The post Big Changes Needed appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) takes the safety of all racing participants very seriously. The increased number of horse fatalities in Kentucky is concerning and the KHRC's veteran team continues to explore every known variable that could possibly be contributing factors in these deaths.

“Working daily with Churchill Downs and the Horseracing Safety Authority (HISA), the KHRC has taken the following actions:

• Opened an investigation into every horse fatality
• Interviewed jockeys, trainers, owners, grooms and backside workers regarding safety concerns and observations
• Increased pre-race scrutiny on every horse for racing soundness
• Participated in roundtable discussions with Churchill Downs' veterinary team, track superintendents and track executives looking for any recurring factor in the incidents.
• Reached out to California Horse Racing Board Executive Director Scott Chaney for best practices in the event of a rash of equine fatalities
• Participated in the HISA emergency summit and shared details of daily workouts, investigative interviews
• Created an executive-level safety steward position to coordinate daily track safety measures. Job details will be posted at KHRC.ky.gov when available.

“Out of an abundance of caution and effective June 7, 2023, Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund purses will be limited to first through fifth place finishers.

“All investigations opened after Apr. 29, 2023 are ongoing, but so far have not identified a common variable between these recent fatalities. The KHRC has not received necropsy reports from the University of Kentucky for any horse fatality after May 2, 2023. Once necropsies are completed and blood analysis is returned, the KHRC veterinary team takes a comprehensive look at all known factors that contributed to that death and compiles those results in a mortality review. As these reviews are completed, they will be made public and posted to the KHRC website at https://khrc.ky.gov/new_docs.aspx?cat=30&menuid=30

“Each completed mortality review will be shared with HISA for further review and recommendations.

“On June 2, 2022, the KHRC entered a voluntary agreement with HISA that grants them authority to oversee racetrack safety. On Mar. 21, 2023, KHRC entered a voluntary agreement with HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program.

“With these agreements in effect, the KHRC has authority to suspend a license for any violation that threatens the integrity of Kentucky horse racing or the KHRC's ability to protect the racing public except where HISA has preempted state regulations in the areas of 1) track safety, and 2) anti-doping and medication control (“ADMC”).  If a track had violations related to either of these areas, HISA would have jurisdiction.”

The post KHRC Update on Churchill’s Horse Fatalities appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Mr. Rudulph is no longer with FanDuel TV,” the spokesman said, indicating that that would be the only statement made.

Rudulph was suspended from his duties two days after the he posted the Tweet, which read: “Horse racing needs to stop pretending and just be what it is. It's a great combo of WWE/reality TV/sports with a healthy dose of BS on the side. It's a great game. Cheating is part of it. Death is part of it. Losing is part of it. Winning makes it all worthwhile.” On the heels of the equine fatalities at Churchill Downs, many objected to the comments, criticisms that Rudulph initially deflected.

“Oh they absolutely knew what I was saying,” he said. “They also saw a reason to go “there”, so they went there. It's all part of the process. I expect it and I accept it.” It was unclear where “there” was.

The following day, he deleted the Tweet and tried to walk it back. “Monday evening, I made a mistake and used a very poor choice of words to make what I hoped would be a compelling thought regarding horse racing. I apologize to my colleagues and the industry for my lack of proper forethought. I truly felt you all would have the open dialogue with me. I will find a better way in the future. At NO POINT am I advocating for or supporting horse fatalities. I don't even know how that became part of this. I'm trying to have a conversation about the issues in this industry, and how we deal with them on a daily basis. This confusion reminds me why we can't have these conversations. But I'm not going to stop trying.”

Last week, Rudulph's Twitter status was changed to “TV News Anchor/Show Host/Sports Betting Analyst formerly with @Fandueltv.”

Reached by the TDN, Rudulph said he had no comment on the news. Tuesday morning, he Tweeted, “No more going backward. Let's just keep it moving. Carry the Hell on.”

No more going backward.
Let's just keep it moving.
Carry the Hell on.

— Ken Rudulph (@MrKenRudulphTV) May 30, 2023

The post Ken Rudulph `No Longer With Fanduel TV’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Addressed to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, Blumenauer's letter requests a response within 60 days and makes note of figures from the Equine Injury Database showing that between 2009 and 2021 some 7,274 Thoroughbred fatalities have occurred on American racetracks.

The Congressman urges HISA to make the findings of any investigation public, and encourages the group to review the horses' necropsies and medical records–which has been a standard part of mortality reviews in Kentucky for years and is spelled out in the existing HISA racetrack safety rules.

This story was first reported by The Paulick Report. Click here to read a copy of the letter.

The post Congressman Demands Investigation Into Derby Week Fatalities appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

To many in racing those were the stories, but only because there are not enough of us who are worried sick about this sport's future because of its problems with animal rights issues and the growing belief among the general public that the sport is cruel to the animal. Because seven horses died in the lead-up to the Derby, including two on Derby day itself, this was a horrible day for the sport. It was as bad as anything that happened at Santa Anita in 2019, and still another wake-up call that everything that can be done to protect these animals needs to be done.

On the Sunday morning that followed, very few Americans could have told you Mage is, who Castellano is, what the running time was. But just about everyone of them knew that seven horses died at Churchill Downs.

How could they not? The racing publications, the Thoroughbred Daily News among them, trod lightly when it came to reporting the news that Chloe's Dream (Honor Code) and Freezing Point (Frosted) suffered life-ending injuries on the Derby card. The mainstream media did not. The public was inundated with bad news.

Many of the stories were similar to the one that run in USA Today under the headline “Mage's magical Kentucky Derby win overshadowed by specter of death.” They all kind of went like this: “Seven horses have died at Churchill Downs and, oh, by the way, a horse named Mage won the Kentucky Derby.”

“Unfortunately, it is not the image that America is going to take away from the 149th Kentucky Derby,” writer Dan Wolken wrote in reference to the picture the sport likes to paint when it comes to the Derby, its pomp and circumstance, its majesty, the fancy hats, etc. “Instead, it is going to be the specter of animal death that hangs over this sport and the unwillingness of anyone in a position of authority in horse racing to either explain it or own it.”

Here's what Joe Drape in the New York Times had to say in his post-race coverage that had the headline “Mage Captures the Derby After an Agonizing Week at Churchill Downs.”

“The best thing you can say about the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby is that the 18 horses who made it to the starting gate on Saturday survived. That came as a relief after at least seven horses died at Churchill Downs in the past week, two of them on Saturday in races leading up to America's most famous race.

“By the time the horses edged into the starting gate for what is an annual Thoroughbred celebration on the first Saturday in May, all anyone who loves the sport was thinking–no, praying–was that these ethereal creatures and their riders get around the mile and a quarter race safely.

“Could you blame them?”

He didn't mention Mage until the 11th paragraph of his story.

I find myself disagreeing with Drape more often than not, but he wasn't wrong. It was very hard to enjoy watching the running of the race when you knew that the possibility, as slim as it might have been, existed that still one more horse would die.

The Wall Street Journal ran the story “Mage Wins the Kentucky Derby Amid String of Horse Deaths at Churchill Downs.” The lede paragraph read: “Mage won the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on a day when an abnormal string of horse deaths continued earlier in the day, casting a long shadow over racing's marquee event.”

In a column he wrote titled “Stench of death overwhelms Kentucky Derby,” Associated Press writer Paul Newberry wrote “Horse racing needs to demonstrate once and for all that it truly cares about the athletes at the heart of its sport.”

I could go on. There are dozens more stories like that out there. But you get the point.

So on the one day when the public is actually paying attention to racing and the sport has an opportunity to showcase all that is right with it, it blows up in our face. We invited the public in, asked them to watch, learn and enjoy and what we wound up giving them was a nightmare that put racing in the worst possible light. Where does this end and when does the American public say “we've had enough?”

This all comes amid the sport heading in the right direction. The fatality numbers go down every year and some racetrack owners and regulators have put new protocols in place that have clearly worked. Del Mar and Santa Anita both have made great strides of late when it comes to safety. This new mentality  was on display at Churchill. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission ordered that all horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. be scratched after two horses he trained died of unknown causes. That probably wouldn't have happened 10 years ago. The racing commission vet also scratched Derby favorite Forte (Violence) over a bruised foot even though it appeared that trainer Todd Pletcher wanted to run the horse. That probably wouldn't have happened 10 years ago either.

But the awful fact remains that a lot of horses still die each year. Based on figures from The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Data Base, about 350 horses died in races alone last year. So this is what we have left to tell the public, “we don't kill as many horses as we used to.” That's never going to work.

The sobering part of this is that there are no magic bullets. Yes, we are doing better, but we're never going to see a day when race horses just don't die anymore. The Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act is a step in the right direction and those who are standing in its way are doing a great disservice to the sport. But HISA is not a panacea.

We are left to soldier on, vow to do our very best to keep these horses safe and, well, keep our fingers crossed. Efforts to end the sport picked up a lot of momentum Saturday, and that's a very scary thing.

The post The Week in Review: Sure, the Derby Had Its Moments, but this was a Really Bad Day appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The CHRB release read as follows:

“The California Horse Racing Board has been in contact with personnel and executives at Los Alamitos Race Course concerning the four recent catastrophic injuries of horses at that facility:

“The 6-year-old mare Ballet Royalty finished fifth (last) in the first race at Los Alamitos on March 12. She galloped back and was unsaddled, but then she collapsed while walking off. This is termed a 'sudden death.' As always, a postmortem examination will be performed to provide more insight.

“The 3-year-old filly Fastidious pulled up before the wire in the seventh race March 19 at Los Alamitos. The injury required euthanasia.

“The 5-year-old horse Stolen Lives pulled up while galloping out after the ninth race at Los Alamitos on March 20. The jockey dismounted, then the horse was vanned off. The injury required euthanasia.

“The unraced 3-year-old colt See You At Front sustained an injury while galloping during training on the morning of March 23, requiring euthanasia.

“In recent days Los Alamitos has taken four steps to help improve safety: (1) Eliminated the breaking bar in quarter-horse races; (2) Eliminated high toe grabs on hind shoes; (2) Consulted a racing surface expert regarding the track; and (4) Contacted the University of California, Davis, to fund a study of lumbar fractures in quarter horses.

“These safety measures are particularly applicable to a lumbar (back) fracture, which led to the death of Fastidious. However, it is believed that breaking bars and toe grabs could be a contributing factor to lower leg injuries, which resulted in the deaths of Stolen Lives and See You At Front. Sudden deaths (Ballet Royalty) are a phenomenon among horses (and humans) throughout the world and are the subject of numerous ongoing studies.

“The CHRB will continue to closely monitor and scrutinize activities at Los Alamitos and will take appropriate action as needed.”

The post CHRB Addressing Recent Los Al Deaths appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post