equine veterinarian

Two racetrack veterinarians who are the principals of Maryland Veterinary Group (MVG) have been served with notices of violations and were given provisional suspensions that started Jan. 12 after Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) searches of that practice's offices at Laurel Park and Delaware Park allegedly turned up "banned" substances that, under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules, are never to be found in any covered Thoroughbred or possessed on any HISA-regulated grounds. Dr. Nicholas Meittinis and Dr. Adam Lockard are both alleged to have violated HISA Rule...

Edited Press Release A highly respected team of equine veterinarians is set to serve the 2025-26 racing season at Santa Anita Park starting on Friday, Dec. 26 with opening day of the Classic Meet. Under the leadership of Dr. Dionne Benson, Chief Veterinary Officer of Santa Anita's parent company 1/ST Racing, a total of seven veterinarians will be on hand to oversee every aspect of training and racing at Santa Anita. Santa Anita will host a total of 78 race days from the start of the traditional Classic Meet until...

All this week, the TDN has been trying to nail down concrete details surrounding the studies performed for the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium's (RMTC) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) into the way metformin behaves in Thoroughbreds. It turns out that the first of the three papers stemming from this study was published Wednesday in the online journal, Drug Testing and Analysis. In short, the study finds a "prolonged detection time" for the drug. This first study involved 12 Thoroughbreds aged between two and seven years of age. It was broken...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has named the members of its newly-established Medical Advisory Committee, a group of leading medical professionals with a broad range of specialties from across the United States who will provide expert guidance on matters related to jockey health, safety and well-being, a press release from the regulator said on Thursday. The committee will advise HISA's executive team and standing committees by offering recommendations on best practices for jockey safety, reviewing proposed rules and providing insight on medical protocols involving jockey care, injury prevention,...

GSW Starting Over (Liam's Map) sustained an injury on the grass in the GII United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday and was humanely euthanized by the track veterinarian staff after the race. Owned by Nice Guys Stables and transferred to the care of Brittany Russell last year, the 8-year-old ran third in the Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park June 14, and then shipped to Monmouth after registering a workout at Saratoga July 13. In the United Nations, the gelding raced at the rear of the field past...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) have placed a group of horses located in Barn 28 at Saratoga Race Course under quarantine due to a suspected case of strangles, which includes La Cara (Street Sense) who was scratched from the GI CCA Oaks, the track said in a press release on Saturday morning. The 4-year-old filly [Surprenant Cocca (Catholic Boy)], who is trained by Mike Maker and stabled in Barn 28, presented symptoms early Saturday, July 19 and has been transported...

The TDN always strives to remain scrupulously non-partisan and confines its occasional attention to the world of politics to such opportunities and concerns that directly affect the Thoroughbred industry. Recently, for instance, we spent time with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he stepped in to support the campaign against decoupling in that state. A few days ago, Chris McGrath was given the opportunity to sit down with the Governor of the Bluegrass State itself, Andy Beshear, a figure increasingly on the national radar as a potential White House contender in...

In discussing the evolution of his StrideSAFE wearable sensor, Dave Lambert turns to a tufty-haired German philosopher called Arthur Schopenhauer, who described new truths as a play in three parts. "First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident." Lambert has had the rejection and a little bit of ridicule, he said. "Some people have thrown rocks at me," he added, one recent afternoon via Zoom in a brightly lit corner of his Kentucky home, a small bronze horse as his virtual companion. "But...

Tomorrow's Front Runners is a new TDN series spotlighting young people who got involved with horse racing through Amplify Horse Racing and are now pursing careers in the industry. Amplify is a 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to amplifying education, mentorship and career opportunities for young people in the Thoroughbred industry. Paola Castro was introduced to the world of horse racing two years ago on a visit to Churchill Downs. After touring the backside and the Derby Museum, she swore that she would be back again someday to watch the Kentucky...

They had grown up together, the boy and his horse. Their bond was innate. In fact, he has been told that his mother was on horseback when her waters broke. That was how it was, up in the mountains. Most people couldn't afford cars, certainly not the type that might cope with those roads. "We lived in one of the most desolate villages in Puerto Rico," Alberto Rullan recalls. "My dad had a small farm: coffee, bananas, plantains. And every night, I would round up the cattle into pens. If...

No doubt about it, the folks at Hagyards seem to have found themselves a promising intern. Still early days, mind. Richard Holder has only been there 53 years. In fact, Dr. Holder believes himself the first beneficiary of an official internship at the storied Lexington firm, founded in 1876, albeit Dr. William McGee himself was evidently granted a similar opening, less formally, by Dr. Charles Hagyard in 1940. (By 1953 the firm was renamed Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates.) In either case, safe to say that the internship model started pretty well. Holder...

Grande (Curlin) will not make the elongated Churchill Downs starting gate for the GI Kentucky Derby on Saturday because he was ruled off by the state veterinarians, according to a tweet on X from owner Mike Repole. Initially it was reported by Churchill Downs that trainer Todd Pletcher scratched the horse because of a foot bruise. The runner-up in the GII Wood Memorial Stakes was prepping last week for the Derby at Keeneland before making the trip over to train at Churchill Downs. A $300,000 Keeneland September buy, the 3-year-old...