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WOW! Who wouldn't want to own a share in any ONE of these horses?! 2022 Lightning


Chief Stipe

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Crack nine-horse field for epic $1m Lightning Stakes

Jamie Kah riding Nature Strip in a jumpout at Flemington on February 11. Photo: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images.Jamie Kah riding Nature Strip in a jumpout at Flemington on February 11. Photo: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images.
 
 
By Adam Dobbin
03:26pm • 16 February 2022
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Champion sprinter Nature Strip will tackle eight rivals when he defends his Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (1000m) title at Flemington on Saturday.

The reigning winner of The Everest will be ridden by Jamie Kah who partners up with the seven-year-old gelding for the first time since the combination were successful winning the weight-for-age contest last year.

Nature Strip has drawn gate six for the $1m showpiece while fellow Chris Waller-trained runner, Home Affairs, to be piloted by Nature Strip’s usual rider James McDonald, will exit barrier eight.

Nature Strip and Home Affairs won Victoria Racing Club’s biggest spring sprints during Melbourne Cup week.

Nature Strip won the VRC Classic while Home Affairs was successful in the Coolmore Stud Stakes. Both races were run over 1200m.

Setting the scene for an enthralling edition of the Lightning Stakes is the appearance of the Joe Pride-trained Eduardo, the evergreen eight-year-old winner of $5.6m in stakes, drawn in gate five with Nash Rawiller to ride.

Last seen when annexing the $1m Classique Legend Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill in October, Eduardo has been tuned up for his Lightning Stakes assault with two slick trials at Randwick recently.

Coolmore Stud Stakes

Home Affairs will be ridden by James McDonald in Saturday’s Lightning Stakes. Photo: George Sal/Getty Images.

 

Saturday’s Lightning Stakes also marks the return of Masked Crusader which split Nature Strip and Eduardo with his electrifying finish in last year’s The Everest.

The hugely talented five-year-old has drawn barrier three at a distance expected to be short of his best.

Adding even further spice to Saturday’s race is the appearance of 2020 Lightning Stakes winner and The Everest placegetter Gytrash.

Gytrash will be ridden by last week’s CF Orr Stakes winning jockey Mark Zahra and is unbeaten at two starts at the Flemington 1000m course and has drawn barrier two.

The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Profiteer joins Home Affairs as the three-year-old colts to contest Saturday’s Lightning.

Both will carry 55.5kg – 3kg shy of the 58.5kg defending champion Nature Strip will carry.

TAB fixed odds have Nature Strip as the $2.60 favourite ahead of Eduardo at $4.

Home Affairs has drifted slightly to $5.50 while Profiteer is $11 and Gytrash $15.

R7
Flemington (VIC)
Good 4
Nature StripFav
1. Nature Strip
(6)
58.5kg
😄 34:19-6-0
L10: x121x1211x
J: Jamie Kah
Eduardo
2. Eduardo
(5)
58.5kg
😄 24:10-3-5
L10: x1131x131x
J: Nash Rawiller
Masked Crusader
3. Masked Crusader
(3)
58.5kg
😄 17:7-3-2
L10: 125x15126x
J: Jye McNeil
Gytrash
4. Gytrash
(2)
58.5kg
😄 27:10-6-7
L10: 31x30x370x
J: Mark Zahra
bet365 logo
$16
The Inferno
5. The Inferno
(4)
58.5kg
😄 13:9-2-0
L10: 1111x6120x
J: Damian Lane
sportsbet logo
$23
The Astrologist
6. The Astrologist
(1)
58.5kg
😄 21:7-3-5
L10: x5411313x3
J: John Allen
sportsbet logo
$67
Swats That
7. Swats That
(9)
56.5kg
😄 13:3-3-1
L10: x358x8052x
J: Damien Oliver
sportsbet logo
$46
Home Affairs
8. Home Affairs
(8)
55.5kg
😄 7:3-1-1
L10: 2138x191x
J: James McDonald
realbookie logo
$6
Profiteer
9. Profiteer
(7)
55.5kg
😄 7:3-2-0
L10: 1127x621x
J: Brett Prebble
bet365 logo
$12
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16 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

You couldn't take anything away from Nature Strip in that head bobber.  Nor the 3yr old either.

Interesting comment by Waller.  They head home to stand in an ice tub and then for a swim tomorrow.  It's all in the detail.

Why is that interesting? That or something similar would be usual wouldn't it?

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9 minutes ago, curious said:

Been doing it since the eventing days 50 years ago. Catch up. You can buy ice at the local service station and I'd do it on the way home anyway. Sea is a good alternative when you get there.

A box of these and a fridge freezer in the tack room is a reasonable alternative for us poor people.

IMG_20220220_110745[1].jpg

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Of course the Arabs go a little bit further...... not needed at Riccarton in the middle of winter.

Dubai uses extreme cold cryotherapy to treat racehorses in world first

REUTERS REUTERS

22 August, 2019, 9:33 pm

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A horse undergoes a cryotherapy session, which surrounds its body in cold nitrogen mist, at the Zabeel Racing Stables in Dubai, UAE August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Satish Kumar

DUBAI (Reuters) – In the searing summer heat of Dubai, some of the world’s top racehorses are being swathed in freezing nitrogen mist to boost their performance.

Cryotherapy, which surrounds the body in a mist as cold as -140°C, has been used for decades on athletes to aid recovery and in medicine. A Dubai-based company, Revive Cryotherapy, says it is now offering the first whole body cryotherapy chamber for horses.

“As far as recovery goes we are learning, but it is positive so far,” said Satish Seemar, head trainer at Zabeel Racing Stables which trains about 125 horses.

“The horses start hopping quicker after their hard work and racing than without cryotherapy,” he added.

Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, is known for its connections to elite horse racing. Its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is an avid sponsor, owner and rider of horses. The emirate gives out multi-million dollar prizes at prestigious competitions.

“Horse racing is a big business with prizes worth millions of dollars. With cryotherapy we have seen that you can train harder, recover quicker and you can race more often,” said Luka Jurkovic, general manager of Revive Cryotherapy.

The company also offers the technology to humans and dogs and is thinking of expanding into the world of camel racing.

“We will have to scale it up a bit as camels are obviously bigger,” Jurkovic said.

Revive, which has two other bespoke horse cryotherapy cabins in Dubai, finished the testing phase in April and is now using it daily on horses at Zabeel Stables, a lush green space in the heart of Dubai’s high-rise financial district.

The horses are gradually introduced to the cabin, which fits snugly around their bodies leaving their heads and necks free, and treated with the swirling cold mist. After a first few familiarisation sessions, they undergo a full treatment which lasts around seven minutes and cools their skin to about 3-5 degrees.

The cabin doors are not locked allowing horses to escape if they panic.

Cryotherapy is thought to help inflammation and tissue damage, and to help athletes – and horses – recover faster after exercise.

 

 

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43 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Of course the Arabs go a little bit further...... not needed at Riccarton in the middle of winter.

 

That would be magic but most of us don't have those resources. Why do you think we use beach work? Because they have 10 minutes in the water to cool down joints and ligaments after the work? Why does Freda give my horse a couple of laps in the pool after a gallop? Why do you see super rugby athletes on the sideline with icepacks on when they come off the field? It's a centuries old recovery tool. What level you do it at obviously depends on resources but yes, you still need it in a Riccarton winter though the lower temps help. Why does Waller do it? He didn't come down in the last shower. But my point was this is nothing novel.

Edited by curious
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18 hours ago, curious said:

Because they have 10 minutes in the water to cool down joints and ligaments after the work?

But that isn't Ice treatment.

18 hours ago, curious said:

Why does Freda give my horse a couple of laps in the pool after a gallop?

Again that isn't Ice treatment.

18 hours ago, curious said:

Why do you see super rugby athletes on the sideline with icepacks on when they come off the field?

Unless they are injured it serves no purpose.  If they are injured it may reduce inflammation.  Rugby players have been taking ice baths after games for many years but the limited research into the effects of doing this have shown that it makes no difference to recovery or injury recovery.

18 hours ago, curious said:

It's a centuries old recovery tool.

An old wive's tale?  Has there been research on it?  Cold temperatures reduce blood circulation.  How does that help those tissues that have limited blood supply in first place?  e.g. tendons.

The advantage of swimming a horse or even walking them in water is that you provide resistance exercise without loading or stressing the horse's joints.  It helps in recovery because you are providing low stress exercise in a stable temperature environment that helps the body process the waste products out of its system e.g. lactic acid.

18 hours ago, curious said:

Why does Waller do it? He didn't come down in the last shower. But my point was this is nothing novel.

I don't know why Waller does it.  However he does it differently to some by putting the horses in ice tubs.  This makes sense to me as it is an environment where you can regulate the temperature and make sure it doesn't get too cold.  It probably assists in bringing the core body temperature down to normal levels which would assist in recovery.  But I can't see the value of localised ice packs as you have no control over how cold it gets nor how even the temperature is.  Too low a temperature would have a negative rather than a positive effect.

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27 minutes ago, nod said:

 I recall the great little pacer Lordship standing in buckets of ice as they tried to get another race out of him.Twas said he suffered from needle splints

Where are needle splints on the leg?  He did have a problem around the top of his hooves.  I remember Don Nyhan discussing it with my father and our trainer when our horse was stabled there.  Our good colt was by Lordship and Don was adamant that he had the same problem.  That was about 40 years ago and I can't remember the exact name for the condition.

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