Premie race participation is associated with increased career longevity and prize money earnings in Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotters

ABSTRACT Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotters can participate in premie races as two year olds, where prize money is awarded for finishing the race within a specific time interval rather than winning. In this study, the association with premie race participation and future competitive racing success was evaluated. Analyses including all raced horses born between 2000 and 2009 (n = 9350) showed a relationship between premie race participation with reduced career longevity and prize money earnings. However, when analyses only included horses that raced competitively (n = 7497; i.e. horses with participation in only premie or qualification races were excluded), premie race participation was associated with increased racing success. These findings indicate that premie race fields consist of both horses with good racing ability as well as horses with limited talent. Overall this study shows that premie racing is likely to be beneficial for both the horse and the trainer.