Recently, the Racing Post featured an article on what to look for when viewing horses in the flesh just before a race.
It is a useful guide to anyone going racing and therefore, tipping our hat to the Racing Post, we have reproduced the guide below.
Why go to the paddock?
Unlike virtually any other sport, horseracing allows you the chance to get up close and personal with the athletes just minutes before they are due to perform.
The runners in the 100m final at the Olympics don't limber up right in front, allowing you to study their wellbeing as they do their final warm-up before the biggest race of their lives, but the runners in the Sussex Stakes do. And you don't have to be any sort of equine expert to get plenty out of it.
When is the best time?
Runners are invariably in the pre-parade ring 20 or so minutes ahead of a race and make it into the paddock ten or 15 minutes before the off. But on a cool day you might have a wait as some horses will not have their rugs taken off until the jockeys get mounted and you do want to see them in the flesh.
Where should I stand?
Even the sharpest elbows cannot always guarantee the ideal spot as hundreds surround the parade ring at a top meeting but the best viewing is done on a level patch of ground by the side of the paddock, so that you get the chance to see each horse approach head-on and study them from the side before they they turn a corner.
What should I look for?
You are looking for anything and everything that suggests you are watching an athlete primed to run for their life.
>> Imagine Usain Bolt stripped, ready for action and strutting round at the start - many of the things that make him look a likely winner are the same sort of things you are seeking to find in a racehorse. Like well-defined muscle tone, in the case of a horse, over its buttocks and behind the ribcage.
>> Just as a pot belly would put you off an Olympic sprinter, the racehorse 'carrying condition' - ie. fat - may not be in top physical shape, though some horses are naturally more robust than others so may well carry a bit of condition even after a couple of runs.
>> And the aura of physical wellbeing that an athlete gives off is also seen in a horse - look for a sleek, shiny coat that positively shouts good health.
There are also negatives to look out for:
>> Such as horses sweating, getting edgy if not downright unruly or showing signs of 'greenness' - a two-year-old newcomer neighing in excitement at every gust of wind, for example, or seemingly startled as their jockey gets on board.
>> Or even getting 'coltish'. One of racing's more charming euphemisms, which describes the way a horse - invariably young, always male - gets 'excited' physically, often at the sight of a female rival.
What does it all mean?
Context is all. Ability and effectiveness to handle the trip and ground counts for plenty. I might be fit as a flea but I am still not worth a bet to beat an Usain Bolt who has been out of training for a month. And the green, unfit, coltish horse may still win.
But paddock inspection can give as big a clue as any as to how an animal is likely to perform.
Courtesy of the Racing Post.
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