Question for people with experience in racing? Trainers, riders, handicappers?

Question

So I'm watching the races at Northfield tonight, and it is snowing and very cold. It got me thinking, so my question is, does the cold weather affect a horse's running ability? If so, how? And how would you figure this into handicapping?

Answer 1

Not so much I don't think.

And islc, as for the icing of a horses hands,....LOL it's not hands, but hooves,....and yes some trainers will stand their horse in ice before races....but that has nothing to do w/  getting a horse ready to run in cold weather.

To answer your question, IMHO , other then like kmn said, depends on a horses personality really.

Being a large furry mammal, a horse can and does generate alot of heat...when racing, trainers will 'clip' their horses according to the style of racing.....making it easier to cool them out after wards, which helps keep them from getting sick.  When I worked at Latonia before it became Turfway, which was Winter racing, we would still bathe the horses after a race....cover them, cool them off, blanket them and pop them back in their stalls, all tucked in w/ lots of clean bedding.   The barns themselves were simply covered in plastic sheets, so it's safe to say that the cold doesn't bother them, and can in fact invigorate them.  Riders often came back from morning training saying that they felt their mounts were more energetic.

So I wouldn't say that it affects the handicapping, but I can see where a bettor who paid attention,might notice that the first few races of a meet might be a bit more interesting.

Answer 2

does the cold weather affect a horse's running ability

no it is good for ther nerve

most of the trainers USO ice on the horses hands be for starting

Answer 3

summer heat is much harder on a horse than cold

Answer 4

first of all, I'm from Cleveland too :o)

Second...  yes, cold weather will affect the races.  Some horses hate the cold weather and some don't mind.  Some horses hate the hot and run better in the cold.  It's hard to tell what horses though.  I tend to look at how the horse is warming up before the race.  If they look stiff in the warm up, they're probably gonna look stiff in the race.  You could also look at the DRF to see past performances and see if they did well in races during other cold parts of the year... but that's hard though since a horse might have been doing poorly in March and run well in August just because of progress, not because of the cold.  You could look at workout times in the DRF too... if they were steadily doing pretty quick workouts and their most recent workout was a lot slower, they might have been uncomfortable with the temperature.

For me, looking at the horses as they warm up works better than anything else, but I think it's because I work with horses a lot and have learned to see things that others can't.  Try experimenting with each of the methods or combining them together to see how they work for you.

Answer 5

this is a good question-the simple answer is that there is no simple answer.cold ,very cold weather may hinder a horse with a bleeding problem,the cold air may irritate the problem and cause the horse to bleed easier than it would otherewise do.however,i have trained winners on the flat in temperatures below freezing,and over jumps over a distance of 3 miles when the snow was falling and it was very cold .so it really depends on the horse and the trainer will or should know how or if it wil affect the horse.the handicapper has no insight to this and as such he has no ability or reason to alter his weight allowance etc.

Answer 6

check the times run .horses tend to run faster times in the warmer weather,and unless it is very humid horses who have bled and need lasix probably breathing better,. eg. If I see a horse ran i a 1:09 sprint on a similar condition race and track in Fla in 80 degree weather . He may ship north and get beat with the same company with a final time of 1;10 and some .

Answer 7

Cold weather always makes for slower times. When looking at past performances always consider the temperature and try to adjust your thinking.

Answer 8

I would imagine the cold weather is a factor for the horses and that some of them (the drivers as well) would do better in that environment than others.  But I don't know any way that you can handicap it unless you are taking notes for next time...it seems to me that the horses that don't like the cold and snow, assuming the conditioners know this, are scratched out and the ones that are left are fairly game.  You also have to figure that if the horses are all stabled, train and race in the region, then they will all be more or less used to the same weather patterns.  If you had a horse recently shipped in from, say, Cal Expo, it would probably more affected by the adverse conditions than an 11 year old gelding that has raced at Northfield for most of its career.  Again, though, since the PPs don't really go any detail as to the temperature on a given night of racing, the best you can do is when you see racing from Northfield on another similar night--as a former Clevelander I can testify that there will be many, many more of them before, oh, Easter--you might scan the field to see if you recognize any animals that performed well on this night.  They may be good to bet under similar circumstances.  And when in doubt at Northfield you won't go broke backing horses driven by Aaron Merriman, Elliot Deaton or Andy Shetler.

Answer 9

If you had to run in the cold how would it affect you ??MIght even make them run faster, i think i might if i was that cold . ......Handicapping has absolutely nothing to do with the weather ! IT's weights added on the saddle to try and give each horse the same chance of winning , ...............