Tag: national hunt

What is a maiden race?

In horse racing parlance, a maiden is a horse – regardless of its age or sex – that has yet to win a race in its selected discipline. Thus, it follows, naturally, that a maiden race is a race in which none of the participants have won a race in their selected discipline. Maiden races are run on the Flat and under National Hunt Rules, so the situation is complicated, somewhat, by horses that progress from one discipline to another, as many do, throughout their careers. A horse that has won a Flat race, or a National Hunt Flat race, but not a hurdle race, is still eligible for a ‘maiden hurdle’ by virtue of never having won a race over obstacles, and so on.

What does ‘seeing a stride’ mean?

In National Hunt racing, over hurdles or fences, ‘seeing a stride’ refers to the ability of a jockey not only to identify the point at which, ideally, a horse should leave the ground to negotiate an obstacle successfully, but also to ride positively to reach that point. To position a horse optimally – that is, close to the base of an obstacle, but not so close as to impair take-off – a jockey must consider the characteristics of the horse, in terms of balance, suppleness and temperament and, of course, its stride length, as well as the nature of the obstacle. Of course, the different types of obstacles include hurdles, plain fences and open ditches; the tallest and broadest fence on the Grand National Course at Aintree, known as ‘The Chair’, is 5’3″ high and 9′ wide, including a 6′ wide ditch on the take-off side. A horse typically has a stride length between 9′ and 12′, so will cover at least that distance in the air and possibly further, if the obstacle is wider. Nevertheless, while momentum is required to jump larger obstacles, a jockey must avoid ‘kicking on’ too hard, which can lead to jumping errors, loss of confidence and injury to horse and rider.

What is the going?

In horse racing, the term ‘going’ is used to describe the condition of the ground at a racecourse, in terms of its moisture content. The going is measured by the Clerk of the Course on a raceday morning and communicated to the Racecourse Association which, in turn, distributes the information to the Press Association. Traditionally, the going was described by one of seven broad, subjective categories, ranging from ‘hard’ to ‘heavy’.

However, for National Hunt racing, going previously described, officially, as ‘hard’ has been outlawed as unraceable in Britain and, for Flat racing, such going is rarely, if ever, experienced anywhere other than Bath; set on the Lansdown Plateau, 780 feet above sea level, Bath is the highest racecourse in the country that stages Flat racing and has no watering system.

Furthermore, for racing under both codes, at least on turf racecourses, the traditional going description is accompanied by an objective, empirical figure, known as a ‘GoingStick reading’. Described as a cross between a spade and a shooting stick, the GoingStick is a device with a single metal probe that is pushed into the ground and measures penetration and shear, which are translated into a figure representing the moisture content of the soil. The GoingStick produces readings between 0 and 15, but a reading below 5 (‘heavy’) or above 10 (‘firm’) usually means that the ground is unraceable.

Of course, some racecourses in Britain also stage Flat racing on synthetic, or ‘all-weather’, surfaces, such as Fibresand, Polytrack and Tapeta. These surfaces, which consist of silica sand, polypropylene fibres and other components, can be rolled or harrowed to adjust their firmness, but the official going description still relies on the traditional, subjective approach. Indeed, all-weather racing has even few categories than turf racing, with the going ranging from ‘fast’, through ‘standard’, to ‘slow’.

When do racehorses reach their peak?

The age at which racehorses reach their peak, in terms of performance, depends on the age at which they start competition, the discipline in which they compete and other factors, including, but not limited to their genetic makeup, physical soundness and temperament. However, it is also true that young horses have lower blood volume and, hence, lower oxygen-carrying capacity, than their older, mature counterparts.

Generally speaking, thoroughbreds that race on the Flat typically reach their peak between 4 and 5 years. Of course, many of them do not race beyond 3 years, so never actually fulfil their potential. By contrast, National Hunt horses typically reach their peak between 7 and 10 years. It is important to note that, in the Northern Hemisphere, every thoroughbred has the same birthday – that is, January 1 – regardless of the month of the year in which is was actually born.

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