Shoeing for the Roses: Kentucky Derby Foot Factors 2016

It's the first Saturday in May. Theories abound about how to pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby, but there's no doubt that the feet come first in the hearts and minds of Hoof Blog readers. With the help of wonderful people in the racing industry, this article is a collection of as much as is known about the hooves of the fast and famous.

Hooves of the Kentucky Derby 2013: Race Shoes, Hoofcare and the Farrier's Daughter

It's 90 minutes before the Kentucky Derby, do you know where you'll be today at 6:24 p.m.?

Friends at Work: Ray Amato Intrigues the Press at Saratoga

by Fran Jurga | 21 August 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

"It's gotta be the shoes."

Todd Pletcher has broken nearly all the records for Thoroughbred racehorse trainers in the United States and what will he tell you is one key factor in his success? His horseshoer.

Approach Pletcher's Oklahoma training stable at Saratoga and you see what might be a little shrine, if you know where to look. Thick stall mats form a makeshift shoeing floor and big lights on stands are tucked away at the end of the shedrow during the day, but they come out so that the stable's horseshoer can get to work before the sun comes up.

That horseshoer would be Ray Amato, the 77-year-old secret weapon of Team Pletcher, and this week's darling of the New York media.

As Quality Road preps for the Mid-Summer Derby, The Travers Stakes, at Saratoga next Saturday, Ray is sure to attract a lot of attention. Quality Road missed the Triple Crown races while he recovered from front and hind quarter cracks, but he's come roaring back with a track record-setting prep race and is the favorite of many for next week's big race, though he will face Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, Kensai and perhaps even Rachel Alexandra.

Everyone wants to know how Quality Road's feet are...and they'll get a good story from Ray Amato.

Click here to go to the Albany Channel 9 television station to see the first of two interviews with Ray conducted by sports reporter Joe Calderone. Actually, Joe just let the camera roll and Ray just was himself.

And that's something pretty special.

Toe Clips Making a Comeback on the Track?

Happy Feet, originally uploaded by Rock and Racehorses.

Here's a lovely shot of the hooves of Lawyer Ron, caught before he stepped off Ray Amato's famous black mats outside trainer Todd Pletcher's barn at the Oklahoma track in Saratoga.

Note two things about this photo: 1) the toe clips! and 2) no toe grabs! and, while you're at it, the depth of heel on the near side. Many racehorses are dismissed as having low heels but Lawyer Ron seems to be doing just fine. He just turned five.

Lawyer Ron won the Eclipse Award this week for best older stakes horse.

Todd Pletcher is often imitated around the backstretch; I wonder if we'll be seeming more toe clips this year!

By the way, a detailed presentation and forum on toe grabs is scheduled for the AFA convention in Lexington, KY on March 1; toe grabs will also be on the agenda of the second Racehorse Welfare and Safety Summit, hosted by the Grayson Foundation/Jockey Club on March 17-18. Mr. Pletcher is on the hoofcare committee that has been studying toe grabs.

PS I don't think Todd Pletcher would tolerate messy wrapping, in case you are wondering about that. I think the near bandage was probably pushed up during shoeing. The off has probably been rewrapped.

Thanks to Sarah Andrews for the image to post.