Safety initiatives, medication issues focus of Welfare and
Safety Summit
The fourth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit concluded Wednesday
morning in Lexington, Kentucky, as racing commission representatives discussed
the implementation of safety initiatives and four other speakers made
presentations on Thoroughbred aftercare.
Like the three previous summits, held in October 2006, March 2008 and June
2010, the summit was underwritten and coordinated by The Jockey Club and
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and hosted by Keeneland Association.
The two-day conference in the Keeneland sales pavilion brought together a
cross-section of the Thoroughbred industry, including owners, breeders,
trainers, veterinarians, horsemen, jockeys, track managers and regulators.
Among the points expressed by presenters, in order of presentation, during
the two-day summit were:
emphasized that regular testing and proactive investment are necessary to
improve racetrack safety. He said that the lab has worked with 40 racetracks
and tested surface samples from 70 racing and training surfaces both
domestically and internationally. Petersen also cited statistics from the
Equine Injury Database that show that synthetic surfaces were safer than
turf and turf was safer than dirt, although the best dirt track is almost as
safe as a synthetic track.
Jockey Club, provided a summary of The Jockey Club’s Reformed Racing Medication
Rules and the organization’s efforts seeking endorsements from industry
organizations in addition to the American Quarter Horse Association, the
Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the Thoroughbred Racing
Associations. The goal of the reformed rules is to create a uniform national
medication rule book. Iuliano noted the wide range of regulatory approaches with
frequently used therapeutic medications.
consultant to the Equine Injury Database (created in the wake of the first
summit), updated the audience on the database. He said the database now contains
more than 40,000 reports and that 89 racetracks and the National Steeplechase
Association participate, representing 93 percent of flat racing days and 100
percent of steeplechase races. Parkin also touched on an at-risk program in
development that would identify horses that may be at higher risk for injury
before a race. He said the intent was not to pull horses out of races but to
look further at some of them that may be “at risk.”
corticosteroids and discussed the various benefits and side effects of different
products. He also referenced a recently presented study at Melbourne University:
looking at horses with pre-existing conditions, horses treated with
corticosteroids face a five times greater risk of injury than untreated horses.
Commission, addressed the topic of continuing education for trainers. He
stressed that vital scientific presentations like those made at the summit
“should not lie dormant in a cubby hole in cyberspace.” He said that mandatory
continuing education “is not only doable but worth doing.”
and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), said that the recent announcement
about broad-based funding of the TAA proves that “the industry is working
together to solve its aftercare issues.” In the same session, Kristin Leshney,
legal associate for The Jockey Club, announced that The Jockey Club will
continue its well-received Thoroughbred Incentive Program in 2013. The program
rewards retired Thoroughbred racehorses that now compete in horse shows.
For the first time, all sessions were open to the public and the entire
summit was available on a live video stream. Nearly 200 people attended and
several hundred watched online. In addition, highlights from the summit were
tweeted steadily by numerous media representatives and others in attendance or
watching the video stream.
PowerPoint presentations from various speakers at the summit are available by
clicking
here. A video replay will be available at a later date.
This summit included updates on initiatives first identified at earlier
editions of the summit as well as recommendations for future implementation.
“We look upon the summit as a ‘think tank’ for this industry,” said James L.
Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club. “This
edition proved, beyond a doubt, that previous summits have indeed borne fruit
and that the committees formed at the first few summits are still working hard
to enhance the welfare and safety of our athletes.”
The presentations and panels on Tuesday were: Surface Testing Laboratory
Update; Reformed Racing Medication Rules Update; Identification of Illegal
Riding Crops and Proper Crop Use; An Honest Look at Training (a trainer panel
with an open discussion on horsemanship and training techniques); The Importance
of Pre-Race Inspections (Inspection of horse in back walking ring and
presentation in sales pavilion); Breeders’ Cup — Health, Safety and Security;
Equine Injury Database Update; Selected Effects of Training & Racing on the
Musculoskeletal System; Corticosteroids and the Horse in Training; Trainer
Continuing Education Programs; and Safety Committees at Racetracks.
The panels on Wednesday were the Racing Commissioners Panel (Implementing
Safety Initiatives) and Totally Aftercare Panel.
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