A ? About Running A Horse On A Short Break

[2MinsToPost]

Yesterday I heard someone at the track mention this and it really got my attention. He said that anytime you see a horse back racing on two weeks or less rest, its a bet against. He said, with a lot of confidence, that if that horse is not sore going in the gate it will be in short order. So I asked him to clarify, are you talking about $5,000 Claimers or Alowance horses. He said with no hesitation any T-Bred.

Your thoughts?

[Sightseek]

Dutrow does it with a fair amount of success....he had one filly entered on a saturday who won after winning on a wed or thursday.

I find that absolute garbage depends. on the horse i had a horse race in metro on the friday travel 5 hours & win the Wentworth cup on the sunday.

In fact i prefer some horses that have short breaks
Brew won the mckinnon on the sat & then went on to win the Melbourne Cup on the tuesday

[ELA]

I disagree. Some horses take to it, others don't. It's not common and sometimes people try it out of desperation or false signs that it will work. It seems to work sometimes for Rick Dutrow. I've got a horse now that I sent to a new trainer. He had chronic thumps and various electrolyte, weight, etc. issues. The new trainer got him going in the right direction, dealt with those issues/problems and he raced 3 times in one month. Second by a nose in his first start, win by about 10 in his second, and win by about 12 in his third.

Is this the norm? Of course not. JMVHO, there are no rules so to speak, but I think the norm can be subject to individual cases and interpretation. I wouldn't blindly bet against though, however, I would only be betting on those where the trainer has success, he/she is a high % trainer, and the horse might take to it where it makes sense and it could work. I think there's a lot that goes on in and around this type of discussion.

Eric

[ManilaRose]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

Yesterday I heard someone at the track mention this and it really got my attention. He said that anytime you see a horse back racing on two weeks or less rest, its a bet against. He said, with a lot of confidence, that if that horse is not sore going in the gate it will be in short order. So I asked him to clarify, are you talking about $5,000 Claimers or Alowance horses. He said with no hesitation any T-Bred.

Your thoughts?

I'm sure there are some in here that can help me with specific names but I can recall a few instances on TVG and HRTV where they showed specific trainers stats in these "quick turnaround" situations. In the instances they showed it was actually exactly the opposite of a play against situation. I worked for a trainer in Maryland who would run a horse back in a week on occassion and was pretty successful. In one particular instance we ran a horse at Timonium 2X in 6 days. She ran second the 1st time and won the 2nd.

[lemoncrush]

From my experience, it totally depends on the trainer and situation.
Lots of trainers have great records coming back on 1-7 days rest.
Could be that the horse wasn't used up at all in the race and there's another spot the following week he fits perfect in.

An obvious warning sign is at the end of a meet when the trainer is trying to pick up one last paycheck, or trying to lose the horse via claim.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by ELA

I disagree. Some horses take to it, others don't. It's not common and sometimes people try it out of desperation or false signs that it will work. It seems to work sometimes for Rick Dutrow. I've got a horse now that I sent to a new trainer. He had chronic thumps and various electrolyte, weight, etc. issues. The new trainer got him going in the right direction, dealt with those issues/problems and he raced 3 times in one month. Second by a nose in his first start, win by about 10 in his second, and win by about 12 in his third.

Is this the norm? Of course not. JMVHO, there are no rules so to speak, but I think the norm can be subject to individual cases and interpretation. I wouldn't blindly bet against though, however, I would only be betting on those where the trainer has success, he/she is a high % trainer, and the horse might take to it where it makes sense and it could work. I think there's a lot that goes on in and around this type of discussion.

Eric

ELA,
Well said. Ain't no rules.
H Allen Jerkens does this often, also puts some wind sprints into his (short) about four days out. So does son, Jimmy.
Putting a horse back in sooner than some would has been successful for both of these guys. If the horse is fit, tuned, and ready...RUN 'EM!

[packerbacker7964]

Yeah to me what's the big differance between having a blow-out work 3-7 days before a real race or the real race itself? Very little I think.

Sometimes they strike while the iron is hot. I think Ainsley covered this well in 101. It's fairly common, I've seen it a lot...I personally haven't had tons of success using that angle but that's probably more a function of the amount I play than it is the angle itself.

[golfer]

This is definitely a "sheets" rule of thumb... according to Thoro and Ragozin, 4 to 6 weeks is optimum rest from an "effort" (how to define an effort, another question)... This is not to say horses don't win on short rest, it's just not the best amount of time for recovery. Older/cheaper horses may only have so many good races in them, that might be why they are wheeled back quickly. Of course this rule was made before the "Super" trainers came into prominence.

[sumitas]

It seems like if the horse is in good form this is a way to get another check. But after that it seems like the horse is spent for quite a long time. I don't really care for the quick turn around insofar as handling a horse but it is a way to pick up another check quickly.