Pace and Cap - Sartin Methodology & The Match Up - View Single Post

Tim Y · 08-08-2016, 09:18 PM

PUBLISHED workouts (the kind that we read in the tab at the DRF) have NOTHING to do with works BEFORE the clockers are out, OR, on private training facilities.

Qualifying works (done to assure the wagering public that the horse is sound) are one time efforts and most run to just barely qualify for why do they need to go any faster?

Works as a whole are given FAR TOO MUCH importance when you review the training methods of ALL the other venues around the world. In Europe take out "sets" (often up to a 1/3 of the barn at a time) and the entire groups runs over long gallops to build stamina. This FOLLY of seeing some development in a horse via works is just what people READ INTO a situation and do not represent reality. Unless YOU RE THERE how do you know what went on?

The first 4 seasons at Woodbine I worked with a long time exercise rider, who, in later years, was a clocker. To encapsulate what he learned and related to me: "UNLESS you SEE a workout, you have NO idea what happened in that workout."

Exercise riders can weigh easily upwards of 160 pounds, often work in the 3 path off the rail, can or cannot work in company often teaching another horse how to react to dirt in its face, being down inside another speed horse, or teaching it to pass a horse in front of it, etc... Depending upon the time in the two work periods each morning is close to the beginning of a session or not dictates the state of the surface. If you work late, it is all torn up.

Many times tack, NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED IN THE AFTERNOON, is used to aid in the training session (some very nasty sliding bits that give the rider an enormous lever arm in straightening the animal that bears out or in for example).

There is NO REQUIREMENT for the worker to go the same velocity throughout the work, NOR is the worker required to stay in the same lane. My co-worker friend said that this was the most often used technique to "hide" a faster work into a slower one: start off slow and wide, then finish up fast and down by the rail.

Finally, there are NO DRUG tests after workouts. Many therapeutic medications i.e. bronchodilators, muscle relaxants etc., that are used to make the horse more comfortable, but are NOT allowed post race, are readily used in the AM if necessary.

SO a work should just be considered regular exercise of a learning session and unless you SEE it, you have no idea what went on just by final time.

08-08-2016, 09:18 PM	#2
Tim Y turf historian Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6,455	PUBLISHED workouts (the kind that we read in the tab at the DRF) have NOTHING to do with works BEFORE the clockers are out, OR, on private training facilities. Qualifying works (done to assure the wagering public that the horse is sound) are one time efforts and most run to just barely qualify for why do they need to go any faster? Works as a whole are given FAR TOO MUCH importance when you review the training methods of ALL the other venues around the world. In Europe take out "sets" (often up to a 1/3 of the barn at a time) and the entire groups runs over long gallops to build stamina. This FOLLY of seeing some development in a horse via works is just what people READ INTO a situation and do not represent reality. Unless YOU RE THERE how do you know what went on? The first 4 seasons at Woodbine I worked with a long time exercise rider, who, in later years, was a clocker. To encapsulate what he learned and related to me: "UNLESS you SEE a workout, you have NO idea what happened in that workout." Exercise riders can weigh easily upwards of 160 pounds, often work in the 3 path off the rail, can or cannot work in company often teaching another horse how to react to dirt in its face, being down inside another speed horse, or teaching it to pass a horse in front of it, etc... Depending upon the time in the two work periods each morning is close to the beginning of a session or not dictates the state of the surface. If you work late, it is all torn up. Many times tack, NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED IN THE AFTERNOON, is used to aid in the training session (some very nasty sliding bits that give the rider an enormous lever arm in straightening the animal that bears out or in for example). There is NO REQUIREMENT for the worker to go the same velocity throughout the work, NOR is the worker required to stay in the same lane. My co-worker friend said that this was the most often used technique to "hide" a faster work into a slower one: start off slow and wide, then finish up fast and down by the rail. Finally, there are NO DRUG tests after workouts. Many therapeutic medications i.e. bronchodilators, muscle relaxants etc., that are used to make the horse more comfortable, but are NOT allowed post race, are readily used in the AM if necessary. SO a work should just be considered regular exercise of a learning session and unless you SEE it, you have no idea what went on just by final time. __________________ Albert Einstein:"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."