JJ Graci, winner of over 1200 races and numerous training titles shares his knowledge on putting some speed in a closer or slower racehorse.
There are a few things you can do to a horse that might help you change his running style.
You can add or take some equipment away from the horse. By equipment I mean Blinkers. You can add Blinkers or take them off or even open them up. There are different sizes of cups on the Blinkers that run from very small to full cups. This is where as a trainer you need to know your horse. Let me add that you really don’t want to change a horses natural way of running. You may want to add some speed or early gas however.
When you cover vision you are making them focus straight ahead and not giving the horse a chance to look around. You can always put holes in the middle of the Blinkers so he can hear them and see them coming. That’s about all you can do equipment wise.
You can also change training style along with the Blinkers. How do you do that? I’ve found if you back off gallops and jog them the wrong way on the racetrack it messes with there heads. Basically, you are teasing them and keeping them on the bit but still getting air in those lungs. When you do that you’ll want to work them a short distance, maybe a 1/4 or 3/8 of a mile a few days before the race.
You tell your jockey to ride him out of the gate and keep him on the bit. With the Blinkers and training style you should see them show more speed. That’s basically how I would put some speed into a horse.
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