Horse Workouts

I have this gelding when I work the jockey keeps telling me the horse refuses to run at all. I have given him rest then raced him and he ran dead last the entire race. Is there anything I can do to help get this horse running?

When was the last time he was home for some R & R? Natural energy may be low!

Hes been home for awhile now, i just recently put him in a race yesterday. so he has been home on rest. Thats what I can’t figure out…

Who are you referring to? 

Minute to Midnight

First of all, it would be in your BEST interest to scratch him from his race on the 13th (last race is on the 9th), unless you want to end up with an injured horse.  If you don’t, best case scenario is you don’t end up with a broken leg, which is at least a 9 month lay up.  Another thing, Minutes to Midnight has not been home at all since he left FF’s care (claimed 4/16.  FF horses poof from place to place, meaning no shipping history, and they also don’t lose NE because the script doesn’t know to ship them home).  How do I know he hasn’t been home at all?  Check the shipping history:

Date  From  To  Miles  Cost  Arrive
2012-05-10 Aqueduct Woodbine 409 $2,000 2012-05-11
Totals 1 Trip 1 Day 409mi. $2,000

That is why the Jock is telling you this horse doesn’t want to run.  He hasn’t been home to rest and recharge since April 16th.  I would HIGHLY recommend that you scratch him from his race and ship him home for at least 1 month.  I’ve been shipping my horses home every 2-3 months, because a) I try to race close to my home barn, b) I can afford it,  and c) I feel like they run much better after a bit of a layoff.  I completely understand if you can’t afford to ship a horse home on a regular basis, but you should try to do it at least a couple times a year.  The more you race and/or train a horse, the faster their NE drops.  So, if Minutes has been worked out every day, he’ll have less NE than if he just hung out on the track chilling between races.  This means, you’ll have to ship him home sooner.  Jock comments on NE tend to be pretty spot on, and you should listen to them.  Negative NE figures can shorten a horse’s “peak” time on the track, or even shorten their lives.  IMO, Minutes could probably do okay for another month or so, but he may not run as well as he’s capable of running.  If you don’t want to send him home yet, I would play around with equipment. I don’t think the right combination has been found yet.

Your other gelding, Highland Hero, should be good as far as NE is concerned.  He’s coming off of a month long lay-off, so hopefully he’ll run better for you.

I hope this helps.

I just recently won a filly at auction Tiz Famous. And she has not raced since march but both her energy and fitness are really low. I would like to enter her in a race sometime in november. She is currently at my barn resting how long should it take to get her energy up?

I’d like to think three weeks. That’s what I gave Leave A Note after completely #@%!ing up his schedule by rushing him from Del Mar to Belmont (such an AWFUL move; I’m still kicking myself), and he’s been a very happy horse-in-training since I shipped him to Belmont.

Has Tiz Famous ever shipped home since March, or has she been idle at the track?

Shes at my ranch right now resting. Shes the best horse i have right now and i want to make sure shes in top form.

The problem is i got her with an F in bothe energy and fitness so i am really not sure how to work with her.

Give her time to rest (ideally at your Barn) until she recovers.  Check to see that she has no scheduled workouts.  Do not train her with F energy.  She will get injured.  Check her workout history.  She may not have raced recently, but she could’ve been doing workouts to get that way.

I Tiz famous is currently at my barn i found the perfect race for her the 19th of November so i plan on resting
her until two weeks before the race. Even then I might just work her once. I don’t know if this is a good plan.

Yeah rest rest rest is the answer i found. i really only try to race close to home and then ship them back after every race and give them 2-3 weeks off. i had a similar issue with my stallion Native Justice. He was doing great in workouts, but was not running at all in any of his races. I gave him a month off and her recently just won his last allowance race, and held a steady first the whole time. it may seem like a pain but really works. i would also advise to try to go over seas as little as possible, that really drains them.