A Month In The Life Of A 2008 Derby Horse
A 30 day exercise schematic for a typical 2008 Derby horse went something like this:
Race Off Off Off Off Off Trot G G G Off G GG 5f(1:02) Off Off Trot G G G 4f (:49) Off Off Trot G G G G 5f(1:02)
In 30 days that's:
4 breeze/race
13 gallops of 1.5 miles in :19s:
3 Trots
10 off days
The horse sees the track 20 times a month. Preston Burch's horses saw the track 13-15 times a month as a comparison.
I post this program merely to take note of it. It falls right in the middle of the 2008 Derby training Bell Curve. Some trainers did more, some less. The Derby top finishers all did more in some aspect of the program. Those that did less primarily finished up the track.
Will finishing up the track change the training of any of the trainers who did less than average? Might be interesting to watch as we go. Trainers tend to respond to competition. E.g. Curlin did 7f this morning. What's up with that from Steve Asmussen who generally breezes 4-6f and breezed Pyro primarily 4f? Asmussen said he wanted to get Curlin in condition for the 1 1/8 mile Steven Foster. Did Asmussed learn from Pyro? We'll leave open the possibility.
How to evaluate this average program for performance and injury prevention:
Performance: Needless to say while these horses commendably see the track there are numerous aspects of this program which are poorly conceived in terms of performance. For those of us that believe we can actually move up an athlete through training we might take note that we can breeze a horse more frequently, longer and faster. I'm unsure all the slow galloping does a whole lot in terms of race fitness. Galloping in :18s beats training 'em on the walker, yet the time and effort might be more intelligently spent in getting our horse to carry speed for distance.
Injury prevention: I've noted on the blog that horses for minimum race ready fracture resistance need to go in :12.5s (minimally--are the Japs paying attention) for a 4f distance. I've yet to post conclusions with respect to frequency but will give an advance hint that once every 7 days probably does it. The average trainers complied with this and primarily both made it to the Derby and survived the Derby, which is a significant improvement over most of the past 20 years. The less rigorous trainers trended to injure their horses as always.
Training:
Mon 6/2/08: RR returning from a late eye exam was unexpectedly blind and disoriented (eye drops). Training cancelled thus, but, I'd planned to back of Rod the 2 yr old a few days. He's suddenly popped up from 15' 2 3/4 to 15' 3 1/4" . I learned last year they can shrink again. We want that popped up cartilage to calcify, so back off the horse a bit. And Art has more time to heal his lacerated bulb. Weather permitting Art will be at it tonight.
Race Off Off Off Off Off Trot G G G Off G GG 5f(1:02) Off Off Trot G G G 4f (:49) Off Off Trot G G G G 5f(1:02)
In 30 days that's:
4 breeze/race
13 gallops of 1.5 miles in :19s:
3 Trots
10 off days
The horse sees the track 20 times a month. Preston Burch's horses saw the track 13-15 times a month as a comparison.
I post this program merely to take note of it. It falls right in the middle of the 2008 Derby training Bell Curve. Some trainers did more, some less. The Derby top finishers all did more in some aspect of the program. Those that did less primarily finished up the track.
Will finishing up the track change the training of any of the trainers who did less than average? Might be interesting to watch as we go. Trainers tend to respond to competition. E.g. Curlin did 7f this morning. What's up with that from Steve Asmussen who generally breezes 4-6f and breezed Pyro primarily 4f? Asmussen said he wanted to get Curlin in condition for the 1 1/8 mile Steven Foster. Did Asmussed learn from Pyro? We'll leave open the possibility.
How to evaluate this average program for performance and injury prevention:
Performance: Needless to say while these horses commendably see the track there are numerous aspects of this program which are poorly conceived in terms of performance. For those of us that believe we can actually move up an athlete through training we might take note that we can breeze a horse more frequently, longer and faster. I'm unsure all the slow galloping does a whole lot in terms of race fitness. Galloping in :18s beats training 'em on the walker, yet the time and effort might be more intelligently spent in getting our horse to carry speed for distance.
Injury prevention: I've noted on the blog that horses for minimum race ready fracture resistance need to go in :12.5s (minimally--are the Japs paying attention) for a 4f distance. I've yet to post conclusions with respect to frequency but will give an advance hint that once every 7 days probably does it. The average trainers complied with this and primarily both made it to the Derby and survived the Derby, which is a significant improvement over most of the past 20 years. The less rigorous trainers trended to injure their horses as always.
Training:
Mon 6/2/08: RR returning from a late eye exam was unexpectedly blind and disoriented (eye drops). Training cancelled thus, but, I'd planned to back of Rod the 2 yr old a few days. He's suddenly popped up from 15' 2 3/4 to 15' 3 1/4" . I learned last year they can shrink again. We want that popped up cartilage to calcify, so back off the horse a bit. And Art has more time to heal his lacerated bulb. Weather permitting Art will be at it tonight.
posted by rather rapid at
11:55 AM
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2 Comments:
'Surviving the Derby' shouldn't be our measure of if a once per week breeze is sufficient.
My guess is that 50% of these horses will be injured to some extent over the next few years.
Don't know how easy it would be to track, from say... Derby 2006 (Where are they now?)
Bill--hello!. Ya, you could track them on equibase if you want to put out the cash. i've put out a little tracking cash on occasion just out of curiosity. things generally turned out as you'd expect from the training. I'd guess very few of the Derby horses will keep up a program even as gentle as the present Derby training. BUT, we did get very few injured this year. It will be interesting what they do later in the year!
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