June, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Introduction Of Returning Worker Exemption Act Could Help Solve Racing’s Labor Shortage

This week's Senate introduction of the H-2B Returning Worker Exemption Act of 2021 could help solve the labor shortage constantly facing racing's backstretch, according to a report in the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The bill is written to allow H-2B workers from any of the previous 3 years to qualify as returning workers, which are generally exempted from the annual cap on H-2B visas. It is also designed to help streamline the application process.

“This is something we've always advocated for,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). “And this has been the first time, at least since I've been in my current role, there's been a strong champion for that.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Caterpillars Determined To Be Cause of Cardiac Events In Canadian Horses

Four horses were referred to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in 2017 with similar clinical signs: respiratory distress, lack of energy, rapid heart rate, muffled heart sounds, jugular vein distention and swelling of the lower abdomen.

All four were diagnosed with congestive heart failure from septic fibrinous pericarditis. Dr. Ronan Chapuis and his research team linked the uncommon cardiac disease to the ingestion of forest tent caterpillars. The owners of all four horses noted that the pastures in which the horses grazed were infested with forest tent caterpillars in 2016 and 2017.

In 2001 and 2002, veterinarians in the United States determined Eastern tent caterpillars — closely related to forest tent caterpillars — were responsible for mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) in multiple states, including Kentucky and Ohio. MRLS causes abortions in mares, though some of the affected mares also experienced fibrinous pericarditis.

Three of the four horses referred to the WCVM clinic were euthanized. One mare underwent treatment, which involved inserting a needle to draw off the fluid in the pericardium. The vets drained over four gallons of fluid during the procedure. Intravenous fluids, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics were also administered and the horse was eventually sent home.

The mare relapsed 11 days after discharge and was euthanized. A necropsy showed that a thick, fibrinous material had formed on the pericardium's inner layer, which likely caused heart disease. When necropsied, all four horses had fibrin in their pericardium.

The research team notes that these four cases don't allow for a definitive connection between forest tent caterpillars and pericarditis, but they recommend horse owners and caretakers be aware of the risk and work to minimize horse's ingestion of these insects.

Read more at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

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Report: Baffert Trainees Have The Highest Death Rate In California

A total of 74 horses in the care of trainer Bob Baffert have died since the year 2000, according to records compiled by the Washington Post and released in a lengthy article on Friday. When factoring in the number of races run, Baffert trainees have died at the highest rate of the 10 California trainers with the highest number of equine fatalities: 8.30 deaths per 1,000 starters.

(Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, banned from racing at tracks owned by the Stronach Group, including Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields in California, has a rate of 6.25 deaths per 1,000 starts.)

Baffert faced regulatory scrutiny once for that high death rate, in 2013, when a seventh horse from his barn suddenly dropped dead for no apparent reason. Dr. Rick Arthur, the California Horse Racing Board's equine medical director, opened an official investigation into Baffert's operation.

Washington Post investigative reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts points out that around the time that Arthur was putting together the report on Baffert, a state legislator who formerly worked for Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) board member Dennis Cardoza (who co-owned a horse trained by Baffert) had filed legislation to put a term limit on the equine medical director position that Arthur was holding.

Baffert is also a board member of the TOC, and his racing stable donated $1,000 to the TOC's political action committee the previous August.

Arthur eventually ruled that while Baffert was treating every horse in his stable with a thyroid medication without veterinary prescription, that was not the cause of the sudden deaths. Arthur's report delivered in November of 2013 indicates he found no explanation for the sudden deaths in Baffert's barn, and that while “something under his control is associated with these fatalities,” regulators cannot act without evidence of rule violations.

Two months after Arthur officially cleared Baffert, the legislation to limit his term died.

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy endures rollercoaster day at Royal Ascot

A dramatic fourth afternoon at a sodden Royal Ascot saw Oisin Murphy win a Group One prize with Alcohol Free in the Coronation Stakes but lose another in the stewards' room.

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