Career profile and pattern of racing for Thoroughbred jumps-racing horses in New Zealand
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Date
2024-04-23
DOI
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Rights
(c) 2024 The Author/s
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Abstract
Context
Racing structure and focus for racehorses differs across jurisdictions and is poorly described. In New Zealand and Australia, jumps racing accounts for a small proportion of total Thoroughbred races each year, as opposed to the larger jumps-racing (National Hunt) industry with purpose-bred horses found in the UK and Ireland.
Aims
This study aimed to describe the career profile and pattern of racing for Thoroughbred jumps-racing horses in New Zealand.
Methods
Metrics from every horse with a full jumps-racing career (n = 1276, 89% geldings) between the 2005/06 and 2021/22 racing seasons (n = 40,302 starts) were examined. Descriptive statistics, box plots and heat maps were used to describe the data, by using horse age as a proxy for career progression.
Key results
Jumps-racing horses had a median of 17 flat starts (IQR 9–30) before their first jumps-racing start. The median career of a jumps-racing horse was 3.7 years (IQR 2.3–5.2) and 29 starts (IQR 16–44). Older horses had a decreasing number of flat-racing starts and an increasing proportion of steeplechase-racing starts. However, the majority of horses still had at least one flat-race start per calendar year, often prior to the first jumps race. Most horses had one spell each season (length 194 days, IQR 124–259), and a condensed preparation length over the winter months, with a median of 14 days (IQR 10–21) between starts.
Conclusion
The career pattern for jumps-racing horses in New Zealand reflects the industry retention of horses with a prior career in flat racing into a secondary jumps-racing career. Successful horses have increased focus on preparation for the winter jumps-racing season.
Implications
Jumps racing provides a secondary racing career for some flat-racing horses, particularly geldings. This strategy reduces wastage of horses from the industry.
Description
Keywords
hurdle, jumps racing, periodicity, secondary career, steeplechase, sustainability, Thoroughbred racing, wastage
Citation
Gibson MJ, Legg KA, Gee EK, Chin YY, Rogers CW. (2024). Career profile and pattern of racing for Thoroughbred jumps-racing horses in New Zealand. Animal Production Science. 64. 7.