Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnerships and Crocker Racing Stable

'Averageness' key to great racehorses

2008-02-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

BBC NEWS

'Averageness' key to great racehorses

By Helen Briggs

BBC News science reporter

Science is cracking some of the secrets of equine success.

The 18th Century horse Eclipse was a legendary figure in horse racing, contributing to the bloodlines of 80% of modern thoroughbreds.
Yet, despite his unbeaten record, Eclipse, the "father of modern racehorses" was perfectly average in the leg department.
That is the verdict of scientists at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), who have reconstructed one of the horse's legs to look at what made him a winner.
It appears that Eclipse's body shape and movement were in the middle of the normal range, giving him the perfect conformation for running.
"To be average is good from the point of view of a racehorse," Dr Alan Wilson of the RVC told the BBC News website.
"From the point of view of his bones, he's right in the middle of what would prove typical for a racehorse."

Winning recipe
Eclipse was born in 1764, the year of a solar eclipse. He easily outclassed other racehorses, winning 18 races before being retired to stud, chiefly because nobody wanted to pit their horses against him.
He sired three Derby winners and found his way into the bloodlines of a great many modern thoroughbreds.
The horse was dissected after his death and his skeleton has been on show for many years at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket.
Dr Wilson and graduate student Renate Weller used the skeleton to try to work out the secret of his success.
Using portraits of Eclipse and contemporary accounts of the horse running, they reconstructed one of his legs and compared it with the shape and structure of modern horses.
They then analysed his skeleton and developed computer models of horse movement.
They found that Eclipse was perfectly average when it came to the shape and morphology of his leg bones.
It appears that hundreds of years of modern breeding have hardly changed the "recipe" for a winning racehorse.

Portrait legacy
Dr Wilson said it was fascinating to use old skeletons as a reservoir of information to see how perceptions have changed over the years for how people think a racehorse should look.
"If you look at a Stubbs painting, it doesn't look much like a modern racehorse," he said. "But it's our perception that's changed and not the horses."
Old paintings might not provide an accurate record, he said, because they were painted to impress the owner and probably exaggerated certain features of the horse.
So, if Eclipse's bone structure was not exceptional, what made him the winner he was?
His large heart and powerful lungs - seen at dissection - would have played a role. Another attribute that gave certain horses an edge over the opposition was their "spirit" or "will to win", said Dr Wilson.
Further answers may lie with planned DNA studies of Eclipse. Scientists hope to extract DNA from the animal's bones, hooves and teeth to look at his genetic recipe.
Until then, racing enthusiasts may have to rely on the old skills of weighing up a horse's form and fitness.
But this latest study does show, perhaps, that there is an element of truth to the old adage that some punters can pick a winner simply by looking at a horse.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4815378.stm

Published: 2006/03/17 09:58:35

GMT© BBC MMVIII

Kentucky Colonel Christopher Crocker

2008-02-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that in 2007, Christopher Crocker has been commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by the Great State of Kentucky and Governor Ernie Fletcher. Congratulations Colonel Christopher Crocker! Christopher is the Trainer of Crocker Racing Stable.

Crocker is also known for developing the only comprehensive thoroughbred horse racing partnership that focuses on maximizing profits and minimizing risk. The program implements strategy and cost effective racing practices with no monthly training and maintenance fees. Nowhere else will you find a client friendly program that requires a minimal investment so that everyone has the opportunity to own race horses. Nowhere will you know exactly what you have invested in. All other programs hide cost and generate huge profits by requiring ridiculous maintenance fees or large upfront resales of cheep horses, for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the unsuspecting buyers. Crocker Racing Stable has the only partnership program that will refund, yes that's right, refund money not spent. With Crocker Racing Stable's Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnership, you will known exactly where every dime of your investment goes.

Learn how you can get in on this unique program with little investment. No other program offers such a low risk, honest program to the public. We challenge you to find one.

- Crocker Racing Stable Inc. and Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnerships.

Basic Training Principals of Thoroughbred Sprints and Routes.

2007-04-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sprinting and distances of 6 furlongs or more, require completely different training methods. A sprinter relies less on oxygen, where as a distance horse relies greatly on oxygen. You must understand how basic physiology and biochemistry work in race horses. I'll explain topics such as ADP, ATP resynthesis, anaerobic metabolism and aerobic metabolism in further detail in future articles.

With young horses, six furlongs can be considered a distance whereas the 1/2 mile to 4 1/2 furlong races would be a sprint. An older horse should be able to sprint 5 furlongs without tiring. Depending on the class of the horse, 5 1/2 furlongs may just be what does him in if he has run at his top speed. Top speed typically can only be maintained for 3-4 furlongs. You must find your horse's optimum cruising speed to fight high lactate levels, which results in muscular fatigue.

In a distance race where class is a big factor and a good, smart rider is a must, the horse most likely will never run at his maximum speed potential, and if he does, he is sure to tire before 5 furlongs. Gradually increase your young horse's race distances until you can evaluate his 6 furlong racing performance. I like to use this distance as an indication of potential and future performance. If he finishes strong on a fast pace, consider his stamina and stride efficiency and stretch him out longer distances in upcoming races. Of course you may find that 6f is his optimum performing distance.

Slow and steady wins the race in a 7 or more furlong race. A horse that needs to run up front must make sure he has the field slowed down to his pace in hopes that at the top of the stretch, the others just couldn't keep up or that your pace setter has a move left for the final stretch run. Much energy is wasted in a horse that fights the jockey and runs too fast, too early.

You may notice a lot of horses with respiratory problems end up sprinting great early in their race and hitting a wall around a half mile. Horses do not need oxygen to sprint top speed, but they do need O2 to maintain sub maximal speed. The distance at this point he can run without requiring oxygen during the race depends on his conformation and genetics.

A distance horse is trained aerobically to optimize the maximum oxygen uptake rate for an effective cruising speed. When aerobic resources are depleted, anaerobic metabolism takes over to fuel the oxygen depleted muscles. As humans need to learn breathing properly when swimming, running, or biking, horses must efficiently breath as well for distances. A well trained, calm horse will run effortlessly and without anxiety. This is a huge factor in pacing a race and finishing strong at the wire. Some horses will run 70% pace and 30% max, 80%/20% or some may even run 50%/50%. This depends on the distance and class of the race and a range of other factors.

Muscle type is a factor as well. You have three types of muscle tissue in a race horse. Fast Twitch Type 1, Fast Twitch Type 2 and Slow Twitch muscles make up your equine athlete. FT1 uses oxygen very fast and does not respond well to high lactate levels. FT2 is the most efficient fast twitch muscle and can sustain speeds longer because of better lactate buffering properties. Slow twitch muscle tissue uses oxygen most efficiently and readily uses glucose from resynthesized lactate from it's own liver as a sustaining fuel source. Train your horse's muscles specifically to the distances they are running. The shorter the race distances, the more you work on 3f sprints to maximize the fast twitch muscles. You should sprint your horse more than once a week at 3f or less. The longer the race, the more 2 minute miles and cardiovascular fitness should be practiced. Weekly workouts of 5 furlongs are usually best mixed with long slow gallops and lots of jogging. Older, running and fit horses do not need to work on a weekly basis once they are finishing well in their class. Distance horses of a mile or more, do not need to focus on running high speed sprints because at this point, FT1 muscle tissues do not play a role and tuning this muscle fiber may be counter productive. You will not see a 1 1/4 mile horse win if he has run at his top speed in any point of the race. Bullet speed in the morning only proves efficiency of stride, great confirmation and breeding. Your job with this horse is to tap into this talent by focusing on endurance at sub maximal speeds to create a long lasting healthy career in route races.

After finding your horse's own style, limitations and class of competition, you need to train accordingly. All horses need to be trained as individual athletes and should not be stress by making them do more than they are physically capable of. The principles I have discussed are a general guideline and should be further studied to ensure effectiveness and safety in your training regiment. By no means this is the rule for every horse, but this basic knowledge can be applied to all classes of horses. You must tailor a program for each individual horse.

- Christopher Crocker

Learn more about Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnerships
http://CrockerRacingStable.com/horse_racing_partnerships.htm

Go Cali!

2007-04-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Once again, I feel I must express my thoughts regarding drug test in the sport of Thoroughbred Horse Racing.

I am all for California race tracks to start drug testing in the barns during training hours. This will certainly bring the playing field closer to even. This means that random drug testing can be administered to see if a trainer is using performance enhancing drugs to train his horses. The benefit of training these horses on medication, allows them work harder, longer, faster, in the morning and will condition the horse faster and stronger so when it is time to race, he has an advantage whether using these drugs on race day or not.

The argument against this practice is that... "What if a horse is in need of antibiotics or has a sprain, disease, or other health disorder that needs legitimate treatment?" Navicular disease, where isoxsuprine (a common treatment) is used to treat the horses, is a valid use. The use of isoxsuprine for performance enhancement is common and we know that the number of horses that are on it do not have navicular disease.

All this said, I hope a system can be implemented for random substance testing in the morning. I will be more than happy to help create this program. I feel if the vets are on board and the administration of drugs are logged and reported to the racing commission, then that would be a great start. The D.V.M. should have to write an actual prescription as the M.D. does for us human kind. This would make the veterinarian responsible for the health of the animal and his own reputation. Trainers are not allowed to have needles in the barn and have to pay serious consequences if they are caught. This rule needs to be enforced more often and barn checks with stiff penalties will help stop this practice.

Thoroughbred horse racing is the only professional sport that allows anabolic steroids. Just an observation. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Lets be kinder to our horse athletes and let them run how they were intended by nature. Maybe the real trainers will shine through. After all, one horse must win.

Chris

Barbaro loses the battle.

2007-02-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Barbaro loses the battle for life. Barbaro was euthenized in January of 2007 after an eight month long battle to survive the complication related to his shattered ankle. We will never know if he was truly the best three year old of 2006. What we do know is that he will be one of the most remembered horses of this decade. Not necessarily because he was a Kentucky Derby winner, but also because of the public, tragic end of a champion thoroughbred race horse. He will be remembered in the history books as the Kentucky Derby winner of 2006, that is for sure. After all, "The Derby" is the most prestigious, sought out race in the United States.

Does this hurt the sport of horse racing, does it help or does it change anything? Well that depends on who you talk to and everyone has there own perspective. My thoughts as a thoroughbred trainer, nothing has changed. In my profession, Barbaro touch our hearts. We all want a Barbaro in our barn. If a trainer in this business is not in awe of such a great athletic display by this horse, then he doesn't love the sport. You have to respect the horses power and show of class, whether you trained him or not. Sure, the best horse does not always win the Kentucky Derby, but he was the best that day and that's what counts. But we see racing everyday and horses break down on occasion. Unfortunately it is part of the sport, as injuries occur in human sports as well. It hurts to see an animal end his career whether a stakes winner or a cheap claimer.

As for the average spectator, who is far removed from the backside of the race track, opinions may differ. Some will say horse racing is cruel, period. Some say it was inhumane to keep the horse alive to suffer for eight months for a chance at a breeding syndication. Some will just understand that it was a just an unfortunate tragedy. As far as cruel goes, these equine athletes are of the best taken care of of any pet or sport animal. They are groomed daily and kept under a blanket when necessary. They are fed very nutritious diets. They are exercised. Their legs are massaged and rubbed down with liniment oils. Their feet are cleaned daily. Basically all trainers know, a happy, fit, sound, nourished horse will perform at their best. Much money is invested in these horses, so why would they not be cared for and protected so well? As far as keeping him alive, the owners have respect for their champion thoroughbred and I am sure they feel like he is part of the family. The vets are in practice because they love animals. Everything was done to keep this horse comfortable and pain free through the whole ordeal. They were just simply trying to save this beautiful animal's life. After all, he earned more than 2.2 million dollars and won 4 out of his 5 starts. He deserved every chance he could get at saving his life. Most who know about horse racing, understand this was an unforeseen injury that just happened to occur to the most famous horse, at the time, in front of millions of spectators.

So will this change the industry of thoroughbred horse racing? In my professional opinion, probably not. As soon as another Triple Crown winner comes around, Barbaro will fade as a tragedy and primarily be remembered as the Kentucky Derby winner of 2006.

Owning a horse is serious business, Don't gamble him away.

2006-12-09T22:52:00.000-08:00

Trainers and owners can experience failure resulting from greed like the gambler placing his bets at the window. The owner must approach the racing from a business prospective. The gambler that turns into an owner has a hard time making the transition and will surely lose if he does not realize that a change in strategy must be made. Trainers must know what they have in the barn and what each animal is capable of. If a trainer continues to stretch the horse beyond it's capabilities, then the horse may sour and actually will learn to lose. A horse that continues to pass the wire behind horses without consequence will most likely learn that this is what he is supposed to do. Remember, he does not know what winning is. He does not know the benefits of winning like we do. He knows he will get the same feed and a few days off like after every race before. A horse needs to learn, early in his career, the feeling of victory. He may sense that the attitude around him is different after a win. You will notice sometimes that a stakes horse may have been running in claiming races early on. He may have needed those softer races to learn. Some champions just know to run and enjoy passing his rivals. A good trainer will ensure that the horse is ready for the first race and has been trained to pass or not to be passed. Don't break a horses heart by letting him get passed or trail the field over and over. Give him a shot at victory. It does not matter how much training or experience I put in, I will never beat Carl Lewis in a foot race. So don't expect your race horse to beat Secretariat. The saying, "Champions are born, not made", is not entirely true because you can ruin a naturally born champion. He must be trained as well. Sure, he was born to run, but he has to break out of the gate with a rider and make left turns. He wasn't born knowing that yet. Anyway, it's the trainers job to win races at a competitive level, not to gamble on the horse having the best day of his life while all the others are having the worst. Realize your horse's worth and not what you want him to be worth or you will fail most every time.

Slots in Maryland. Let's get it done!

2006-10-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

Why is Maryland dragging on the inevitable by not introducing slots. Delaware, West Virginia and Pennsylvania has made the move to add the one arm bandits to their thoroughbred race tracks. Maryland horse racing is and will continue to suffer while the surrounding states thrive if something is not done soon.

Virginia will not see slots in our lifetime and horse racing will always be a week industry with light interest and cheap racing. When Maryland gets the slot machines, you will see the demise of Colonial Downs. Maybe a Nascar track would better suite New Kent, Virginia. Slots seem to be the answer. You hear the arguments, "not in my backyard", "not an image we want to portray". There is no end to the "why nots". Maybe it has been said already, but I believe it's about the revenue it takes away from the lottery. Ah Ha! I must admit that I am not an expert on state lottery fund allocation, but I am sure the key word there is, "State". I bet if the state got their cut of the action, then the slots would have shown up yesterday. Come on people, for real, what's the hold up?

Do you even know what you are feeding?

2006-10-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

Don't throw your money away on feed and supplements without educating yourself on what they do and don't do. People spend millions of dollars on pretty packaging and promises of a more muscular and faster race horse. Just because there is a picture of a horse running fast on the bag, doesn't mean that it's right for your race horse. I have jokingly said, "if there is not a picture of a horse breathing fire on the bag then I don't by it.". That's my big marketing joke. This is why I am a horseman and not a comic.

Read your feed bag, which I bet most of you have no idea how to and what your are looking for, other than protein content. Protein is important, but you need to adjust the levels based on each horse's age, weight, body type, exercise, and metabolism. First of all, if you think that what you are feeding out of the bag is what your horses diet contains, then your are wrong. And yes, protein is the building block for muscles, but your are feeding a race horse not a body builder. And yes, you CAN put too much muscle on a horse unless he is pulling a plow. Bulk muscle is good for slow heavy work, not fast running.

Don't waste your time or money on the latest fad in equine sports nutrition. Stick with what you know and what is backed by some sort of scientific research. Supplements are that for a reason. They are to supplement the diet with what is lacking. Unlike drugs, they do not have extensive controlled studies to back their claims.

Not all supplements are what they seem... For example: Fat Cat is not a fat supplement, it's a protein and Carbohydrate supplement. Who knew? Unless of course you read the label. Fat is actually what the product lacks. If you added Fat Cat to the diet, thinking you were adding fat and reducing protein, then you were doing the opposite.

Most people don't take into consideration that the protein, fat and carbohydrates that the horse gets varies by the type and quantity of hay and other supplements that are fed. Your grain should actually supplement a good quality hay diet. A horse will get most of what he needs from vegetation anyway. Just read your feed label to see what vitamins and minerals are added. You pay a premium price for the added nutrition. Why spend double? So make sure before you add supplements to the grain, it doesn't already consist of it. Selenium and vitamin E are common supplements that I see horsemen add to their feeding regiment. I also see that same horsemen using a premium feed which already contains sufficient amounts of these supplements. Therefore, throwing money away by adding an excess which is just wasted because the body only absorbs a certain level and the rest is wasted. - Christopher Crocker

Realistic approach to owning thoroughbred race horses.

2006-10-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Be real! You must enter the game with a realistic expectation. The goal obviously is to win, but "you can't win them all" and "you got to lose some to win some". If you participate with a realistic and positive attitude then all you can do is have fun. When it no longer becomes fun, then you lose. What happens to the inexperienced owner in this game is that they expect to have the next super horse. Although this is possible, not probable. In this competitive sport of thoroughbred horse racing, if you get away with breaking even then you have beaten the odds. Even in professional baseball, the world series champion team has lost many games to get there. It is your responsibility to understand that owning a race horse can be as much of a gamble, if not more, than placing a bet at the window. Of course the risk is much larger than a typical gambler will face. The basis of a partnership is to reduce this risk and give an opportunity to the typical gambler who only dreamed of owning horses. In my opinion, there is nothing like being a part of a winning team and contributing to that success. Partnerships give "the little guy" a chance to participate with the big boys and have fun along the way. - Christopher Crocker

A horse trainer once said to me...

2006-10-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

A veteran horse trainer once said to me that, "A horse can only run as fast as genetically designed". Well that is certainly true. He was arguing against the use of modern veterinary medication and supplements to enhance a horse's racing performance. The point I made back was, "Yes that is true, but you need to maintain that speed for more than just a furlong". The job of the trainer is to train a horse to maximize the stamina and power behind the speed. The horse must use that speed when he needs to and not all at the beginning because fatigue is inevitable. He must learn to harness the speed and relax in the early pace of the race if he is to maximize his use of this "god given" speed. Just about any horse can run close to his top speed with just a handful 3/8ths workouts. To maintain the stamina it takes to get the horse running a six furlong or more race requires a training regiment that will condition him for rest of the required distance. This argument was in response to the statement made, not just the drug and supplement issue.

The racing commission does substance testing so the sport of horse racing stays on an even playing field and no substance is allowed that will harm the animal. The purpose behind the prohibition of certain substances is that harmful ones can make a horse run beyond the limits of ability. Horses and jockeys are at great risk when "performance enhancing drugs "are used. Substances that increase the heart rate can cause a horse to go into cardiac arrest under the strenuous racing conditions. Practices such as sodium bicarbonate loading (milkshaking) lets the horse run beyond what his body is capable of, by reducing the lactic acid build up that tells the muscles they are done. This is a very dangerous practice and is banned from all racing.

I will not argue to say, "what is allowed, must be given to the horse to give him an advantage". Most trainers are trying to cover all there bases, so to speak. One example of that is the use of first time starters on lasix. Why waste a race just to find out the horse is a bleeder? Maybe your horse never works hard or long enough to bleed in a workout. You don't need to find this out after the race. The trainers feel they must give everything but the kitchen sink to leave no room for pain, respiratory problems or fatigue. This is understandable since it seems like these days if the guy next door is doing it, why shouldn't you have the same "advantage". Of course this can be very expensive practice and not always economical. In a sport where lots of money can be made or lost in a matter of minutes, no one wants to take chances with the thought, "Why didn't I give that horse some of that stuff?". It's sort of like keeping up with the Jones. - Christopher Crocker

Racing Partnerships to reduce individual risk.

2006-10-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Thoroughbred racing partnerships have become a smart alternative to owning race horses and for many reasons. What makes this a more attractive investment strategy among horse owners is because of the reduced risk of alone sponsoring a single race horse. Partnerships give the average person an opportunity to be a big time player in "The Sport of Kings". You can own a race horse without the high financial risk to a single investor. He or she can bring his friends in and enjoy the experience as a group. It also gives the horse owner an opportunity to own a piece of multiple animals and possibly have his horses running on a weekly or even daily bases.

For example:
If you have ten people own five horses or a hundred people own ten horses you spread out that risk and burden of daily training cost and vet bills. Whatever the situation, it means you don't keep all of your eggs in one basket. I like to view it as a mutual fund or a simple stock. Shares of the animal are sold just like a stock and dividends are paid just like a stock. Crocker Racing Stable has laid out a few strategies to choose from. It's something worth checking into. Visit http://CrockerRacingStable.com - Christopher Crocker

Early starting two year old

2006-10-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Many factors go into choosing a yearling at a sale. You want to find yearlings with pedigrees that produce those early running two year olds. The horse will tend to be on the smaller side as well. A short limbed horse, especially the cannon bone is a favorable trait. A sprinter body type (wide chested, stocky) is a favorable trait as well. These are just few traits to look for if you want an early running, two year old, thoroughbred. - Christopher Crocker

Comments?

Maryland Million

2006-10-14T01:26:00.000-07:00

Today is the Maryland Million at Laurel Park. The biggest day in racing for Maryland bred thoroughbred race horses. - Christopher Crocker