Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: A ‘Good’ Race Record, Part I
Owning an OTTB is great because of the amount of information you can get about them immediately. But doing so also begs the question: what constitutes a “good” race record?
Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on what constitutes a good race record for an off-track Thoroughbred.
The great thing about Thoroughbreds (well besides all the myriad things that I love) is that with a few keystrokes, you can take a look at their past. Being able to jump on Equibase.com is fabulous. You simply tap in the horse name and can review their race history, official auction sales, pedigree, videos and how and when they changed hands, as well as some notes on how they ran.
This is useful on my end for a couple reasons. The first is probably the most obvious: when I’m buying horses straight from the track and want to get a sense of their athleticism, soundness, and experience. The second is when I’m trying to backtrack and make things make sense or simply get a sense of who the horse in front of me is and or was.
Best shot I have so far of Rebel Warrior (2021). Photo courtesy of Cecil Clugston.
Here’s an example of one way (of a few ways) that I buy horses:
A student who rode with me years ago texts me, “Hey, looks like NY is great. Do you want another nice TB? I have a racing connection who is selling his horse and he seems like your type.” She forwards photos. I can’t see much in them — they’re shot in the race paddock, so the gelding is in tack and in motion. I can tell that he’s bay and yep, a Thoroughbred. That’s about it.
She offers to have his owner call me. I’m always happy to take the time to talk to race folks as even if this horse doesn’t work out, there are often others in their string who might be worthwhile. So, the owner and I chat. He clearly cares about his horse — wants to retire him before he keeps losing more — cares about his second career, and so on. I trust my gut in these conversations, as pretty much everyone is going to say similarly. You’ll get the “they’re a good boy on the track, easy to handle, can be a bit forward but they’re a TB at a race, and very, very sound.” He sends me a recent video and I check for general soundness and conformation.
If my gut doesn’t say “run for the hills,” I go to Equibase and check the race record (hell, to be fair, I did that before getting on the phone). This particular horse who ships to me today (I’m really excited about this one) has a steady and consistent record of 11 races and $19,000 in prize money, one win but mostly he would cross the wire in around 4th place. I like this race record. Below is what it tells me:
Rebel Warrior’s race results record on equibase.com.
He started as a two year old and ran three races, showing promise. The races were about three weeks apart, which is a usual, responsible spread for a committed race season. He then had the winter off when Presque Isle Downs shut for the season. He began his three-year-old year in the preseason in Charles Town, won somewhere in the mix, and then continued to gain experience between the nearby tracks, following the trainer.
He never really got fast (top speed figure of 64) and he never really crashed out too slow (lowest speed figure of 31, but remaining pretty consistent in the 50-60 range). The breaks in his record correspond to tracks opening and closing and on that timeline, don’t appear to be healing injuries. He just doesn’t seem quick enough to hold his own and be worth staying in the game. I should note that he was owned by the same person for his whole career, but did change trainers early in his career and stayed with that one until he retired. Overall, as I can see it here, there is nothing particularly remarkable in his record. And that’s what I like.
The race chart for Rebel Warrior’s third race, noting how he did, who owned him, his trainer, and any further jottings on his performance as well as providing information on the track conditions and the race. To access race charts, go to your horse’s page in Equibase, look at results, and click the images of a file / chart to see this type of pdf. Courtesy of equibase.com
So when this horse — Rebel Warrior — shows up today, here’s what I expect: He’ll be track tight. He just ran. He’s three, so he’ll be likely butt-high and rangey as he’s a big horse, but there’s going to be a nice creature in there. And with any luck, his race record, and the conversations I have had with both owner and trainer will bear out and it will not only be a nice, tall, impressive horse, but also one who is willing and sound.
So in line with hunting down info on my new horse, I’ll address a question I am often asked when delving into race records: “How many races is a good number of races?” And I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know that answer. Rather, different race number brackets come with different questions.
*I started writing the following and realized just how much there was to say, so you all get the first half of it this week and I’ll finish it up with the well-run and warhorses next week.
Wolf (Louisiana Moon) ran 63 races and retired sound in 2023. We’ll get to his “Warhorse” bracket of racing next week.
Zero Races
Why not?
I wrote an article a year or so ago about being wary of horses who are unraced. In the land of demanding ISOs who want Champagne on a domestic non-craft beer budget, an unraced Thoroughbred (bred for racing) still seems to be desirable. I understand the logic — the legs have not taken the beating or strain that a race career puts on them. Ok, fine. But keeping logic in mind, when a racehorse owner spends thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) for a stud fee, tens of thousands to get a foal born, healthy, and into training, there has to be a reason to forfeit a return on that investment.
Even if only looking at the financials, to not race is to take a huge loss. There has to be a good reason for keeping that horse off the track. Sometimes it is apparent, like Aspenfiveoneseven’s clubby right front and irregular left hind hock-to-tarsus orientation. Sometimes it is a proclivity — Madigan Cat’s impressive bucking ability when he didn’t want to do something (AKA go towards the race gate). Sometimes, I have no idea and no one can really provide the information, as in the case of Needles Highway.
Still no clear explanation for this one (Needles Highway) not racing, but hey, I’ll take the fact that there’s no good reason and keep bringing him along. Photo by the Kivu Team.
Sure, horses do fall through the gaps. Owners die or run out of money to get them trained (that’s a very common explanation behind not racing, but it’s one that always comes with a little bit of a red flag of “is that really the main reason???” for me). But usually, someone will see to it that that horse makes it to at least a few races to see if they can indeed run. So if there’s no running, I want to know why and go from there.
One Race
Why only one? Why didn’t the horse get a second chance to prove themselves?
For this one, I proceed with caution. I am probably going to want to watch the race video and read the race card. I’m also going to hope that the horse was just woefully slow, or did something silly like not want to leave the start gate. A competitive horse who only runs one time makes me wonder about injuries — particularly soft tissue ones. Did the horse put in any published works after that single race? How long was the gap between that race and any other works on their record?
Juice (Pulpituity) and Forrest (Don’t Noc It) (and a much younger Walker dog) at Poplar back in 2019. Photo by Kassie Colson.
Juice (Pulpituity) is my proverbial one-race heartbreak. I wrote a long three-part series about his suspensory injuries when I retired him back to his breeder. However, while one horse with poor outcomes does not mean all one-race horses are unsound, I’ll be honest to note that I proceed with caution and tend to ask for quite a bit more info before diving in.
Two – Five Races
“Were they not fast?” “Were they not sound enough?” or “Did they not want to do the job?”
In this bracket, I’m asking about both their mental and physical suitability for racing. Sometimes, they just don’t want to run, and that’s what I hope for here — they are either too slow, or they didn’t like the work or the racing situations. What I like about this number of races is that the horses had a chance to train up, try again and show whether or not they had aptitude. When they come off the track in this bracket, the answer about aptitude is usually “no” — but of course I want to know why.
Rhodie (Western Ridge) failed to show commitment to racing at the track in his five starts, but he’s come out of the start box far more times that that with a keenness that keeps me keeping him in the game. Photo by the Kivu Team.
Rhodie (Western Ridge) had the five-race chance and failed to improve with each race. They let him try enough to realize his heart wasn’t in it. Post track, Rhodie is a hell of an eventer, but the warmup arena reminds me why he struggles to run his own race — he is waaaaaay too distracted by everyone else.
Forrest (Don’t Noc It) also retired from racing in this bracket. He wasn’t fast and he was terrifically obnoxious and bullish on the track. Folks associated with him at the time noted that he “just wasn’t happy on the track.” As I found out after training him up in his second career, Forrest also has an old stifle issue. Could the sore stifle have contributed to his poor racing? Probably. But I only can put those things together due to the fact that I got him right after he finished racing have owned him and had him in training for seven years, thus allowing me to connect more dots than usual.
This handsome beast with the best noggin (Cove – Always Spring) ran in this bracket and came off for simply being too slow and I’d wager a bit too big to know where his legs are… at almost 17h he has a lot of filling out to do. Photo by Sarah Hepler.
Rebel Warrior had eleven races. He’s in the next start bracket of horses (5-15), which carries its own set of questions. The fun part of splitting this up into two parts is that I can run through all I am thinking before he shows up today. Next week, I’ll have more information and I can see if it bears out.
So go ride folks, and when it’s rainy or too hot, take a minute and check out your horse’s records just to see where they fell in the land of racing and retiring.
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