Thoroughbred:

Racing Breeds, Rules and Regulations

Time --- It's All Relative

By Lucinda Lovitt

Time is of the essence. At least that's what some people think. Racehorses, however, are not as conscious of time as their human counterparts. How fast a horse goes depends a little bit on training, a little on luck, and a lot on class. While it is important to understand how horses are timed on the track, both during the races and morning workouts, understanding your horse's class and running style will tell you much more about a workout or race than your stopwatch.

- Let's say your trainer calls to report on your horse's morning workout. "He worked six furlongs in 1:13 1/5", your trainer states. Your first question should be, `How did he do it?' Knowing how easily your horse traveled will tell more about his ability than the actual time. At least that's what some trainers say. There are others who don't bother to carry a stopwatch and only check time fractions during a race to determine the pace for their horse. Everyone looks for something different when asked about time, so be sure to find out from your trainer what is important.

Time is frequently used as a measure of how a horse is preparing for a race or has performed in the past. To some, results from a stopwatch indicate when a horse is ready to run, while others prefer to use workout times along with visual impressions to determine preparedness for racing. What makes time, as it relates to racehorses, so subjective is that time., only measures how fast the horse is rung, not the manner in which he is traveling.

The factors that contribute to how fast or slow a horse works during the morning are limitless. Probably the most important factor is your horse's running style. If your horse is a closer (comes from off the pace), he may work the first 1/2 mile to 5/8th slowly and then work the final 1/8th a second or two faster. If your horse is a sprinter, each 1/8th of a mile may be a second faster than the work of an average horse. Horses that work in company (with more than one horse) exert more energy than those working alone, which could contribute to a faster workout.

Horses, on average, run 1/8th of a mile in 12 to 13 seconds. At six furlongs, a fast workout may be between 1:11 and 1:12, while a slow workout may be between 1:15 and 1:17. During the afternoon races, a fast time for the same distance may be between 1:08 and 1:09, while a slow time would be between 1:12 and 1:13. When analyzing time, don't forget the pace of a race usually determines the outcome. For example, if the first quarter is too fast the leading horses will get tired and not be able to finish. If it is too slow, the pacesetters will not get as tired and therefore may not be as easily caught at the wire.

Additionally, the surfaces on which your horse works and runs and track conditions contribute to the time of a workout or race. Dirt races are typically faster than turf (grass) races and dry tracks are usually faster than muddy tracks.

As the morning turns into afternoon, final times take on an added significance, especially to fans in the grandstand and owners in the box seats. A maiden winner who runs six furlongs in 1:09 may turn out to be a future stakes winner, while the maiden horse that finishes in 1:13 is definitely for sale.

Lucinda Lovitt serves as TM Owners' Liaison

THE "POLES"

What are they, Where are they, and Why are they Different Colors?

By Lucinda Lovitt

It's a beautiful Saturday morning in Los Angeles. You decide to enjoy it by watching your horse go through its morning workout at Santa Anna. So you jump in your car, drive to the track, and after getting your first cup of coffee at Clockers' Corner, find your trainer.

As you watch the sea of horses galloping by, you ask yourself "How will I be able to time my horse, and how will I know how far it has worked?" To answer this question, and have a better understanding of morning workouts, it's important to know the poles, or mile-Fraction markers on, the racetrack.

The placement of poles on the racetrack is crucial to those involved in training and racing Thoroughbreds. Jockeys, trainers, and owners use the poles to measure how far a horse has traveled, and how far they have to go.

The easiest way to acquaint yourself with the poles is to start at the finish line, or "wire", and count the poles backward, orclockwise. In North America, the distance between two poles is 1/16th of a mile. Black poles represent 1/16th of a mile, green poles 1/8th of a mile, and red poles indicate 1/4 mile fractions.

For example, let's look at Santa Anita's mile track (see diagram). Start at the wire, and begin to count the poles backwards. The first pole (black) you reach is the 1/16th mile marker, the second pole (green) is the 1/8th (or 2/16th) mile marker, the third pole (black) is the 3/16th mile marker, and the fourth pole (red) is the quarter-mile marker. As you continue to work your way backward around the track, add 1/16th of a mile to every pole you reach. Doing this, you will pass the 5/16th pole (black), 3/8th pole (green), 7/16th pole. (black), and the 1/2 mile pole (red). Continue to count your way around, passing the 3/4 pole (red) and finally back to the finish line, which would be the fourth and final 1/4 mile marker. If you are having trouble, try remembering the order of the colors of the poles with this acronym, B.G.B.R. (Black, Green, Black, Red).

However, not all tracks in North America are the same size. Here in California, Santa Anita, Del Mar, Bay Meadows, and Golden Gate Fields are all mile tracks, while Hollywood Park has a 1 1/8th mile oval. So before you begin counting poles, determine the size of a racetrack to make sure your pole count comes out correct.

Armed with this knowledge, you'll now know when to start and stop your stopwatch when your trainer informs you your horse is going to- work seven furlongs from the 3/4 pole.

THE TRIPLE CROWN:

Excerpt From The Most Glorious Crown

Introduction

A small red box, with gold snap-lock and hinges, sits atop a tall green safe in the posh offices of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, in New York. It contains a triangular, three-sided sterling-silver vase, approximately eight inches tall, which symbolizes the epitome of achievement for a three-year-old Thoroughbred. It is the Triple Crown of American turfdom.

Each side of the trophy represents one of the three races, which a single horse must win in a single year to earn the title. Often referred to as the three "jewels" in the Triple Crown, they are the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, three of the oldest classics of America's King of Sports.

From 1949 through 1972, every spring, the vase had been sent to its designer, Cartier, Inc., to be burnished to a painfully brilliant gloss, in anticipation of the next winner of the trophy. On the second week of June, in each of these years, the vase was returned to its red box, which was returned to its perch atop the tall green safe in the posh offices of the TRA, as yet another season passed without a recipient.

The fact is, from 1875 through 1974, the years that all three races have been in existence simultaneously, only nine horses have won the Triple Crown, making it the most elusive championship in all of sports. It was last won in 1973, and the members of this exclusive club of titleholders are: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), and Secretariat (1973).

In fairness to all Thoroughbreds, past and present, it should be duly noted that some extenuating circumstances ruled out at least eight possible winners. In 1890, both the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes were raced on the same day; there was a three-year hiatus in the running of the Preakness, from 1891 to 1893; Governor Charles Evans Hughes of New York banned racing in the state during 1911 and 1912, which blacked out the Belmont Stakes; and both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness were raced on the same day in 1917 and 1922.

Although the Kentucky Derby is the most famous of the three races, it is the youngest. It was first run in 1875, on land owned by John and Henry Churchill, in Louisville, Ky. The tract eventually took on the name of Churchill Downs. Today, the race is presented on the first Saturday in May. Its official flower is the rose, which prompted sportswriter Bill Corum to coin the phrase "Run for the Roses." Perhaps its greatest importance lies in the fact that it is "the first race in which the best horses from one crop of foals meet at the accepted classic distance of a mile and a quarter," carrying 126 pounds.

The Preakness is raced two weeks later, at Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Md. It was established in 1873 at Pimlico, was raced at Morris Park, The Bronx, N. Y., in 1890 and at Gravesend Course in Brooklyn, from 1894 to 1908, and finally settled permanently thereafter back in Maryland. The distance is a mile and three-sixteenths, with 126 pounds, for a blanket of black-eyed Susans, the state's official flower.

Although it is the oldest of the three, the Belmont Stakes is perhaps the least popularly known. However, a combination of the heroics of Canonero II, New York City's new off-track betting system, worldwide satellite television coverage, and the largest crowd in New York racing history (81,036 people), gave the race a huge new measure of notoriety in 1971. It was founded in 1867, and is raced on the first Saturday in June, at Belmont Park, Long Island, N. Y. The distance is a mile and a half, with 126 pounds, for chrysanthemums. To aficionados of the turf, this race offers a truer picture of the quality of the Thoroughbred. By the time it is run, the three-year-old has fully matured, and the field has been weeded out, so that only the very best of the crop are entered. That is why the field is usually the smallest of all three races. Also, the distance offers the sternest test for the entry, and any defect in the horse's breeding is most apt to show up. It is because of these factors that breeders, owners, and trainers would prefer to win this one race over the other two. The stud value of a Belmont Stakes winner immediately soars, simply because more horses have proved best in stud who have won the Belmont This is also why turfman call it "the Test of the Champion."

The Triple Crown title was formally proclaimed in December 1950, at the annual awards dinner of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations in New York. Since there had been no candidate that year, it was decided to present the trophy retroactively to the first winner, Sir Barton. This became an annual feature at the dinner for the next seven years, until they ran out of former winners. Then the turf nabobs could only hope for a newcomer to reach the, hallowed winner's circle.

Credit for initiating the movement to proclaim a Triple Crown is given unofficially to Charles Hatton, the venerable columnist of the defunct Morning Telegraph and present Daily Racing Form. It was in the early 19309 that his copy began to include the phrase "triple crown," whenever he wrote about the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes. As with many newsmen who eschew the touch-typing system in favor of the two-finger hunt-and-peck method, Hatton tired of having to spell out the names of the races in his copy every spring, and evolved his own shortcut by referring to them collectively as the "triple crown" races. "It was rhetorically more acceptable," he claims. In time, his fellow fourth-estaters picked up the cue, and the phrase became so popular that more and more owners began to point their horses toward winning the triad of races. By 1941, newspapers were hailing the feat with banner headlines, such as: "Triple Crown to Whirlaway; Easily Takes Belmont Stake."

The Triple Crown is not an American racing innovation. Rather, it came to us from England. There are five British classic races for three-year-olds, dating back almost two centuries. They are the St. Leger (1778), the Oaks (1779), the Derby Stakes (1780), the Two Thousand Guineas (1809), and the One Thousand Guineas (1814). Since only fillies may run in the One Thousand Guineas and the Oaks Stakes, the other three races became major tests for all Thoroughbreds in England, and, in time, the winner of all three was classified as the Triple Crown champion. West Australian, in 1853, was Britain's first Triple Crown winner.

The Two Thousand Guineas is raced at Newmarket in May, at a mile. The Derby is run at Epsom Downs on the nearest Wednesday to June 1, at a mile and a half. The St. Leger takes place on the Town Moor at Doncaster, Yorkshire, in September, over a distance of a mile, six furlongs, 132 yards. It is generally conceded that the American triple is the more difficult and demanding, because there is no long span of time between the races as there is in England.

The importance of the Triple Crown races grew apace with the evolution of the science of breeding Thoroughbred horses. Once the Thoroughbred gained a foothold in England, an unending search began to improve the bloodlines and the swiftness afoot of these magnificent animals. Consequently, their performances in the classic races became a barometer for excellence in potential breeding stock. It follows therefore , that in addition to the traditions of Thoroughbred racing, the British handed down to us the Thoroughbred himself, as a species bred specifically for racing.

"The term 'Thoroughbred' as applied to the horse is universally accepted and recognized as applying specifically and lirnitedly to the equine strain which traces to the Arabian, Barb or Turk," say the editors of Call Me Horse, a book which devotes itself to horse racing and breeding.

The Arabian, or what is referred to as the Southern Horse (hotblood line) in the evolution of the horse, was indigenous to Asia Minor and the Middle East, or to the neighboring lands of Persia, India, and Arabia. His lineage was traced back for five thousand years to the wild horses Honshaba and Baz, which supposedly were captured by and belonged to Baz of Yemen, the great‑great‑grandson of Noah. A member of the modern species of horse, the Arabian was descended from an Asiatic ancestry, and was one of two strains of this species which migrated westward from Central Asia. He had a sleek coat, beauty, speed, and stamina, and was extremely popular with sultans and kings, some of whom owned as many as 40,000, as did King Bahrain in 120 A.D. By 1290 AD., fantastic prices were paid for select horses, such as the racing filly El Karta, who went for 64,000 Turkish pounds. Stakes races of sorts were also popular between the stables of rival emirs and sultans, the races often consisting of turning loose thirsty steeds trained to run to the nearest waterhole in the desert.

The Arabian became a favorite mount of the Turks, who, with the Roman legions, brought him to the Continent during their invasions. The horse also found his way across North Africa, via Egypt, to Barbary, at is today Morocco and Algeria, where he was bred with the local stock, the new breed taking on the name of "Barb." From Africa, the Barb moved to the Continent with the Saracens, who introduced him into France, and the Moors, who took him to Spain. All of this migration resulted in the Southern Horse coming into contact with his counterpart, the Northern Horse (cold‑blood line), a shaggy haired, sturdy, vigorous beast, the second strain which migrated westward from Central Asia and settled in the desolate northern part of Europe. By crossbreeding the two strains, the Romans found that they could produce excellent chargers. Consequently, in time the Arabian horse; although not noted for being a particularly good racer, became much sought after for breeding purposes. His first appearance in England was the result of the Roman and Norman invasions.

At the outset in England, the emphasis was on producing a massive war charger, capable of carrying the tremendous weight of a man in full armor. They overdid it. The load became so great, and the horse so big and slow, that by the end of the sixteenth century both horse and warrior came to a virtual standstill. To all practical purposes they were immobilized.

The need for a lighter horse with speed and dexterity was painfully evident during the Crusades when the great knights suddenly found themselves completely outspread and outmaneuvered by the swift, streamlined Arabian flyers. One battlefield report said: "The Infidels not being weighed down with heavy armour like‑our knights were always able to outstrip them in pace, were a constant trouble. When charged they are wont to fly, and their horses are more nimble than any others in the world; one may liken them to swallows for swiftness." Some of these flyers‑were brought back to England by the knights, but King Henry VIII would have nothing of them. He was a heavy‑horse enthusiast, no doubt partly because of his own massive bulk, which needed all the support he could get under him. He was so fanatical about this that he even issued an edict calling for the slaughter of all light horses and compelling concentration on weight‑carrying breeds. It was after his demise in 1547 that the turnabout came.

Although the first racehorses in England to be identified by name were the Arabian stallion Arundel and the mare Truncefice, in 957 A.D., the sport of racing was introduced around 1174 during the reign of King Henry II. Horse fairs were held every Friday night outside the gates of London and were attended by earls, barons, and knights, with races run over the open fields. Except for the hiatus dictated by King Henry VIII and a brief interruption in 1654 by Oliver Cromwell, the sport was encouraged by succeeding monarchs, which eventually led to its being dubbed "the Sport of Kings." For example, James I favored Epsom Downs in the early 1600s; Charles lI, called the "father of the British turf," established Newmarket as the headquarters for both racing and breeding in the middle 1600s; and (Queen Anne gave Ascot its high distinction for racing between 1702 and 1714. Finally, in 1750, the establishment of the jockey Club formalized the British Thoroughbred, as all of his breeding and racing activities were rigidly, controlled by uniform rules and regulations.

During the reign of the Stuarts in the 1600s, Barbs, Arabs, and Turks were imported in great numbers. It was between 1688 and 1729 that three famous stallions arrived in England, from whom all modern Thoroughbreds trace their lineage. They were the Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Arabian or Barb. Their mating with British stock proved their supremacy to such a degree that the native breed of sires died out completely.

The Byerly Turk is thought to have been captured by Captain Robert Byerly, in 1687, when he fought the Turks in Hungary, and brought back to Byerly's home in Yorkshire. The Darley Arabian was foaled about 1702, and was shipped from Syria to Richard Darley, of Yorkshire, as a gift from his son. The Godolphin Arabian was foaled about 1724, and is said to have been a gift to King Louis XIV of France from the Emperor of Morocco. However, he was stolen from the king's stables and disappeared, until spotted by Edward Coke pulling a water cart through the streets of Paris. Coke bought the horse for three pounds, imported him into England around 1730, and presented him to his friend Roger Williams, who in turn passed him on to the Earl of Godolphin.

Organized racing in America began with the British invasion of New Amsterdam, in 1664. In addition to renaming the city "New York," Colonel Richard Nicolls, commander of the troops, established organized racing in the colonies by laying out a two‑mile. course on Long Island, calling it Newmarket and offering a silver cup to the best horses in the spring and fall seasons. As the sport spread in popularity, efforts were made to breed better horses. Thoroughbreds were imported from England, the first of which was the Dutton Arabian, in 1721. He was mated with the predominant native mustangs, but the results were disappointing halfbreeds.

Thereafter, aristocratic planters in New York, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky set about in earnest to produce a truly fine Thoroughbred strain in the United States. In the next forty‑five years, they imported some 113 stallions and 73 mares from England. At the same time, too, the pattern of American turfdom emerged, with New York becoming the center of racing anif !supportEmptyParas]> 

From the beginning, and continuing until the Civil War, racing in America was apparently influenced by the rugged pioneer spirit of the fledgling country. The hallmark of excellence for the American Thoroughbred was stamina, rather than speed. Races were long, as much as four miles, and involved several heats. For example, on October 13, 1832, at the Union Course on Long Island, a field of America's best mares ran a total of twenty miles in one afternoon before a winner was determined. It is also pertinent that racing had become the common man's sport as evidenced by a turnout at the same track in 1842 of between 50,000 and 75,000 fans, who paid a $10 admission charge to watch a match race between the filly Boston and the colt Fashion. It is little wonder that the original appellation was eventually changed to "the King of Sports."

After the Civil War, American racing went through a refining process. Speed became the goal and the British system the model. For one thing, distances were lowered to the classic mile and a half and then to the mile and a quarter and the mile. By the turn of the twentieth century, stamina no longer was most important, and the most common distance was three quarters of a mile. Finally, two‑ and three‑furlong dashes came into vogue for two‑year‑olds, raced at the beginning of the year and leading up to a mile and a sixteenth for the best of them by October. Jockey clubs sprang up in different states to regulate breeding and racing through uniform rules. Purses were increased, too, until special races, the handicaps and stakes, took on added significance.

The one major difference between American and British racing was the track. In England, all races are run on turf, which custom dates back to the early days when the nobility gallivanted over the countryside, while in America virtually all races are held on oval dirt tracks, most of which are a mile around.

Efforts to set up clusters of races along the lines of the British Triple Crown also began after the Civil War. In 1875, Colonel Louis M: Clark, the founder of Churchill Downs, tried to promote the Endurance Handicap, Kentucky Derby, and Key Derby. New York, around 1900, offered the Withers, Belmont Stakes, and Lawrence Realization. The efforts failed, although the individual races flourished. There was just too much provincialism among turfmen, with each group refusing to recognize the other, each insisting that its own track was preeminent. In fact, it was a long time before the socialites of the Eastern states, who largely controlled the sport, would even allow their horses to run in the "West," at Churchill Downs. It was this stubborn attitude which impelled Samuel Riddle to keep the great Man o' War out of the Kentucky Derby, in 1920, thereby denying him a sure‑bet Triple Crown.

By the same token, it was the fierce competitive spirit of a distinguished Canadian sportsman, who was most anxious for his horses to run in the 1919 Derby, that was in some respects the catalyst which brought East and Weft together. In fact, it was the dramatic victories of one of his Thoroughbreds in the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont that marked the beginning of a new turf tradition in America‑the Triple Crown.

Thoroughbred Racing Trends

RACES

Distances	Percentage of Race Offered	Average Purse
Under 6 F	49%	$14,000
6 F - under 1 mile	14%	$18,000
1 - 1 1/4 miles	36%	$26,000
over 1 1/4 miles	1%	$63,000

The three-year-olds who have won racing's Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes):

YEAR HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER

1978 Affirmed Steve Cauthen Laz Barrera

1977 Seattle Slew Jean Cruguet Billy Turner

1973 Secretariat Ron Turcotte Lucien Laurin

1948 Citation Eddie Arcaro Jimmy Jones

1946 Assault Warren Mehrtens Max Hirsch

1943 Count Fleet John Longden Don Cameron

1941 Whirlaway Eddie Arcaro Ben Jones

1937 War Admiral Charles Kurtsinger George Conway

1935 Omaha William Saunders Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons

1930 Gallant Fox Earl Sande Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons

1919 Sir Barton John Loftus H.G. Bedwell

The winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness who were unable to complete the Triple Crown:

YEAR HORSE BELMONT FINISH WINNER

2008                             Big Brown                                     ninth                                                 Da'Tara

2004                             Smarty Jones                                 second                                              Birdstone

2003                             Funny Cide                                    third Empire Maker

2002                             War Emblem                                  eighth                                               Sarava

1999 Charismatic third Lemon Drop Kid

1998 Real Quiet second Victory Gallop

1997 Silver Charm second Touch Gold

1989 Sunday Silence second Easy Goer

1987 Alysheba fourth Bet Twice

1981 Pleasant Colony third Summing

1979 Spectacular Bid third Coastal

1971 Canonero II fourth Pass Catcher

1969 Majestic Prince second Arts and Letters

1968 Forward Pass second Stage Door Johnny

1966 Kauai King fourth Amberoid

1964 Northern Dancer third Quadrangle

1961 Carry Back seventh Sherluck

1958 Tim Tam second Cavan

1944 Pensive second Bounding Home

1936 Bold Venture --- did not start ---

1932 Burgoo King --- did not start ---

Lead Changes

How Lead Changes Can Affect Performance

When your horse puts his best foot forward, that can give him an advantage
By Tracy Gantz

"He didn't change leads."

Just another jockey excuse? Not necessarily. If your horse failed to change leads in the stretch, that loss of acceleration could cost him the win.
Changing leads comes naturally to horses. When negotiating a turn at a gallop, they will use their inside lead. In other words, turning left-as in a race-a horse's feet will hit the ground in a four-beat cadence: right hind, left hind, right front, left front. Thus, as you watch him, his left front foot is "leading" him around the turn.

The correct lead is "the easiest method to get the shortest distance between two points in the quickest way," said Dr. Ray Baran, the racing association veterinarian at Southern California tracks. By being on the inside-or correct-lead, a horse is in balance, Dr. Baran explained. He pointed out that all performance horses benefit from correct leads, something especially notable in polo ponies. "They are entirely dependent on leads because they have to turn and go after that ball fast."

At U.S. racetracks, Thoroughbreds must use their left lead on the turns. "That's the real purpose of changing leads for horses," said Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron. "They're able to negotiate a turn to the right or to the left more adeptly when they're on the proper lead."
But running an entire race on the left lead will tire a horse more quickly than if he switches leads. So when a horse receives his first lessons, before he gets to the racetrack, he learns to switch to his right lead in the straight-aways. When he does it correctly, a horse can surge past his rivals, especially if the competition doesn't change leads.
"When they switch to the right lead, it gives them a burst of energy," said trainer John Sadler. "It's very important."

Many people concentrate on whether a horse changes leads in the stretch driving to the finish line, but changing to the right lead down the backside can help a horse as well.
"It's especially important for horses that have the propensity to stay on their left leads in the lane," McCarron said. "If you don't get them to change down the backside, they're already going to start to get tired before they even change up at the head of the lane. Then if they don't change, now you're adding fatigue on top of fatigue and they're going to hang and stop."

McCarron recalled the Triple Crown battles between Affirmed and Alydar in 1978. "I can't help but think that if Alydar had changed leads in any one of those races, he might have had a little better chance of getting by Affirmed," said McCarron, who won the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Alydar's son Alysheba.

Not every horse needs a lead change to win, however. Arazi burst into prominence by winning the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and never switched leads in the stretch. Point Given in this year's Preakness switched leads close to the wire, but had already put away the rest of the field.
McCarron rides a talented filly for trainer Ron McAnally, Janis Whitman's Beautiful Noise, who also doesn't always need to switch leads. "She's done something that in 27 years of riding I never had a horse be able to do," McCarron said. "Twice she has run 71/2 furlongs on her left lead and won. She's very, very stubborn about changing leads. She's done it her whole life." The jockey has learned not to push the filly to change leads. "I can interrupt her momentum by fighting with her," he said.

Normally, though, trainers and jockeys try to convince a reluctant animal to switch. Sadler said he has improved horses by getting them to switch leads. He added that it's important to have a good exercise rider who can help teach the horse in the morning, "and then you've got to have the jockeys working with you in the afternoons."

Both Sadler and McCarron said that the keys to a successful lead change are the bridle and the rider's weight, not the whip.

When McCarron needs to ask a horse for a lead change, he first takes a stout hold of the horse's head. He uses the reins to steer the horse a little to the right, then back to the left, and then a more abrupt signal to the right. "You might see the head move," he said, "but I don't necessarily want the horse's body to float out and go into the path of somebody else. My duty, my responsibility is to make sure I keep the horse straight."

Those signals with the reins put tension on the bit, which will usually get a horse to switch to his right lead. If that doesn't work, "then I involve my weight," McCarron said. "I'll lean one way or the other in the same sequence-a little bit right, a little bit left, and then-boom-back to the right again. Angel Cordero taught me that one a long time ago."

While some horses are just reluctant to change leads, it can sometimes indicate a soundness problem. Dr. Baran said if a horse that previously showed no difficulty changing leads suddenly won't change, "it might mean he's comfortable in that lead and he's hurting in that other leg somewhere. You'd better investigate it."

Sadler watches lead changes when he looks at 2-year-olds in the training sales. "This year I saw a horse sell at Barretts," he said. "The first preview, he went down the stretch in his left lead. The second preview he went down the stretch in the left lead. I still liked the horse. We vetted him, and he had a ton of problems." The horse ultimately started for someone else at Hollywood Park. Sure enough, he ran down the stretch on his left lead and finished out of the money.

Sadler also pays attention to sale prospects that change leads too often because "usually it's a sign of sore shins," he said.
"I had one really good horse that didn't switch leads a lot-Olympic Prospect," Sadler said. "I think it was because he had problems and he felt more comfortable in his left lead. Also, he was so big that it was kind of an effort for him to switch. So he won a lot of races on the left lead. They can do it, but it's rare."

Sadler has also ridden jumpers, who must leap obstacles quickly and turn both to the left and to the right. "You're going for time, so you're turning in the air," he said. "If you want to turn left, you need him to land on his left lead." Lead changes are such a sign of an athletic horse that they are often part of Olympic dressage competition. And Dr. Baran cited the importance of lead changes when a horse cuts cattle.

"Sometimes you look at a particularly gifted horse, and they'll switch leads just so smoothly," said Sadler. "Those are the really special ones."

Tracy Gantz serves as TOC's Deputy Director for Southern California.