There has been a lot made of the new declaring of Wind Operation’s from January 1st, 2018. This has been a long-held debate, like Gelding Operation’s. Should they be declared?? 

When do we as punter’s hear about them? Some trainer’s will mention them in their blog’s on their website or on a Bookie’s site, which they have an exclusive deal with.

That is another bone of contention but that is for another day! We usually hear after the fact, when IF the horse has won and it is mentioned in passing, when some, not ALL of the people in the know have had a few quid on knowing that the horse could go better due to the operation. But what kind of Wind Operation? We hear this term a lot, but what are they?

Usually the aim of the Operation is to improve the function of the horse’s upper airway. Many operations may not help the horse but maybe also a corrective procedure. We only ever hear about the one’s that work, surely if they were successful EVERY time then, every trainer (NH or Flat) would have them done as a matter of course?

 Some horse’s need them due to age or a slight alignment caused by an infection, these will all now have to be declared.

But why all the secrecy from the Trainer’s?? Some see this as hiding something from everyone. A little secret. Not for me. They are entitled to let us know what they feel is relevant, if they choose to tell us this information, then great. Now it will all be public. The Racing Post announced they will be keeping a table of ALL horses that have had ANY kind of WIND operation, so punters can see if or not the operation has made a difference to the WIN %.

 Let’s hope they also take into account the horse’s prior form on the going, the distance & weight’s, But will we ever get the correct WIN %?.

Article by Richard Williams