Equine Sports Medicine Laboratory "Franco Tradati", Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Lodi, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Università degli Studi di Milano, Lodi, Italy.
PLoS One. 2023 Oct 19;18(10):e0293202. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293202. eCollection 2023.
In racehorses, the associations between physiological parameters obtained by exercise testing and racing results have been questioned. We hypothesized that fitness variables measured during a treadmill incremental test may be related with racing outcomes and lifetime career. Our study aimed to investigate the role of fitness parameters obtained during a treadmill test in performance evaluation and career prediction in poorly performing Standardbreds, through a retrospective review of the clinical records of 245 trotters that underwent an incremental treadmill test. Several fitness parameters were assessed, and their correlations with racing data (number of starts, wins and placings) in the 3 months before and 6 months after examination were evaluated; moreover their associations and predictive power for lifetime racing results and earnings were considered. The associations between fitness parameters and measures of racing performance as well as the associations between racing results over time were evaluated by Spearman's correlation in the whole population and in different age groups. Multivariate regression models predicting the total number of starts, wins and earnings based on fitness parameters were constructed, controlling for age, weight, and sex. Maximum speed and the speed at the aerobic threshold were the parameters correlated with the most racing results, in the three evaluation periods (3 months before, 6 months after, lifetime). Other parameters predictive of career outcomes were maximum blood lactate concentration and maximum hematocrit. Interestingly, in 2-year-old Standardbreds, the only parameters correlated with racing results were maximum hematocrit and minimum pH, suggesting they may reflect individual potential. Both the racing results obtained before and after examination were predictive of lifetime career, with those following hospitalization being more strongly correlated. In conclusion, parameters obtained during treadmill tests both reflect the racing outcomes and the career potential.
在赛马中，运动测试获得的生理参数与比赛成绩之间的关系一直存在争议。我们假设在跑步机递增测试中测量的健康变量可能与比赛结果和整个职业生涯有关。我们的研究旨在通过回顾 245 匹接受跑步机递增测试的赛马的临床记录，探讨在表现不佳的标准马中，跑步机测试中获得的健康参数在表现评估和职业预测中的作用。评估了几个健康参数，并评估了它们与检查前 3 个月和检查后 6 个月的比赛数据（起跑次数、胜利和名次）的相关性；此外，还考虑了它们与整个职业生涯的比赛结果和收入的相关性和预测能力。在整个人群和不同年龄组中，通过 Spearman 相关性评估了健康参数与比赛表现之间的关系以及随着时间推移的比赛结果之间的关系。基于健康参数构建了预测总起跑次数、胜利和收入的多元回归模型，控制了年龄、体重和性别。最大速度和有氧阈值速度是与三个评估期（检查前 3 个月、检查后 6 个月和整个职业生涯）中大多数比赛结果最相关的参数。其他预测职业结果的参数是最大血乳酸浓度和最大红细胞压积。有趣的是，在 2 岁的标准马中，与比赛结果相关的唯一参数是最大红细胞压积和最小 pH 值，这表明它们可能反映了个体的潜力。检查前后获得的比赛结果都可以预测整个职业生涯，住院后的结果相关性更强。总之，跑步机测试中获得的参数既反映了比赛结果，也反映了职业潜力。
