Part 1: A Day In The Life - Morning Trackwork
By Steph Whiteside
While most of us are still tucked up in bed, and haven’t yet even contemplated that morning coffee, there is a small army at work checking on our horses wellbeing, prepping them for morning rides, water walks or recovery, washing, grooming and feeding, and of course, giving them lots of love and encouragement along the way.
The racing industry is not simply a 9-5 job, it’s 24/7. Most trainers wake in the early hours around 3.30am – 4am, and spend their first moments of the day checking in on their athletes for the smallest changes or concerns including if they’ve eaten up overnight, or checking for injuries sustained from the previous days run. That quiet time with the horses lets a trainer bond with, but also build that relationship to the point where they know their horses inside out. David Feek from Feek Racing says “Usually from 4am - 4.45am we’ll do a feed and also check to see if they’ve eaten up the night before. We check their legs for heat and inflammation and also take their temperatures if appropriate.”
David and Coral Feek operate a true family stable with both daughters Tammy and Heather always in the action assisting around the stable and on race days. Whilst David is usually knee deep in the morning goings on, Coral rides trackwork daily so really knows their horses on an intimate basis and also what they require in terms of a workout – slow work building base fitness and gradually on to that fast work. This is what makes stables like the Feeks' so respected in the business – their hands on approach to everything they do, and care and knowledge of all of their horses. They are also great teachers (I am proof of that!) and communicators, leading and training their stable team, and in non-Covid times, openly welcoming their owners.
Trackwork begins in the early hours as it has done for many years enabling horses to work in the cooler parts of the day and track staff to get on with their maintenance duties throughout the day - or even host a race meet. Horses are worked, or exercised/trained generally 6 days a week to ensure that their fitness and abilities are at optimum levels to allow them to perform at their very best, and give the trainers an idea of whether or not they are ready for a trial or a race.
Next on the scene around 5am on this particularly fresh Melbourne Spring morning are the fantastic masked team of stable hands and track jockeys (not necessarily the jockey who will ride them on race day) who really do love these horses as if they were their own. A trackwork rider will ride the horses as instructed to its current racing plan and also report back on the horses movement and action, so they play a very crucial role in this trackwork phase of the day. They also generally ride in pairs.
The Feeks stable team look at the board of which pairings are up next for work, bringing the later pairs out for a warm up walk on the walker, firing up the Equissage equine massager, taking rugs off and cleaning feet, prepping towels, saddles and bridles and readying the wash bay. They can work up to 8-10 pairings each morning so it’s go, go, go!
Horses are prepped for rides in the tie up stalls, with each wearing a slightly different bridle/bit combination. David explains that they mainly use ring bits and dee-ring bits. “Ring bits are quite good at preventing the horses from getting their tongue over the bits and are also good on stronger horses. Dee-ring bits are a little kinder and probably used more on fillies as they’re just softer in their mouth. We also start our 2YO’s off on the dee-ring bits too for that very reason, they’re less likely to overreact to the riders hands with them.”
Generally if a horse is accepted to race in a few days, the vet may pay a visit to scope the runner and make sure all is good to go, or just pop past to check on any current injuries or future treatments required for those who need. Often the farrier will also come past too and make sure the equine athlete’s feet and shoes are all ready to go.
Two 2YO colts purchased earlier this year at the sales have just come back into work so are providing endless entertaining gazes down the barn to see who’s coming in next, and letting us all know they’re ready for their turn. Jerry (Shalaa) and Spartan (So You Think) as they’re affectionately known, have fantastic personalities and are the last two rides for the morning. The Feek stable is situated just past the 1200m chute of Mornington Racecourse so it’s a lovely walk up the road from the stables to the track entrance. Coral explains that today the boys are going for a gallop on the sand track and that’s where they are working most days until it’s time to step things up a gear into that faster work.
You may have heard the term ‘evens’ before on some of your horse reports referring to the tempo of your horses trackwork. David explains evens are “when a horse goes 15 sec per furlong (200m). It’s really the introductory work for horses. Most people tend to start 400m, 600m, 800m or some will just start off at half mile evens which is what we start off at.”
With trackwork done for the morning, the tie ups and wash bay area are thoroughly cleaned and tidied and new sawdust laid, and the equine athletes are all moved back into to their yards to enjoy their lunch and the beautiful sunshine over Mornington. The tack room is tidied and bridles and saddles cleaned and placed meticulously in their spots ready to do it all over again tomorrow.. all of which is done before you’ve had your morning tea!
Note that in line with Racing Victoria rules, masks were worn apart from when riding, and the writer is a registered stable hand to this stable so was able to get vision and photos during morning work.
