What makes a Kentucky Derby champion? Big hearts, immense lungs and powerful legs

By LAURA UNGAR and CHRISTINA LARSON Associated Press LOUISVILLE Ky AP On a crisp clear morning a chestnut thoroughbred thundered down the dirt strip at Churchill Downs his exercise rider leaning forward above the saddle Other horse-and-rider pairs followed Dr Will Farmer looked down from a viewing point admiring the speed and agility of the -pound animals The whole world will have the chance to see horses in action here Saturday when the Kentucky Derby shines a global spotlight on equine athleticism It s the subject of a growing body of research that cites a constellation of characteristics big hearts immense lung quota robust musculoskeletal systems and long thin legs all of which helped horses survive in the wild It goes back to the roots They are an animal of prey revealed Farmer a veterinarian and equine biological director at Churchill Downs Inc That s how they got away from being eaten Related Articles PWHL chooses Seattle for eighth company Gophers football adds Pennsylvania running back to class Vegas delivers gut punch as Knights push Wild to brink of elimination Twins walked off after extended weather delay and little rain Jon Merrill returns to Wild defense corps for Meeting Horses honed skills such as running jumping and pulling as humans bred and trained them for various purposes over millennia And the st Derby horse racing s most-watched event will draw attention not only to the animals skills but also to concerns about their cure and soundness Advocates have long raised concerns about deaths and injuries calls that were amplified two years ago when horses died at Churchill Downs There s no doubt that war agriculture and societies have been transformed by the human-horse relationship Horses allowed us to circumvent our own biological limitations as a species declared Timothy Winegard a historian at Colorado Mesa University and author of a latest book The Horse We combined our brains with the horses size strength stamina and speed to form the majority of unstoppable animal coalition What makes horses so powerful A horse s heart and lungs are the source of its extraordinary power The heart averages to pounds or about of the animal s body weight compared with half a percent for the typical human heart Secretariat the storied horse that won the Triple Crown in was identified after his death to have a heart weighing more than pounds Horse hearts are built for exertion The average horse can go from a resting heart rate of about beats per minute to or while racing faster than a human heart during maximum exertion One thing that s really unique about horses is that they have an incredible quota to move blood around their bodies their heart rate can go really high and still be safe commented University of Connecticut researcher Sarah Reed editor in chief of the journal Animal Frontiers They also have a lung limit of liters times that of humans That massive lung field allows for oxygen to transfer from the air into their blood which is vitally critical for sustaining aerobic vitality Farmer disclosed New research in the journal Science uncovered that a genetic mutation enables horses to avoid negative side effects of super high resource production Horses are great athletes because they can deliver a lot of oxygen to their muscles way more than an elite human can and by elite human I mean Olympic athlete commented Gianni Castiglione the investigation s co-author They have a bigger tank of gas and they have a more efficient engine and this mutation is contributing to both of those things What is behind horses speed and other skills Other aspects of a horse s biology enhance its abilities Horses store extra red blood cells in their spleens These cells are issued to carry even more oxygen around the body during intense exertion Adrenaline when exercising causes the spleen to release extra red blood cells into circulation veterinarian Hilary Clayton explained What horses are doing is essentially blood doping themselves Meanwhile horses brains allow them to process sensory information and react rapidly That s despite having frontal lobes parts of the brain used for thought and planning that are proportionally smaller than those in humans Brainwise they re designed with a real desire to play and run independent of any fear reported Dr Scott Bailey a veterinarian at Claiborne Farm in Paris Kentucky a thoroughbred breeding farm where Secretariat is buried Horses are also able to focus intently which is really significant for an athlete Bone structure and musculature also help The ligaments and tendons in their hind legs act like springs Farmer mentioned helping propel them forward Like other large prey animals he added they have long thin legs that are meant to run What about the risks for horses The adaptations that make horses faster also predispose them to injury Reed disclosed Their skinny legs absorb the impact of each stride she stated and over time the repetitive stress of racing and training can lead to deformation of tendons and ligaments In deaths occurred not only at Churchill Downs but other major racing venues affecting general perceptions of the sport and sparking changes Reviews revealed no single cause for the deaths But for Churchill Downs upgraded equipment used on its dirt surface and added an equine safety and integrity veterinarian In its annual account the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority noted the actions being taken to reduce injuries and fatalities expanded veterinary protocols pre-race inspections and uniform medication oversight And it revealed the rate of deaths at authority-accredited tracks dropped in by What makes a champion Experts say a healthy safe circumstances brings out the best in a horse but they still don t know what makes certain horses standouts at the race track That s the million-dollar question Bailey disclosed Every thoroughbred owner is trying to match the genetics of the parents in order to make the horse with the greatest chance of winning Breeding is only part of the equation experts disclosed nurture training and the horse-rider relationship also factor in Each time a horse emerges seemingly out of nowhere to win the Kentucky Derby Farmer is reminded of this You don t have to be this star-studded bred horse that cost a million dollars at sale to come and win and be a great runner he reported raising his voice slightly above the din of galloping hooves There are a lot of great horses Larson broadcasted from Washington D C The Associated Press Robustness and Science Department receives patronage from the Howard Hughes Diagnostic Institute s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content