Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Preparing To Race The Standardbred: The Warm Up Miles
By Kimberly A. Rinker

Standardbred horses, whether they’re performing for a night of pari-mutuel harness racing or an afternoon at the county fair race tracks, are “warmed-up” thoroughly before they are raced. Some have had as many as five warm-up miles before they race, while others as little as a two-mile warm-up session.

The reason for the variances in these warm-up trips? Individual warming-up patterns vary according to the conditioning beliefs of the trainers, and the known habits of their horses. Sluggish horses, for instance, may need additional miles to get them tuned up for racing, while nervous or frail horses may be warmed up just a couple of miles in order to conserve their strength and peace of mind.

In general, however, with variations allowed for trainers and horses, a trotter or pacer is usually prepared for his racing assignment in the following manner.

Preparation for a race usually begins the morning the horse is to be raced. Depending upon the trainer’s ideas, some horses are given smaller meals race days, or they may be deprived of their hay ration for that day until after they race. If a horse is scheduled to race early on the evening’s card, then he or she is usually fed at noon and not given their night feed until many hours after they have raced and been cooled out. Some trainers prefer not to feed any grain until the next morning, allowing the horse to just eat hay after he races instead.

The horse’s caretaker ideally has cleaned and oiled his charge’s harness and has prepared a “race” bucket. This bucket will contain all the items necessary for the race: a sponge, sweat scraper, blanket clamps, a cooler or two and possibly a sweat sheet, along with some tape and any boots or head poles the horse may wear.

The groom will brush and curry the horse, removing any dirt from his coat, mane and tail. He will also pick his hooves clean, removing dirt, manure, straw and hoof packing. Depending upon the trainer, the horse will either be hooked to a jog cart or a racing sulky after he is harnessed and then travel to Balmoral’s paddock/detention area.

Approximately two hours prior to post time, the horse will go his first warm-up trip. Often, if the horse is an aged or experienced competitor, he will only go one warm-up trip, usually just an hour prior to post.

Let’s assume this horse goes two warm-up trips. His first session will see him jog two to three miles, and the trainer might turn him the right way of the race track and score him a slow mile, perhaps in 2:30 or 2:25. This is done to help loosen up the horse’s muscles, relax him and help him to “empty-out,” that is, to get rid of any excess waste he may be carrying within his bowels. The horse is then taken back to the paddock and is sponged down and covered with a blanket or perhaps a sweat sheet over the blanket or under it. The sweat sheet helps to retain heat and keep the horse’s muscles warm.

Approximately one hour prior to post this horse will be re-bridled and prepared for his second warm-up mile. Sometimes, but not always, he will wear most of his racing gear for this final trip. Usually the trainer will jog the horse one mile and then turn the right way of the race track to score a faster training trip.

Afterwards, the horse returns to the paddock stall, in preparation for his race. Again, his bridle is removed and he is sponged down and covered with blankets and/or the sweat sheet. This is to allow him to relax and to prepare for the final task at hand, the actual race.

The caretaker may rub the horse’s shoulders, back and hind-end area with a liniment to keep his muscles invigorated and stimulated. He will also clean off any excess sweat or water that has accumulated on the animal’s body, remove and clean his boots or bandages and reset them prior to race time. The caretaker will also check over all the equipment to make sure all pieces are in good working order, and that none of the leathers appear strained or weak.

Should this equipment fail at any time, the results could be critical, thus resulting in injury to the horse, his driver and others in the race. Ultimately the responsibility falls on the trainer’s shoulders, but a good caretaker usually knows everything about the horses in his care and keeps their equipment in tip-top shape.