It’s very tempting to swap trainers when a horse isn’t getting the results you want. But is swapping trainers always the best option?
Tambourine Girl
Tambourine Girl has had 3 disappointing runs since racing returned after having to stop for Covid-19. She has been working really well at home but just hasn’t looked interested in her races. Roger Charlton tried cheek pieces and blinkers and they didn’t seem to have made any difference to her attitude. After her last run the decision has been made to send her to a different trainer.
Since she was so promising as a 2 year old and with Roger Charlton basically admitting that he wasn’t sure what else to try with her, I think sending her to a new trainer could be the right idea. But there is also a good chance that she simply hasn’t trained on and doesn’t want to race anymore. In which case I hope the decision will be made to retire her.
If it’s not broke…
I see a lot of posts on horse racing social groups calling for horses to be swapped to new trainers. A lot of these horses have great form, have achieved some great results and have just had one bad outing. I think calling for these horses to swap trainers is crazy. Yes there is always the possibility that a horse will improve with a different trainer. But there is also the chance that the new trainer may not get them and might not be able to get the same results. Sometimes horses have bad days and unfortunately when working with horses you can do everything right and it can still go wrong.
If the horse has either never performed well or has a consistent streak of not performing as well as they have done, then yes, I think it is acceptable to consider swapping trainers. But first you should talk to the trainer about what they have tried and if they have any other ideas they would like to try. Afterall, a new trainer will probably want to spend some time to get to know the horse before they are able to run them. So trying everything with the current trainer might be best.
