Time off

Stella Kenny · Post by **Stella Kenny** » 17 years ago

How much time off would be too long to bring a horse back to the track? Any guidelines for that? I'm still trying to get used to the timeline in this game.

Nikki Everdeen · Post by **Nikki Everdeen** » 17 years ago

I do three weeks for older horses and four weeks for 2yos. I.e. Week 1/Week 4 for older and Week 1/Week 5 for 2yos.

Sarah Anne · Post by **Sarah Anne** » 17 years ago

If I have a horse who ran a really hard race and came back pretty tired, I will give them more time off.

Emily Mitchell · Post by **Emily Mitchell** » 17 years ago

I don't think there is ever a limited time frame when a horse can return to the track after a layoff. However, if you give your older horse 4 or 5 weeks off you would want to put them in a lower level race to get them sharp again. Horses (with a 2 y/o exception) do lose of bit of their fitness over an extended break- every horse is different though. Sometimes they will run best after 1 week off, sometimes after 2 or 3... I would think rarely after 4- but that's just my experience.

I give my two year-olds 3 to 4 weeks off each time, and my three year olds will be either 2 or 3 weeks off... but near the end of the year they will switch to 2 weeks off and maybe occasionally 1 week off. The occasionally 1 week off and 2 weeks off is what I do with my horses who are 4+. UNLESS the horse has soundness issues- then they demand more time off than is usual.

Er, okay I hope that all makes sense. :ph34r:

Stella Kenny · Post by **Stella Kenny** » 17 years ago

I was thinking more of the horses sold from the auction block that haven't run since year 15. Can they be brought back again? Or is that jsut too long?

Emily Mitchell · Post by **Emily Mitchell** » 17 years ago

Like I said, yes I think that is very possible. They just won't be at the top of their game in their first race- so don't enter them in like a stakes race or something.

Dave Shields · Post by **Dave Shields** » 17 years ago

Running a horse that hasn't run since year 15 should be ok, like EmilyM said don't expect a win first outing and think of it as more of a conditioning run. There might be different conditioning from off the sale page than if it was in your barn, but then again, maybe not. I am guilty or buying horses off the sale page and placing them in stakes, but knowing they were fillers. It will bring a check (if you end up in the top 5 spots) but you have to weigh a check against possibly ruining the horses "confidence". If you want the money fast and can find a nice spot to be filler, it might be worth it. Then again, if you slowly get your horse up to potential the long term checks may be way more than that initial filler check.

On the subject or rest:
I have a horse that ran year 16 week 12, then it's next race was year 17 week 3. I got the running line "ran like a short horse". First of I pictured a weiner dog looking horse and laughed my behind off, then asked around at what that really meant. Basically the horse was out of condition. So just for those that think there is no such thing as too much time off, well there is and I found it. Now the key is finding that happy medium in between too much and too little rest and know it will be different for each horse.

Dawn Palka · Post by **Dawn Palka** » 17 years ago

So how can you tell if a horse has soundness problems?

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 17 years ago

Best way to tell is to ask about it. Those of us that have been around long enough to observe which horses break down and with what frequency generally know a little bit about that stuff and are willing to share.

As an example: Silver Charm and his descendants are unsound. Sunday Silence and his progeny are very solid. Combine the two... flip a coin.

Ara Davies · Post by **Ara Davies** » 17 years ago

Anything with me listed as the breeder (or whose sire and/or dam were bred by me) is going to be sound with probably a 95% certainty. Even my "breaky" ones tend to be sounder than a lot of people's "sound" horses. That goes even for Silver Charm descendants bred by me.

Ian Nicastrin · Post by **Ian Nicastrin** » 17 years ago

filler question: so if a maiden horse gets 4th place out of 4 horses in a stakes race that he shouldn't be in... is that as damaging to the horses "confidence" as say coming in 7th of 12 horses in a maiden race?

Dave Shields · Post by **Dave Shields** » 17 years ago

Blu Zebra Racing wrote: filler question: so if a maiden horse gets 4th place out of 4 horses in a stakes race that he shouldn't be in... is that as damaging to the horses "confidence" as say coming in 7th of 12 horses in a maiden race?

That's a good question. I have used horses as "fillers" and yes it can ruin them in terms of confidence. However, with enough rest and some confidence building races can bring back a horse. That is providing the horse "has something". Most of my filler horses either weren't amounting to much, bought for the sole purpose to be a filler or I couldn't figure out what the heck the horse "could" be good at. If you don't mind using it for the sole purpose of filling in here and there, then go for it. But if you want to try and take this horse somewhere, better to stick to maidens and break that before entering stakes level. I also have to add there are exceptions and some horses take well to stakes without breaking their maiden (although it is pretty rare I think).

If your horse has about 5-7 starts and hasn't broke it's maiden yet, there is a chance it just isn't going to amount to much. I see many people dropping horses down a level (to claiming) when they very well could use that horse as a filler in a short field. When I started the game it was all about trying to get more money, but now as my stable has grown it is about weeding out the horses I either can't figure out or haven't found their groove yet.

As for the coming in 7th out of 12 in a maiden race, it could be due to several factors like not the right conditions for the horse (i.e. want the other surface or went too long or short). That is where the running lines will help to give clues. If you can't get enough info on what might be going on with a horse, definitely helps to ask here, seems like asking around will give you ideas of what to try next when you are stumped. I don't think the maiden races take down a horses confidence and I do think they will give you a better gauge of where your horse might or might not want to be running.

That's just my thoughts about fillers, I am sure others have different views and ways they approach the filler issue.