Do horses have a mind of their own?
Horses have a mind of their own and their mindset determines their performance at top level. Horses tend to defy their pedigree and outperform themselves when faced with adversity. Pedigree can bring out performance in a horse only if the mind is wiling. Some horses are so aggressive that they don’t let any horse pass them and dig deep if they see a threat. There are other horses like Jacqueline who as Pesi Shroff said was an intelligent horse who knew the art of self-preservation and did the job of winning each time she went out to race. She lost twice in close finishes in her career, the one in the Bangalore Summer Derby by a whisker to Aboline and the second time to Becket in yet another pulsating finish.
``Jacqueline was an intelligent horse who knew what was expected of her. She was not a showy horse. She never expended her energy other than on the track and that too when required. She would obey the commands of the jockeys who rode her and would be happy to run in any position that the jockey wished her to place. She had a wonderful temperament which made her something special and easy to train. She was always game for any challenge which made her the wonder horse of Indian horse,’’ said Pesi Shroff when asked to explain the attributes of a champion. ``There are other horses which are very talented but they need to be trained with all the care and attention. Set Alight was one such horse. She was exceptionally talented but in hindsight, I think I might have made an error in having so many jockeys riding her in different races. Each jockey had his own strength and weakness and the latter definitely affected her achieving the ultimate goal of winning the Indian Derby. She would always respond to the call of the rider but never realized by herself how much was enough.’’
These are things that a common race goer may be aware of. For him, a horse is something which is expected to run irrespective of her moods or merits or current state of fitness of body and mind. Becket who incidentally was Jacqueline’s contemporary, was another horse who had a character of his own when he was in best of shape. The manner in which he accelerated at the top of the straight, with ears pricked, and spurted away to a big lead in the Indian Derby was a sight to behold. Though he was caught up close home by Jacqueline, Becket caught the imagination of all. ``Becket was an aggressive horse who did not like anyone racing ahead of him. It is this trait which made him the champion and win races from impossible situations.. If he did not have the many niggles, he would have achieved much more,’’ said trainer Padmanabhan. Surely Becket was not only an outstanding horse but also one of the most handsome horses that Indian racing has seen.
Sir Henry Cecil, the legendary British trainer, had some interesting observations and these came when he described the two contrasting performance of unbeaten Guineas winner. Frankel smashed the opposition in Guineas with a murderous run from the start and won by six lengths. Next time out, in the St James Palace Stakes, he was very nearly caught up by Zoffany after going into the lead half way through the mile long race. His trainer Henry Cecil, racing`s newest knight, said: "He settled really well - very well. The pacemaker went off quite fast and he was very settled and he [Tom Queally] had to ask him to take it up and he said when he was in front he thought he`d done enough.
"Tom said he was very settled and we can ride him properly now. The plan was to go before the bend like the Royal Lodge. In the Royal Lodge the further he went the better he was, but he`s getting older and wiser now. He thought he`d done enough and was getting a bit bored."
What we can infer from these observations is that Frankel, in his earlier runs, did not think what was enough as he kept going at same clip right up to the winning post but after several races, he was beginning to be wiser! He was the practising the art of self-preservation. His jockey had said after the Guineas win: ``"By God, he showed them. He did it better than I ever thought he`d do it. The only thing this horse does is gallop so why stop him." Cecil had exclaimed: ``That was lovely wasn`t it? In the last furlong, he was waiting for the other horses. It`s a relief. He`s a very good horse - it`s difficult to compare years," Cecil said.
Then there are also horses which show defeatist attitude and shy away from a fight. They show outstanding workouts in morning trials but in a race they don’t reproduce that performance. Then there are lazy horses which don’t put their mind and heart into a race and fade into oblivion.
``Jacqueline was an intelligent horse who knew what was expected of her. She was not a showy horse. She never expended her energy other than on the track and that too when required. She would obey the commands of the jockeys who rode her and would be happy to run in any position that the jockey wished her to place. She had a wonderful temperament which made her something special and easy to train. She was always game for any challenge which made her the wonder horse of Indian horse,’’ said Pesi Shroff when asked to explain the attributes of a champion. ``There are other horses which are very talented but they need to be trained with all the care and attention. Set Alight was one such horse. She was exceptionally talented but in hindsight, I think I might have made an error in having so many jockeys riding her in different races. Each jockey had his own strength and weakness and the latter definitely affected her achieving the ultimate goal of winning the Indian Derby. She would always respond to the call of the rider but never realized by herself how much was enough.’’
These are things that a common race goer may be aware of. For him, a horse is something which is expected to run irrespective of her moods or merits or current state of fitness of body and mind. Becket who incidentally was Jacqueline’s contemporary, was another horse who had a character of his own when he was in best of shape. The manner in which he accelerated at the top of the straight, with ears pricked, and spurted away to a big lead in the Indian Derby was a sight to behold. Though he was caught up close home by Jacqueline, Becket caught the imagination of all. ``Becket was an aggressive horse who did not like anyone racing ahead of him. It is this trait which made him the champion and win races from impossible situations.. If he did not have the many niggles, he would have achieved much more,’’ said trainer Padmanabhan. Surely Becket was not only an outstanding horse but also one of the most handsome horses that Indian racing has seen.
Sir Henry Cecil, the legendary British trainer, had some interesting observations and these came when he described the two contrasting performance of unbeaten Guineas winner. Frankel smashed the opposition in Guineas with a murderous run from the start and won by six lengths. Next time out, in the St James Palace Stakes, he was very nearly caught up by Zoffany after going into the lead half way through the mile long race. His trainer Henry Cecil, racing`s newest knight, said: "He settled really well - very well. The pacemaker went off quite fast and he was very settled and he [Tom Queally] had to ask him to take it up and he said when he was in front he thought he`d done enough.
"Tom said he was very settled and we can ride him properly now. The plan was to go before the bend like the Royal Lodge. In the Royal Lodge the further he went the better he was, but he`s getting older and wiser now. He thought he`d done enough and was getting a bit bored."
What we can infer from these observations is that Frankel, in his earlier runs, did not think what was enough as he kept going at same clip right up to the winning post but after several races, he was beginning to be wiser! He was the practising the art of self-preservation. His jockey had said after the Guineas win: ``"By God, he showed them. He did it better than I ever thought he`d do it. The only thing this horse does is gallop so why stop him." Cecil had exclaimed: ``That was lovely wasn`t it? In the last furlong, he was waiting for the other horses. It`s a relief. He`s a very good horse - it`s difficult to compare years," Cecil said.
Then there are also horses which show defeatist attitude and shy away from a fight. They show outstanding workouts in morning trials but in a race they don’t reproduce that performance. Then there are lazy horses which don’t put their mind and heart into a race and fade into oblivion.
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