Actionables for Issues that Matter
Content relating to race horse deaths and industry infrastructure
Stuck again
HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program to end horse deaths is stuck again.
Creating a central, empowered horse racing authority has stopped over what agency has the authority.
Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) announced the suspension of negotiations with USADA.
Efforts to restore the integrity of thoroughbred horse racing stymied.
Though Industry appears unsure what will come out of talks now.
Did Global Symposium Seek to resolve horse racing death Issue?
Looks like Race Track Management symposium was about track management not horses.
Sought to share vision & outline the industry’s most pressing needs BUT
Symposium agenda did not seem to focus on real problems for Racing industry.
Track leaders continued to circle back to equine & track safety.
Driven by the provisions of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act
And the euthanization of young horses goes on & on.
Young Race Horses continue to be put down at Tracks.
All Four of California Tracks have had multiple deaths
Recently, Golden Gate Fields appears to be the worst
Cause of deaths was listed as musculoskeletal. Suggests that immature bone structure not fully developed.
Young horses under 5 are the victims of serious injuries.
Los Alamitos track experienced another death last week
When if ever will the racing of young horses stop?
Horse Racing Industry plagued by conflict of Interest & ownership.
Breeders Cup Board Members Own Horses Trained by Baffert
12 of the 14 members of the Breeders’ Cup Board involved;
Have had Baffert train their horses.
Major races seem to be mired in how to deal with Baffert
Now they have more conflicts —
Owning horses in an industry they are to regulate.
There is nothing glamorous about horse racing.
Racetracks are battlefields where horses pay with their lives for our entertainment.
Difficult to justify a spectacle in where an animal gets instantly euthanized for merely spraining an ankle or breaking a leg?
Racehorses are exploited for the sole purpose of generating profits for their owners and race promoters.
See the list of abuses that while reduced still goes on
And the track death beat goes on.
Horse deaths from track break downs continue as Industry crosses fingers
Young horses are still being put down at Santa Anita Race Course
Every horse put down was 5 or younger.
The vet schools. some track vets, & all track owners have not said age is a factor.
Contention is that horse bone structure is not mature til 6 years of age
Impossible to change the industry, economic, and culture to protect young horses.
What needs to be done will never happen – Economically & culturally not possible
50 young race horses have been put down at U.S, track so far in 2021.
The California Horse Racing Board & major tracks like Santa Anita have sought changes in racing practices over time.
These changes have alleviated deaths, however, horses are still dying of injuries on the track and in training.
The economics & traditions of horse racing outweigh the solutions to the real cause.
Is it enough? Is there something missing?
The horse drug, Lasix, has been banned at California race tracks in 2021.
The CHRB ban on Lasix seeks to show that the Industry is serious about horse safety.
Existing regs & Public Relations releases from track owners have yet to do it.
Some how this good start is still not enough transparency, trustworthy action, & oversight.
To date Ineffectual Industry leadership & organizational denial have prevailed.
No Central State or National racing authority exists to oversee & guide what seems to be a lost industry.
Further, industry horse pubs do not cover what is or is not happening before races at U.S. tracks in the barns & stalls.
More young race horses have been put down at race tracks in the U.S.
436 deaths nationally, with Los Alamitos, Golden Gate Fields, & Santa Anita reporting 84 total so far.
Injured young horses under age six whose muscular & bone structure are not completely developed are being put down.
Appears that the California legislature, California Horse Racing Boards, the Vets & the owners are ok with this death rate.
Public demonstrations do not seem to rouse outrage or concern by the general public.
Getting on the Right Marker– at least three so far.
Horse Racing Industry is in desperate need to effectively predict horse injury.
Studies to learn why young horses are continuing to break down at every track are underway.
Respected scientists & track vets are doing studies to find answers. So far results are partial but promising
Two studies seek to identify race horses at risk with early warning signs of fatal injury.
Test involve Inflammatory RNA Marker Protein that may enable the prediction of breakdowns. Promising but not yet there.
Was it all for show? The California Horse Racing Board & The California Legislature have ended up doing little to stop the death of young horses at CA tracks in 2020.
A California Senate Bill 800 and an Assembly Bill AB 1974 were to have provided regs & compliance that moved the Horse Racing Industry Standards forward.
Neither, apparently, did so as out of all the language in either passed bill, only a provision to implement veterinary monitoring of training & medication was not ALREADY IN EFFECT.
So inaction and real oversight of the industry remains an open question.
With 15 race horses put down at California tracks in last 60 days
New legislation passed & signed by CA Legislature to increase safety measures.
Two bills really cause Vets to be the police and practitioners at the tracks
California Racing Board now post deaths on spread sheet that hard to find so CHRB site.
Horses under the age of 5 whose bone development is not mature will continue to break down.
Will there ever be any national legislation to reform horse racing?
McConnell just re-intro’d SB 1820 as new Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act.
Apparently, the sponsors of HR 1754 in the House are on board with new proposed act.
Proposes an independent Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority.
Governed by a nine-member board- Non-racing people, owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys, tracks, veterinarians & state racing commissions.
Appears Senate bill has less restrictive provisions than HR 1754 reflecting Churchill Downs and McConnell contributor concerns.
