the canter down

Hi guys somebody asked the ? What to look fot when a horse goes down to the start,it would be helpfull if some guys could inform us what to look for,what the meaning of on her/his toes, how to identify a nice coat and also the signs of a horse that's not happy to race.are bigger horses more likely to beat smaller horses? Can good fillies beat good colts consistently,not the odd ipi tombe or zenyatta.it seems like alota ? But I'm sure it would assist in backing the better horse!

There are better people to answer this question than me,but i suppose it`s a few things ,Condition,behaviour and stride,always think that first impression comes into it aswell..

That's exactly it how does a punter who has never touched a racehorse know its in good condition or race fit , cmon guys help us out. Jack dash. Matthew lips ???

Here's my 2 cents.

For me the canter down tells me what can't win rather than what can win. I look at 2 things in principle- the horses stride or lack of it, and whether the horse is sweating profusely.
With regard to the horses stride, I stay away from a horse that goes down like a crab. i.e. a short choppy action. I like to see the horse stretching out well (throwing its front legs out).
With regards to a horses sweating, I look at his neck and girth. If I see a white foamy layer on these areas, its a big no no for me.

Obviously each situation is different. Sometimes a horses gets hacked down to the start so it won't be able to stride out or it may be an extremely hot day and most runners are sweating. Discretion needs to be used.

Hope it helps and I hav'nt confused you further.

never mind the horse....watch the handicap in the saddle....some days,some of these handicaps are not in the mood....perhaps they will all do better when we put them all on the johny G medicine....

Thanks for the inputs guys

Look at the Jockeys eyes.

The other day I backed a longshot (that I had previously rated highly) and I had it within a lb or 2 of it's stable companion (the odds on fav).

The longshot arrived and I wondered how it was possible I could find it yet the trainer who had the opportunity to work the horses together had no clue. I mean surely he should know the one horse in the race that his fav could beat...ie the other horse from his own yard?

So Bad Company, I guess you don't have to have chicken pox in order to recognize it, and you don't need to ride a horse to see a kak ride when it happens, and you don't have to touch a horse to see it's wellbeing imho or 'have an eye' for it.

I can't tell if a horse can win from the way it goes down, but you can often see a horse that could NEVER win on the way it goes down... having said that I would hate to put my money down and lay them on a canterdown opinion.

If a horse is fighting his rider then this is not a good sign. Sweating profusely on the neck is also not good but some say you can ignore sweat around the saddle cloth. Another not-so-good sign is if you cant see the horse's ribs, if you can see the ribs then the horse is supposed to be reasonably fit. As Andrew says - rather eliminate the horses with bad signs (there will only be a few or even none of them) than try to pick the winner using good signs. My tuppence worth..