3 minute read
One of the more disturbing bits of news out of the Kentucky Derby was that of fatalities on the track.
12 horses have suffered fatal injuries in the last five week. HISA, the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority, issued a report on the situation on Thursday.
We are including the entire report here as it makes for compelling reading.
"Over the past several days, the Horseracing Integrity and
Safety Authority (HISA) has undertaken multiple measures to
better understand the circumstances surrounding the recent
spate of equine fatalities at Churchill Downs in hopes of working
with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and
Churchill Downs to mitigate additional risk to the horses and
riders competing at Churchill Downs moving forward.
On Tuesday, May 30, HISA convened a Veterinary Summit
with its counterparts at Churchill Downs and the KHRC to
thoroughly review all veterinary information available and
conduct additional analyses. Those discussions continued
through yesterday with ongoing engagement between the
veterinary teams. Specifically, the Summit included robust
discussion of three different points of intervention with regard
to racing injuries: 1) injury management, 2) preventing at-risk
horses from racing via veterinary scrutiny, and 3) preventing
at-risk horses from entering.
Conclusions from the Summit have been shared directly with key stakeholders to
inform next steps. While no obvious or specific pattern
emerged, HISA welcomes Churchill Downs' efforts announced
earlier today to minimize risk of equine fatalities and is
implementing the following additional measures:
1. Effective with Saturday's entries, HISA's Director of
Equine Safety and Welfare will conduct an additional
layer of post-entry screening. HISA's rule 2142
(Assessment of Racing Soundness) requires post-entry
screenings of previous pre-Race inspection findings of
entered Horses to identify Horses that may be at
increased risk for injury. The review includes past
performances, lay-ups (more than 60 days without a
timed Workout or Race), last 30 days medical history,
previous injury and lameness diagnostics, intraarticular
corticosteroid injections, previous surgery and other
individual Horse risk factors.
2. HISA has directed the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare
Unit (HIWU) to collect blood and hair samples for all
fatalities involving Covered Horses. The results from
such collections will be used to facilitate investigations
into the cause of such fatalities. The data collected by
HIWU in connection with Covered Horse fatalities will
also be used to track relevant statistics and trends in
connection with fatalities.
3. HISA has appointed Dr. Alina Vale, an equine forensics
specialist, to conduct an additional thorough review of
all necropsies performed on Covered Horses. Dr. Vale
has conducted several postmortem reviews as an
official veterinarian for the California Horse Racing
Board, including participating in the review following a
spate of equine fatalities at Santa Anita in 2019.
Additionally, Dennis Moore began his analysis of Churchill
Downs' racing and training surfaces yesterday. That review is
ongoing; Moore's conclusions will be shared publicly once his
review is complete.
HISA continues to urgently seek additional answers to more
clearly identify the causes of these recent fatalities as well as
tangible interventions to prevent them in the future. All options
remain on the table, and HISA will continue to vigilantly monitor
events at Churchill Downs moving forward."
