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Ashforth's Angles: answers to racing's great imponderables

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Dedigout (noseband) faces a big step up in class today

Does a horse know when it’s won?

  PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)  

 By David Ashforth 6:00PM 7 FEB 2016 

THE racehorse – marvellous, magnificent, maddening, not very clever but still effortlessly able to baffle us. So it’s time to give you a new angle to exploit by revealing the answers to some of the great mysteries of the racehorse.

1. Why do horses sometimes refuse to start?

They experience inner turmoil. On the one hoof, they are flight animals anxious to escape the lions that roam Musselburgh; the one left behind is the one eaten. On the other hoof, they know that if they wait at the start they will be able to join in a circuit later, two circuits later at Fakenham. Also, if they start every time then punters will take them for granted.

2. If a horse “jumps for fun” why doesn’t it jump when it’s on its own at home?

It does but being a naturally wary creature it jumps at night. You can prove this by creeping out to watch at two in the morning. It’s a wonderful sight.

3. Why don’t horses stop when they get tired?

The lion might be catching up. Also, when someone’s driven them to the races, saddled them up, sat on them, shouted  “Go on,” whipped them and generally behaved as if keeping going matters more than life itself, they feel a responsibility to carry on. If they end up exhausted they might not have to do it again for a while, especially if they lay it on thick.

4. Does a horse know when it’s won?

Yes. It’s read the Racing Post. It knows what number it is. It hears the announcer saying, “First number nine.” Then everyone’s nice to it, says “well done” a lot and keeps patting it, which is irritating for the horse but people seem to think horses like it. The trainer and jockey say, “That will have done its confidence good” and think it might win again.

5. Does the horse care?

Not really because it doesn’t bet. It wonders if it will get a special treat for dinner. If it doesn’t it makes a mental note not to try as hard next time.

6. Why do horses occasionally gallop through railings?

Sometimes it’s because they’ve read a book about soldiers in the First World War injuring themselves deliberately to avoid combat and have worked out a plan for getting off work for six months. Sometimes it’s just to get to the other side.

7. Don’t horses find tongue ties uncomfortable?

Possibly but it wasn’t the horse that put it on and it wasn’t asked for its opinion. If the horse had been asked it would have said, “No, thank you. Why don’t you wear one instead?” In Lambourn horses have discussed running slower when wearing a tongue tie in order to end the practice. After that they’re going to consider their policy towards blinkers, visors, hoods and wind operations.

8. That’s all well and good but what’s going to win the apprentice race (2.10) at Wolverhampton?

That’s easy. The very promising Georgia Cox will win it on Easydoesit.

 

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