'Horses are constantly talking to you. It's for us to read them

Seasoned trainers open up about the art of producing champions on the track and dirt. But it's not always about winning the big races on the world's biggest stages

- Nasreen Abdulla

From injuries to moods, there are several things that dictate the performance of a horse on race day. Horse trainer Alice Haynes said she had to make the “bold move” of pulling a horse out of a race because she felt it was the right thing to do.

“You have little hunches,” she said. “You have these little niggly things in our head that we'll know is the right thing to do. For one of my horses, I had to pull him out on the day of a race. The horses shouldn't be running just because it is a big day, or it is an important race. We also have to make sure that the owners understand that the horses are not feeling 100 per cent and running that day would impact their health.”

She said as a woman, she feels like she has an advantage. “I think we read scenarios better, and sometimes we can read horses better,” she said. “We have that sort of one-onone touch. I think to be able to care for horses is a much bigger thing than having big wins.”