One of the problems that thoroughbreds sometimes have is a soft palate that is displaced. This causing a restriction in breathing and that, as we all know, means a horse that cannot run at its best. Tongue ties have been used for quite a while to help solve breathing problems and now there is another device that was designed by Cornell University.

The Cornell Collar, as it is called, can help to support the horse’s throat and solve the displaced palate problem. Seeing that a horse is racing for the first time with a Cornell Collar is a clue that the horse may perform better.

But it is not an instant win bet by any means. I like to see some evidence that the collar will indeed help.

First of all, has the horse been showing good early speed in previous races but failing to finish well? Has the trainer worked the horse with the collar? You may not know if the horse worked with the collar, but a wise trainer will probably try the horse with a collar before using it in a race.

Look for its most recent work and see how the horse did. Is there an improvement? How far did it work? These are important questions. The next of course, is, “Is the stable betting the horse?” One way to answer that is using the tote board strategies in True Handicapping.
Obviously, if they worked the horse with the collar and saw an improvement, they will probably be betting it, though they may do it in such a way that it is difficult to spot without a good tote analyzing method.

Cornell Collars can solve breathing problems but aren’t much good with a horse that insists on expending all its energy early in the race. A horse that won’t rate and settle into a reasonable pace will almost always lose. Beware of these types.

I once owned a pacer that had been used to train other horses. They had used her as the rabbit in the training races to set hot early fractions. She had become so accustomed to being on the lead and flying out on the front end that it was impossible to get her to settle down. As any trainer will tell you, it is ten times tougher to unteach a horse than it is to teach them. Once they learn something, even a bad habit, it is hard to break them of it.

So be on the lookout for the Cornell Collar, but use caution when betting new users of the collar until they show some real improvement.