Loosely related to my previous post, this time I want to cover the issue of rest. (Which has just been raised by a new stable on the forum)
Now for some stables, there is no such thing as too much rest for a horse and they only enter when the perfect race comes along (and even then with scratch conditions!) but for others having a horse sit in their stall for more than 5 days is seen as utter laziness on the horse’s part.
There is no golden rule about how much rest a horse needs as, like in RL, each need different levels. Some are running machines and can churn out solid results week on week but others need handling with kid gloves and only like to have a visit to the track once a month.
Our stable operates on a preferred minimum rest period of 21 days between races (hence why we rarely have US TC contenders) but the odd runner does go out after 14 days if they had a relatively easy race prior. Does this give us an edge? Or does it work against us because we don’t aim to be top stable on the win %?
The honest answer is - no idea! Over the last 5 years, our OTB (on the board ie 1st/2nd/3rd/4th position) finishing average has been over 50% and this year we are sitting on a 65% average with nearly 2/3rds of the season gone. We also have a rule of thumb where each horse has no more than 12 races per season max (ie one every four game weeks) but a lightly raced horse will have a longer peak than another horse with a similar AR who is raced for example 20 times in a season. Thats a completely Bally Doyle theory and can probably be disproved but we have stuck to it for all our seasons playing and we are too old to change!
Some players will say that they work on a week on / week off rota for the horse no matter what whilst others work out months in advance a horse’s race schedule and stick to it regardless. This can be done when the race schedule is published and made available as an excel sheet with filters for each option, from age to surface and all points inbetween.
Whilst each horse is just a set of numbers in a program, that program does allow for a “tired” horse to become sore or injured depending on their style/frequency of running. Only the Steward (Laurie) who runs the races has any idea of whether a horse is in good condition to run but our scratch conditions (see previous week article) doesnt allow us to ask for them to be taken out according to their “physical” condition. (And its a long enough job to run the races for Laurie as it is without adding another scratch option!)
The program does however not allow a horse to be entered if it is considered “injured” or has already run that day. There is nothing stopping an owner from entering a horse with one days rest - its happened but wouldnt be recommended. Any stable trying to enter a horse with an injury will be charged the full entry fee (its in the rules!)
There are some stables that will send a horse out week after week after week to compete and have what they consider good results, ie finishing in the money without winning regularly. Others prefer to enter horses when they have a better chance of bringing home the winners cheque.
At the end of the day its a totally personal choice and whilst we can all offer our own opinions, ideas and whether you are on the side of “there is no such thing as too much rest” or believe that a horse can only stay in your barn if they are out earning their corn every week is entirely your decision - so new stables, don’t feel pressured to follow anyone else. Take the advice given but learn what works - each horse really is different!
As my good friend Steven Hawkings explained to me:
$=R/R(+S?I?), ie Money equals Race + Rest (plus option if Sore? Injured?)
(Well it could have been Eddie Redmayne always get them confused!)
3 comments:
My rule of thumb at Otsego Farms is 30 days rest, although I'll go more frequently once in a while. Horses typically get about 10 starts per year in my stable.
I am only in my 3rd season but generally speaking I've come to believe no horse has ever benefited from racing every 3-4 weeks but I have seen some benefit of giving them time off between races. I generally like to run them every 4-6 weeks and only very rarely will bring them back in 3 but never consecutively.I may be an exception though as my stock is not the quality of others and even with my best horses I am one who really likes to plot and pick my spots. I have no problem leaving them in the barn until I get a conducive scenario to firing my best shot against a field I feel like I will be one of the favorites in. It really depends on the horse though, you can't develop a broad brush system. I have seen some horses run very well every 3-4 weeks, Commando ACOG comes to mind this season. My best horse, Round Ron, runs best with 5-8 weeks and has run some of his best races off a "layoff". Regardless of how many weeks you run a horse back in, I am a huge proponent of giving every horse a 8-10 week break at some point in the season. It just comes down to knowing your horse which takes some trial and error.
John
Breukelen House Stable
Your approach sounds very sensible to me John. More rest is always better than less.
I shoot for about 8-10 starts a year, but I'll race a sprinter (if I have one) more often; reasoning that they require less time to reboot. My stable is generally composed of Classic and Distance horses though, so I am very content to limit their starts and give them plenty of rest.
In my first season in PF, I was a notorious over-racer. I didn't know any better, but I eventually figured it out...
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