Gates Open - How to Make a Racehorse

welcome to Arapaho Park where as you can see behind me there are horses on the track and they're putting in their training to be able to get ready for race day I'm Jonathan Horowitz the announcer the horse races at Arapahoe Park and on this episode of dates open at a ripe old park we'll show you a side of horse racing that you don't normally get to see the morning workouts as horses prepare for races in much the same way that professional sports teams hold practices and later we'll take you back to the stable area and show you what's equivalent of the locker room at the horse races so this is a behind the scenes look of horse racing and you can come out to a wrap old park in the mornings it's a great complement to seeing the races in the afternoon to be able to see the morning workout and see the effort that the jockeys that the trainer's the exercise riders have to put in to get ready for race day barn number 18 the barn of Stacy Rushton and introducing you again to may be grand a horse that we met last year as a yearling a one-year-old after she had been bred by Ted transyl and went through the Silvercup horse sale Cimarron Gerke at his farm in Brighton was helping start off the career for maybe grand and now maybe grant has made it to a ripe old park to begin a racing career as a two-year-old Cimarron we met you last year with maybe grand what it may be grand have to learn as a yearling to prepare her for this moment well she had learned to be handled properly take a bridle a saddle learning how to go out and learning what's not to be scared of stuff learning how to walk Chuck Tanner stretch your legs out and today was going to be her first little breeze down the lane and just keep on preparing her for her up and coming races so her first workout in preparation for her first race how has she progressed it looks like she's grown a little bit yeah she's really grown a lot she's really her body's maturing just as much as fast as we'd like it to and so yeah I mean it's it's completely up to her but I think she has a from what I've seen from her already she's got a good mind and a competitive edge so I think she's gonna enjoy life at the track and for a horse that comes on to the track for the first time from what you've seen what is generally their reaction oh they normally look around a lot and everything but and that's fine and as long as they you know don't do anything wrong they can it just goes from there she's seen so much out at the farm luckily like I have a lot to expose him to out there and so I try to get it to her you know when they move in here it's not that big of a change and I try to prepare him as best I can was showing him as much as I can not pushing him too hard too fast but just keeping them the right amount where they're healthy and happy how was she adjusted to life at the racetrack now being here in the barn area oh really well she she doesn't mind it at all she she loves she loves to go to the track and she when she comes back she wants to eat and sleep and that's what you want a baby to do and so as we prepare for today's workout what's the steps I mean you talk about athletes and what they have to do when they train what's the training process for a horse well well you got to get a lot of miles in them and so that their shins are tight and they're neat try to get their knees closed up as much as we can before the race and just get them overall fit and that happens by like well good feed program and a good exercise program and and keeping them happy and enjoying their job or I mean because if they don't enjoy their job they're not going to do it let's see it all happen and so tell us what you're going to do you're going to tack the horse up and and then what are we going to see we're going on the racetrack well we're gonna attack her up and then later down the shed row I'll have Stacy like me up and I got company coming with the Rhine Stivers and we're gonna just warm them up around the turn there and then when we come around by the quarter pole we're going to let them stretch out for the first time and come down the lane and see how it goes from there so this is where it all starts it started this way with all the great horse racing champions and a lot of hope for maybe Grand as she prepares to begin her racing career and now let's get her ready to come on to the track yep Ted Council bred and owns maybe grand a horse sired by Grand minstrel the first full out of the dam fees gal it was kind of like lightning in a bottle with ease gal as she was a $800 yearling purchase and then she goes on to a great career making more than $100,000 and I'm sure you'd like to be able to do that with maybe grand now you bred the horse so when you got the full two now what has been your relationship with maybe grand and how has she progressed in your mind well Roger Barbara and I are partners on the breeding of the horse and we added up with an open fire with with the would choose one the grades you got a beautiful environment on to us and it just been two progressing and growing up and it's a beautiful place it's made for horses out there you know grow up and then it's just been a process it's a long deal because you get a year you know that the the mares pregnant please gal and then you gotta bend the baby and you got another year and another year you know before you get to the races so it's just a process that you go through and you hope everything goes right how did you get into breeding and owning horses well I I started back at Centennial I had a couple with Go Bob Rosenquist back then he was pretty good back and then just continued various horses over the time and what is your favorite part about the breeding process and owning process because like I said there's so much involved it's like raising a kid you know you just get the watch grow and progress it's cool it really is and what are your goals with maybe grand well maybe grant we're gonna try you got it with a two-year-old you got to see what happens you know if they stay healthy and don't chin buck you know you play it by ear with the - yeah and we got a entered in a Lassie the Colorado bred killing this will see if you get to that as an owner what is your favorite part as far as you can see the behind the scenes or you see the finished product you prefer the process for Jupiter Oh Roger and I come out every Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday before work and we come by for an hour to you know cut the horses watch got the track and all that and then we go to work and then that's what more exciting than when when they went to getting that wind picture it's a different excitement it really is the way I don't get it it's kind of like owning your own sports t-shirt yeah you see our ma and the trainers the coach you know so it is very but it's very athletic and you just go through so we're seeing training camp here now let's go ops in the track and see how we're going to get hands the first time to get down you're going to run down the lane so this is the other first experience and it's great to be able to see those behind the scenes - thank you for that access to maybe Brandon allow us to really see how a racehorse grows I appreciated it because we get to watch it sounds the bank nighthawk ranch night aqua ranch is located in Guffey Colorado and we buy Mustangs from the BLM and we train them for use with these kids that are recovering from cancer it's like a team from day one the kid and the horse and they feel really comfortable they feel safe on the horse they feel a part of the horse that feel part of the program and it's a bond they don't experience a lot in their lives so the kids have their own course for the week learn to ride if they haven't written before we spend a lot of time with animals in the morning and then in the afternoons we have forum camping events archery ropes course building a log cabin camping out overnight a little bit of everything I have a lot of cancer my family I'm a cancer survivor and we believe that night aw tranch has a lot of natural healing its own it was a great healing force in my life and we believe it sharing that with these kids that's important so clean air clean food great experience is all is all positive for these kids for sure and their healing the 2016 live horse racing season in Colorado at a raffle hole park from May 20th to August 14 racing takes place on Friday Saturdays and Sundays and special holiday racing on Mondays for Memorial Day and the fourth of July post time for the first race each day is at 1 o'clock p.m. for more information visit my racing calm and facebook.com slash Arapaho racing Arapaho Park where horses come first yeah we're good yeah thanks Hey smile Randy yeah Wow smile Riley just don't take off and leave me if that happens I think she'll roll yeah like heads ahead come on maybe grant that's good we've been around since 1972 we are the voice of the horse industry and what we try to do is be aware of what's going on in the legislature in different developments different municipalities so that we can maintain horses as part of our life and lifestyle we're here to make sure that the powers and the rights of people to own horses remains the same as it has been for many many years horses are extremely important to our heritage it's important to our economy for a 1.6 billion dollar industry in the state of Colorado and there's over one hundred and fifty six thousand people involved with our industry so I think we have a real important role in the economy but also in the lifestyle and what horses bring to each one of us come onboard and it involved with us in our blue-ribbon Partnership Program and show others your passion about the lifestyle and about owning horses said she was looking around I can't test letting her sit here a minute and soak it in just kind of get just a preview of what their what she's going to expect I describe it pretty good see that other horse had a little more experience and she kind of she didn't really know what we were asking her to do because I haven't asked her for that much yet it's kind of looked around it was just kind of little didn't really kind of little lost but you know the next one I think she'll she'll kind of have a lot better idea and she'll figure it out she just got a little confused but I mean that's it's typical of a wit with a two-year-old and especially just this early in the game with her she had a she had a burst of speed there at first and then she kind of got to looking around and then she's like oh you see she didn't know if she you know she never went that fast before so she kind of didn't really know how to react to it but it'll come she actually kind of come back she she started off pretty good and then kind of started looking around and kind of hesitated and then you know about a hundred yards before the wire she picked it back up a little bit so that's a good sign so showing that you know she's just kind of looking around and thinking about stuff but then she went back to what comes natural to her and which then she wanted to run just to get him used to all this because there's going to be hundreds of people right here and so I want to I wanted to get real comfortable on this paddock before there is a bunch of people and all the noises and music and announcers and you know just everything all the loud sounds and people screaming and everything I want her to know that this is a safe place and that she doesn't need to be scared of it well a couple more works get her gate approved and you know then probably try to look for am a little maiden race eventually but yeah we're going to need a few more works and definitely get gate approved I took her to the gates yesterday and we walked through them and butted her up and then just let her step out and she did really well so yeah so yeah well that's the next step so just getting her gate approve and get some more works and just getting her as comfortable as we can get her everywhere and we'll take her back to the barn and cooler out and get it on the Walker the 2016 live horse racing season in Colorado at Arapahoe Park from May 20th to August 14th racing takes place on Friday Saturdays and Sundays in special holiday racing on Mondays for Memorial Day and the fourth of July post time for the first race each day is at 1 o'clock p.m. for more information visit my racing calm and facebook.com slash Arapaho racing Arapaho Park where horses come first maybe grande is cooling off behind us after having her first time stretching out on the racetrack and she's cooling off with another one of Stacy Rushton horses sweet and down and Ted when you saw the horse working out for the first time what were your impressions well she did everything everything good you know she looked a little but she's her first time and I'm happy with the way everything came out she came back good Cimarron did a good job and she worked in company with another horse why Ryan Ryan Stivers a friend of ours he worked one accompany it to get him you know one day and the races you're gonna be by somebody and Cimarron working in company how did she handle it she handled it good she wasn't spooking she got right next that other horse wasn't afraid and she kind of looked through a little looked around a little bit and just kind of had like a pause and just she had never gone that fast before and so she didn't really know what we were asking and then about 100 yards later she started figuring it out and and so we looked for to improve you know every time just to keep improving and until we get to the race yeah you can't delete yeah yes she switched leads well and you know and I ran with what that means oh well switch leaves like when they come around the turn you want to be in your left lead so your left foots hitting the ground stretching out hitting the ground first and then when we go to the head for home is what they call it you switch to your right lead so you save like when they're going around the turn they save that energy on the right side of their body so they have a extra little kick to come down the lane when they switch leaves there and it's important to be able to teach them like when I teach them to lean I'm laying it around when I teach them to switch leads I lean to the outside and they know that that means to switch their left and go to the right I'll lean to the inside so they know to switch their rights and it's just just a bit a little bit of a pull of the bridle and a little bit of weight change and that's how they figure out how to do that and but it has to be taught it's not something they automatically do but it's it's trained into them and so then they and they figure it out and it feels natural to them and then they they just end up automatically doing it when you ask so but it's it's something they need to learn so you know when to sew in your jockey he can feel when they that sigh their bodies rested enough to switch to that other lead and then they can handle the turn when they switch back to to go around the corner because they don't go fire up that bluntly what's your thoughts about how Cimarron help get this worse difference and everything perfectly he's been patient with a two-year-old you don't want to see how fast they're you know you don't want to go out there and work in 3435 you it's a gradual process and he's done everything just fantastic very happy yeah we don't go in that I'm just glad you know the worst thing that you could have done is a horse work too hard too fast and then come back sort so yeah then we avoided that so it sounds like this one exactly is this yeah I don't know it bro you know hey anything in the first time and to learn something that's huge and what will she do now that she's had her first work what what's the next well she'll have a few days rest and then we'll go back to galloping and buy work start working on doing getting our gate work and what do you need to be able to you don't just show up on the racetrack what's the certification she's got to have to qualified works one out of the gate and Begay to prove to be able to enter a race how do they work that one out of the gate do they use the street furlongs from breaking out of the gate where you slow it down and then go you normally what we do is we'll let them go all the way to the three-eighths and then slow them down in the turn let them rest a little bit and then just kind of let them go without them take off for the screen robot so it's not out of the gate for three now because that'd be six then so yeah okay yeah you just kind of slow down and let them rest and then kind of little gallop out down the lane and could use tea you just can't do too much too fast or too soon so okay what races are you looking at for this season I'm uh we got her entered in the lassi which Colorado bred filly two-year-olds and then I also with the new race debutante which they're having an open filly two-year-old but the track is adding twenty thousand for a silver cup sale filling and they're breaking from what I understand they're breaking that down 70/20/10 so if you got lucky enough you know it's going to be a thirty five forty five dollar race and then if you could win you're gonna pick up fourteen thousand because you were a sale horse but it's open company so it's going to be a little tougher but and that's my money or to do high hopes first I oh yeah sure like it to the point she's going along good you know if things aren't going good you can wait till next year you gotta be patient sure but but she seems to have knocked everybody so far we have missile it while standing thank you and wishing you the best with maybe Brandon good girl so that's a look at what it takes to be a racehorse with the morning workouts and the preparation that goes into getting ready for race day thank you to owner Ted Council trainer Stacy Rushton and Cimarron Goerke who's helped raise maybe a grand since she was a one-year-old horse since she was a yearling and now getting ready to begin her racing career as a two-year-old the racing action in the afternoon starts at one o'clock on Friday Saturdays and Sundays looking forward to welcoming you to our Apple park after you had the chance to see this behind-the-scenes look of the preparation that goes into being a racehorse until your next time out at the races I'm Jonathan Horowitz keep picking winners

Channel: Arapahoe Park

Views: 36,355

Rating: 4.778656 out of 5

Keywords: Maybea Grand, Horse Racing, Horse, Thoroughbred, Arapahoe Park, Ted Trownsell, Cimmaron Gerke, Jonathan Horowitz, Gates Open

Id: o81wHwZIxqU

Length: 25min 26sec (1526 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 07 2016