Using anecdotal evidence, many racehorse trainers will tell you that bigger horses might tend to be less sound horses but they tend to be better horses. While this may be a function of the worldwide phenomenon of compression of weights by handicappers, we had noticed that one of the variables that our model uses in determining racetrack potential is the estimated body weight of the horse, or more specifically, the standard score generated by the estimated body weight when com

The debate over the use of race-day medication, in particular the use of Lasix in North America has been heating up over the past year or so being fueled by the Jockey Club and WHOA on one side and the Horsemens/Trainer/Veterinary groups on the other. Lines have been drawn on the argument and battle cries/talking points well rehearsed with most of it rather emotive and little being based on the science of EIPH at all. The scientific community has published pretty extensively

In recent months Brandon Velie, a PhD student at Sydney University has published three very interesting population studies on horses in Australia and Hong Kong in the Equine Veterinary Journal. Profiling the careers of Thoroughbred horses racing in Hong Kong between 2000 and 2010 The association of age at first start with career length in the Australian Thoroughbred racehorse population Profiling the careers of Thoroughbred horses racing in Australia between 2000 and 2010 Bra

Fat-Free mass is one of the tests in our Sales Select test that we use to identify elite thoroughbred talent. Basically our findings have been that elite horses, even as yearlings, tend to be leaner, with less fat and more fat-free mass (it is also a great scale for cardiovascular dimensions). Its fairly easy to do once you know how, just an ultrasound over the rump to measure the depth of the muscle. A paper this month appeared in the Equine Veterinary Journal with similar f

A death spiral is potentially awaiting us. Internationally, there has been a decline in the annual thoroughbred crop with thoroughbred numbers dropping from a high in the mid 1990's towards levels in some areas that have not been recorded since the 1950's. In years to come, there will be significantly smaller foal crops, and without rationalization of racetrack numbers in a meaningful way, racetracks will be putting on races with smaller field sizes which equals lesser bettin

While they do not mention performance, a paper has appeared in this months Equine Veterinary Journal (click here to read it online) outlining the benefits and challenges for genomics in improving the thoroughbred. It is a very well written article and one that we thoroughly recommend that all breeders interested in genomics to improve their results read. #EVJ #Thoroughbred