Brian Sanfratello | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association Announces Purse Increases To Stakes Schedule

The Pennsylvania-bred stakes schedule received a major boost for the remainder of the year, with four stakes doubling in value to $200,000, plus the addition of two $100,000 stakes. A total of $2.6 million in purses will now be paid out in restricted state-bred stakes in 2021.

“Our revenue has stabilized and the Race Horse Development Trust Fund has stood strong,” said Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association's executive secretary Brian Sanfratello. “We wanted to send a message that Pennsylvania is on the move and the premier place to breed and race.”

Purses have been increased for the year-end 2-year-old stakes, the Shamrock Rose for fillies at Penn National on Friday, Nov. 26 and the Pennsylvania Nursery at Parx Racing on Tuesday, Dec. 7, as well as the Alphabet Soup and Plum Pretty for older runners on Parx Racing's rich Sept. 25 Pennsylvania Derby card.

Returning to the schedule are two six-furlong 3-year-old stakes cut earlier in the year – the New Start for fillies, and the Danzig – both to run at Penn National on Friday, Oct. 22.

Elizabeth Merryman, chair of the PHBA racing committee, says the increases come at an opportune time.

“We're making up for last year,” she explained, noting the reductions to the PHBA Breeding Fund due to COVID, as well as attempts by the governor to alter the Fund, which have since been resolved. “Now that things have gotten much more stabilized, it's great that we can add stakes and put big purses on the 2-year-old stakes at the right time of the year, where they can catch the attention of people making buying decisions at the sales. Buyers are going to look closer at the PA-breds, which helps the breeders.

“We're giving away substantial sums of money and the program is getting bigger and stronger,” Merryman added. “It helps the breeders by advertising the program.”

PHBA president Greg Newell says the boost to the stakes program rewards the resiliency of those involved in the breeding and racing industry in the state. “Being wise with our money and managing it carefully and having the resources available, we want to say thank you to our members and to share with the general racing community the strength of the breeding program in Pennsylvania.”

The updated stakes and their conditions are:

Saturday, Sept. 25, Parx Racing

$200,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap, 3 & up, 1 1⁄16 miles, turf
$200,000 Plum Pretty Stakes, 3 & up, fillies & mares, 1 1⁄16 miles

Friday, Oct. 22, Penn National

$100,000 Danzig Stakes, 3-year-olds, 6 furlongs
$100,000 New Start Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs

Friday, Nov. 26, Penn National

$200,000 Shamrock Rose Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs

Tuesday, Dec. 7, Parx Racing

$200,000 Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes, 2-year-olds, 7 furlongs

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Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association Endorses Amendment On Horse Slaughter

In yet another move to showcase its commitment to horse welfare, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) has announced its endorsement of an amendment that would ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses across both state lines and over country borders. The amendment is scheduled to be on the U.S. House floor in coming weeks.

Led by U.S. Representatives Troy Carter, Brian Fitzpatrick, and John Katko, the amendment will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, H.R.3684. If passed into law, it would effectively ban horse slaughter in America. An estimated 30,000 horses are exported from America to be slaughtered each year, many of which are former racehorses or Thoroughbred breeding stock.

This endorsement is just the latest act in a series of pledges made by the PHBA towards equine welfare. The organization also supports the John Stringer Rainey Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, and has a strict anti-slaughter code of ethics.

The SAFE Act, named for the late South Carolina philanthropist and former director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, is legislation that would permanently end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in the United States and abroad. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States are among those supporting its passage.

At the time of the SAFE Act's introduction, PHBA executive secretary Brian Sanfratello said, “The SAFE Act is one of three items we are working on. The others are Pennsylvania-specific anti-slaughter legislation, similar to the SAFE Act, that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone who causes or transports a horse into the slaughter pipeline, as well as a PHBA code of ethics, with sanctions for anyone who is a member or registers horses with our organization and is found to be in violation of the Pennsylvania anti-slaughter measures.”

The PHBA's Anti-Slaughter Code of Ethics, which acknowledges it opposes slaughter in general but is focused on the safety and welfare of the Thoroughbred, states that it is a condition of PHBA membership that every applicant signs a pledge not to knowingly cause a Thoroughbred horse to be slaughtered. Violating the rule results in being sanctioned by the PHBA with a $1,000 fine for the first violation, a $5,000 fine for the second, and a fine as well as complete revocation of membership for five years after the third.

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UPenn Researchers Develop Test To Detect Gene Doping In Racehorses

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) have successfully developed a new test to systemically detect the local administration of illicit, gene doping therapies in equine athletes. The findings from the novel study, supported in part by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) and the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, are a significant breakthrough in the collective fight to advance the welfare and integrity of sport for both horses and humans.

Unlike other small molecule pharmaceuticals, gene doping agents trigger cells to produce performance enhancing proteins. These proteins, which often are more elusive due to their virtually indistinguishable characteristics from naturally occurring proteins within the body, can make it more difficult to determine whether or not an animal or human has had gene therapy administered. Until now, that is.

Led by Mary Robinson, PhD, VMD, DACVCP, assistant professor of Veterinary Pharmacology and director of the Equine Pharmacology Laboratory at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center, the team of Penn Vet researchers have created and validated a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction test – commonly known as a PCR test – that is able to detect the presence of a gene doping agent in plasma and synovial fluid after its intra-articular administration in horses.

“For the first time, we have demonstrated that a PCR test performed on a blood sample can detect the local administration of a gene therapy into the joint of a horse,” said Robinson. “While this test is currently limited in that it can only detect a specific gene therapy, it provides proof of concept that a gene therapy administered into the joint can be detected in a blood sample in a manner that is quick, convenient, and consistent with our long-term goal of deploying pre-race testing someday in the future,” she added.

Not only were the Penn Vet researchers able to detect the presence of this product in equine joint fluid after gene therapy was administered intra-articularly, they were also able to detect it in blood for up to 28 days. This represents a significantly robust window of time that could be useful for pre-race as well as out of competition testing.

“The ability to detect the presence of these gene doping agents in blood after local administration to joints just magnifies the implications of this game-changing development,” said Joanne Haughan, one of the lead investigators on the study. “The science is closing in on those who seek to use these advancements for wrongful means; the more we learn with each study, the harder it will be for individuals who seek to cheat the system using gene doping strategies.”

This ongoing body of research in gene doping is being performed concurrently with Penn Vet's larger multi-tiered, multi-year project to expand upon New Bolton Center's equine BioBank. Established in 2017 using internal funds from the Raymond Firestone Trust Research Grant and expanded in 2018 with support from the PHBA, the growing database collects and analyzes multiple types of samples, looking for a myriad of potential biomarkers in equine athletes. With the goal of someday creating “biological passports,” researchers believe these biomarkers could also be key in detecting gene doping as well as predicting injuries before they happen.

“As breeders, protecting the health, safety, and well-being of our horses is a deeply profound and personal priority for our membership,” said Brian Sanfratello, Executive Secretary of the PHBA. “These scientific discoveries get us one step closer to our dream of someday keeping equine sport completely clean. We are proud to support Dr. Robinson and her team of experts as they continue to incrementally drive us closer and closer to making that dream a reality.”

With the completion of a third study on the horizon, Penn Vet's researchers seek to further expand and refine their testing methodology in order to create screening tests that would successfully identify multiple gene doping agents for even longer periods of time.

“We still have a lot of work to do to better understand the nature of bio-markers and how to fully harness their capabilities, but the science for detecting gene doping is getting there and much more quickly than any of us could have anticipated when we started this research,” added Robinson. “Ideas that once may have seemed unattainable – like a hand-held, stall-side testing device – are now coming into sight as real and tangible possibilities. We just need continued support to help get us there.”

Dr. Mary Robinson is an assistant professor of veterinary pharmacology and director of the Equine Pharmacology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Additional investigators on the study include Penn Vet's Faculty and Staff including Dr. Joanne Haughan, Dr. Zibin Jiang, Dr. Darko Stefanovski, Dr. Kyla Ortved, and fourth year Penn Vet student Ms. Kaitlyn Moss.

This study is currently supported in part by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, in addition to grants from the University of Pennsylvania McCabe Fund (Ortved) and New Bolton Center's Raymond Firestone Trust Research Grant (Haughan and Robinson). Individuals or organizations who would like to support the program through a financial donation are encouraged to contact Margaret Leardi, Director of Development for New Bolton Center, at mleardi at vet. upenn.edu.

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