A TRAINER’S WORRIES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 230, 14 September 1935, Page 2

A TRAINER’S WORRIES

Preparing Crack Horses A 4.30 rising every morning except Sunday. Risks, worries, minute personal attention, months of mental, and sometimes physical, strain—and at the end, the important spring handicaps. If the rewards of success often run into four figures, who will declare that trainers of racing champions do not earn their recompense, writes “A.W.D.” in the Sydney “Telegraph.” Tho vigil lasts from the time a prominent horse commences his spring preparation until he has run his big race, usually at least three months. And’that vigil calls for a rising in the dark, a careful inspection of the horse before he leaves for his morning exercise, the planning of the morning gallop, another inspection when he returns home, and even closer attention to breakfast. Even the manger of a champion is more than an eating box. It is the barometer that often gives a trainer the first indication of trouble. Trainers of Melbourne Cup winners have declared that they had a good night’s sleep only after the great race was run, and the worries of those men are the worries of every trainer upon whom devolve the care and welfare of horses worth thousands—and often the blame when things go wrong. Apart from ordinary infirmities of tendon and joint, possibilities of trouble are almost limitless. A heel can split. Two days before the 1938 Melbourne Cup Hall Mark could not walk, and months of solid work apparently had gone for nothing. His trainer, J. Holt, worked on him all night, and after one of the most remarkable recoveries in veterinary history Hall Mark won his Cup. Horses can bo “cast” in their boxes overnight. Lying down in a corner, they cannot get up. Frightened, they generally kick out, and in striking the walls severely injure themselves. Tregilla, retired from racing and with a successful stud career ahead of him, broke his leg and was destroyed through such an incident. Free from all physical ailments, a horse can collide with another on the tracks., Rogilla, one day before the 1932 Epsom Handicap, ran into Lord Lascelles at Randwick, and although he finished second in the big mile his chance was affected. In preparatory races, horses can be kicked at the post. The Dimmer, 1931 Sydney Cup winner, was one of the favourites for the Alelbourne Cup the following spring, but was kicked at the barrier in a race at Hawkesbury and did not fulfil his Cup engagement. A champion can be galloped on.in a race. Winooka had both tendons of his near hind leg severed in the last Doncaster Handicap, and can never race again. Spring hopes can pick up something from a track or the road, and develop poisoned heels. A weather change can produce a cold which prevents work at a critical stage. Hard tracks can produce shin soreness, and an epidemic similar to the muscular rheumatism that played havoc with good horses two years ago can defy veterinary skill. And then, even if a trainer can get his spring hope to the post for his important engagement, just recall what the Randwick trainer, J .A. Donohoe, enumerated as obstacles that, during the race, can debar victory:— (1) Some other horse might jump on your horse and kick him. (2) He might have a bad barrier position, especially in the shorter races. (3) He might jump off on the wrong leg, get out of his stride, and the jockey might try to bustle him. (4) He might get an interrupted run, and might lose 10 or 15 yards at the turns. (5) The boy might not bo honest. (6) The horse might be badly shod, and twist a plate or pull one off. More important still, especially with the heavily-weighted horses, weather conditions might be unsuitable.