The Run for the Roses — aka the Kentucky Derby — at legendary racetrack Churchill Downs in Louisville is considered an all-day event. In reality, the 20 Thoroughbred horses called to the post of the Derby began racing toward the winners circle even before they were conceived. The contest, historically called “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” is rich in tradition and pageantry, its lineage is ancient, yet it follows strident-state-of-the-art regulation.
As a young girl, Helen Orcutt Noble sidled alongside her veterinarian dad as he tended to his patients. She followed the passion she felt for animals to Suffolk University then on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where she graduated magna cum laude in the early ’80s. Dr. Noble has a history of practicing and praying for animals in her care. Through missionary service she’s mixed veterinary medicine and miracles at work in India and the Philippines. These days from Ipswich, she practices on all of God’s animal creatures but feels an especially strong interest in equine healthcare. She describes horses as having mannerisms much like humans. As individuals some are laid-back with nonchalant personality types, others are loving souls with trusting eyes and some have a spirit born to run their long-legged, lean bodies with speed and majesty.
Dr. Noble describes the horses that race in the Kentucky Derby as trained elite professional athletes, genetically conceived to be distance runners of strength. The 3-year-olds also have an intuitive sense for how to win. They bolt, bump and run to the finish line. They are smart animals, with a proven history of track racing for the love of it. Their talents are far from serendipitous. Dr. Noble says their lives begin after sophisticated analysis of lineage and witnessed “live-cover” commingling.
Artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET) — commonly used to breed other horses — are prohibited in Thoroughbred breeding. Dr. Noble and many other experts in equine reproductive care say the live-cover regulation is a politically motivated “supply and demand” business model that keeps the price of Thoroughbred horses high. With control over the commodity, retired Thoroughbred stallions “live-cover” a few hundred highly sought-after mares in a year. If AI and ET were approved, thousands of foals would be born annually, and control of the industry would be lost.
Noble explains before the natural process is allowed, calculation of breeding traits are weighed. For all bred horses, especially those on Thoroughbred level of competition, overall health and a full spectrum of other characteristics such as agility, neck length, prettiness, speed and height are considered.
Executive Director of Equine Programming at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Remi Bellocq explained from his office in Lexington the height of horses is measured in “hands.” The term, an old expression in the “Sport of Kings,” most likely became part of equine parlance during the time of King Charles II. Measured by using the width of a human hand from the horse’s withers, (a notch on it’s back past its shoulder) to the ground, race horses range in height between 15 1/2 to 18 hands. Their weight ranges between 900 to 1,200 lbs. Three-year-olds in prime racing form tend to be of medium hand and on the lighter side of the scale.
By regulation, foals born in the Northern Hemisphere are mandated to declare the date of birth as January 1. In the Southern Hemisphere, birth dates are registered as August 1. According to Bellocq, the artificial foaling dates further complicate an already difficult challenge for the winner of the Derby to later win the other two jewels of the Triple Crown tradition. He says many young Thoroughbreds running the Kentucky Derby in early May, the Preakness in late May and the Belmont Stakes in June may develop more matured muscular and skeletal body types between the three races, making them physically different at each event. As muscle mass is added and bones lengthen the horse’s running style frequently changes.
The protection of animal rights within the billion-dollar industry is the concern of many, including members of organizations such as The Humane Society of the U.S and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Thoughtfully addressing those concerns, Dr. Noble says domesticated and race horses are gently imprinted from birth to welcome human interactions, facilitating their life long care. The animals are massaged, blanketed, carefully fed and cared for medically. Professionals are trained to assess mood and cooperative nature of these animals before they are approached for treatment. She went on to say, understanding each horse as an individual she and other pros know some animals prefer to be comforted into compliance, others need to be distracted with treats while being cared for. Like human patients, many horses seem indifferent to their care, exhibiting a sense of having to get an unpleasantness over with.
When asked about the seemingly violent practice of whipping horses to perform better during a race, Dr. Noble responded sensitively but confidently saying the horses are not being harmed. She compared the whip of a 100-pound jockey on a 900-pound race horse to be something akin to a nudging kick in the pants.
Professional horse racing is more than a visually beautiful sport to watch a few times a year. It’s also an agri-business, generating jobs on farms, training centers and race tracks. An adjunct of BCTC is the North American Racing Academy (NARA). As the first and only professional racing school in the country, NARA offers courses to grooms, riders, trainers, jockeys as well as farm managers involved in the skilled care of race horses. Organizations such as these broaden the industrial understanding of animal safety and welfare, bio-security, nutrition and medication reform.
Sunday, six days before the race, students of the school were taken on a guided tour of Churchill Down’s barn. There they met Hall of Fame trainers as they begin to prepare horses for the Derby. Introduced by Bellocq and two-time Derby winning jockey, Chris McCarron (formerly of Boston) to Bob Baffert, famed trainer of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh and 2016 Derby contenders Mor Spirit and Cupid, students saw first hand how elite equine athletes are cared for by some of the world’s most sophisticated equine professionals.
Students with Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg (on horse) and jockey Chris McCarron (white hat). (Courtesy of Sarah Dudik/Bluegrass Community and Technical College)
Long before the elaborate creations of millinery marvel are donned, icy, silver-cupped mint juleps are sipped, or the first note of “My Old Kentucky Home” is sung, the big business of Thoroughbred horse racing has set the pace of the historic dirt tracked race that began in 1875. It’s expected 155,000 people will be at Churchill Downs to witness the 142nd Run for the Roses, where the purse will be $2 million.
Catch live Derby coverage on NBC: Saturday, May 7, 4 p.m.-7:30
