One of Michael Costa Racing’s core philosophies is that in order to maximise a racehorse’s potential we must liken the thoroughbred to a human athlete and treat each racehorse as an individual, elite ‘equine athlete’. The science of training and sports performance has evolved significantly over the past 20 years with research providing a greater understanding of the demands of racing on the thoroughbred and how to maximise racing performance.
Just as sports science has transformed all major “human” sporting codes Michael Costa Racing are at the forefront of applying cutting edge sports science principles and techniques to the training of thoroughbreds to maximise each horses racing potential.
Michael Costa Racing horses are monitored every second of every gallop with the latest in equine heart rate monitors and GPS speed systems. Our team customises individual training programmes for galloping at pre-determined speeds to predict each horses performance and help them to improve in the most effective manner. Only scientific training based on heart rate and lactate measurements offers the accuracy of gallop speeds and distances to reliably and safely develop an increase in muscle fitness.
Each individual horse also has daily evaluations, which are recorded and used to continually access their physiology, psychology, nutrition and performance so that their individual training programme can be fine-tuned to achieve optimal results.
At Michael Costa Racing we believe that applying the principles of equine sport science is a crucial and until now highly under-utilised technique in racehorse training in Australia. However, we also believe there is no substitute for attention to detail, true horsemanship and having the ability to listen to each individual thoroughbred.
Horses are very expressive in their actions and reactions to the world around them, often mirroring what they sense. We must create a bond and gain the trust of each individual horse through a positive environment and true horsemanship. We believe having a greater understanding of the individual horse builds the foundation to effectively leverage scientific techniques to allow us to make clear and considered decisions to optimise the horses performance, health and overall wellbeing.
Michael Costa Racing is standing at the threshold of the future of thoroughbred training. We believe following this training philosophy will achieve our vision of maximising the value of every thoroughbred that enters our stable and every client that partners with us.
Learn more about our Training Philosophy in our EDUCATIONAL VIDEO SERIES