Blow The Budget’s run at Musselburgh
Blow The Budget (Tara) ran on Sunday, February 18th at Musselburgh, finishing 8th of 11 in the 3:50pm Handicap Hurdle. It wasn’t the result that we were after, but importantly, after the race, we found out a problem…
Full write up below!
It was a glorious Sunday at Musselburgh; the sun was shining, and there was a good atmosphere with it being ‘The Farmers Raceday’ in partnership with The George Crawford Trust. The ground wasn’t ideal with the going stick reading at 7am the morning of the race reading 6.1; however, we chose to run Tara as the step up in the trip should be in her favour and the ground was better than anything she had previously run on at Kelso and Ayr.
She travelled nicely and jumped well throughout the race before her breathing played up. Alan Doyle (Jockey) reported after the race that she made a sound down the back. He gave her a bit of time to get her breath back, and turning for home, he thought she would place. Then, three out, Alan said she started ‘gurgling and choking’ confirming she requires her wind to be looked at. I have attached a video below that shows that when jumping the third last, she was going well and just tails off due to her limited oxygen intake.
What is a wind op, and why do horses get them?
"Wind surgery is the term applied to a collection of procedures that aim to improve the function of the horse's upper airway. These operations are indicated in horses where abnormalities of the upper respiratory tract (larynx, pharynx, epiglottis, etc.) are affecting the airflow into the lungs and so limiting performance."
Tara will now be sent down to Brain Partners Equine Vets Ltd. in Cheltenham to be checked over and figure out which type of wind surgery she requires. She will then have between a week and a month off depending on the type of surgery. I have attached Alan Doyle’s post-race thoughts below so you can hear his take on her wind problem.
The ground, however imperfect, was better than she had run on before. She will now get a wind op, then come back into training for a summer campaign on good ground at the likes of Perth, Kelso, and Market Rasen. Once her wind is sorted, she should hopefully kick on, as the yard thinks she has the ability to win races. We have some races pencilled in for April, which can be found on The Racing Manager for all owners!
“Getting on genuinely good ground will undoubtedly be in her favour, but given her underlying issue, a wind operation is worth strong consideration as there is definitely some ability there to work with.”
(Paul McIvor, Bloodstock Agent)
