Chapter 1: A Racehorse's Journey – A Day in the Life
Turfway Park
At the end of March, Fearless Cowgirl and Recalculating moved from High Pointe Farm and Training Center in La Grange, Kentucky, to Turfway Park in Florence. Arriving at Turfway for the summer marks the beginning of a meticulously structured routine for Recalculating and Fearless Cowgirl, two young racehorses from the Coulardot Racing stable that Amplify is closely following. If you missed it, check out this blog introducing Recalculating and Fearless Cowgirl. The days at the track are dedicated to maintaining the physical well-being of these horses while advancing their professional development as racehorses. In this blog, we dive into their daily routines, from the careful morning inspections and grooming sessions to their invigorating training workouts and cooling-down procedures. Join us as we explore how these horses are prepared to excel, highlighting the unique aspects of their personalities and the state-of-the-art training facilities that support their journey.
Morning Routine
Recalculating
Trainer Karyn Wittek and her team of grooms arrive at the track early to prepare, ahead of her first set of horses going out to train at 6 a.m.. Their responsibility is to provide the horses in their barn receive the best care and training possible, so the first task is to give each horse a once-over. This is to ensure no injuries occurred in the stall overnight, checking to see if they ate their grain from the night before, and assessing their physical and mental state. Each horse gets fed a small scoop of grain, and receives the rest of their morning feed after training. Then, they secure the horses to the wall for grooming and tacking up, where they get their saddle and bridle put on. Racehorses are trained to stand patiently on a bungee tie on the wall while awaiting their turn for training.
Once they are tacked and ready, Karyn or her exercise rider Mack takes each horse to the track. They start with a jog to help detect any soundness issues the rider may feel. After the jog, they gallop around the track twice.
After training, the horses return to the barn and are cooled down by a hotwalker – a person whose role is to walk them around the shedrow of the barn, stopping during each round to let the horse drink from a water bucket. Hotwalking helps reduce their heart rate and slow breathing. Once cooled down, the horses receive a bath in a wash stall. Turfway provides wash stalls inside their barns because it is a track equipped for training throughout the winter, unlike Churchill Downs, where most horses are bathed outside on mats. The horses are then put back into their stalls until the afternoon for feed time. Some days, the horses are taken out to walk in the shedrow again or out to the grass to graze. During the summer, they will also have longer breaks at HighPointe Farm to be turned out in a pasture. Turnout during training supports their overall health by allowing them to enjoy being horses and relax from the professional training environment of a track – similar to a human athlete enjoying downtime from working out.
Racehorse Development
Fearless Cowgirl
Recalculating and Fearless Cowgirl have unique personalities, serving as great examples of horses’ individuality. Recalculating is carefree and enjoys his time on the track, and Fearless Cowgirl is affectionate in the stall but focused during training. Before starting breeze work, the horses' knees are X-rayed to ensure they are closed. In horse racing, "closed knees" refers to the completion of long bone growth in the knee, indicating maturity. This occurs when the cartilaginous growth plate above the knee, known as the distal radial physis, turns to bone. There are two types of closure:
Physiologic closure: The bone has finished growing, and this is mostly genetically determined.
Radiographic closure: The bone has completely calcified, as seen with X-rays. X-rays can be taken of the knees around 24 to 30 months, and larger breeds may continue into their three-year-old year.
Thoroughbreds mature faster than many other breeds, and there has been significant research into their bone development and the importance of being in training as a 2-year-old. Read more in this excellent article by Light Up for Racing. Once the X-rays confirmed both Recalculating and Fearless Cowgirl’s knees were closed, the anticipation for their progress grew. They began doing speed work, breezing ¼ mile at Turfway Park alongside one another. Recalculating has shown to have a quicker turn of foot while breezing, but Fearless Cowgirl seems to have a closing running style. She was able to be further back but passed Recalculating at the wire.
We are eager to watch their continued progression this summer at Turfway Park, so stay tuned for regular updates about these two racehorse ambassadors! To receive workout updates, race entries, and results, you can add Fearless Cowgirl and Recalculating to a virtual stable on equibase.