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CHRB Moves Forward On Lasix Phaseout, Walks Back Proposed Intra-Articular Injection Regulations

The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Thursday, July 16. The public participated by dialing into the teleconference and/or listening through the audio webcast link on the CHRB website. Dr. Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Wendy Mitchell, and Alex Solis.

The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:

The Board approved two agenda items pertaining to funding the CHRB budget for the fiscal year 2020-21. The budget of $16,820,500 is $2.2 million higher than the previous fiscal year, largely due to $1.4 million in increases for drug testing and safety measures.
The Board approved the license application for a meeting of the Sonoma County Fair (SCF) to be run at Golden Gate Fields, commencing July 31 through August 9, on condition that certain required documents must be submitted to the CHRB at least one week before the start of the meet.
The Board approved the license application for a meeting of the Pacific Racing Association (PRA) at Golden Gate Fields from August 13 through October 4, on condition that certain required documents must be submitted to the CHRB at least one week before the start of the meet.
The Board authorized the racing secretary for both the SCF and PRA meets to establish conditions for races, which will include limiting Lasix administrations to 250 mg, prohibiting any intra-articular medication within 14 days of a race, and extending that prohibition to 30 days for fetlock injections, both metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints.
The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to allow for increased penalties when there are multiple medication violations. This is essentially the same language as the model rule approved by the Association of Racing Commissioners.
The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to prohibit horses from racing within 14 days of being administered an intra-articular medication and from racing within 30 days of fetlock injections. The rule also prohibits a horse from training within 10 days of fetlock injections.
The Board approved a rule requiring at least 12 hours of continuing education for renewal of licenses for trainer and assistant trainer. This rule is scheduled to go into effect on June 1, 2021. The CHRB already has numerous educational modules on its website pertaining to equine safety that will help meet this requirement, and more will be added.
The Board approved regulatory amendments limiting Lasix administrations to 250 mg. (the same restriction that racing secretaries have been imposing as race conditions) and prohibiting Lasix administrations to horses that are 2 years old.
The Board authorized Watch and Wager (harness racing at Cal Expo) to distribute $4,000 in race day charity proceeds to five beneficiaries.
The Board authorized TVG to offer a handicapping contest that normally would be conducted onsite at Del Mar, but there are no spectators at the current meet.
Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website

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Los Al Quarter Horse Association Submits Equine And Rider Safety And Enhancement Plan To CHRB

In response to the suggestion of the California Horse Racing Board (the “Board”), the Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association has submitted to the Board an Equine and Rider Safety and Enhancement Plan.

The Plan provides for enhancement of practices in six specific areas:

Training
Pre-race Procedures
Entry Review Panel
Post-incident Assessments
Equine Illness and Recovery
Rules and Conditions.

Los Alamitos is soliciting comments from the Industry in general and particularly from the Board regarding content of the Plan.

Dr. Ed Allred, the owner and CEO of Los Alamitos Race Course, said that the plan is a further effort by Los Alamitos to provide for the enhanced improvement of the health and safety of each every horse and rider participating in racing and training at Los Alamitos.

Allred further stated that notwithstanding his hope that the Plan would be further improved through comments from the Industry and the Board, the changes contemplated by the Plan would be implemented immediately. For more information, please contact 714-820-2690.

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Los Alamitos Releases Draft Safety Plan

The Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association released Tuesday evening a seven-page draft “Equine & Rider Safety Enhancement Plan,” ahead of a follow-up meeting July 20 with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) concerning a recent uptick in equine fatalities at the track.

Among some of the new protocols outlined in the plan is an additional veterinarian to scrutinize horses entering and exiting the track during morning training, and the creation of a program whereby every equine fatality triggers a “Fatality Review” to be conducted by a panel including a member of track management, the track veterinarian, and the racing secretary.

Last Thursday, the CHRB gave Los Alamitos 24-hour notice of an emergency meeting to discuss the track’s equine welfare and safety protocols–the first time the board has exercised its authority afforded through a state bill passed last year allowing it to provide just a day’s public notice for a meeting to discuss the possible suspension of a racing license. Prior to that, the CHRB had to provide 10 days’ public notice.

At Friday’s meeting, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney explained his decision to file a petition to hold the emergency meeting, arguing that there has been an increase in equine fatalities during the first six months of this year when compared to the same period the year prior, along with a recent spike. According to the CHRB, there have been 13 fatalities at the track since May 26.

“I agree that there needs to be a serious review of policies and procedures at Los Alamitos,” said CHRB chairman Greg Ferraro last Friday. “Not necessarily as a fault of track’s management, but I think there is a culture there amongst the practicing veterinarians and trainers that is pushing the envelope when it comes to the safety of these horses.”

On a 5-1 vote, the board gave Los Alamitos the green light to continue live racing during a 10-day probational period, at the end of which the board would decide whether the revised safety plan adequately satisfied its concerns.

In a statement Tuesday, Los Alamitos wrote that the track is “soliciting comments from the industry in general and particularly from the Board” regarding the plan’s contents.

“Dr. Ed Allred, the owner and CEO of Los Alamitos Race Course, said that the plan is a further effort by Los Alamitos to provide for the enhanced improvement of the health and safety of each every horse and rider participating in racing and training at Los Alamitos,” the statement read.

The seven-page plan outlines enhanced safety procedures in the following six areas: training practices, pre-race procedures, entry review panel, post incident assessments, equine illness and recovery and rules and conditions.

The track has proposed a panel–comparable to the one already instituted for Thoroughbred races in California–to review race entries. “Based on information deemed of concern to the panel, in its discretion, may deny such entry or request the scratch of any horse the panel determines unsuitable for reasons of horse and/or rider safety,” the plan states.

A number of equine fatalities at Los Alamitos this year have been said to be due to “gastrointestinal” issues, rather than musculoskeletal injuries sustained through training or racing.

According to the plan, if within a year two Los Alamitos-based horses under the custody of a single trainer die for reasons other than racing or training, that trainer could be put under a form of probation whereby, if another horse in their care is fatally injured, that trainer could be barred from the grounds.

“Allred further stated that, notwithstanding his hope that the plan would be further improved through comments from the industry and the Board, the changes contemplated by the plan would be implemented immediately,” Tuesday’s statement read.

The post Los Alamitos Releases Draft Safety Plan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Los Al Quarter Horse Racing License On Probation For Ten Days Due To Concerns About Equine Deaths

Los Alamitos escaped a shutdown but did see its racing license placed on probation for 10 days during an emergency meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on July 10. The CHRB notified commissioners and the public of an emergency meeting roughly 24 hours earlier in response to what executive director Scott Chaney described as a spike in equine fatalities.

Los Alamitos just concluded its daytime Thoroughbred meet this week but is scheduled to continue night cards for Quarter Horses until late December.

Discussion amongst commissioners and representatives of Los Alamitos seemed to suggest that an interpretation of whether or not fatality numbers are above average probably varies depending upon the timeframe examined. Chaney pointed out that between Jan. 1 and July 5 of this year there had been 14 racing deaths and five training deaths, compared with five racing deaths and four training deaths during the same period in 2019 — demonstrating nearly a three-fold increase in racing deaths.

When the statistics are examined by the fiscal year however, which in California runs July 1 to June 30, the track seemed more consistent. The calendar year of 2019 had been a good one for Los Alamitos, according to track veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Fitzgerald, but a cluster in the calendar year 2020 brought the fiscal year's figures even with 2018-19.

Chaney also drew attention to what he considered a high number of non-racing/training deaths, which totaled 21 for this year. These “other” causes of death can include colic, respiratory illness, neurologic illness, and musculoskeletal injuries that happen in the barn area.

Drew Couto, Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association General Counsel, said that fiscal year over fiscal year, combined racing/training deaths have been going down for some time.

“We've seen a prolonged history at Los Alamitos, since 2008 of decreasing racing and training fatalities,” said Couto.

Couto was also asked by commissioners what the track had in mind to improve its numbers. Couto pointed to the fatality review program performed by officials but said Los Alamitos officials had not come up with a plan of action for how to reduce non-racing/training deaths, given the short notice of the meeting.

For most commissioners, that answer seemed to be inadequate. They turned to Fitzgerald and CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur for more details on what could be causing the issue.

For his part, Arthur did not support Chaney's statement that action should be taken against the track's license status; in the course of studying racing and training fatalities, Arthur said it's not uncommon to see numbers “ebb and flow”; in some cases, the reasons for that are clear, while in others they aren't. CHRB officials surveyed by Arthur expressed confidence in the safety of the racing surface and in Fitzgerald's work, although she is the lone veterinarian responsible for performing pre-race examinations for the 50 to 60 horses entered each day.

Fitzgerald said she actually believes being the only one to see the runners based at Los Alamitos before each race is a good thing. Having a larger team might mean she would see a horse before one race, and not again for a few more starts, so she would be less likely to notice small changes that can be so crucial to catching underlying injury.

She also said she gets good support from the racing office, which flags horses for additional scrutiny based on changes in class, time off a lay-off and other factors.

Arthur said he didn't believe there was a clear pattern of any one risk factor in any of the fatalities, except that veterinarians and trainers at Los Alamitos seemed to be more likely to rely on greater numbers of intra-articular corticosteroid injections, particularly of cortisone. Arthur is hopeful that a “long overdue” rule to require continuing education for trainers could alleviate some of the “questionable training and horse management” decisions he has seen, though he pointed out those issues are not limited to Los Alamitos.

Commissioners agreed they wanted to see a report from track officials outlining areas of equine health and welfare concerns and planned actions for resolution. They discussed whether to stop racing at the track while such a report could be prepared or whether to simply put the track's license on probation. According to CHRB chairman Dr. Greg Ferraro, this would mean at the end of the ten-day period the commissioners could suspend racing if they aren't satisfied with the report.

Ultimately, most commissioners stated they were hesitant to halt racing without further information about the problem. The final vote was 5-1 for a 10-day probationary period and report (the lone 'no' vote coming from commissioner Wendy Mitchell. The CHRB will hold another emergency meeting July 20 to hear the track's report.

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