racing after being a broodmare

reenci · Postby **reenci** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:55 pm

is this done ? horse in question was retired with a slab fracture of knee. was bred and was wondering if racing would be possible with 2yrs off...."this is conjecture only"...horse im thinking about was very consistent and at the peak of her game. still has anyone one out there done this and if so how did it work out ?

Cree · Postby **Cree** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:55 pm

Do they stay sound after a slab fracture?
Also, why do that to the mare? Seems like squeezing the lemon just a little bit too much.

Dave C · Postby **Dave C** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:55 am

This is something that has really tempted me to try given the very well documented effects having children has on the physical and psychological performance of women. In humans, if a woman can bring herself to put up with the mental grind of high performance training after having a child, they report that they feel stronger and generally their performance reflects their self assessment. Given that all mammals share a very large percentage of their genes, and given the predatory pressure under which horses evolved, and the performance pressure under which humans have shaped the horses development, it would seem probable that mares would not experience any significant performance loss by having a foal. I haven't yet found a mare with which to experiment but it is something I will try at some point.

KBEquine · Postby **KBEquine** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:33 am

I know of a mare who was unraced, had 2 foals & THEN went into race training, but I don't know why her owners decided to send her then. She had a really mediocre record & was running at the same time as both of her fillies.

They fillies each earned more than $100k, but since she began racing when the oldest was just starting her career, their earnings were all in the future & so that couldn't have been the reason she was sent to the track, a maiden at age 6.

winds · Postby **winds** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:41 am

I wouldn't put one back into training after a slab fracture, not if she's already a broodmare. I had a gelding I put back into training, he ran 3 times and reslabbed, became a ladies hunter after that. Did well because his new owner didn't jump much.

winds

Fair Play · Postby **Fair Play** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:16 am

The only time I have seen it was years ago at a small track so I might be off on a few details. Someone entered an eight year old who I could swear had an udder! She must have had two qualifying works to enter. She had full cup blinkers on so I couldn't see her eye, but she was not impressed. She froze up, then bucked me off so hard in the paddock, the ambulance was moving. I was young and stupid, so got back on with the pony jogging her. She then dwelt in the gate, and got beaten a quarter of a mile going 5 or 6f. I didn't get the call back

and can't remember who she was or if she ran again. I don't want to base my opinion on that one experience, but I just can't see it. My mares almost faint on the odd occasion I get on one, nevermind dragging them out of their herd and to a track. They now know what they are missing.

ratherrapid · Postby **ratherrapid** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:23 am

a early 2 yr. old of mine became accidentally pregnant a few years back. After she had the foal I continued to exercise her with a view to racing her because she had some talent. After about a year of training she still had the same broodmare morphology as at the outset of training. She could run, and was still athletic, but too slow to compete. Probably a muscle composition thing after all that time off.

louis finochio · Postby **louis finochio** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:56 pm

if the mare is by alphabet Soup, or pleasant colony, both noted for late maturing tbs, i would race her on turf to see how she does in her comeback. if she runs well, just keep her in training, if not back to the shed.

Fair Play · Postby **Fair Play** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:22 pm

That is interesting. I know of two horses who had surprise pregnancies while in the middle of their racing careers. Both must have gone to a farm for a rest about 11 months before.... One foaled at Aqueduct, the other made it to the end of the season and foaled at a farm in Oct. I remember reading about them when they foaled, but didn't hear if they made it back or even tried. I wonder how much difference it would make in a case like the first one where she ran about 3 weeks before foaling. She would be pretty fit.

UmmYeah · Postby **UmmYeah** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:47 pm

Well there's this horse: http://www.pedigreequery.com/glory+be+good2

Produced a colt in '07 by Regal Classic, and now she's back in training. Ran next-to-last in a claimer at Suffolk on August 1.

KBEquine · Postby **KBEquine** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:12 pm

louis finochio wrote:if the mare is by alphabet Soup, or pleasant colony, both noted for late maturing tbs, i would race her on turf to see how she does in her comeback. if she runs well, just keep her in training, if not back to the shed.

The one I knew of was a Marquetry & from Family 4-m (her 4th dam was a full sister to Boldnesian).

I remember her mostly because I pulled her produce & race record when she went up for sale. If the economy weren't so bad, she'd have been mine as a breed-to-race mare because I loved the match with one of the stallions . . .

griff · Postby **griff** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:12 pm

Cree

"Why do that to the mare"'

people subject show horses to fitness training because a fit horse is a happy horse and it shows.. Subjecting a mare to race training after she has had a foal is doing her a favor.

griff

wilf · Postby **wilf** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:15 pm

Reenci, I wouldn't do it, seems like it's sending good money after bad especially considering the circumstances of the mare's retirement. I sold a nice mare to an Ohio guy once as a broodmare after she had won out her conditions,in fact I retired her in the winner's circle. They bred her and had one foal then put her back to the grind when she was about 8 yrs old. Of course she ran awful about four times so she went to the killer auctions, nice guy. I would have rescued her but never heard of it until it was too late. I wanted to kill the assxxxx!

Joltman · Postby **Joltman** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:57 am

i've seen several mares run while pregnant and they did well, including some harness horses. My guess though is that after foaling, the physiological changes to the hip structures would affect something, maybe speed. Certainly attitudes would most likely change.

I would agree with Griff that one of my mares was at her happiest when she was working daily at the track.

jm

Elusive City · Postby **Elusive City** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:38 am

http://www.pedigreequery.com/norma+jean6

Hoss was a maiden in the US. (couldn't get out of her own way as a two year old 3 starts--no wins). shipped to Agentina as a three year old. Bred in 2006 and delivered a 2007 southern hemisphere filly by Sunray spirit.
entered back into training in Argentina as a 6 year old this year 7 starts--3 wins!

amazing. not sure that she had anything wrong with her but a case of the slows. being a mommy made her faster? who knows but a good story.

EC