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KHRC Update on Churchill’s Horse Fatalities

On the heels of both the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Churchill Downs updating horsemen and the public Thursday on actions taken regarding the 12 equine deaths since Apr. 27 at the Louisville oval, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) issued an update of their own Friday afternoon outlining investigative actions already taken and planned to be taken in the future. The statement, which originated from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet, appears in its entirety below:

“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.”

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HISA Issues Churchill Downs Update

After 12 horses suffered fatal injuries at Churchill Downs in the last five weeks, prompting the Louisville track to announce new safety initiatives Thursday, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) issued an update on the situation. The HISA statement appears below in its entirety:

Over the past several days, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has undertaken multiple measures to better understand the circumstances surrounding the recent spate of equine fatalities at Churchill Downs in hopes of working with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and Churchill Downs to mitigate additional risk to the horses and riders competing at Churchill Downs moving forward.

On Tuesday, May 30, HISA convened a Veterinary Summit with its counterparts at Churchill Downs and the KHRC to thoroughly review all veterinary information available and conduct additional analyses. Those discussions continued through yesterday with ongoing engagement between the veterinary teams. Specifically, the Summit included robust discussion of three different points of intervention with regard to racing injuries: 1) injury management, 2) preventing at-risk horses from racing via veterinary scrutiny, and 3) preventing at-risk horses from entering.

The dialogue was productive and conclusions from the Summit have been shared directly with key stakeholders to inform next steps. While no obvious or specific pattern emerged, HISA welcomes Churchill Downs' efforts announced earlier today to minimize risk of equine fatalities and is implementing the following additional measures:

Effective with Saturday's entries, HISA's Director of Equine Safety and Welfare will conduct an additional layer of post-entry screening. HISA's rule 2142 (Assessment of Racing Soundness) requires post-entry screenings of previous pre-Race inspection findings of entered Horses to identify Horses that may be at increased risk for injury. The review includes past performances, lay-ups (more than 60 days without a timed Workout or Race), last 30 days medical history, previous injury and lameness diagnostics, intraarticular corticosteroid injections, previous surgery and other individual Horse risk factors.
HISA has directed the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) to collect blood and hair samples for all fatalities involving Covered Horses. The results from such collections will be used to facilitate investigations into the cause of such fatalities. The data collected by HIWU in connection with Covered Horse fatalities will also be used to track relevant statistics and trends in connection with fatalities.
HISA has appointed Dr. Alina Vale, an equine forensics specialist, to conduct an additional thorough review of all necropsies performed on Covered Horses. Dr. Vale has conducted several postmortem reviews as an official veterinarian for the California Horse Racing Board, including participating in the review following a spate of equine fatalities at Santa Anita in 2019.

Additionally, Dennis Moore began his analysis of Churchill Downs' racing and training surfaces yesterday. That review is ongoing; Moore's conclusions will be shared publicly once his review is complete.

HISA continues to urgently seek additional answers to more clearly identify the causes of these recent fatalities as well as tangible interventions to prevent them in the future. All options remain on the table, and HISA will continue to vigilantly monitor events at Churchill Downs moving forward.

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Dutrow Licensed to Train in Kentucky

Richard E. Dutrow, Jr., was approved for a training license by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC)'s license review committee Tuesday. The voice vote was unanimous and without drama, and Dutrow's license goes into effect immediately.

Dutrow in February had regained his license to train horses in New York after sitting out a 10-year revocation imposed by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC).

The 63-year-old GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer with the long and controversial history of racing infractions has a 1-1-1 record from six starts at Belmont Park since returning to the sport May 6.

“I just want to get my license there. Bring some horses there. Start racing. Start winning and losing, just like everybody else,” Dutrow said prior to the vote.

Dutrow's presentation in front of the committee clocked in at just 2 1/2 minutes, and consisted of him making very brief introductory remarks prior to providing concise answers to four questions from the license review committee members.

Dutrow appeared at the Lexington, Kentucky, meeting via video from New York that bore the identifying stamp of the law firm Paul Weiss. Dutrow was seated at a conference table, presumably next to an attorney, although that person did not speak during the presentation while Dutrow calmly and politely stated his own case.

Dutrow's presentation was by far the shortest among the four license applicants who were on the afternoon's agenda, and its brevity also stood in contrast to the last time Dutrow appeared before the KHRC committee seeking licensure in July 2020. At that last hearing, his legal strategy had involved testimony given by several industry participants who had vouched for Dutrow's worthiness to be licensed.

At that hearing nearly three years ago, Dutrow hadn't been licensed by any jurisdiction, and he hadn't served the full term of his New York revocation. He chose to withdraw his 2020 application when the committee gave him the option of doing so after making it clear his application wasn't going to be approved.

It was a different outcome on May 30, 2023, when Dutrow did not have anyone else speak on his behalf, and he was not pressed on any of his past transgressions by any member of the KHRC's license review committee.

Asked by one committee member to outline the extent of his planned racing stable in Kentucky and who would be taking care of his horses there if he was not on the grounds, Dutrow responded, “Yes, sir. I plan on being in Kentucky quite often with my horses, yes.”

That answer, albeit vague, seemed to satisfy the committee members.

Asked in how many states he currently holds a training license, Dutrow said New York is the only current jurisdiction, and that his application before the KHRC is his only active application.

In response to a query about how many horses are now under his care, Dutrow said, “I have 23 horses under my care at Belmont. But there's a bunch of them on farms that I would consider under my care. There's too many to count.”

One committee member then wanted to know about the conditions that had been placed on Dutrow's New York license regarding his need to submit to human drug testing. Was there something about his personal drug use that would cause the NYSGC to do that?

“Not that I'm aware of. I'm not aware of it,” Dutrow said.

That was it for the questioning. After hearing individually from all four applicants on the agenda, the committee went into executive session to deliberate before coming back into open session to vote on each applicant.

Dutrow's video feed had been turned off after his presentation, so his reaction to gaining licensure wasn't part of the KHRC meeting's YouTube video. A staffer indicated that Dutrow would be phoned afterwards with the results of the vote, but that he couldn't be phoned prior to the vote, because if he spoke without all committee members being able to hear and see him, it would be a violation of open meeting rules. TDN was not successful in reaching Dutrow for comment after the vote in his favor was taken.

Dutrow's trainees earned more than $87 million between 1979 and 2013. They won multiple graded stakes, including three Breeders' Cup races and the 2008 Kentucky Derby with Big Brown. He often topped the trainer standings at New York tracks during the 2000s decade.

Around that same time, Dutrow's official rap sheet maintained by the Association of Racing Commissioners International began to swell with violations related to an array of equine pharmaceuticals.

Between 2000 and his attempt to win the Triple Crown in 2008 with Big Brown, Dutrow was cited for 18 drug infractions, ranging from comparably benign violations for overages of legal medications phenylbutazone and Lasix, to more serious charges of using mepivacaine, an anesthetic that can be used to make sore horses feel no pain.

In addition to $20,000 in drug fines, Dutrow racked up a $5,000 penalty for providing misleading information to authorities about a workout, and was slapped with a $25,000 fine in 2007 for having contact with his stable while he was supposed to be serving a suspension.

On Nov. 20, 2010, the Dutrow trainee Fastus Cactus tested positive for butorphanol after a winning effort at Aqueduct. Dutrow's barn was searched and investigators claimed to have found in a desk drawer three syringes filled with a muscle relaxer, xylazine.

The NYSGC's predecessor agency, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, revoked Dutrow's license on Oct. 12, 2011.

Dutrow battled that revocation for two years, both at the racing commission level and in the courts. His suspension officially commenced Jan. 17, 2013. Later that year he filed a failed federal lawsuit seeking monetary damages and a reinstatement of his licensure.

Dutrow has since paid a $50,000 NYSGC fine, his term of revocation in New York ended on Jan. 17, 2023, and he now has valid licenses from New York license and Kentucky.

Asked via email after the meeting to clarify whether the committee's vote signified full approval of Dutrow's licensure or if the entire KHRC board still had to vote on what the committee approved, KHRC executive director Jamie Eads wrote, “Yes, he is licensed.”

According to the roll call, the voting members of the committee were Eads, Paul Brooker, Greg Harbut and George Haydon.

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HISA To Conduct ‘Emergency Veterinary Summit’ To Address CD Fatalities

With the number of equine fatalities during the current spring meeting at Churchill Downs now up to 12, officials at the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) are convening an 'emergency veterinary summit' to be held Tuesday, May 30, in Kentucky.

“HISA's highest priority is the safety and well-being of the horses and riders competing under its jurisdiction,” a HISA statement released Monday begins. “We remain deeply concerned by the unusually high number of equine fatalities at Churchill Downs over the last several weeks. We continue to seek answers, and we are working diligently with Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) to mitigate any additional risk.”

The Tuesday meeting is expected to bring together the veterinary teams from Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and HISA to 'thoroughly review all veterinary information available and conduct additional analysis in hopes of better understanding the events surrounding the recent fatalities.'

HISA is also enlisting the services of noted track superintendent Dennis Moore to provide 'a second and independent' review of the racing and training surfaces at Churchill Downs. The review is scheduled to begin Wednesday, May 31, and HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus and Racetrack Safety Director Ann McGovern will be on site to receive results and analysis and any suggested follow-ups needed.

Dr. Jennifer Durenberger, the director of equine safety and welfare, is also being dispatched to provide additional veterinary expertise and observation to ensure optimal veterinary oversight of the horses.

Following a special Memorial Day program Monday, racing is set to resume at Churchill Thursday, June 1, with a first post of 5 p.m. ET.

Following the 11th and 12th equine fatalities last Friday and Saturday, respectively, officials at Churchill Downs issued a statement of their own, pledging their commitment to pursue answers and solutions to the problem.

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