The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority visited Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W.V., last week, HISA director of safety Ann McGovern told the Thoroughbred Daily News, in an effort “to provide support and help bring Mountaineer into compliance with HISA's Racetrack Safety standards.”
Part of the reason for the visit may well have been a lack of regulatory and attending veterinarians: Mountaineer Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association (MHBPA) president Jami Poole estimates that there is no veterinarian on the grounds during morning training at Mountaineer Park up to 50 percent of the time. Poole said there is only one full-time attending vet for the entire backstretch.
There is also only one regulatory vet at the track (who also has outside work commitments). The West Virginia Racing Commission has increased pay for regulatory veterinarians in recent years, executive director Joe Moore told TDN, but any attending veterinarian would be at the track at the request of the local horsemen. Mountaineer itself does not employ any veterinarians, and the track's director of racing Jim Colvin did not address questions about whether Mountaineer has attempted to hire association veterinarians to help cover morning training.
Neither the WVRC nor HISA requires a veterinary presence during training hours, but there is one potential option for HISA to intervene.
“Should HISA determine that safety is compromised at a covered racetrack, HISA has the authority to place a vet at the racetrack, at the racetrack's expense,” said McGovern. “HISA has compensated Regulatory and Association veterinarians to enforce HISA regulations. Those expenses are billed back to the racetrack.”
HISA has also entered discussions about the ongoing shortage of equine veterinarians, but any plans resulting from those discussions would involve longer-term solutions like incentivizing current veterinary students.
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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