ROB’S SHOUT - I THINK HE NEEDS A SPELL

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, February 17, 2011

Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the premiership winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.

There is an aspect of the thoroughbred Racing industry which, in my opinion is grossly under-estimated.

We closely follow and monitor a horse’s racing and training program, but we tend to dismiss too lightly the importance of a horse having a good 'spell'!

A phrase we often hear in racing, which is perhaps not fully understood well enough, is, ‘he or she needs a spell!’

Why do they 'need a spell'? When should they spell and what is the optimum length of time for a horse to spell?

These are questions we as trainers often have to address in the racing and training program of most horses and honestly, when we get it right, it's a huge advantage over some of the opposition and it’s vital for the racing career of the horse!

Of course there is no specific rule which states that a horse must have a certain time off away from the race track … well that's not entirely true as a horse deemed to have bled for the first time must have three months away from racing.

All trainers will have a different idea on what they think is best and of course each horse is different and the circumstances can vary so much for each individual but there is a general rule of thumb that many trainers adhere to.

With most horses we tend to think it's time for a spell when their form wanes a bit and they are not performing to expectations or at least to their better level of form!

Certainly the equation is different for horses who have reached a certain grading and then have to be prepared for either specific races or time frames such as the Winter Carnival in Brisbane or maybe the Autumn carnival in Sydney or even the huge Spring Carnival in Melbourne.

This is invariably the case with the better quality horses such as the group winners who usually get weighted out of the regular Saturday metropolitan fixtures. It is of vital importance that the timing be spot on to have the good horses at their peak for the specific races and carnivals!

Some horses can race maybe eight to ten times in a prep whilst there are the odd few who are iron horses, like old 'Adavale Hornet' from a few years back, who just seemed to go on forever … winning plenty of races as well.

Another recent example has been Rightson who was up for an extraordinary long time and remained competitive. Full credit to their trainers for keeping them up and enthusiastic for so long!

On average, most horses tend to cope with about eight to ten runs a campaign if well managed with suitable breaks between races before they require a break
from the rigours of training and racing.

The reasons for a spell can be just as much mental as physical.

A horses muscles can degenerate over an extended period of intense work and racing which can cause a loss of form requiring a spell, but a lot of horses can and do get mentally jaded, especially the young ones early in their careers where often we can only get a few runs out of them.

It’s making the right calls regarding when to and when not to spell which contributes to the longevity of a horses racing careers!

Keeping that desire in the horses and having them want to push themselves 'into the red zone'. That's the mark of a trainer who is getting it right with a horse!

We have seen many times where former top horses just lose that competitive edge and no longer want to run to their best.

Speaking of which, what a great call by the master horseman Peter Moody, recently, to bring the curtain down on the career of the champion mare Typhoon Tracy.

Graham Potter has written an excellent article on the retirement of the superstar which has been posted on the horseracingonly.com.au site. To access go to the racing news section and find the story entitled, ‘Moody’s great judgement call’.

I fully concur with Graham’s thoughts on the move to retire her.

That was a big call but as, invariably comes from Big Pete, it was again the right call! His management of his team of stars is arguably the best I have ever in my time in racing!

I always try to send a horse to the paddock for a spell with a bit of fuel still left in the tank!

This means that the horse can go for a break still feeling well often after it has run a top race, maybe even have just won a race.

From experience I have found that most horses spell better whilst still on a high mentally and physically.

There will always be those who will say ‘whilst they are racing well, keep em going’ and there are cases where that may be right, but one run too many and they may not spell as well as they should!

Horses who have' trained off' or perhaps 'gone over the top' will often need a good month or so just to pick themselves back up off the canvass. That was very much the case with my good horse Buffering after his last campaign.

He clocked up thousands of kilometers travelling up and down the Coast and he gave his all in the Group 1 Coolmore to run a courageous 4th.

He returned to Washpool Lodge and Kevie Thomas said he needed a good month just to get himself back to square one, so we consequently gave him the full three months in the paddock.

It meant we missed the Magic Millions, but he's now back in work looking the best he has ever looked and being prepared for the upcoming Winter Carnival up here!

I am confident we have done the right thing for the horse and our patience can be well rewarded later on.

There will always be exceptions to the rule of thumb and no doubt plenty of examples where things just don't go right.

Here are two contrasting occasions from my short career and there will be many other trainers with hundreds of examples.

I had a good two-year-old racing back in the time when Falvelon was going around and winning everything he went in. My bloke had won two nice, fat, juicy QTIS races in succession on Saturdays on alternate weeks, but wanting to dodge the champion, we spelled our fella.

He never won another race for us and for the life of us, we could never work out why!

The old adage of 'strike while the iron is hot' may well have applied in that case!

Then there is the story of my two-year-old Group winner Funtantes.

We gave her a good, long spell after her unlucky Sydney campaign where she should have won a stakes race at Rosehill.

We gave her that long break without any specific injury or reason other than just looking after her and then, just as she was about to kick off her three-year-old campaign, she tweaked her 'hammie' and she didn't really recover from that setback right throughout her three-year-old year.

Maybe we were a bit to kind to her but, whatever the case, she is back now racing as well as ever and whilst she hasn't had much luck, we have her back racing in good form.

I have generally found that a break/spell of six to eight weeks is sufficient time for a horse to fully recover from a racing preparation although sometimes the youngsters need longer, especially if they have had some soundness issues such as shin soreness and soft tissue problems.

It really does depend on what order or condition they went out to the paddock in the first place.

It’s important for all owners to fully appreciate the benefits of a top spell. No longer is it just a matter of 'throwing them into a paddock' with a foot of grass and hope they do well!

Probably just like us really, you have a good holiday from work and you come back feeling refreshed and replenished and rearing to go?

Maybe a bit overweight but nothing a few gym sessions couldn't fix? No different from the horses I guess?

So in summary, the spelling of any horse is something which is an important aspect in their lives. Making the right calls at the right times ensures the horses can perform at their optimum for the 'extended' length of their racing career's.

We are fortunate in South East Queensland to have a host of excellent agistment facilities available to us from Washpool, Bob Woods at Oakwood Farm, Stans up at Craiglea Stud do a top job, Secret Hills are great and Kolora have a great reputation also … and I do apologise for leaving out so many.

The bottom line though, for all owners and racing enthusiasts, you should never under-estimate the value of a horse having a 'GOOD' spell!

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