blinkers

“Then I said, ‘maybe blinkers will keep him smart and focused and running’ and it did today, so this is where to do it.”

Horses are given blinkers near the outside to their eyes to help focus a horse’s attention on what’s in front of them and not what’s going on around them.

National Treasure won the Preakness with blinkers.

Wearing blinkers for the first time, the Brendan Walsh-trained filly took charge in the stretch and survived a late push by Gambling Girl to win the $1.25 million Oaks by a neck on Friday at Churchill Downs.

“She probably was the best horse in our last race. She has a tendency to kind of wait on horses. She did the same thing a little bit today. But the addition of blinkers, I think, helped with that.”