Why are Racehorses worked so early in the morning

Why are Racehorses worked so early in the morning 

It’s always been tradition for racehorses to be trained or worked early in the morning. The times may vary from stable to stable but as a general rule training starts well before daylight. But why is this the norm and will it stay that way? 

There is much debate about this work practice and in more modern times the question of work health does come to mind. Is it still necessary and how can workers properly function when they are starting at 4am but still taking horses to the races at 8pm (during the night racing season). More traditional trainers are happy with the way things are and have good staff management protocols in place to ensure workers aren’t burnt out, however there are some who feel it’s time for a change. 

What are the reasons that horses are worked so early  

• Horse welfare – with the cooler temperatures of the mornings you have a lower risk of dehydration or heat stress, especially in the hot summer months 

• Race Meetings – There is not a day other than Christmas day when you won’t find a race meeting being held in Australia somewhere. The day-to-day running of a stable needs to be completed early so that trainers and staff can get their horses to the race meetings.   

• Track conditions – Most training facilities are shared by many trainers who all have stables of horses to get worked every day. Trainers like to get their horses out onto those tracks early so they are working on the best surface, not one that has been worked on by hundreds of horses already that morning. 

• Staff – often some stable staff, especially track work riders do have second jobs, so it’s important for them to be finished with time to allow them to get to there second place of employment.  

• Availability of Jockeys – Jockeys ride track work, it’s important for both trainers and jockeys to get a feel for a horse, so come race day they can compete at their best. To allow jockeys time to ride track work and make it to race meetings this needs to be done early.  

• Stable numbers – Many of the larger training stables have a lot of horses that need to be worked every morning, an early start is necessary so they can get all their work completed in time for the rest of the day. 

• Horses can be checked – With early morning starts, horses can be checked and any issues addressed and seen to early in the day. 

Not all stables do start early, especially in some regional areas where the facilities such as track lighting is not as readily available, but there will always be two opinions over the necessity of early morning starts, it really comes down to a matter of what works best for each particular stable and their staff.