding tissue repair and reducing muscle spasm, to name a few.

Why is 448kHz important? 

The technology has been researched at a cellular level by a bioelectrical magnetic team at University Hospital Ramon y Cajal in Madrid for over 21 years. They have published studies that show it's completely safe on the body at a cellular level. They have also published work on proliferation of stem cells and in greater detail, proliferation of cartilage cells. Their work has also explored differentiation of stem cells into their final cell type and on the specificity of radiofrequency signal on cancer cell death. This team refined the RF to 448kHz. 

How does it work? 

It’s a long answer but in simple terms, applying a current of this type directly to the body can have different effects. …

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Thoroughbred Tales - focussing on the unsung heroes in the racing world - during the coronavirus shutdown - how racing fans kept connected

By Sally Ann Grassick

The recent lockdown period has been tough for people in every walk of life all around the globe; however in racing and breeding, it has largely been a case of “business as usual” as far as daily routines are concerned. Foals still have had to be born, mares have still needed to be covered and racehorses have still needed to be cared for and exercised; even if none of us have had any idea when they would actually see a racecourse again. 

In a bid to keep racing fans connected with what was going on behind the closed doors of training yards around Europe, ‘Thoroughbred Tales’ had some excellent guest hosts during the lockdown period from both the racing and breeding industry, including Elwick Stud, Salcey Forest Stud and Sophie Buckley of Culworth Grounds, Irish jockey Gary Halpin and our first ever equine host in the John Berry trained social media star Roy Rocket. Trainers from three different European countries also hosted during the period to show firstly how the daily care and training of the horses was continuing regardless during the initial lockdown but also, following on from that, how they were adapting as racing gradually resumed around Europe behind closed doors.  …

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TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter - David Cottin

The TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter award has been won by David Cottin. Cottin will receive £1,000 worth of TopSpec feed, supplements and additives as well as a consultation with one of their senior nutritionists.

“For me, Cheltenham is the temple of jumping and the most prestigious place to win a race, it’s a dream come true,” says David Cottin, talking about Easysland’s Cross Country Chase success, the first Cheltenham Festival win of his training career.

Cottin has only been training in Chantilly, and in the tranquil second base in Lion-d’Angers in the Loire Valley, since September 2017 and his first runner was also his first winner, Amour Du Puy Noir. A former three-time champion jockey in France, amassing 13 Group 1 wins and 732 wins, Cottin is the son of retired trainer Philippe Cottin. Having spent time in the UK with Andrew Balding, Paul Nicholls and Philip Hobbs, Cottin works alongside partner Amanda Zetterholm, former assistant to Mike de Kock. 

Calm and tranquillity are Cottin’s by-words. At Chantilly, a sand paddock and two large grazing paddocks are used for daily turnout, while he has also taken over his father’s stable in western France, a perfect setting for breaking-in, training and resting horses.

“I used to love Cheltenham even as a child,” Cottin says, “and I had the race in mind for Easysland since early autumn, when I started to get him back for the track. My father trained for 25 years and he always said Easysland would be a very special cross-country horse, even when he was being broken in. He has been prepared by racing, I’m very easy on my horses at home. I wanted him to progress for his races, so he was not fit for his first race of the season, but he is unbeaten.”

Formed by his father, a cross-country specialist, Cottin never schools his older horses in the morning, including Easysland. “With my young stock, we school a lot in the calm, with a lot of repetition to get the horses mechanised. Repetition, repetition, repetition, not speed,” he reveals. “My father’s stable in the Loire Valley is three hours away and my horses go out to the calm of the country for breaks. They are all broken and pre trained in the country and when they are ready to race they come to Chantilly for hard work.”

At Cheltenham, Cottin was expecting another good run from Easysland, who had won by seven lengths over the same course and distance in December. “He seemed really well at home, his coat had changed, he was in good form and it was a really big advantage to have come here in December and to know the track. The heavy ground was also in his favour. While he is only a six-year-old, with a cross-country horse you have to train them when they are young over those jumps. We have been very patient with him and that has paid off.

“I always dreamed of riding a winner here as a jockey and unfortunately it didn't happen, but I'm really pleased to be here now, and it's all down to the team at home who are very motivating. We have a lot of horses and a lot of staff. It was massive for them, they were all watching at home.”

Winning jockey Jonathan Plouganou says of Easysland, “He is the best cross-country horse. He has beaten Tiger Roll, a real champion, so to beat him was special and now Easysland is the champion. This race is really special, it was an honour to ride in it, but to win it is even more important, especially in the cross-country which is a discipline I love, it means everything.”

As well as Easysland, Cottin has several nice older horses, including Paul’s Saga, who will be aimed at the Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil, and Dalahast, who has the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris as an objective.

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Deauville's year round trainer - Stephane Wattel

By John Gilmore

For the past 28 years Stephane Wattel has been doing a job he loves—training racehorses just a stone's throw away from Deauville racecourse and infield training area. There are 15 trainers installed in the vicinity, and Wattel is firmly established as one of the leaders. Last year his 76 horses won 44 races and €1,365,550 total prize money, plus an additional €600,000 in French premiums. 

Wattel is still looking for his first Gp1 winner. Sacred Life (by Siyouni), his top two-year-old in 2017 was possibly denied this chance in the Criterium International at Saint Cloud 30 October, when a strike at Saint Cloud by racing staff after the first race caused the rest of the meeting to be abandoned. Last year on Arc day the Wattel-trained City Light (by Siyouni) was just beaten by One Master in the Prix de La Foret—the colt’s last race before going to stud at Haras D'Etreham. Sacred Path is now in training with Chad Brown in the states. Stephane Wattel only came into racing after his school days had ended. “I was brought up in Paris. I had no family background in racing, and my father was director of a press business,” says Wattel. “At 18 years old, after a year at University studying biology, I dropped out and decided to learn English, ending up on a stud farm in Kentucky. I had always wanted to do something in agriculture and my mother, knowing Tim Richardson, gave me the opportunity to work at Stavros Niarchos’ stud where Miesque was born. It was a wonderful experience.”

 Wattel stayed less than two seasons at Spring Oak Farm working as a lad, before returning to a similar job at the Niarchos’ Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Normandy Stud for a couple more seasons. But he discovered what he really wanted to do in racing after a season at Beach House Stud in Newmarket. 

 “This was the home of Ardross and Pharly, and I wanted to learn how a commercial breeder prepared yearling horses for the sales. For the first time I had the breathtaking opportunity of seeing horses training on the vast expanse of Newmarket Heath in the morning. It felt to me like the centre of racing, as I didn’t know anything about this side of the sport and had never even been to a race meeting before. On returning to France, after Newmarket, I wanted to learn more about the skills required to train horses."  

 Turning to the Richardson family once again, Wattel found a position with Nicolas Madamet, who trained horses for the Niarchos family in Deauville. Madamet was the first trainer from the mid-80s who realised it was possible to train horses in Deauville all the year round, rather than just during the annual monthly August racing period.

"Madamet received me for an interview where I lied to him, as I had never ridden a horse before. It wasn't easy at first, and I fell off about 30 times during the first week. Luckily, Madamet was at the sales in Newmarket, which gave me a few days to learn how to ride and the staff were a great help. When he came back, I didn't know whether he was short of staff or a kind man, as he should have sacked me. But instead he ended up passing on his lifetime experience of training racehorses, for which I will always be grateful. He added, “Jack Agoille travelling head lad at the time taught me how to saddle a horse. Yann Barberot was Madamet’s apprentice jockey and a couple of years later when I started out, he came to be my principal jockey, winning over 400 races; he is now my neighbour and a brilliant trainer. I have, fortunately, now an equally good stable jockey in Theo Bachelot.”

When Madamet left France to train in Oman in 1989, Wattel was on the move again. "Nicolas Madamet found me an assistant job with Alain de Royer Dupre in Chantilly, who he knew well. It gave me an insight into the classic world of racing with the Aga Khan's horses and final grounding to start out on my own as a trainer. It was impossible to contemplate training in Chantilly, as running costs were expensive and I didn't have any owners. So I began with just three horses in Deauville. At the end of my first year of training I had three winners. It wasn't easy at first and I took whatever horses I could get, but I knew the setup and had the good fortune of having a good team with many of  Madamet’s former work riders and stable staff coming to me, which made things easier." 

He added, "I always thought Deauville had a lot of potential and proved a nice challenging experience. Before there was no all-weather track in Deauville, and thanks to considerable investment by France Galop over the years, the training area inside the track has been modernised so that we now have three sand tracks—one for trotting and two for cantering …

 Concerning the possible closure of Maisons Laffitte, Wattel considers France Galop has to make some tough decisions—with state-run PMU betting revenue falling for the past few years.

 “Naturally, it will be a pity if Maisons Laffitte finally has to close, but France Galop needs to make some economies with falling revenue and give a sign to the French government to be seen making cost savings. The €140m spent refurbishing Longchamp should be viewed as a long-term project. If we hadn't modernised the racecourse to be used more efficiently for functions and concerts outside of racing, the future profitability of the track would have been in jeopardy.”

 Finding ways to encourage more people to go racing is a big challenge facing France Galop in trying to attract a new younger generation. Their family racecourse marketing approach with activities for children at Sunday meetings, during the past couple of years has seen increased attendances, likewise the Thursday evening  Spring/Summer meetings at ParisLongchamp with after race music for young office workers are proving popular.

Though Wattel considers it’s still a big hurdle to climb, as racing is not in the French culture compared to England; and the French prefer simpler forms of gambling.    

“The difficulty racing faces is both competition from the lottery, which has recently been privatised and young people preferring sports betting, in particular football, with many having no interest in racing at all. “The first Tiercé (now called Quinté) handicap race started in 1954, saw up to seven million people betting on it every Sunday; it now operates daily. It's the reason why there is more prize money in French racing, but the lottery numbers game image of the Quinté today (Find the first 3,4 or 5) has destroyed racing in France as a sport.” 

“He added, "There are now more girl jockeys, which is a good thing; and I am waiting for one to break through in the French Championship, or win a top Gp1 race. This would be a tremendous marketing tool for France Galop. They now have an allowance that’s encouraging more trainers in France to use female jockeys, and Alison Massin has won twice for me this season.”

Each season brings fresh challenges for racehorse trainer Stephane Wattel, and he is well aware of the importance in having a good backup stable team that he can rely on, to help obtain consistent results. Equally important is to maintain France’s attractive prize money system through finding new ways to increase betting revenue and attract greater public interest in racing as a sport. …

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