RACING Q & A

Question: “How much can a trainer actually teach a horse? Is it the horse’s ability that is the most important factor in his success or is it his training?”

Answer: “The act of running is an inborn characteristic of the thoroughbred,” Elliot Burch, retired Hall of Fame trainer, said during his recent visit to Saratoga. “It is the native ability of the racehorse that is the key factor in any success he may enjoy. A trainer can ruin a good horse, but he can’t make a good horse out of one who doesn’t have real ability. On the other hand, a trainer can help a horse realize his full potential. One must have an apt pupil if he is to learn. Some horses are dumb and slow to learn. Others are smart and can almost anticipate what you are trying to get across. Gate training may be the most difficult teaching procedure because breaking from a gate is not a natural activity for a horse. One of the keys to effective instruction is understanding on the part of the trainer. Some horses respond most readily to kindness. Others want a firmer hand. If a trainer is able to appreciate the subtle differences, he makes his job a lot easier.”

Q: “For a race at seven furlongs, is it wiser to back a horse who has been successful at six furlongs or one who has done well at a mile and a sixteenth?”

A: “I prefer the horse who has done well at six furlongs,” says veteran trainer Larry Jennings, who saddled Sweet Blow Pop to win the recent Yaddo Stakes under Julie Krone. “Many horses who do well at six furlongs can get the extra furlong. The horses who do well at a mile and a sixteenth are accustomed to running a different kind of race. They often want a slower early pace, and many want to go around two turns, a requirement for a mile and a sixteenth race over an eight-furlong track that is the norm throughout the country. They may not want to be hurried as they would be in a seven-furlong race out of a chute with a good run to the first turn.”

Q: “How much difference is there between a six-furlong workout in 1:11 and a race run in 1:11 for six furlongs?”

A: “Most horses run faster than they work, because of their competitive nature,” says horseman Woody Stephens. “Therefore, when a horse works six furlongs in 1:11, you can generally look for a lively race from him the next time he runs. This is particularly true when the horse works without company. You can simulate competition in the morning with a workhorse. If a horse doesn’t need such help and can do it by himself, he is usually a runner and you can expect a good race from him, because his work shows he is at tops.”

Q: “We recently purchased a broodmare. What is the best time of year for her to be bred?”

A: “May is the ideal month,” says Warner L. Jones Jr., master of Hermitage Farm in Goshen, Ky.,and for many years one of America’s leading commercial breeders. “All the forces of nature are perfect at that time. Unfortunately, we cannot breed all the mares in the country during May because there just isn’t sufficient time. What breeders try to do is to start early in the year, breeding the previously barren mares, so that if they do not catch, we can breed them again. Then we take the other mares, as they come into season, and as the stallions are available.”