Friday, July 15, 2016
How often can a horse run?
According to most U. S. trainers, not very often. That's not apparent by word of mouth, but by deed. A horse wins a stakes race one day, and when asked if he or she is going to run in the next eligible event, say, in one month, the trainer says, "I don't know, it may be a little too soon. We'll have to wait and see." It has always boggled my mind to think that an eleven hundred pound animal needs more than a month to recover from a race that went in 1:10 or 1:16 or 1:24 or 1:35.
Of course, on the other side of the coin, the unpampered claimers seem to be a great deal stronger (and fitter, I assume) than their stakes and allowance counterparts. On Saturday - July 8 - at Gulfstream Park, for instance, there was one runner making her 13th start of 2016, four making their 12th start, four their 11th start, three their 10th start, 11 their ninth start, eight their eighth start, and 10 their seventh start. That's 41 horses who are averaging a minimum of one start per month, all the way up to 1.9.
The one at the top of the list was Roraima, a 3-year-old Afleet Express filly who had started just four times at two for Gamas Racing Stable without hitting the board and earning $1,260. This year, however, in 12 starts, she was 1-4-2 with earnings of $27,320, and, after finishing first, second or third in her last seven tries, she won again at odds of 5/2. She's now 2-4-2 in 17 starts and the $9,100 winner's check boosted her total to $37,680. That's an average of more than $2,200 per race. There are varying estimates pertaining to just how much it takes to keep a horse in training for a year, usually ranging from $25,000 to $30,000 due to the ever-spiraling costs of veterinarians, feed, farriers and vanning, but Roraima is more than doing her job for the stable.
In the ninth race, a $6,250 claimer, there were two interesting subjects. Rachel's Girl, an 8-year-old mare by First Samurai, was making her 100th career start, but just the third of this year due to a layoff from Oct. 12 to May 25. She went in with a record of 2-6-3 and earnings of $51,282,hardly enough to buy feed over the years and her seventh-place finish in start No. 100 did little to help. Owner David Ludwig must just like to tell people he is a horse owner.
Then there was Esken Lady, a 3-year-old daughter of Eskendereya who started 13 times at two (earning $24,478) and was making her 12th attempt in 2016. This year, she was 2-0-1 with earnings of $30,050, so she's holding her own, too.
Another scrapper worth mentioning is Jill's Reflection, a 5-year-old mare by Two Step Salsa bred by the Rose Family Stable but long gone from Florida and Barry Rose's barn. After finishing second at Charles Town and Delaware Park, Jill's Reflection won at Charles Town Friday, going wire-to-wire under Kevin Gomez and scoring by five widening lengths. In for a mere $4,500, she's 3-11-8 in 65 career starts and has collected $90,500 for her various owners, $13,890 of it this year in 10 starts.
I would love to see one brave owner/trainer buck the trend and start a good horse 14 or 15 times a year just to see what happens. It could change the game, especially with short fields becoming more and more of a problem at too many tracks.
comments powered by