Childs Walker | Baltimore Sun
To an individual, they cross their fingers or say a small prayer each time a serious race attracts close to: Please, please don’t let a horse breakdown.
Those who love thoroughbred racing agree that amongst all of the difficulties dealing with their sport, none is extra existentially threatening than public dismay over the deaths of racehorses. This disquiet peaked once more final week after seven horses died or suffered deadly accidents within the run-up to the Kentucky Derby, the most-watched occasion on the American racing calendar. Questions of racetrack security will stay on the entrance burner as these scrutinizing the game flip their gaze to Baltimore and Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
As the gloomy headlines emerged one after one other from Kentucky, it hardly mattered that the speed of racing-related deaths dropped 37.5% from 2009 to 2022 or that state racing officers took swift motion to droop the coach, Saffie Joseph Jr., who had two horses die all of the sudden and inexplicably. They additionally scratched would-be Derby favourite Forte over the objections of his co-owner as a result of a veterinarian was involved a couple of bruise on the colt’s foot.
These is likely to be indicators of progress for many who know the game intimately, however many informal followers noticed solely the loss of life toll, which for them overshadowed Mage’s victory within the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Perhaps they thought again to the 2019 disaster at Santa Anita Park, the place 30 horses died in a single season, threatening the way forward for California racing. Maryland final month confronted its personal disaster when 5 horses suffered deadly accidents in racing or coaching at Laurel Park, forcing a brief shutdown as monitor operators and horsemen disagreed sharply about security situations earlier than finally agreeing to behave on an out of doors advisor’s upkeep suggestions.
“You look at [the deaths] in the context of number of races and starts, and it’s the smallest it’s been in decades because our protocols are better,” mentioned Alan Foreman, common counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and a key voice within the Mid-Atlantic business’s efforts to cut back fatalities. “But then you have a cluster like we had with the entire world looking at Churchill Downs, and it’s hard to explain, it’s hard to justify.”
Trainers are extra hardened to the dangers of the game than informal followers however acknowledge the alarm brought on by the string of deaths in Kentucky. “That’s too many,” mentioned veteran Shug McGaughey, who will saddle Perform for the Preakness. “We need to be very transparent about what’s going on. I’ve got friends outside racing, my wife does too, and they’re texting, ‘What’s going on?’ They don’t want to hear that, so it’s something we have to address.”
Animal rights advocates, who’ve lengthy criticized thoroughbred racing for its insular tradition and resistance to vary, mentioned the deaths in Kentucky have been one other indication of the main reforms nonetheless wanted to enhance security.
“The moon shot for the industry is to achieve a zero tolerance for on-track deaths,” mentioned Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “A ban on reckless doping is just one key element of getting to zero deaths. It will also require breeding of horses for soundness, keeping unfit horses out of competition and a commitment to making proper veterinary assessments in real-time to safeguard the well-being of the animals.”
In response to the deadly breakdowns at Laurel final month, Kathy Guillermo, senior vice chairman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, referred to as for a change from filth to artificial racing surfaces: “The horsemen and state officials clamoring for an independent review of the dirt track … are pretending that they don’t know which surface is the safest, but everyone in racing knows: It’s not dirt — it’s synthetic. Statistics consistently show, year after year, that the death rate on synthetic tracks is significantly lower than on any other surface.”
Industry stakeholders are hoping federal oversight from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) will give the game extra credibility in the long term. The authority, which has confronted opposition from horsemen’s teams in courtrooms across the nation, started implementing its racetrack security program final July and can implement its drug testing program beginning later this month, after the Preakness.
HISA protocols have been in impact on the Kentucky Derby, the place two horses, Chloe’s Dream and Freezing Point, suffered deadly accidents throughout undercard races, bringing the whole deaths to seven in 10 days. “Churchill Downs has been cooperating with HISA since its inception and is in full compliance with our rules and processes,” the authority mentioned in a press release. “On the morning of each race, every horse undergoes a hands-on inspection and is observed in motion outside their stall. A team of … regulatory veterinarians also views each horse in the paddock, during the post parade and as they approach and load into the starting gate. If a horse is deemed unfit to race by the regulatory veterinarians, it will be scratched, as was the case in a number of circumstances this week. Both Chloe’s Dream and Freezing Point passed all inspections without incident.”
The similar protocols shall be in impact throughout Preakness week, and horsemen, monitor operators and analysts agree that racing deaths could be lowered with diligent veterinary checks and deeper evaluation of monitor surfaces. But they are saying there’s a more durable reality underlying these efforts: Horses will proceed to die from racing and coaching accidents.
Setting apart the sudden deaths of Joseph’s horses, which Churchill Downs president Bill Mudd referred to as “highly unusual,” Kentucky officers discovered “no discernible pattern detected in the injuries sustained” within the run-up to the Derby.
It’s typically tough to pinpoint a single trigger for clusters of deaths, mentioned Foreman, who a decade in the past led an inquiry right into a collection of 21 deadly breakdowns at New York’s Aqueduct Racetrack that led to new security protocols.
“When you see a cluster of injuries or fatalities, it’s a red flag, and that’s what you have to be alert to,” he mentioned. “It’ll be important to see what the facts are when they come out, and I’m sure Churchill is all over this. … I don’t care what it is; you don’t see a cluster of fatalities because horsemen have changed their practices or they’re illegally medicating. You really have to dive in and see what’s going on.”
HISA on Friday introduced it should examine the medical and efficiency histories of every horse that died together with monitor situations and fatality charges at Churchill, with the federal authority’s findings to be launched to the general public. “As we move forward from this collective low, I hope it is together, united with a renewed commitment to what matters most: the safety of our horses and riders,” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus mentioned in a press release saying the inquiry.
In the absence of a transparent clarification, those that love the game will trudge towards the Preakness hoping for every week freed from tragedy.
“You hold your breath,” NBC analyst Randy Moss mentioned, describing his concern {that a} horse may breakdown in any main race he covers. “It’s impossible to get it to zero. It’s just part of the breed, and unfortunately, it’s a hot-button issue right now, understandably so. There’s no explanation that I know of for what happened at Churchill Downs. … It defies explanation, and that’s one of the maddening, frustrating things for people that love the sport.”
Maddening too is the game’s capability to be its personal worst enemy. Even as business leaders responded to the deaths in Kentucky by touting a few of the progress they’ve made, the New York Times reported Tuesday that Forte, the scratched would-be Derby favourite, failed a postrace drug take a look at in September, a matter that was not adjudicated by New York regulators till Thursday (they disqualified Forte from his victory within the 2022 Hopeful Stakes and suspended skilled Todd Pletcher for 10 days).
Critics have lengthy mentioned such violations, paired with a sluggish justice course of, undermine public confidence. Congress created HISA partially to handle this very drawback.
In Maryland, racetrack deaths haven’t prompted widespread requires the business to be shut down, however those that assist racing say painful weeks such because the latest ones at Laurel at Churchill Downs ought to immediate sober reflection on the right way to enhance security.
“I hope that the new federal law has a positive impact in terms of preventing the loss of the horses,” mentioned state Del. Sandy Rosenberg, whose district contains Pimlico. “And I know it’s an issue that is of concern to all of the parties involved here as evidenced by the concerns of the horsemen when Laurel had to be shut down. So it shines a light and justifiably so and I would hope that [with] a combination of the federal and state efforts that we make a real reduction in the harm to the horses.”
Four horses have suffered deadly accidents this 12 months in races at Laurel (10 died from racing accidents in 2022) whereas six extra have died from accidents in coaching.
Officials from 1/ST Racing, which owns and operates Laurel and Pimlico, level to the reforms they instituted after the 2019 explosion of deaths at Santa Anita Park (which the corporate additionally owns) as a hopeful demonstration of the enhancements that may nonetheless be made.
Asked for a press release on its preparations to make Pimlico as secure as potential for the Preakness, nevertheless, the corporate had not responded as of Friday afternoon.
148th Preakness Stakes
Pimlico Race Course
Saturday
Post time: Approximately 6:50 p.m. ET
Baltimore Sun reporter Hayes Gardner contributed to this text.
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