Horse Welfare And Anti-Doping Technology To Be Used At 2021 Breeders’ Cup

With the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in place, racing industry leaders in the United Stares have continued to embrace sweeping reforms. One of the most recent changes will be the use of Kildare-based Equine MediRecord's (EMR) revolutionary anti-doping and horse welfare software at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

The agreement is the latest notch in the belt of a company that launched its system just three years ago, but has already amassed an impressive list of clients including the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Irish Veterinary and Welfare Commission, Irish Harness Racing Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Arabian Racing Organization. EMR first provided their system to the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., last year. With the event moving to California's Del Mar Racecourse and falling under the supervision of the California Horse Racing Board,  EMR has developed a new system to comply with this year's rules and regulations pertaining to equine welfare and anti-doping protocols.

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EMR sells and maintains a revolutionary software platform that allows for the full veterinary history of the horse to be recorded securely, ensuring the best possible horse welfare as well as aiding with crucial anti-doping procedures. The new system EMR has developed for the Breeders' Cup World Championships will automatically inform trainers from across the world of the safety and integrity regulations that need to be followed and what documents need to be submitted through the system to allow horses to run in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. The Breeders' Cup has been a leader in adopting and creating stringent regulations to ensure the welfare and safety of the human and equine athletes competing at its event.

EMR already boasts a number of endorsements from key stakeholders in the U.S., including the Executive Director of the California Horse Racing Board, Scott Chaney and Dr. William Farmer, the Equine Medical Director of Churchill Downs. “The Equine MediRecord system is a major breakthrough in providing the latest and most comprehensive medical and testing records for all participants in this year's World Championships,” said Dora Delgado, Breeders' Cup Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer, “We are proud to partner with EMR again for this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.”

Once records are entered into the system, they cannot be altered, providing integrity and transparency for all concerned. With strict requirements in place for the competition at the Breeders' Cup, such a tool is needed to ensure the integrity of the records while also allowing them to be digitally submitted to regulators like the California Horse Racing Board and Breeders' Cup officials. This procedure also eliminates passing around paperwork to various partners who are following COVID-19 protocols.

Equine MediRecord CEO, Pierce Dargan said: “It was an amazing privilege to work with the Breeders' Cup for the first time last year and we are of course extremely happy to work with them for the World Championships at Del Mar this year. Given it is in a different regulatory jurisdiction this year, California instead of Kentucky, changes had to be made to ensure it complied with the state rules. We believe our system has a role to play in the movement to help ensure that our children will be able to enjoy horse racing the way we have for generations – to be a part of that work is an honor and highly rewarding.”

The Breeders' Cup has always been a leader when it comes to adopting best welfare and anti-doping protocols. With the sport and its integrity in the spotlight, the Irish innovation is sure to be adopted by more top racing organizations that are looking to ensure thevbest possible welfare and anti-doping practices for the horses in their care.

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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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