Tag: Horse Care

The concern over safety of racehorses extends beyond major circuits in New York, Kentucky, and California that have had high profile fatalities and increased scrutiny from the public and mainstream media.

In a recent press release wrapping up its 2023 meet, Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M. – which recorded record daily average handle and record purses – included a paragraph citing a safety record that stands up well against the national average published in The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database.

“Racing safety also set records,” the statement read, “with only two racing catastrophic injuries the entire meet resulting in a rate of 0.74 per 1,000 starters – the lowest ever recorded for Zia Park and nearly 50 percent lower than the national average for dirt races as published by The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database. There was one training catastrophic injury during training which began Oct. 1.”

The 0.74 per 1,000 racing fatalities is 41 percent lower than the national average 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 recorded in 2022, the lowest for that measurement since data collection began in 2009.

Chris McErlean, vice president of racing for Penn Entertainment, which owns Zia Park, said multiple factors led to the reduced number of catastrophic injuries.

“This is the first year that pre-race inspections have been done on all horses/all races,” McErlean said in an email in response to a question from the Paulick Report. “It is a HISA requirement, but we also applied it to our Quarter Horse races which are not covered under HISA. We employed two association vets, plus the state had their vet on site as well, so we were able to get those inspections done daily.”

McErlean said Penn Gaming installed an accident warning system, with horns and lights, that “helped during training in getting people to pay attention when incidents occurred.”

Maintenance of the track surface also played a role, McErlean said.

“We have over the past several years been steadily improving the racing surface and equipment and while the conditions in Hobbs can be challenging, I think the track is very consistent and safe,” he said. “We have utilized resources at our other tracks to assist the team at Zia as well when needed.”

All Penn Entertainment tracks (Thoroughbred tracks include Charles Town in West Virginia, Mahoning Valley in Ohio, Penn National in Pennsylvania, and Sam Houston and Retama Park in Texas) conduct reviews on all catastrophic injuries, something McErlean said has been standard at company tracks for some time. McErlean said the review includes interviews with the horse's trainer, jockey, and attending veterinarian to look for “common denominators.”

While Penn Entertainment does not publicly disclose fatality numbers it supplies to the Equine Injury Database, McErlean said Zia Park has only had four fatal injuries since 2020 – a rate of 0.70 per 1,000, less than half the national average on dirt.

“The Quarter Horse rate has been higher over that time period,” he said, “but their numbers were equally impressive this year, so hopefully some of the cumulative changes we have been making are turning the tide there.”

Other changes detailed by McErlean: “We have scrutinized horses more in terms of stall applications and in the screening process/requirements to race, trying to weed out marginal or higher risk horses (we don't allow horses who have not raced in 18 months; no unraced maidens if older than 4, no maidens older than 5 years old, and we require additional information/sign-offs for horses off more than one year – even those that meet HISA requirements) which I think has helped; in addition, we have not permitted several horsemen who have significant prior medication violations or out-of-competition positive tests from racing at Zia and we have paid more attention to trainer transfers and 'paper trainers' and stepped in to not permit those transfers or horses to race, even if the commission previously approved them.

“It is a collective and ongoing effort between the track, commission, horsemen and participants to take more interest and responsibility in their respective areas,” McErlean said. “There is no magic formula and sometimes you can't control everything, but the results from the meet were very encouraging and we certainly hope to continue to improve but it is an ongoing challenge.”

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A horse suffering from ulcers isn't always easy to identify: he may have a super-shiny coat and be completely sound, but his discomfort may show in other ways, like being reluctant to be tacked up or not performing up to his potential. 

Ulcers in horses are often treated with oral omeprazole. Toward the conclusion of treatment, the dose the horse receives is often tapered, but rebound gastric hyperacidity (RGH) may occur after the omeprazole treatment is concluded. This can sometimes lead to the recurrence of ulcers within days to weeks of termination of treatment.

A recent study, led by Dr. Bethanie Clark of the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland in Australia, used 14 retired Thoroughbred racehorses that were being treated with omeprazole to monitor them for RGH at the conclusion of their 57-day treatment. The researchers monitored the changes in serum gastrin and chromogranin A for the study. 

The horses were not actively racing, but were used as mounts for aspiring jockeys. Each horse was between 8 and 14 years old, and was fed timothy and alfalfa hay, a commercial complete feed, and rice bran. 

Each horse received 4.4 to 5.3 mg/kg of omeprazole before being fed on days 1 to 61. This is double the recommended treatment dose. 

The scientists performed gastroscope exams on each horse on day 0, 28, 31, 49 and 62. Omeprazole interferes with the feedback loop between the hormone gastrin and gastric pH to suppress acid production. When omeprazole is removed, the high levels of gastric again stimulate acid production, the amount of which often doubles within one to two weeks. This is the rebound gastric hyperacidity (RGH) that causes the recurrence of ulcers in 83 percent of horses within three days of having omeprazole treatment terminated.

From their study, the researchers concluded that tapering omeprazole may be unnecessary. They recommend that targeted management practices, such as increasing forage intake, resting or decreasing exercise for the two to four days after the discontinuation of omeprazole, be instituted. They also recommended that there be limited use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's), which also play a role in gastric ulcer disease.

Read more at EquiManagement. 

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On May 20, 2022, jockey Kelsi Purcell piloted New Mexico-bred McClassic to his seventh and final career victory in a $5,000 claimer at Sunray Park. But that wasn't the end of their story – in fact, it's just the beginning.

Purcell started her life with horses as a professional show jumper in her native British Columbia, Canada. After her competition horse suffered an injury, she lost her corporate sponsorships and had to seek work elsewhere. Former clients asked her to help them break young racehorses and she found some of her skills transferred. That evolved to ponying, grooming, galloping, and in 2003 she began thinking about becoming a jockey.

A move to Texas continued her racing education under the Asmussen family, and she rode her first race in 2007. She moves tack between New Mexico's racetracks and is a multiple stakes winner. Now, she juggles working Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses in the morning and afternoon with retraining and selling Thoroughbred sport horse prospects.

Purcell rides frequently for trainer Nancy Summers, who conditioned McKenna Thoroughbreds homebred McClassic in his racing days.

“I had known him his whole career, since he was two, and I didn't get to ride him until later on,” she said. “Then when I got with Nancy Summers, I got to ride him a whole bunch. I fell in love with him. I'd say, 'Oh, when he's retired, I want him, I want him.' There was just something about the way he moved, I knew he'd jump really big over fences. We say the rails are lava for him.”

The rangy son of McKenna's Justice and the Valiant Nature mare Classic Kari ran six seasons on the track, mostly in allowance and claiming company. By May of last year, he was seven years old, and Tom McKenna thought it was time for the horse to hang it up, so he gave McClassic to Purcell.

Purcell started McClassic as she does all her off-track Thoroughbreds – with something totally different from racing life.

“All of my horses, I start with the Western because I feel like it exposes them to a lot more and they can handle a lot more stuff,” she said. “When I'm riding at Ruidoso, I have a huge ranch I ride at, 250 acres with cattle, you can ride through the river. I'm really spoiled to be able to be there.”

From there, McClassic moved on to jumps, and Purcell's instincts proved correct as he demonstrated a big, correct, natural jump that always seems to be a foot or more higher than wherever the rails are set.

Purcell and McClassic capped off their first season together with a cross-country trip from their New Mexico base to the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover in Kentucky this fall, where they competed in ranch work and show jumpers. They were 12th in ranch and 38th in jumpers, and then stuck around for the Thoroughbred Incentive Program's championships later in the week, where they just missed the ribbons in the competitive trail event.

Purcell said she's thrilled with his effort.

“I thought McClassic did a great job at the Makeover,” she said this week. “I was so proud of him.

“I'm keeping him legged up with light work like jogging and walking out with the cattle. I'll be headed to El Paso this week for the meet at Sunland Park. There, I'm friends with a grand prix show jumper and I'll slowly get McClassic jumping again and get us doing some weekly lessons. Hopefully we can do a horse show this spring.”

Purcell has become a trusted resource for owners and trainers in New Mexico who want to retire their runners responsibly. Just before she arrived at the Makeover, she had sold multiple stakes winner Hustle Up to a new career as a jumper in Texas.

“I'm trying to promote these New Mexico-breds, because people just don't want them,” she said. “They do take a little bit more. They're not always started that good, so they do take a little more time, but they're amazing horses. You just have to put the time in and be super patient.

“There are owners out there that are wanting to help. We just need to get it out there that there are some great horses.”

As for McClassic, Purcell said he will not be for sale. She knows a good horse when she sees one, and she's not letting this one go.

“He's still a spicy jalapeno,” she laughed. “He's still a handful. But he loves his job so much.”

@paulickreport Meet Kelsi Purcell and McClassic, who competed in this year's @Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover after competing together on the racetrack. #HorseRacing #paulickreport #foryou #thoroughbred #retiredracehorseproject #thoroughbredmakeover #thoroughbredaftercare #KelsiPurcell #McClassic #SunrayPark ♬ original sound – Paulick Report

 

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Wondrwherecraigis, a three-time stakes winner that gave Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell her first graded-stakes triumph in the 2021 Bold Ruler (G3), has been retired from racing.

Owned by the partnership of Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso, the 6-year-old Munnings gelding had lost four straight races after opening the season with an optional claiming allowance victory in mid-April at Laurel.

“We retired him,” Russell said. “He'd just lost a step and we didn't want to keep banging his head in. Rather than try to run him for a tag and win a race, and watch somebody take him, we just kept him. He was always going to stay with us.”

Wondrwherecraigis finished with eight wins, four seconds, one third and $540,170 in purse earnings from 20 starts, with additional stakes wins in the 2021 Tale of the Cat at Saratoga and 2022 Fire Plug at Laurel. He was second three consecutive years in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, starting in 2021, when he crossed the wire first but was disqualified for interference.

Six weeks later Wondrwherecraigis earned graded credentials in the Bold Ruler, the day before Russell gave birth to a son, Rye, the second child with her husband, champion jockey Sheldon Russell. Daughter Edy was born in August 2019.

“He's special to us. He was always going to have a soft landing,” Brittany Russell said. “It's sad we're not racing him anymore, but he retired healthy, and sound and he still has a lot of life ahead of him. Hopefully, we can have some fun with him.”

Following this year's De Francis Wondrwherecraigis ran fourth in his final two starts, the six-furlong Lite the Fuse Sept. 16 at historic Pimlico Race Course and an open 5 ½-furlong allowance Oct. 20 at Laurel, both times as the favorite. He also brought the connections to Dubai for the 2022 Golden Shaheen (G1).

“He's just sort of hanging out right now being a horse, but next spring I don't know what we're going to do. He might come to the track and we might try to make him a pony, I don't know,” Russell said. “But we love that horse, he's not going anywhere. He's down at a friend's farm, so he's actually out enjoying himself. If we can get him trained up a little bit, by the time [Edy] is ready for a proper horse he should be ready.”

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