Bryan Smart Racing

Rehabilitation

 
 
 
Retraining of Racehorses has received much press in recent years and rightly so.
When you look at the size of the yearling sales catalogues the numbers of horses being sold far outweighs the number of potential purchasers and even after the majority of these horses have been trained for a couple of years what becomes of them once their racing days are over?
Public pressure for the Racing Industry to take some responsibility for the horses that have finished their racing careers has grown and this demand has been met in some part by the BHA who make deductions directly from trainers' and owners' prize money and other funds to support Retraining of Racehorses that supports 3 main charities who take horses to reschool and at times rescue those that have unfortunately not been as well cared for as they should have after they left their training yards. For more information on this excellent organisation please log on to the website http://www.ror.org.uk/ . It is full of interesting features and also details the various competitons in which ex-racehorses are regularly competing.
 

DIFFERENTIAL (USA)

 

Differential ran 23 times in his career as a racehorse winning 5 flat races.

He was bred in America and came over to the UK to be prepared for the sales.

He was bought by Bryan Smart for 35,000 guineas as a 2yo at Tattersall's Newmarket's Breeze up sales in 1999 and has remained in his care ever since!
Differential won first time out at Windsor then proceeded to jump the running rail after the post, dropped his jockey John Stack and headed back towards the racecourse stables!

He was placed a few more times at 2 years including finishing 4th in the Champion 2 Year Old Trophy (Listed race) at Ripon and at one time had a BHB Rating of 100.

As a three year old Differential started to break blood vessels and his owners lost faith in him. He was sent to the sales after the partnership decided to split up but his trainer Bryan Smart bought him back telling his owners that he still believed the horse had ability and he could nurse him back to health. He set up a new partnership which included some new owners and one or two of the original syndicate. However after more disappointment the partnership finally split up for good and Differential was sent to the sales for a third time.  This time Bryan and his wife Vicky bought him back themselves for only £1200.00 determined to find the key to the horse that they had so much faith in.

A move from Lambourn to North Yorkshire in 2002 where they now train over 90 flat racehorses on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors saw a return to form for Differential and the Smart's patience was rewarded when jockey Paul Scallon struck up a fine partnership with the horse who proceeded to win four more races and broke the track record at Catterick over 7 furlongs, a record which still stands today!  He was a character and would invariably not be seen in the race until the final furlong when he would put his head in front just at the winning post!

Sadly at the end of 2003 Differential's career came to an abrupt end when he fractured two vertebrae in his neck in a freak accident in his stable. The horse was in so much pain that the vets first thought he was suffering from a severe bout of colic.  He was confined to his stable for many months and the prognosis did not look good. However he proved the perfect patient and was finally able to be turned out in the paddocks at Hambleton House close to the main yard where he could be watched closely.

Eventually, Differential was ready to start gentle exercise again and under the care of trainer's wife and Equine Sports Therapist Vicky (herself recovering from a serious riding injury) they began the long slow process of rehabilitation.   During the Autumn of 2005 they started hacking out and re-schooling and the neck injury did not appear to bother him.  

The ex-racehorse showing classes seemed a natural progression for them and they went to their first show at Area 1A in April 2006 where they came 4th in the ROR Hickstead qualifier. The remainder of 2006 was spent quietly re-schooling and re-educating Differential and this involved taking him to small shows and riding club affairs in an effort to help him understand that every trip in the horsebox no longer meant a day at the races.  Teaching an ex-racehorse that he no longer needs to "jump and run" is hard enough but the task was made even more difficult because unlike most ex-racehorses Differential remained in the main yard at Hambleton House Racing Stables where he was trained.

These days Differential watches the hubbub of daily life in the racing yard and has seen many good horses come and go but he considers himself pretty much the most important horse in the yard!  It has been quite a test of his good character that he copes with this while being schooled to do another job and many a morning has been spent encouraging him to go out of the yard on his own when the racehorses are heading in the opposite direction of the gallops!!

As his owner and rider Vicky Smart has had to re-learn the riding skills she left behind many years ago when she took up race-riding. She had never had any experience in the show ring and although she had competed successfully in showjumping, point to pointing and flat-racing this was a completely new discipline.

2007 has been Differential and Vicky's first full season in the show ring and their patience has been well rewarded when they won the ROR class at Area 1a and qualified for the Hickstead final on their first outing of the season.

A trip down to muddy Sussex was worthwhile when they came 4th in the ROR/Tattersalls sponsored Thoroughbred Show Horse Championship. This was followed by a win at Borrowby show in the 158cm Racehorse class where they also won the Championship.

4th place at Arena UK in the SEIB HOYS Racehorse to Riding Horse qualifier was followed up by 2nd place at Burghley and that coveted qualification for the Horse of the Year Show.

 

Vicky writes: "The chance to compete at The Horse of The Year Show was a dream come true for me. As a child I was allowed to stay up late to watch the showjumping at Hoys and the memories of the excitement and prestige of this show came flooding back as I entered the ring on Differential. I felt that he went as well as he possibly could and behaved impeccably. He gave Lucy Killingbeck- the ride judge - a well mannered and obedient ride and stood like a rock when the crowd clapped and cheered as if he had been doing this job all his life. I know there is more improvement to come next year and I am really looking forward to the 2008 show season even before 2007 is over. I am really grateful to SEIB and ROR for promoting the ex-racehorse and am quite sure that the popularity of these classes will grow and grow as people become ever more aware of the versatility of the thoroughbred ex-racehorse.

 
Although we didn't manage a place at Horse of the Year Show I was proud to simply be part of the final line up. Every time I stopped to think about the story behind Differential knowing that he could easily not have been here at all, I became quite emotional and felt like telling everyone how special he really is."

 

Since returning from Birmingham they have both managed to relax a little although not for long as the new batch of yearlings are already arriving in the yard. Differential has seen it all before of course and will thoroughly enjoy misbehaving when he is out on exercise with them.

He enjoys jumping and in 2008 they hope to take part in the Retrained Racehorse classes where jumping skills are combined with a ridden show.