What's next for Gracie?

So Gracie (Arms Of An Angel) foaled on Wednesday 24th October 2018 and the birth went well, and she passed her placenta without any issue - the stud staff would have collected the afterbirth, spread it out and checked to make sure there were no obvious gaps or tears that might indicate pieces might have remained in the birth canal (which if left can cause infection for the mare).

She was then scanned on her foal heat at eight days after foaling - the foal heat is the first cycle of oestrus (or of being 'on heat') since having her foal. She looked clean and had a 40mm follicle (the diameter of the follicle – the sac on the ovary that will release an egg).

At Alabar, they don't tend to recommend breeding on foal heat due to lower conception rates and a higher rate of slipping (where the mare self-aborts the foetus very early in gestation).

However they still like to scan the mares on foal heat to see how their uterus looks and also to track their date of ovulation, which then gives them a date to work from to either short-cycle the mare (bring her back into season slightly quicker through the use of prostaglandin) or scan the mare again on her next cycle. It is also gives staff a chance to inspect the foal while the mare is up at the main barn and give them some gentle handling.

Alabar scanned Arms Of An Angel again before Melbourne Cup day and she has now ovulated. They we will now look to give her a shot of PG on Saturday and scan her again on the following Tuesday.