pandemic | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keeping Clients Safe: Impact Of COVID-19 On Equine Vets And Farriers

Though equestrian competitions were halted and many boarding barns were shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, equine veterinary and farrier care have been considered essential services, allowed to carry on throughout lockdown. However, it has been a challenge to continually provide care for client horses while keeping customers and caregivers safe.

In order to continue to work, vets and farriers were mandated to establish protocols that followed state and local distancing, quarantine and decontamination guidelines. During lockdown, many equine clinics were able to continue to see emergency cases, but were unable to perform elective surgeries for multiple weeks.

When lockdown lifted, most clinics still didn't return to “normal”; many are unable to allow clients into waiting rooms or pharmacies, so workers meet their clients in parking lots to either take the horse from the owner or to deliver medications.

Many farriers are now unwilling to have clients or trainers hold horses while they are being shod, electing instead to have their assistants hold or to place the horse in crossties. Between clients, all tools are disinfected. Even when stay-at-home orders are lifted, may vets and farriers will keep their biosecurity practices in place to keep staff and clients safe.

Though the pandemic has changed the way equine professionals must interact with their clients, requiring much more interaction from a distance or via phone or text, equine professionals still strive to give their two- and four-legged clients the best of care.

A Look At Equine Markets Amidst COVID-19

Jill Stowe, PhD, associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment's Department of Agricultural Economics, presented at the UK Ag Equine Programs' monthly Equine Forum virtual meeting June 24 about the impact COVID-19 is having on equine markets.

She began by giving attendees a definition of a recession, which is a period in the business cycle where economic activity declines (often measured by declines in growth in Gross Domestic Product, or GDP). In the U.S., a recession is often defined by two consecutive quarters of declines in GDP.

According to Stowe, a recession results in an increase in unemployment, decrease in income, decrease in consumer spending, rising business failures and a falling stock market. Recessions have many different sources, including bursting of financial bubbles, credit crunches and, as we are experiencing, pandemics. These contractions are a normal part of the business cycle (there have been five recessions in the past 40 years as a reference), but they are normally short-lived; since the Great Depression, the longest recession lasted 18 months, from December 2007 through June 2009.

Stowe said that an “official” U.S. recession (characterized to two consecutive quarters of GDP declines) is likely if the coronavirus pandemic lasts longer than expected, but acknowledged that significant economic hardships are already being realized. For instance, in Kentucky (as of June 4), nearly 886,000 people had filed for unemployment, which is approximately 43 percent of Kentucky's eligible workforce.

Governments attempt to counteract economic contractions by getting people spending (consumer spending constitutes 70 percent of GDP) through lower interest rates and fiscal stimulus packages. Since interest rates are already near historic lows, for the current crisis, the government is relying on stimulus checks to encourage consumer spending.

She also noted that there are two types of “normal” economic goods, necessity and luxury. A normal good is one which experiences increasing demand when income rises. The rate of demand increase determines whether the normal good is a necessity or luxury good. When income increases, demand for luxury goods increases at an increasing rate; however, when income decreases (like during a recession), demand declines at an increasing rate. Consequently, industries involving luxury goods are more volatile than necessity goods. Relevant to the discussion at hand, she noted that from an economic perspective, horses are considered luxury goods.

Moreover, the equine industry is one of Kentucky's signature industries and constitutes one of the most important sectors in Kentucky's agricultural economy. In fact, the equine industry has been characterized as an economic cluster in Central Kentucky, which describes a network of geographically connected organizations and institutions.

Taken together, it is likely that Kentucky's equine industry will be hit harder than most by contractions in the economy. First, in an economic sense, equine markets act like markets for luxury goods and hence are more volatile. Second, due to the equine industry's organization as an economic cluster and its prominence in Kentucky's agricultural industry, the overall impact on Kentucky's economy is magnified and far-reaching.

Stowe considered it instructive to summarize lessons learned from the last recession in 2008-2009 in order to predict how equine markets might react to the current economic climate. Stowe said that nationwide, effects on equine markets included a decline in the number of mares bred and foals produced, a decline in organization memberships, a drop in sales prices and sales revenue, a small decline in competitions and increased animal welfare issues.

The immediate effects of the COVID-19 shutdown have been felt primarily by competitions and sales, and perhaps to a lesser extent boarding and training operations. The shutdown resulted in the cancellation or postponement of local, regional, national and international equine events, including the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games and cancelation of more than 2,900 FEI competitions in the three-month span following implementation of COVID-19 restrictions. Losing these competitions has a number of negative consequences, including loss of regional economic development, lost income for individuals and lost revenue for organizations.

The shutdown has also resulted in “clogged” pipelines in the equine market as sales were canceled, postponed, or significantly decreased, she said. Getting the pipeline moving will be a key to recovery and noted that watching the first sales resuming in late June might provide an indication of what is to come for sales later this fall.

Boarding and training operations across the world have been faced with a variety of restrictions. In some areas, riding was prohibited and barns were closed to all but essential employees. Many equine professionals were, for a time, were unable to give lessons, clinics and coach at competitions.

At the onset of the COVID-19 restrictions, equine veterinary clinics delayed elective procedures for a time. As restrictions were gradually lifted and with human protections still in place, they are now able to operating close to normal. Hay and feed markets, which are actually more sensitive to weather variations, seem to be unaffected, but should labor shortages arise, availability issues and/or price increases may ensue.

According to Stowe, the long run outlook will depend on a number of factors. The longer the economic restrictions last, the larger the impact will be. In addition, whether the recovery follows a V-shape (quick recovery), a U-shape (a prolonged recovery), an L-shape (no recovery), or something in between. Going forward, unemployment, GDP and disposable income will all be important metrics for recovery in the equine industry.

Stowe and colleague Bob Coleman, PhD, PAS, Dip. ACAN, associate professor and equine extension specialist in UK's Department of Animal and Food Sciences, are launching a research project estimating the impacts from COVID-19 in Kentucky, specifically focusing on breeding, sales, competitions and boarding and training facilities. They will be distributing a series of surveys beginning this fall and expect to be able to share results in 2021.

COVID-19: Local Officials Prohibit Arizona Downs From Racing In 2020

Citing concerns for public safety and new state orders restricting gathering in public places, local officials have prohibited Arizona Downs from opening this racing season.

That decision comes in the wake of the COVD-19 pandemic and after weeks of discussions between track operators and state and local officials. Though there were initial hopes of hosting races without spectators, local officials raised additional concerns about adequate spacing in stables and other back-of-the-house operations.

“We were hopeful we would be able to host racing, but understand and respect their decision,” said Tom Auther, an Arizona Downs owner. “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our employees, fans, horsemen and jockeys.”

Earlier this year, Arizona Downs applied with the Arizona Racing Commission to host races through September. But after sharp increases in reported COVID-19 cases across the state, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in late June issued an Executive Order prohibiting the gathering of more than 50 people unless authorized by local officials. Prescott Valley officials recently provided formal notice to Arizona Downs that racing will not be allowed.

“We recognize the many difficult decisions our state and local leaders have had to make in recent months and appreciate them keeping safety at the forefront of all decisions,” Auther said. “We look forward to working with each of them to ensure the safe and successful opening of Arizona Downs in 2021.”

The post COVID-19: Local Officials Prohibit Arizona Downs From Racing In 2020 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Not Enough Jockeys For ‘Quality Racing Product’ Causes Del Mar Cancellation

On Wednesday, when Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) announced the cancellation of this weekend’s three days of racing in the aftermath of 15 asymptomatic jockeys there testing positive for COVID-19, the chief reason listed in the track’s press release was “to help ensure the safety of all workers at Del Mar and our surrounding community.”

But in a Thursday teleconference organized by the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) that featured Del Mar executives explaining their decision not to race, the focal point centered not so much on preventing the spread of the disease, but on whether or not there would have been enough qualified replacements to take the mounts vacated by the quarantined jockeys.

“We felt it was the prudent thing to do,” said Josh Rubinstein, the president of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, at the outset of the call. “We just wouldn’t have enough riders to put on a quality racing product that you as owners are used to in California and that our customers are used to wagering on.”

A few minutes later, when the teleconference was opened up to questions from the 141 participants listening in, the very first query was from owner Billy Koch, who asked Rubinstein to clarify whether the primary reason for the cancellation “wasn’t that we couldn’t find other jockeys, it was that we were more concerned with how it would actually look.”

Rubinstein’s reply was “That’s partially accurate. We debated several scenarios [like] bringing in northern California riders. That was challenging, as they had been named on horses up north.”

Rubinstein also explained that after the 15 positive tests, the Del Mar pool of regular riders was down to about 12. And when track management announced on July 15 that a new health protocol will prohibit jockeys from entering the backstretch to exercise horses, three of those “not big-name riders” opted to keep working as per-diem exercise riders in the mornings rather than accept mounts as in the afternoons.

“So that took the number down from 12 to about nine, so it would have been very challenging to try to put together a card with jockeys of the quality that you owners need and what our players need to wager on.”

Several subsequent teleconference participants wanted to know why other racing jurisdictions haven’t had jockeys testing positive en masse for the coronavirus and why Del Mar only began testing riders after the outbreak was detected.

“We’re very confident of the protocols that we have in place,” Rubinstein said, alluding to “some challenges” that occurred before riders got to Del Mar.

Greg Avioli, the president and chief executive officer the Thoroughbred Owners of California, interjected with a more pointed response.

“Let me be more direct,” Avioli said. “What Josh is not saying is a number of these jockeys showed up at Del Mar having almost certainly picked up this virus when they were at Los Alamitos. So it didn’t really matter what the Del Mar protocols were at that point [because] asymptomatic jockeys showed up with the virus. I think this should be a one-time issue.”

Avioli was referencing a cluster of five jockeys who all rode at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 4 then subsequently tested positive for the virus. Those riders have been publicly acknowledged as Luis Saez, Martin Garcia, Victor Espinoza, Flavien Prat and Eduard Rojas Fernandez. Of the 15 jockey positives from the July 14 testing at Del Mar, 14 of them have been contact-traced to Los Alamitos.

“The good news is they are all currently asymptomatic,” Rubinstein said of the 15 positive-test jockeys, whom Del Mar is not naming out of respect to privacy rights.

“And based on our conversations with the county and with [the San Diego health care provider] Scripps Health, as long as they remain asymptomatic, and we’ve had contact with all 14 of the [Los Al] jockeys, they will be able to quarantine for 10 days and they will be able to ride when we resume racing next Friday, July 24.”

The starting gate crew and pony riders who accompany Thoroughbreds to the gate are scheduled to undergo COVID-19 testing on Friday, Rubinstein added. Exercise riders are not currently scheduled for testing.

When pressed by another call participant about why Del Mar did not plan for testing jockeys prior to the meet, Rubinstein explained it this way:

“We received guidance from both the county and Scripps Health. And their guidance to us [was] that there are challenges with asymptomatic testing. And their recommendation to us was to allocate resources to other things we’re doing with facial coverings, sanitizing, reconfiguring the jockeys’ room. But obviously, if somebody [shows] symptoms, you get them tested right away. That thinking changed [when] five jockeys tested positive from Los Alamitos. Then we immediately tested the riders on Tuesday.”

When a member of the media inquired as to whether the valets, who work in close quarters with the jockeys, were also tested and if any of those results came back positive, Avioli, who was moderating the teleconference, was quick to say that “this isn’t really a media call.” But he said he would “make an exception” if the DMTC executives wanted to answer the question.

A woman who did not identify herself prior to speaking then answered that all of jockeys’ room personnel were tested on Tuesday along with the riders. But she did not answer the part of the query that dealt with the results of those tests, and Avioli quickly called for the next question.

In addition to the list of new health protocols Del Mar announced on July 15 (read them here), Rubinstein said that out-of-state jockeys will not be allowed to enter the Del Mar riding colony this meet. And if they leave Del Mar to ride elsewhere, they won’t be allowed back.

With one notable exception.

“It starts when the colony is back together next week,” Rubinstein said. “So the question that you may be asking is ‘[What about] Mike Smith?'”

Smith, the in-demand Hall-of-Fame jockey, is booked to ride five graded stakes mounts Saturday at Monmouth Park, including heavily favored Authentic (Into Mischief) in the GI Haskell S. for trainer Bob Baffert.

“We had actually had conversations with Mike,” Rubinstein explained. “Mike is riding Saturday in New Jersey. If we were to [have had races] this weekend, we had Mike scheduled for a quick test at Scripps on Sunday. He would be isolated until we got the results of that test. If it was clean, then he [would have been] able to ride on Sunday. So we’re doing the same thing with Mike [but] we’re just moving it a week forward. So when Mike gets back from New Jersey we will set up a test for him at Scripps. Hopefully, it’s negative, and he will be a part of the colony.”

Other jockeys won’t have that privilege.

“They can leave, they just can’t come back–[like in the song by the Eagles] Hotel California,” Rubinstein said.

“In reverse,” quipped someone on the call more familiar with the haunting lyrics that warn, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Because of the July 17-19 cancellations, Rubinstein said Del Mar has a request pending with the California Horse Racing Board to allow the track to add a race date on Monday, July 27. In addition, Del Mar will seek to card additional races on some Fridays and Sundays.

“We don’t think it will be an issue to get approval, but we want to let folks know…that we intend to do our best to make up for the races that were lost from this weekend,” Rubinstein said.

The post Not Enough Jockeys For ‘Quality Racing Product’ Causes Del Mar Cancellation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post