Associations between Medical Disorders and Racing Outcomes in Poorly Performing Standardbred Trotter Racehorses: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Poor performance in racehorses is commonly associated with subclinical diseases. This study aims to evaluate the associations between medical disorders and racing results in Standardbred trotters. The clinical records of 248 poorly performing Standardbreds were retrospectively reviewed, and their racing results were extracted from an online database, concerning the periods 3 months before and 6 months after hospitalization and the entire lifetime. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate the effects of different disorders on racing outcomes. Airway neutrophilia was associated with limiting lifetime starts and wins pre- and post-hospitalization, while mastocytosis was associated with less wins in the post-hospitalization period. Therefore, lower airway inflammation showed both short- and long-term impacts on racing performance. Severe upper airway obstructions and gastric ulcers showed associations with less placings in the post-discharge period but no long-term influence on performance. The significance of exertional rhabdomyolysis was indeterminable, yet interference with the number of starts in the post-discharge period was reported and associated with lower total career earnings. Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage and cardiac arrhythmias were not associated with worse racing outcomes: therefore, their role in poor performance remains unclear.