That's a long apron! I think horseshoer Steve Norman, who is quite tall, wears such a long one because he often has shorts on underneath! This could be an historic photo; Steve is shoeing Winstar Farms' undefeated Gemologist for trainer Todd Pletcher.
The biggest day of the year is here. What's going on behind the scenes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky? The Hoof Blog has assembled a gallery of images for you that you probably won't see anywhere else. Thanks to Dan Burke of Farrier Product Distribution for his shots of horses being shod this morning. Place your bets, sip your julip and take an intimate look at a few hooves!
Dan stopped by the track kitchen and pointed out to me that the kitchen has been insured good luck always: a lone horseshoe hangs over the counter. Yes, the heels point upward because whoever nailed it there believes that they are holding the luck in that way.
Back in the shedrow, Churchill Downs horseshoer Todd Boston lays a new Kerckhaert raceplate on a hoof of Prospective, trained by Mark Casse.
Details, details: Churchill Downs knows the power of details.
Where are you celebrating the Derby today?
A vet's station wagon left open while he or she was working on the backside at Churchill. Tabitha Kaylee Hawk photo.
Stormy skies interrupted yesterday's races. The horses were cleared from the track when lightning threatened.
Steve Norman and his assistant work their way around El Padrino for Todd Pletcher. This horse has been below the radar the past few weeks.
Which horse's name will go up on the paddock sign next?
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
For old times' sake: The Louisville Courier-Journal asked horseshoer Steve Norman
what he thought about toe grabs a few years ago. This is what they heard.
It's Derby Week! But before Churchill Downs rolls out the red-rose carpet for the Kentucky Derby, the track hosts the very special Oaks Day, an impressive card of stakes races topped by the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.
The country's top three-year-old fillies lined up for yesterday's race but first they had to be shod. Luckily, Dan Burke of Farrier Product Distribution (FPD) in nearby Shelbyville, Kentucky took some photos of some of the filles having their hooves done.
Horseshoer Todd Boston is right at home at Churchill Downs. Here he is shoeing Believe You Can, the winner of the Grade One Kentucky Oaks. Small world: The filly was ridden by Rosie Napravnik, daughter of the New Jersey horseshoer. It was Rosie's first Grade One victory. She finished a fast-closing second in the race last year.
Todd Boston worked on a hind foot of Summer Applause, who finished fourth in the Kentucky Oaks. Todd is nailing on Kerckhaert raceplates, which are distributed to US sales outlets by FPD.
Say hello to Sacristy, trained by Wayne Catalano; she was a late entry and finished seventh in the Oaks. This is what her feet looked like before she was re-shod for the race on Thursday by Pat Broadus.
The Hoof Blog sends a big thank you to Dan Burke, who just might have some more photos of the colts later today. In the meantime, visit Dan's blog on the FPD web site to see a video of Todd Boston shoeing a hind foot on Summer Applause.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
I didn't see it live, but thanks to the wonders of YouTube and the NTRA's channel, I can share with you a magic moment at Monday night's 2010 Eclipse Awards. As Todd Pletcher accepted the Eclipse for Trainer of the Year, he made a little speech about the team behind him. In particular he pointed out our friend, horseshoer Ray Amato, who was sitting at the table with him, and looking great in his tuxedo. I won't spoil it and tell you what Todd said; watch if for yourself. Suffice to say, it's the highest praise I've ever heard in a speech about a living horseshoer, let alone on national television. How about that!
Here's Ray at one of our Hoofcare@Saratoga events last summer. He's getting a hug from Ada Gates as he recalled how she came to him looking for an apprenticeship early in her career. Ada said he was the only horseshoer who'd even talk to her. She had to go to California to break into track shoeing; no woman had ever done it before, and few have since. Ada and Ray could have a comic speaker act. Like Todd Pletcher, Ray Amato won his first Kentucky Derby this year when he shod Super Saver for Pletcher. That night at Saratoga, he recalled how he had thought he had his first winner in 1973, when he shod Sham. But Secretariat had other ideas. The stories that these two can tell are amazing, as are their skills as storytellers!
A horse trains over the hilly Pro-Ride covered training track at Lindsay Park Training Center in Australia. (Photo at www.prorideracing.com)
(NOTE TO EMAIL-SUBSCRIBER READERS: This blog post contains two video clips. To watch the videos, you will need to click here and read this post on the blog's web site.)
“Training on dirt, you know exactly where you are going into a race. Synthetics? They all seem to train well over it but they don’t all run well. So, it’s a question mark.” (Trainer Todd Pletcher earlier today)
"Sure, I guess it is good publicity if a horse wearing my shoes wins the Breeders Cup but right now I don't care if my horses win or lose. I just want them to all come home safely. None of us wants to see an injury in the Breeders Cup, or any race, but on Saturday, well, I can't wait until it's over. And they're all home safe and sound." (Horseshoe manufacturer)
If you haven't been following the Breeders Cup, here's the nutshell version (Readers: if you are already up to speed on the Breeders Cup, please skip past this recap): America's biggest race series has expanded to two days this year, culminating in the Breeders Cup Classic, where 2007 Horse of the Year and all-time leading money earner Curlin will face off against the best American horses left standing and some of the best horses that Ireland and England have to offer.
Interest in the Classic was toned down several notches with the defection of Big Brown a few weeks ago, when a training mis-step ripped his heel and sent him to the Breeders Shed instead of the Breeders Cup.
The x factor in the Breeders Cup is that while the championship has been hosted at Santa Anita Racecourse outside Los Angeles, California in the past, this is the first time that it will be raced on an artificial surface. Santa Anita agreed to host the 2008 races years ago and installed an artificial surface last year, but had to rip it up and installed a different one in September of this year. The dark-colored Pro-Ride surface from Australia has not been raced on by most of the horses.
To make matters more interesting, most of the European horses have never raced on anything but grass. (And some Euro runners are entered in the turf races.) Classic entries HenrytheNavigator and Duke of Marmalade are running on a non-grass surface for the first time. The Euro excuse for poor performance over dirt in the past when running in the USA is that the horses hate having dirt kicked in their faces. And Pro Ride claims little to no kickback.
As Todd Pletcher says, horses all seem to train well over artificial tracks but they sometimes run differently than they would on dirt.
This video clip will give you an idea of how the hoof hits the surface; you can also see how dark the material is:
Colonel John and Tiago are two horses in the Classic who have won on an artificial surface; Japan's undefeated Casino Drive shipped in a month ago and ran in an allowance race in order to see how the undefeated colt did on the new track. (He won.)
According to the Pro-Ride web site, the new surface "has minimal kickback, provides greater hoof support and is the most consistent surface available." And, most interesting of all, it does not require watering.
The company estimates that the hoof penetrates 20 mm into the surface. Comments from farriers include that the surface does stick inside the foot, especially along the frog, and that some horses appear to be shedding the back parts of their frogs.
Horses need to adjust to a surface for exactly those kinds of reasons. Many Thoroughbreds have intentionally-thinned soles to create a cupping effect, but if the cup fills with track surface, it can make the horse sore until the horse gets used to it and the sole hardens. If a horse's sole fills with dirt or his frog is sore, he may adjust his stride to land more toe first, or heel first, as need be to avoid pain.
Trainers watch for this type of change in action and will pack the feet or poultice them or work with the horseshoer to adjust or change the shoes. Some horses in California now train over the artificial surfaces without shoes while trainers try to figure out what the best foot solution is for an individual horses.
Trainer Bobby Frankel is quoted in the New York Daily News yesterday as one who is having troubles with his horses' feet. He blames it on the heat: "When it's 90 degrees out, the (synthetic) track surface heats up to 160 degrees."
And many horses just take the changes in stride!
Here's a video clip, courtesy of Horse Racing TV, of Curlin in a public work last week at Santa Anita. I know this is pretty boring, but watch behind him as he gallops. There is very little, if any, displacement. Also notice how deeply (or not) his feet penetrate the surface.
John Sherreffs, trainer of Tiago, said on September 25: "I've looked at the course a couple of times, but the one thing I like about any racetrack is the ability of the horse to get a hold of it and get a little rotation of the foot into the track. Some of the synthetic tracks, they just stop the foot from going into the track at all so that...they don't slide. So, there's a little jarring and, personally, I don't like that for racehorses. I prefer that they get a little hold." (NTRA quote)
Other factors affecting the championship are that the temperature continues to be in the 90s, which is very hot for the Europeans, and which may affect the track, which is not supposed to need watering...but watering has been done during this hot spell. There are also wildfires in the hills around Arcadia, which could affect air quality on some level.
Trainer D. Wayne Lucas is one who avoids racing his horses on the artificial tracks. His quote: "I'm on all dirt tracks. I gear our program to that."
Four horses have broken down since the Oak Tree meet opened on September 20th, according to the Daily Racing Form.
Hoofprints in a Pro-Ride racing surface show distinct impressions; the manufacturer claims that the hoof sinks 20 mm into the surface. General observations about artificial surfaces are that the hoof slides less. (Pro-Ride photo)
Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service. This post was originally published on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.
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A feet-first introduction: Meet Visionaire, trained by Michael Matz. He's wearing a Kerckhaert aluminum race plate, imported from Holland. Visionaire's farrier is Todd Boston.
One shoe is worth a thousand words for Kentucky's Colonel: Look at this shoe shape. It's the "Fast Break" raceplate from Kerckhaert, also imported from Holland. Notice how broad the toe bend is. Colonel John is owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Irishman Eoin Harty. His farrier is Steve Norman.
Blog readers must wonder if there are other horses entered in Saturday's Kentucky Derby besides Pyro and Big Brown. The blog has focused on the special footwear worn by those two...but the other 18 horses have feet and some special shoes, too!
Our friend Dan Burke of Farrier Product Distribution (FPD) must have some sort of a VIP backstage pass at the Derby. He seems to show up at the stakes barn every year and usually has some great photos to share.
Thanks to Dan for sharing these photos. I guess it is no coincidence that these two horses are wearing Kerckhaert plates, as was War Emblem a few years ago. Dan's company imports Kerckhaert shoes to the USA. Thanks, Dan!
PS For all the racing people checking in to this blog, especially the ones referred by the New York Times (thank you!): Look at these feet and you will see why we put so much store in the size, shape, and fine points of a horse's hooves. You can easily see that the frog (triangular tissue protruding on base of foot) is very different in each horse, as is the shape of the foot. There are always differences between front and hind shapes, and often between left and right, on the same horse, but the difference from horse to horse may not be obvious until you see two photos together, as we are showing you here. Unfortunately, the horse with the best feet is often not the fastest, or else we'd have cleaned up at the betting window years ago. However, the horses with better feet stand a chance of racing longer and staying sounder. If you are going to race a gelding, you want him to have great feet!
