Month: December 2022

Increasingly Available, Equine PET Scans Have ‘Revolutionized Our Approach To Imaging Of Lameness’

Now in its third year of application at Santa Anita Park, positron emission tomography (PET) scans have benefited more than 500 horses at the renowned racing facility.

This novel imaging modality, pioneered at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, was initially focused on the racehorse fetlock, but has matured in the last year. The early equine PET studies performed on racehorses at Santa Anita have now been published and have confirmed the value of this new technique. PET was found superior to bone scan in assessing the racehorse fetlock, particularly for identifying injuries of the sesamoid bones, the most common cause for catastrophic breakdowns at the racetrack. PET also demonstrated its ability to monitor injuries over time and predict the amount of time needed to heal.

A multicenter study, combining in addition to Santa Anita horses, racehorses from Golden Gate Fields (imaged with the UC Davis PET scanner) and racehorses from the Fair Hill Training Center (imaged with the PennVet New Bolton Center PET scanner), has looked into what can be found with PET in horses racing successfully. This study represented an important steppingstone in the development of screening strategies to identify horses at risk for catastrophic injuries. A summary of this work was presented at the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit organized by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

The availability of the technology has significantly increased in the past year. In the first two years of standing equine PET, only three scanners were available (Santa Anita, UC Davis, and PennVet). Four more scanners were installed in 2022 with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital adding the scanners at their Lexington (KY) and Wellington (FL) locations. Additionally, two other scanners are now operating in Florida at the World Equestrian Center Hospital, operated by University of Florida in Ocala, and the Ocala Equine Hospital. Three more installations are planned in the United States, including Churchill Downs, resulting in a total of 10 different sites equipped with the technology by the end of 2023.

With this increased availability comes the access to more diverse populations of horses and a broadening of applications of the technique. Beyond racehorses, many pleasure and sport horses also now benefit from the use of PET. Standing PET can be used from the foot to the knee in the front limbs and from the foot to the hock in the hind limbs.

Dr. Mathieu Spriet, professor of diagnostic imaging at UC Davis, recently presented a summary of the various applications at the 2022 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention.

“Standing equine PET has revolutionized our approach to imaging of lameness,” summarized Spriet. “PET can be used as an advanced imaging technique in addition to CT or MRI in complex cases, but in other cases it can simply be combined with x-rays and ultrasound providing an affordable alternative to other advanced imaging.”

Spriet's work shows common applications of PET for bone injuries, in particular of the foot, fetlock, and hock, but also for soft tissue injuries in tendon and ligaments. On-going studies are investigating the values of PET on other important topics such as laminitis and infection.

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Torres Off to Sizzling Start at Oaklawn

Last year's meet at Oaklawn Park was not a particularly good one for jockey Cristian Torres. Largely unknown on the circuit when he came in and sidelined for the last five weeks of the meet when fracturing his right ankle in a spill, he won just 19 races, ending up 15th in the standings. Fast forward some eight months later and Torres is tearing the place apart. Two weeks into the meet, he's the leading rider with 11 wins and is winning with 33% of his mounts.

“We've started off on the right foot and it's been a great two weeks,” Torres said. “We're just trying to keep the momentum going and I just want to keep winning races. I'm riding for Robertino Diodoro and he has a good barn, a good team behind him and has his horses ready. He's doing an unbelievable job and so is Karl Broberg, who I'm riding for. It's a tough meet. There are a lot of good riders here so you have to be at your best.”

Torres is staying humble and maybe that's because the 25-year-old remembers where he came from. Too heavy to be accepted into the jockey academy in his native Puerto Rico, he trained to be en exercise rider after graduating from high school.

“I was in the exercise riders program at the school,” he said. “The weight in Puerto Rico is lower than here for bug boys. To be in the school, you have to weigh around 103, 105. That was too low for me. So I decided to go into exercise riders' program because you can be heavier. We basically learn the same thing, except the exercise riders are in the school for one year and the jockeys are in it for two years. In the second year, the jockeys ride in practice races. The exercise riders don't need that.”

Torres came to the U.S. in 2017 and galloped horses for two years before he decided to give being a jockey a try. He went on a crash diet, lost over 20 pounds in three months and started off at Gulfstream as an apprentice in 2019. In Florida, he cracked the top 10 in the standings but showed no signs of becoming the budding star he is today.

“I did pretty good as bug boy, but after I lost my bug the business went down,” Torres said. “I wanted to go somewhere else where I could get a fresh start.”

On the advice of agent Ruben Munoz, Torres came to Oaklawn at the start of the 2021-2022 meet and while he didn't win a lot of races, he began to make connections and lay down roots. From there, he went to Lone Star Park, but missed the first four weeks of the meet because of the broken ankle. Once healthy, he began to start riding winners and finished the Lone Star meet with 19 wins, good for eighth place in the standings.

The next stop was Remington Park.

“I had high expectations at Remington because of the way we finished up at Lone Star,” Torres said.

But never could he have expected what was to come. With 71 wins, he was the leading rider at Remington and won with 25% of his mounts. A key was connecting with Broberg, Remington's leading trainer, and Diodoro, who finished fifth in the Remington standings.

“He has quite a few things going for him,” Diodoro said. “He's got no issues behind the scenes. He's just a hardworking kid and is only 25 years old. He's a very patient rider, especially for being as young as he is. He's very grateful for things. He stays even. He can walk out of that jocks room having won three races or going 0-for-6 and nothing changes. When things don't rattle a rider, they are very patient, their weight is good and they have the right attitude that adds up to being a successful rider. At Remington, he got some live mounts from us, he got some from Broberg and some from other guys and he took full advantage of it. It's carried on to Oaklawn. A rider can work as hard as they want if you don't have the stock that makes things pretty difficult. He got some live mounts and took full advantage of it. He's on his way now.”

Staying on top at Oaklawn won't be easy. David Cabrera, Francisco Arrieta and Ricardo Santana Jr. were the top riders at last year's meet and all three are back and in position to have strong campaigns. He also doesn't ride regularly for Steve Asmussen, the dominant trainer at Oaklawn. Torres says he's ready for the challenge.

“I feel I'm a better, more confident rider than I was a few years ago,” he said. “But I still have lot to learn. I've been riding for just 3 1/2 years. But since I moved to Oaklawn last year I feel that I am a better rider. I'm feeling more confident and am getting more opportunities.”

After Oaklawn, he will return to Lone Star and then to Remington. That's the plan for now, but he admits he has an eye on trying to break in on one of the major circuits, New York, Kentucky or California.

“We're just trying to keep building our business,” he said. “My agent [Cody Autrey] and I are working together and hope to keep building so that we're in a good position if I decide to make a move. But riding at the top tracks, that's definitely a goal.”

At Oaklawn, he's already proving he can win at a top-tier track. And the best may be yet to come.

The post Torres Off to Sizzling Start at Oaklawn appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Nearly 100 U.S. Horses Suspected Ill With Botulism, 45 Dead

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with state departments of agriculture in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas, is continuing to investigate the illness and deaths of horses suspected to have contracted botulism. 

Horse owners are being asked to not feed Top of the Rockies alfalfa cubes with date codes 111222, 111322, 111422, 111522 and 111622. The cubes are produced by Manzanola Feeds and are distributed directly to feed stores in 10 states, though further distribution is possible. 

To date, 98 horses in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas have shown neurologic signs; 45 have died or were euthanized. The horses are showing symptoms consistent with botulism, but further testing is ongoing to determine the cause of the illness. 

Horse owners should take precautions to protect human and horse health. A veterinarian should be contacted immediately if the horse has eaten Top of the Rockies alfalfa cubes and is showing neurologic signs such as difficulty eating or standing, muscle tremors or collapse. 

Follow the Equine Disease Communications Center for additional update information. 

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