Racehorse trainer Jim Boyle explains why a purple patch often follows a dry spell in racing…
“The last four months have perfectly encapsulated the up-and-down nature of training racehorses. In May and June I was tearing my hair out as the horses were out of form, and we were struggling to find a winner. Then, since the start of July, we have not looked back. While May and June produced no winners for us from a total of 28 runners, July saw us train four winners from 19 runners and August was even better with another four winners coming from just 15 runners. This took our tally for the year up to 14 winners from 95 runners. So far in September we have had eight runners, with Empty The Tank – our only hurdler in training – winning up at Southwell on his first start for us.
The main reason for this turnaround is that the horses are now really healthy. I mentioned in my first blog that earlier on in the year a lot of the horses were scoping badly (ie had some mucus in their lungs) and that we were pretty sure it was associated with the high pollen levels that we were experiencing at the time. Now that those pollens have settled down, the horses scopes are vastly improved and we have seen this marked return to form.
One of the few positives of having a spell when the horses are out of form is that those that do run, and run poorly, will drop down the handicap. What this effectively means is that in their next races they will have to carry comparatively less weight than previously. This means that when they do return to form, they will be more likely to win races as they have less weight to carry, which is why you often see the scenario we are experiencing whereby a yard will have a quiet period, followed by a rash of winners and placed horses.
The handicapping system is in place to try to ensure competitive racing – if horses always carried the same weight, the same horses would generally win the majority of the time. This would not provide exciting racing, which is important as both a spectacle and a betting medium. For this reason, when horses run well they are allotted a higher rating, and when they perform badly their rating drops. Their rating in comparison to their opponents denotes how much weight they will have to carry in a race. Handicaps make up the majority of races, but there are other types where the weight is not affected by handicap mark. In general, the top level races tend to be run at ‘level-weights’ as they are about finding out which horses are the best around at any point in time.
The August Bank Holiday Monday saw the Epsom Open Day take place once again this year. Seven Epsom trainers opened their gates to members of the public from 9am to midday, after which there were a variety of activities at the racecourse, along with an afternoon’s racing. Rather predictably, the English weather had its say and it absolutely poured for most of the morning. However, it wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of the plenty of brave souls who came out in force to support the day.
I have recently watched some of our ex-racers competing in dressage, where the competition is decided on the opinion of a judge. In this respect I suppose it’s no different to many sports such as gymnastics, ice-skating and diving, but I much prefer the relative certainty of a horse race, whereby the only human intervention on the result (barring a stewards enquiry) comes courtesy of the photo-finish, which in this technological day and age is very difficult to get wrong!
One of our winners in July was Jakaby Jade, and she won so nicely that an offer came in from America that was too good for the owners to turn down. It was lovely to see her go and win her first start in America, in a $100,000 juvenile fillies stakes race at Del Mar racecourse. You always have slightly mixed emotions when watching a previous inmate run, but the owners already have the yearling half-sister bought to come into training with us next year, so we can be very happy with a job well done, and look forward to seeing how far she can progress in her career in America.
We are just starting the sales merry-go-round at the moment, and I will be heading to sales in Doncaster, Fairyhouse, Goffs (both in Ireland) and Newmarket over the next few weeks, looking to try to buy some new youngstock for next year. We are currently putting together plans to build a brand new, modern purpose-built yard, but until these plans come to fruition we are holding back on doing too much marketing, as the yard at the moment is reaching the end of its sell-by date. We will look to give things a big push as and when we get our new facilities, and until that point we are in a period of consolidation. To that end, we will not be looking to buy too many youngsters, but it’s always good to have one or two that we can syndicate out over the coming months, so hopefully I will be able to find a bargain or two to bring home with me.
We will be looking to have plenty of runners between now and the end of the flat season, and I’ll bring you more news of these, and any horses purchased, in my next blog.”
Jim