equine fatalities

Ever get the feeling that somebody up there doesn't like us very much? Of all of the horses, in all of the world... But really it doesn't make any difference, however you interpret the tragedy of Medina Spirit (Protonico). The net result, for our community, is the same--whether you think the whole melodrama unfolded, entirely and lucklessly, at random; or was somehow determined by our own culpable behaviors. Whoever is writing these scripts, we have been cast in the same role. We are being tested. And if we don't get...

The death of Medina Spirit (Protonico) following a workout Monday at Santa Anita has resulted in a predictable backlash, with at least two media outlets calling for the sport to be banned and readers of some of the nation's most prominent newspapers posting numerous vitriolic comments online. Here is a sampling of what has been written and said about horse racing following Monday's shocking news: The New York Post led the charge with Maureen Callahan writing a column with the headline "Medina Spirit's shocking death is yet another reason we...

If reception is any guide, the main takeaway by far from Tuesday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee meeting was the suggestion of an accident prevention taskforce to systematically study the myriad factors behind fatal equine injury. The primary discussion on the meeting agenda was a highly anticipated one, concerning the possibility of penalizing trainers for injuries and fatalities for horses in their care. During the meeting introduction, CHRB executive director, Scott Chaney, and CHRB chairman, Gregory Ferraro, explained that while California has witnessed a sharp...

An indication of just how prickly an upcoming California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee meeting discussion will likely be--one on potentially penalizing trainers for equine injuries and fatalities--can be evinced through a tweet the agency's spokesperson, Mike Marten, issued on Sept. 26. The digital missive goes: "Considerable interest in this Oct. 19 CHRB committee agenda item: 'Discussion regarding the advisability of penalizing trainers for injuries and fatalities for horses in their care.' Emphasis on the word 'discussion.' Very early in a complicated process." A "complicated process"...

In a special meeting Monday morning, the Arizona Racing Commission formally approved the proposed 2021-2022 race dates for Turf Paradise--Nov. 5 through May 7--but hard practical questions remain over what participation at that meet could look like due to an ongoing standoff between the Arizona horsemen and Turf Paradise management. As a result of welfare concerns springing from a 2020-2021 Turf Paradise race meet marred by a high number of equine fatalities, the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) have stated they will not sign any race-meet contract until...

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux suffered fractures in his back when going down in a spill in Saturday's fifth race at Santa Anita. In a post on his Facebook page, Desormeaux said the spill caused a "couple little bone cracks" in his back, but that he will not need surgery. Desormeaux added that his doctor "says it's completely a pain management situation." The 50-year-old three-time Eclipse Award-winning rider was aboard Scat's Choice (Scat Daddy) for trainer Vann Belvoir in the $25,000 claiming event when the 3-year-old filly broke down,...

Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, and Dr. Scott Palmer, the Equine Medical Director for the New York State Gaming Commission, will offer a progress report on the Mid-Atlantic Strategic Plan to Reduce Equine Fatalities Wednesday, Nov. 11. Foreman and Palmer, the architects of the plan, will provide background and report on the progress of reforms that have been undertaken in the seven states that host racing in the Mid-Atlantic region: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The Plan, adopted in 2019, is...

Santa Anita, which concluded its 16-day Autumn Meet Oct. 25 with 1,106 horses racing and 51,200 training sessions since Sept. 5., when the Del Mar Summer Meet was winding down, had no racing or training fatalities during that time. The meet was pushed back due to the Bobcat Fire in the neighboring San Gabriel Mountains and the track did not host live racing until Sept. 25. The main dirt track at the Arcadia oval has not had a single racing fatality in 2020, including during the Winter/Spring Meet which began...

The Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association released Tuesday evening a seven-page draft "Equine & Rider Safety Enhancement Plan," ahead of a follow-up meeting July 20 with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) concerning a recent uptick in equine fatalities at the track. Among some of the new protocols outlined in the plan is an additional veterinarian to scrutinize horses entering and exiting the track during morning training, and the creation of a program whereby every equine fatality triggers a "Fatality Review" to be conducted by a panel including a...

In the fifth and final installment of a series of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation webinars that took the place of the canceled ninth annual Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, Drs. Tim Parkin and Mary Scollay examined Tuesday The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database (EID) and its findings since being launched in 2009. "The genesis of the EID goes back to Barbaro," explained Scollay, the executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. "When he was injured in the Preakness, a lot of attention and phone calls were...

If veteran trackman Dennis Moore gives the Santa Anita training track the thumbs-up after he has evaluated it Thursday, the track could re-open for training Friday morning, said California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) president Jim Cassidy after a meeting Wednesday morning. This sentiment was mirrored by California Horse Racing Board member Alex Solis, who also attended the meeting. He said there's a "good chance" the track will be open Friday. "It's a different surface [to the main track]," said Solis. "It can absorb more water." Should the training track re-open Friday...