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The Making of a Champion Thoroughbred. Chris Crocker

1,713 views · Published 27 March 2007 · 2:25 · Indexed 12 October 2026

Channel: Horses And More! · 2007 · Sports

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Christopher Crocker Racing Stable at Bowie Training Center in Maryland. The Making a Champion Thoroughbred! These two thoroughbred race horses are breaking out of the starting gates for gate card so the can be OK'ed to race. A race horse must go through starting gate training before he can actually start in a race. Some tracks require race horses to get approved for breaking from the gate safely if they have not started in a certain amount of time. This thoroughbred race track track requires a race horse to run no longer than six months between races or he must again be approved for starting from the gates. This is commonly know as a "six month card".

A little overview on how horses are trained to break from starting gates:
It is important for a thoroughbred race horse to break straight without interfering with other horses as he breaks from the gate. A young race horse will start out by entering the starting gate slowly and may walk through an open starting gate numerous times to get him used to the sides of the starting gate touching him and to get him familiar with the enclosure. Some horses have no problem at all, while others can be very intimidated by the small space and sounds of the starting gate rattling around him. All horses have different learning curves, so while others will take to breaking from the starting gate very quickly, others may take longer to train. As the horse shows acceptance and becomes more confident of his surroundings, he will have the gates closed up around him. It is important at this stage that the starters, who are handling the horse, and the rider are quiet and make this a good experience for the horse. Race horses must learn to stand in the starting gate quietly and confidently so when race time comes, he will stand in line quietly while the other horses are loaded and waiting for the bell to ring and doors to spring. Some people think the bell has a lot to do with the horse breaking, when in fact the bell is more for the public to hear than the race horse and jockey. Horses can be trained to start at the sound of a bell, but this isn't the main objective when training to break from gates. The horse relies on the gate springing open, to respond. They are trained with the bell, so there are no surprises, but with all the sounds and commotion going on while waiting for the gate to spring open, you really want to desensitize the race horse to those sounds, so they don't try to break through the gate prematurely.

After the trainer and starter are satisfied by the horse's progress, he will start to trot or "jog" out while the gates are hand opened. The race horse then progresses to cantering out and eventually break out from a standstill to a full gallop. It's common for younger horses to learn to break with an older horse. By working out on the track in company with older horses, he is used to going with them, so when they break together, the young race horse, that is learning, knows he needs to go with them. When the horse shows he can break clean and straight, he will be issued an "OK card" or "Gate card" which gives him approval from the starter that this horse is safely breaking from the starting gate and is allowed to race.

For more starting gate training videos, follow these links:

Standardbred gate car at Freehold Raceway horrible accident from human error: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2RgdQ1J3XQ&list=PLCA6ADB8EDF448579&feature=share&index=25

Thoroughbred race horses training to break from starting gates:

SURPRISE gate break GONE WRONG. Thoroughbred Race Horse Training http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe8Dsg_yHxQ&feature=share&list=PL5jvVGef9kRdaOGIngcLcRMGeTbHSoHin&index=1

Young race horse bucking out of starting gates with girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnDO7aEeiQY&feature=share&list=PL5jvVGef9kRdaOGIngcLcRMGeTbHSoHin&index=3

Inexperienced rider crashes out of gates on race horse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0AQnhdK30&list=PL5jvVGef9kRdaOGIngcLcRMGeTbHSoHin&feature=share&index=5

Starting Gate Training Thoroughbred Race Horses Break at Colonial Downs, VA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMegUScHh9I&feature=share&list=PL5jvVGef9kRdaOGIngcLcRMGeTbHSoHin&index=7

Race Horses Breaking From Starting Gate Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5jvVGef9kRdaOGIngcLcRMGeTbHSoHin

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