Biomechanics

Paul Mostert, one of the founders of the study of the biomechanics in racehorses, died May 6 in Lexington at the age of 94, according to a story in the Lexington Herald-Leader. Mostert served in the Navy until the end of World War II, and would go on to get a Ph.D from Purdue University. A mathematics teacher at the University of Kansas, he retired to work in the field of biomechanics and would develop 14 software programs using mathematical models of the biomechanics of racehorses. He was the president...

by Bob Fierro With apologies to Pliny the Elder, who more than two centuries ago penned those words in the headline, and also to Elvis, who expanded their meaning in a modest ballad of the same name in 1962, we are about to examine what has evolved after at least 40 years as a science-based axiom of racing efficiency and success: How much of a factor does the cardio system of a Thoroughbred influence its ability? Let us state up front that the answer to that question may depend on...

There are several companies or individuals who provide services that, in the end, use the data gleaned from an ultrasound to project in one way or another potential racing success. We provide data obtained when a Thoroughbred's heart is scanned with an ultrasound computer and measurements are taken of its body mass to determine an "ejection fraction." The definition of "success" often depends upon the criteria applied to that data. One definition of success is to project the potential for that horse to race successfully up to or beyond a...