Factors associated with racing performance and career duration for Victorian‐born Thoroughbreds

Abstract

The number of horses leaving the Australian Thoroughbred (TB) racing industry each year is of concern to animal welfare advocates, public and regulators. A horse's previous athletic performance is a significant driver of retirement from racing. Racehorse performance can be measured in terms of the total number of starts, duration of racing and prize money earned. This study investigated Australian racing records for the 2005 and 2010 Victorian TB foal crops to identify factors associated with total number of starts, racing career duration, prize money earned and age of last race start-up to the 10-year-old racing season. Racing Australia registered 4,577 TB horses born in Victoria in 2005 (n = 2,506) and 2010 (n = 2,071) that raced in Australia. Horses that started racing at 2-years of age had fewer race starts in their first racing season but an increased total number of starts, prize money and duration of racing. The median age of last start (LS) was five (Q1 4; Q3 7) years. Horses that had won a race, had a maximum handicap rating of 61 or above and those racing over distances of more than 2,400 m had an increased racing career duration and an age of last race start greater than 6-years of age. Horses participating in jumps races (n = 63) had the longest careers and older age of LS. These horses were more likely to have had a handicap rating over 80 and were just as likely to start their racing careers as 2-years-olds.

Influence of age and sex on bone development and athletic career longevity of Thoroughbred racehorses in Brazil - preliminary study

“…In this study, the mean athletic career duration was 20.33 months and was higher than the average observed in studies on TB racehorses in Australia (18.90 months) (17) and Turkey (17.79 months) (20) and lower than in Hong Kong (23.36 months) (16) . The mean values for athletic career duration (23) in horses born in Victoria, Australia, concurred with our findings. The reasons for the end of the Brazilian racehorse's athletic career have not been documented.…”

“…However, according to prior observations in Australia, the main reasons might be poor performance or injury, where 59% of the trained horses were retired or rehomed because of poor performance or owner request. In comparison, only 28% were retired due to health disorders (23) .…”

“…Research performed on racehorses in the UK (2) observed that 78% of fractures occurred during training, and at least 57% were stress fractures, demonstrating non-adaptation to the training regimen. Besides being a desirable feature in racing, scientific evidence suggests a positive influence of the early onset of controlled training, allowing the proper bone and cartilage adaptations to exercise (8,19,21) , resulting in longer athletic careers (22,23) . Regardless of what may be familiar to the TB horse industry, starting a racing career later in life may not diminish the rate of MS injuries.…”

Inbreeding depression and the probability of racing in the Thoroughbred horse

“…For Thoroughbred breeders, the breeding goal is to produce viable foals that will have productive racing careers and establish their value by winning races. The number of races that an individual horse participates in and a horse's career duration are considered key indicators of animal health [ 25 ]. At a population level, it has been proposed that the success of the Thoroughbred industry may be measured by the proportion of horses born that commence racing [ 22 ].…”

Influência do gênero e da idade no estágio de desenvolvimento ósseo e longevidade atlética de equinos da raça puro sangue inglês de corridas no Brasil - estudo preliminar

“…Pesquisa realizada em cavalos de corrida no Reino Unido (2) observou que 78% das fraturas ocorreram durante o treinamento, sendo pelo menos 57% fraturas por estresse, demonstrando a não adaptação ao regime de treinamento. Além de ser uma característica desejável nas corridas, as evidências científicas sugerem uma influência positiva do início precoce do treinamento controlado, permitindo as adequadas adaptações ósseas e cartilagíneas ao exercício (8,19,21) , resultando em carreiras atléticas mais longas (22,23) . Independentemente do que possa ser familiar para a indústria de cavalos PSI, iniciar uma carreira atlética mais tarde pode não diminuir a taxa de lesões do SME.…”