Do All Racehorses Wear Shoes?

The simple answer is no. However, you will find that most racehorses wear shoes to protect their hooves, especially to prevent the hoof wall from cracking or splitting. You may find that some horses are not fitted with shoes because they have problems with their hooves.

Horse racing shoes are generally made of aluminium – strong and light weight. In recent years, carbon shoes have become more popular as they almost half the weight of aluminium (65g per shoe). There is scientific evidence that carbon shoes are better for horses.

Many non-racing horses wear steel shoes, while some traditional draft horses have naturally strong hooves and do not need shoes.

Racehorses need their hooves trimmed or shod every couple of months by a farrier. Trimming and balancing can cost from £25 – £35 and shoeing £50 – £85.

You may have seen horses spread a plate or lose a shoe when racing. This is usually because they step on it with another hoof. This is more likely to happen in softer conditions because they are less coordinated. It is unlikely a horse will lose a shoe just by the muddy conditions.

Horse shoes are considered lucky.

Some considered the traditional blacksmith working with fire and steel as having special powers. While the eighth century Chaldeans, the cradle of civilisation, thought its crescent shape represented moon goddesses protecting against the curse of the evil eye. An upside down horseshoe is a common sight for those who are superstitious.

Has Bill Gredley ever won a British Classic?

Property tycoon William ‘Bill’ Gredley, who also owns Stretchworth Park Stud in Newmarket, has been an influential figure in British horse racing, under both codes, for decades. Most recently his familiar racing silks – yellow, black and yellow striped sleeves, white cap – were carried to victory by Allmankind, whom he owns jointly with his son, Tim, in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree in October, 2021.

As far as British Classics are concerned, Gredley has won not one, but two, with the same horse. In 1992, the Slip Anchor filly User Friendly, whom he bred and owned, won her first six starts, including the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St. Leger. Trained by the globe-trotting Clive Brittain, User Friendly was subsequently beaten favourite in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and the Japan Cup at Tokyo, but was, nonetheless, named European Horse of the Year.

Down the years, Gredley has also tried, and failed, to win the Derby on more than one occasion. In 1991, for example, Environment Friend won the Dante Stakes at York and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown either side of finishing only eleventh, beaten 41 lengths, behind Generous in the Derby at Epsom. Gredley said later, ‘…he just didn’t fire at Epsom.’ Likewise, Chancellor, who won the Sandown Classic Trial in 2001, was barely sighted behind Galileo at Epsom, trailing in tenth, beaten 15½ lengths.

 

Did Lester Piggott ever win the Grand National?

Did Lester Piggott ever win the Grand National? Horse racing aficionados may baulk at the idea of Lester Piggott, arguably the greatest Flat jockey of all time, ever winning the Grand National, but the notion is not as absurd as it may sound on first hearing. After all, the Piggott family has connections to the Grand National; Keith Piggott, father of Lester, trained Ayala to win the world famous steeplechase in 1963 and his father, Ernie, rode Jerry M and Poethlyn to victory, in 1912 and 1918 and 1919, respectively.

Furthermore, while Lester Piggott is probably best remembered as the leading jockey in the history of the Derby, which he won nine times between 1954 and 1983, he also rode successfully over obstacles in the early years of his career. His career in the sphere of National Hunt racing was confined to hurdles, so he never rode in, never mind won, any steeplechase. Nevertheless, Piggott did record one or two high-profile successes among his 20 victories over the smaller obstacles. In early 1954, for example, he won the Birdlip Hurdle at Cheltenham on Mull Sack and the Triumph Hurdle at Hurst Park on Prince Charlemagne, en route to his first Derby success on Never Say Die the following June.

Which is Roger Brookhouse’s best National Hunt horse?

At an early stage of the 2021/22 National Hunt season, owner Roger Brookhouse has had 25 runners and four winners, earning nearly £47,000 prize money, and currently lies eleventh in the Jump Owners’ Championship. Of the horses he has run so far in 2021/22, the ‘best’ or, in other words, the highest rated according to the official British Horseracing Authority (BHA) handicapper, is Black Op. The 10-year-old Sandmason gelding was rated 153 when finishing down the field in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2019, but has since dropped to a mark of 145 after a disappointing chasing career during which he has won just once in 11 starts over regulation fences.

Of the horses that have won, so far, this season, Rock On Rocco, who is 2-4 over fences, is officially rated 127, while Champagne City, who is 2-5 over hurdles, is rated 126. In recent seasons, the highest-rated horse to grace Brookhouse’s light blue and pink colours was Summerville Boy, who won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2018. Another Sandmason gelding, Summerville Boy was rated 155 when last seen in public, in the Relkeel Hurdle at Kempton in January, 2021. He is still listed under ‘Horses in Training’ on trainer Tom George’s website but, for whatever reason, his name no longer appears in the BHA ratings database. I have been unable to find any news of his retirement, injury or worse, so his fate remains something of a mystery.

1 … 66 67 68 69 70 … 148