September 12, 2023 – The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) today released a report detailing the findings of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 12 equine fatalities that took place at Churchill Downs Racetrack from April 27 – May 27, 2023.
Month: September 2023
HISA: No Specific Cause for Churchill Deaths; ‘All Hands on Deck’ Protocols in Pipeline
A months-long investigation by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has determined that there was no specific cause for the 12 equine fatalities that occurred at Churchill Downs this past spring.
The detailed study released on Sept. 12, however, has yielded a newly created “strategic response plan” that HISA believes “will either contribute meaningfully to the reduction of equine fatalities or allow further study and analysis for future implementation if confirmed by the data.”
Although many of the proposed safety measures focus on veterinary protocols, track maintenance, new rules, and the incorporation of predictive data analytics, one potential change that has direct implications for the bloodstock industry stands out: Extending the scope of HISA's medication oversight to Thoroughbred auctions.
“Many have questioned whether the industry would be better served if anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) protocols were consistent throughout the lifetime of a horse,” stated HISA's strategic response plan. “For that reason, HISA has initiated discussions with sales companies,
Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, and Ocala Breeders' Sales Company toward the goal of entering into voluntary agreements to more effectively align and coordinate our respective ADMC programs throughout the lifetime of a horse.”
Another key proposal is sure to ramp up the already divisive debate over whether synthetic racing surfaces should become more of a mainstay in American racing.
“Current available data suggests that artificial surfaces may be safer for horses than dirt or turf surfaces,” the HISA strategic response stated. “While additional research and analysis is necessary to fully evaluate the potential impact of artificial surfaces on overall equine injury rates, more synthetic surface options should be introduced into Thoroughbred racing.”
HISA has also proposed a new rule requiring a 30-day stand-down time from racing and a 14-day stand-down time from workouts after a horse receives a corticosteroid intra-articular injection into the fetlock joint.
In addition, HISA wants to see more oversight for these types of injections, including the creation of a designated area at the racetrack for all intra-articular injections to be administered and/or the requirement for veterinarians to record and upload a video of the intra-articular injection along with the standard injection report.
“Oaklawn Park has volunteered to implement the designated treatment area concept for their race meet beginning in December 2023,” the HISA strategic findings stated. “The pilot program will be used to determine the feasibility and value of this approach, as well as to identify challenges that would need to be resolved for it to be successful.”
Although HISA's investigation focused on the Churchill fatalities that caused the track's corporate ownership to abandon the spring meet and move racing to Ellis Park in early June while stabling and training continued at Churchill, the findings also took into account other recent spates of Thoroughbred deaths at Saratoga Race Course and Laurel Park.
“The absence of a singular explanation for recent equine fatalities at several racetracks across the country is extremely frustrating for the entire sport of Thoroughbred racing, for fans and the public, and also for HISA,” the strategic findings stated. “Consequently, action must be taken in reaction to what we know and what we do not know, for the welfare of Thoroughbred horses…
“The fatalities at Churchill Downs, Laurel Park and Saratoga Race Course identify a number of potential factors that warrant implementation or further study and industry discussion. The inevitable recognition that horse fatalities are almost always multifactorial means that the response must similarly be multi-responsive. No one entity or issue can on its own guarantee a meaningful reduction in equine injuries. Horse racing has reached an 'all-hands-on-deck' moment requiring more than ever a truly unified effort for the horses,” the strategic findings stated.
“The investigation concludes that there was no causal relationship between the racetrack surface at Churchill Downs and the equine fatalities,” the findings report stated. “Similarly, there was not a clear pattern in medical histories or injury profiles across the fatalities that point to a single, causal explanation for the fatalities. Nor were there any medication violations present. However, analysis of training histories did indicate an increased risk profile for some of the horses due to the frequency and cadence of their exercise and racing schedules.”
This story will be updated.
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Where Next for the Mighty Quinault?
From being branded a bit of a tearaway, Quinault (Ger) is now simply a runaway winner. In fact, he is the winningmost horse in Britain and Ireland this season, with seven victories from his 10 starts in 2023 for Newmarket trainer Stuart Williams.
The Oasis Dream (GB) three-year-old racked up an impressive string of six wins from April 27 to July 13 before finishing third in the Shergar Cup Sprint. Last weekend he returned to Ascot, and to the winner's enclosure, in the hands of Williams's apprentice Luke Catton, who has forged a successful partnership with his mount at home and on the racecourse. From his opening handicap mark of 59, Quinault is now rated 102.
His trainer has long proved himself adept at conditioning his horses to win with frequency, and a former stable stalwart, Sendintank (GB) (Halling), is a joint-record holder, having notched 10 handicap wins in one season back in 2004.
“Sendintank was a phenomenal horse but you can't do what he did now,” Williams says. “He won four races in a week twice in the same season, and he won two other handicaps on top of that.
“Obviously with Quinault, he's on seven now, and he's gone up to a mark of 102, so he's not going to get to that number in handicaps but I am hopeful that he will be able to make his mark in stakes company. I think his run style would suit. I don't think he has to be in a big-field handicap. I think the way he goes about winning his races would quite suit the smaller fields.”
Bred by Gestut Fahrhof, Quinault's dam Queimada (Ger) (Dansili {GB}) was unraced but there was plenty of cause for optimism when her first foal was presented at the BBAG September Yearling Sale of 2021 as the mare is a half-sister to the Group 1 winner Querari (Ger), who also happens to be by Oasis Dream. Furthermore, her young colt was a strong and good-looking individual.
The €58,000 yearling turned into a 310,000gns Craven breeze-up purchase by Godolphin in the year after another of their breeze-up buys by Oasis Dream, Native Trail (GB), had been crowned champion two-year-old. However, Quinault's one run in the royal blue, at Doncaster last June, saw him take a keen hold before fading to last of the seven runners. Tattersalls beckoned once more.
“He was difficult when we first got him going, just trying to run away,” says Williams, whose longstanding owner Tom Morley bought the gelding for 25,000gns at the Horses-in-Training Sale last autumn,
“Luke used to take him out on his own on the farm [canter], just trying to get him to drop his head and go steady and to teach him that that was the place where he could relax. He's a lovely quiet rider, Luke, and he just gelled with him straight away. He's the only one who's ridden him all the time he's been here.”
He continues, “After he ran at Ascot the last time he was at the stage where he needed a jab, as we have to give them flu jabs every six months now, so I said to Luke, 'He's going to have ten days off so you'd better have some holiday as well', so they both had time off together.”
Catton, a five-pound claimer, has been on board for four of Quinault's wins, including on Saturday when he made all to win by a neck down Ascot's straight seven furlongs. Williams admits that he has been surprised by how the horse has thrived this season.
“Definitely,” he says. “Tom doesn't usually buy this type of horse. Tom loves going through the numbers and the form, even pedigrees, but he doesn't really buy horses when he can't see the form. But we were struggling to buy the ones we wanted at last year's sale. So many of them are going abroad and the prices were so strong, and you can't really justify those prices to keep them here.”
He adds of the tall, strong bay, who appears unfazed by his latest effort on a very hot Saturday at Ascot, “He's been on the go for quite a while now. He actually ran quite well the first time we ran him. My idea was, to get the freshness out of him and to teach him to race properly, that we'd hold onto him over five furlongs and that they would go quick enough for him to settle. But it didn't really work. He was quite keen and he didn't really settle but he finished third. The he was drawn wide, and he was keen and awkward round the bend on his second start for us, but that was actually a race that threw up quite a few winners.”
From those first two starts for the Morley family back in February, Quinault then had another two months off.
The trainer continues, “We gave him a little bit of a break again. He still wasn't really fully settling so we decided that he was better settled in front instead of trying to fight him to stay in behind. On the gallops if you have one in front of him, no matter how fast it's going it's never fast enough for him to drop his head, but if he's in front he's more relaxed.”
Of Quinault's latest step up from six furlongs, he adds, “I was quite confident he'd get seven [furlongs]. We'd won over seven on a fast track at Brighton, but that was a lower grade. But Saturday was a good race against proven seven-furlong horses and he got the trip really well. I think at some stage we'll definitely go a mile with him, though whether he'd get any further than that I don't know. And I'd quite like to see him go round a bend with his running style. He's very quick out of the stalls, gets into his stride sharply and goes a nice pace. It's probably easier to do that rather than on the straight tracks as he's been doing.”
Future options for Quinault include a step into Pattern company and the G2 Challenge S. on Newmarket's Future Champions weekend or a return to Ascot, either for a valuable handicap on October 7, or for a bigger prize two weeks later, the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint.
Of the latter, Williams says, “I talked to Tom after he'd won the heritage handicap here [at Newmarket] and the entry was closing so we put him in [on Champions Day]. He's only 14/1 for the race but there's another discussion to be had before his next race as to which way we go. I'd be slightly surprised if he's a Group 1 horse over six furlongs. I think if he ends up being a Group 1 horse it will be over seven furlongs or a mile. But you never know, and Tom will have a big say in what we do. He takes a keen interest in all the race planning.”
He adds, “We have had a couple of big offers for him but Tom has got very excited by this horse. He has really rekindled his enthusiasm for racing. And it's great for us, as so often when those huge offers come in and you're a smaller stable you have to sell them.”
With earnings bordering on £200,000, Quinault is more than earning his keep, as well as serving an important reminder of the skills of one of the shrewdest trainers in the business.
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Pair Of German Group 1 Winners Anchor Arqana Arc Catalogue
German Oaks heroine Muskoka (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) (lot 38) and dual German Group 1 winner Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) (lot 41) are two of the highlights of Arqana's Arc Sale, which will be held at Saint-Cloud after the first day's racing on Sept. 30. Currently, the sale contains 44 lots, and remains open for additional entries.
The former who won the G1 Preis der Diana this summer and is offered by trainer Henk Grewe, will be sold with an entry in the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines. Another German Classic winner set to sell is Angers (Fr) (Seabhac}) (lot 27) from the yard of Mario Baratti. Successful in the G2 German 2000 Guineas, the 3-year-old is joined by G3 Prix de Fontainebleau hero American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Basset {GB}) (lot 52).
Group winner Shartash (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 7), who has been placed twice at the highest level as a juvenile, is part of Johnny Murtagh's draft. Two-time group scorer Assistent (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) (lot 28) is also from the Grewe yard, and he was third in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. Laulne (Fr) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) (lot 44) won the G3 Prix Six Perfections and, rated 100, most recently ran third in the G2 Prix du Calvados.
For more information and for the full catalogue, please visit the Arqana website.
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