Det finns ändå ingen skicklighet, bara tur!

Det är inte riktigt hur den internationella marknaden ser på information om vare sig hästar eller sport, nedanstående är från torsdagens Racing post, skrivet av Bruce Millington.

Det gäller huruvida halsoperationer ska vara offentlig information eller inte(grov förenkling), således långt mer ingående informationsplikt än Svensk travsport som fortfarande inte ens tar skoinformationen på allvar, och tvekar huruvida sulkyinformation verkligen är av vikt. 

”WITH the Cheltenham Festival looming, many punters are increasing the intensity of their form study in an attempt to ensure the third week of March is as profitable as possible.

Meanwhile, as they search on racingpost.com and other information sources for clues as to who will come out on top, procedures are being carried out that will render strong reliance on the form book totally unsafe.

These are surgical procedures, and more specifically wind operations. In equine clinics in Britain and Ireland a significant number of festival-bound horses are being checked in this very week to undergo remedial work that will, in some cases, transform them from slow-finishing disappointments to rejuvenated athletes who will bound up the hill in a manner that will seem almost inconceivable based on their recent racecourse appearances.

And more often than not the punter will be none the wiser. Occasionally some trainers may tell an inquisitive reporter that a horse has had his wind problem treated before the race which the reporter will then pass on to their readers, while in other instances we will only find out a horse has had the procedure during the wild celebrations in the winner’s enclosure.

There will also be Festival winners whose veterinary-inspired transformation will remain forever undisclosed to the wider betting public.

Unacceptable

The secret world of wind operations is little short of an insult to the betting public. It is unacceptable.

At their most successful, these operations can turn a horse from a breathless also-ran whose petrol gauge plummets to zero well before a race reaches its conclusion to a champion.

In basic terms, the need for this treatment stems from some horses developing a weakening of a key muscle in the larynx that impairs breathing during races at a time when they are most in need of air.

Technological advances mean these horses, whose problem is often diagnosed through a whistling sound on the gallops, can be treated without the need for general anaesthetic and be back racing within less than a month.

So no telltale gap in their race schedule and not even a telltale scar for the most observant paddock-watcher to pick up on. A horse races badly, gets treated, then returns a different creature a month later, and the betting public, whose grim determination to keep striking bets on racing keeps the whole show alive, are completely in the dark as to why they have lost money because the winner has just produced such an inexplicably good display.

Increasing problem

It happens all year round and is, according to most experts, an increasing problem because the thoroughbred breed is becoming more prone to breathing issues.

In Germany they don’t allow racehorses to be bred from mares with a history of respiratory issues but here there is no such restriction.

All in all, then, it’s an issue that needs addressing as a matter of something approaching urgency because punters, while admirably resilient to the occasional freak result that is always going to crop up every so often, will in the long term start drifting away from racing and on to other betting products if they keep finding their chosen form-based methods for producing profits ridiculed by the random menace of a surgically-inspired winner.

Thankfully, the BHA is on the case. A project to assess the need to declare not just wind operations but other potentially important factors such as footwear, horses’ weights, pregnancy and the use of earplugs is in progress.

Racing professionals and horsemen are being consulted and conclusions are likely to be reached some time this year. It is hoped punters will also be asked for their views.

Drastic improvement

Clearly, any decision to make new information declarable along with the existing items such as headgear and gelding operations needs to be made carefully, and the BHA is mindful of the IT and operational costs involved in adding new info. You cannot just spray all manner of abbreviations over the traditional cards unless they are of definite use.

But having heard from various experts just how drastically an operation can improve a horse (put simply, try running a mile with a handkerchief stuffed down your throat and then compare your time when you do it again with your passages unblocked), it will be disappointing if punters are not given the option of deciding whether or not a wind op is a relevant part of their study process.

Not all such operations are successful, but that’s no reason not to disclose they have taken place. Not every horse improves for having cheekpieces fitted or its testicles removed.

In time, then, it is to be hoped punters will be furnished with this key piece of information. In the shorter term, it would be great to think owners and trainers of all horses that have their wind problem treated disclose it before they race again, particularly at the festival.

But the worrying reality is that an unknown number of horses, at Cheltenham, Chelmsford City and everywhere else, will suddenly improve without anyone except those connected to the stable and those who carried out the treatment having a clue it was going to happen.”

Read Bruce Millington every Thursday in the Racing Post