We’ve found over the years that some Partners become alarmed when they receive a workout notification and their horse worked five furlongs in 1.03 and the move was ranked 25 of 26 for the day. There are certainly instances where a slow work is a bad work, but many times trainers use slower works by design. On the other hand, a bullet work doesn’t always mean a quality work. Thus, assessing the quality of the move solely by time is not a good idea.

Things to consider when evaluating workouts:

• Goal of the trainer — slow and steady maintenance work? quick blowout? stiff breeze where they want the horse to show speed? start off slow and finish strong down the lane?

• Trainer’s philosophy on speedwork. Some trainers do not believe in working their horses fast. Others, bullet workouts are the norm.  Think Bob Baffert versus Shug McGaughey.  Both are hall of famers with polar opposite work philosophies.

• Weight of the exercise rider

• In company vs. solo — some horses can be lazy by themselves and work faster when they go with another horse. Some horses stay more relaxed when they work in company.  

• Horse’s tendencies — some horses are just lazy in the mornings! This doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t successful racehorses in the afternoons. Ever heard the phrase “morning glory?” Some horses are brilliant in the mornings but slugs in the afternoons.

• Did they break away from the pole slow or were they already breezing passing the pole?

• Were they running off and uncontrollable breaking off from the pole?

• Works from the gate vs. the pole (located every eighth of a mile)- a horse could break poorly and be slow into stride but still breeze nicely.

• How much the rider moves their hands during the breeze, especially down the stretch.  

• Was the rider whipping and driving to get the horse to finish well?

• How much energy does the horse have crossing the wire, are they laboring or full of run?

• Are they striding out comfortably or choppy?

• Did they change leads on cue?

• Did they work around the dogs (cones used to protect the inside of the turf course), causing them to go wide around the turn?

• Distance — a horse has license to get a little tired the first time they breeze at a certain distance.

• How much did they have left in the gallop out? Did they work fast but then pull up quickly past the wire?

• Margin of error- all workouts are hand timed by clockers and trainers that are on the complete opposite side of the track when the workout begins. It is not uncommon for a clocker to have a time for a work that is a full second or more different from another clocker or trainer. Other times, clockers will miss the work entirely and will publish the time given to them by the trainer.

Watch Twilight Eclipse breeze earlier this year at Palm Meadows. This graded stakes winner never works fast, but he does it the “right way”. Watch how nicely he strides out and how the rider is motionless on his back. The horse passes the wire and gallops out with gusto. This is an example of a nice work, even though it was ranked 16 of 19.

The video below shows Danzig Moon in his second to last breeze before the Kentucky Derby. His half mile work was the fastest of the day, but trainer Mark Casse felt the colt went entirely too fast for his comfort. He broke off very fast from the pole before getting leg weary nearing the wire.

His work mate on the inside finishes stronger, look at the inside horse whose rider keeps looking back at Danzig Moon as if to say, “Are you gonna pass me, big boy?”  Danzig Moon never does and visually looks like he is slowing down to the wire. His gallop out is none too eye catching either. The good news for his connections, his final work before the Derby was much better AND slower. The colt ended up running a respectable fifth in the race.