Arizona Commission Meeting: ‘The Eyes Are On Us’

If there's a main takeaway from Tuesday's Arizona Racing Commission Meeting, it's an acknowledgement from officials and track management that the racing industry is monitoring Turf Paradise closely.

“We've got to do a better job at coming up with answers and coming up with solutions,” said commissioner Rory Goree, arguably the most outspoken member of the commission about Turf Paradise's poor equine safety record.

“I'm hopeful that here, in the near future, we as a commission will be able to talk about some of the solutions and ideas and make Arizona the light it needs to be, that we're making the change, doing the right thing instead of being the laughingstock that we are right now,” Goree added. “The eyes are on us.”

Repeated mention was given to racehorse Creative Plan (Creative Cause), who last raced at Turf Paradise Jan. 7, when a tailed off last of nine.

Creative Plan was recently euthanized due to irreversible damage to his suspensory ligaments and fetlock joints that had deteriorated over the course of weeks, according to an article in the Paulick Report Tuesday morning.

Between the time he last ran and his euthanasia, however, Creative Plan was sent to an Arizona horse auction, but went through unsold before being abandoned, the article found.

“With Creative Plan, there was a lot of finger-pointing going on, trying to cover our own butts,” admitted Goree.

In her latest track safety report, Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's chief veterinarian, explained that Turf Paradise's race-day equine fatality rate was “creeping up.”

In a special commission meeting earlier this month, Gale said that the racing-related catastrophic injury rate was 2.8 fatalities per 1000 starts this season at Turf Paradise.

In her report Tuesday, Gale said that the fatality rate was now around 2.98 per 1000 starts at Turf Paradise.

According to the Jockey Club, the national fatality rate for 2020 was 1.41 per 1000 starts.

Gale said that she has included Creative Plan's death in the track's race-day fatality rate because he was injured during a race, “and then was put to sleep, or euthanized, this past week.”

However, another horse that fractured its fetlock earlier on in the meet, and who, despite efforts at rehabilitation was euthanized three months later, was not included within the track's race-day fatality numbers, Gale explained.

More broadly, official veterinarians, said Gale, have lately been scratching more horses on pre-race exams.

“It does seem that now we're about half-way through the meet, some of the horses are showing some wear and tear,” said Gale.

Nevertheless, one ongoing problem has been the lack of veterinarians “or administrative assistance” to help identify and red-flag horses at greater risk of catastrophic injury at Turf Paradise prior to pre-race exams, admitted Gale.

Gale said that, while she has been doing this task on a limited basis, “having someone on the staff that can do this on a more regular basis” would likely make a difference.

Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, reported that he has asked Gale to start requiring the horsemen to submit updated veterinary medical records of every horse that is entered to race.

“That way, the veterinarians can review those medical reports of each horse that is entered to race and get a better sound picture of that horse's capability and physical status and medical status,” said Casillas. “That will be implemented coming forth, and, hopefully, that makes a difference.”

Another potential nexus of change is the state's claiming rules, said Goree.

“Seems like every morning I read the board and find out that there's a horse that's moved on, just wandering around on the backside, and I think it's because these horses are getting claimed so much they don't know where they live,” said Goree.

According to Goree, he has spoken with Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, about the claiming rules.

“I know he's going to talk to the AG [attorney general] and see what we might be able to do,” said Goree.

Turf Paradise general manager, Vincent Francia, added more texture to the issue, reporting that there have been 441 claims thus far this season.

“That is a record here at Turf Paradise,” said Francia, pointing as a reason to the track's purses–now supplemented with both state and federal funds–with the average purse working out at about $19,000 per race.

“When you have a purse structure like we have, a lot of claiming is going to go on,” Francia said.

Another ongoing question mark at Turf Paradise has been the condition of the racing surface.

This week, Turf Paradise drafted in veteran track surface consultant Steve Wood to monitor the adding of organic materials and sand to the main track, Francia said.

The organic materials are put in to give the track “bounce” and to help maintain moisture levels, said Francia. The sand is to help prevent clumping of the clay-like materials, he added.

A problem seemingly as intractable as track conditions at Turf Paradise has been a shortage of official veterinarians. Indeed, at the commission meeting last October, Gale suggested putting a call out to practicing veterinarians in the area as an opportunity for them to “pick up some work.”

In an attempt to alleviate the burden, the gaming department has asked for funding for an additional veterinarian in the latest executive budget, said Arizona Department of Gaming director, Ted Vogt.

“It's been our number one funding issue for the past two fiscal years, so we're hopeful it'll get across the line this year,” said Vogt.

Earlier on in the meeting, the commissioners voted to approve Rillito Race Track's three-year racing permit application and the race-dates within that window, despite ongoing questions as to the facility's economic viability.

Casillas said that a prior financial review of the track found that it was “insolvent” with less than $1,000 in its bank account at the time.

Because of the importance of Rillito in the Southern Arizona racing calendar, however, “the department has worked tirelessly with Rillito staff to project Rillito's revenue streams, donations, purse monies, state and federal grant funds that are being provided to Rillito,” said Casillas.

That projected amount comes to roughly $900,000 plus. The department's original estimate of Rillito's costs to operate the race-meet was $1.2 million.

“Therefore, the division strongly recommends that Rillito tighten their belts, and be extremely vigilant and responsible and not expend needlessly,” said Casillas, who added that the gaming division would be monitoring their financial predicament closely.

“We want to openly inform Rillito that on an ongoing basis, the division will scrutinize their financial status, and expect that Rillito meet all their obligations, and more so, adopt generally accepted accounting principles to correct the past few years of disarray,” said Casillas.

The post Arizona Commission Meeting: ‘The Eyes Are On Us’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Safety Featured at AZ Commission Meeting

At a special Arizona Racing Commission Meeting Wednesday, Turf Paradise's equine safety record was once again a serious bone of contention, with commissioner Rory Goree calling the track's equine fatality numbers “deplorable.”

In her routine track safety report, Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's chief veterinarian, explained that 22 horses have died at Turf Paradise since the start of the meet, on Nov. 5 of last year–nine racing-related fatalities, five during training, and eight due to illness.

The racing-related catastrophic injury rate works out to 2.8 fatalities per 1000 starts thus far this season at Turf Paradise. According to The Jockey Club, the national fatality rate for 2020 was 1.41 per 1000 starts.

Last year in Arizona–including both Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs–the fatality rate was 1.94 per 1000 starts, said Gale.

“Unfortunately, this month of January, we did have a week where there were four horse breakdowns within one week,” said Gale, who didn't provide any context on the possible reasons underpinning the fatalities other than to explain that such events are often multifactorial.

“We're waiting on the postmortems that we do on all racing fatalities and we will be having a racing safety committee meeting later this month to go over those reports and see if we can see any common factor that we can focus some attention on,” said Gale, who added that the safety meeting would likely occur after the next Arizona Racing Commission meeting Feb. 15.

Of the commissioners, Goree was by far the most critical of the situation. “We're still killing horses at a terrible rate out there, and I'm sick of it,” he said.

What's more, since the start of the latest Turf Paradise meet, there have been three equine ambulance failures, said Goree.

“One of them, a horse was picked up improperly. Another time, the second, the equine ambulance became inoperable and was unable to assist a horse on the track,” said Goree.

“The third time, an incident in the paddock in what was described as, quote, to me, 'a shit-show with the equine ambulance unable to get into the paddock until the 10th try and an incompetent track vet,'” said Goree.

“We keep killing horses like this, we're going to be out of business,” Goree said. “And I have to ask myself: How did we get to this point?”

One reason, said Goree, is insufficient funding to institute prior recommendations to tackle the state's rocky safety record, which goes back years.

Indeed, the high equine fatality rate during Turf Paradise's 2017-2018 season prompted the issuance of this commission report.

“What happened in 2017, our budget got whacked,” explained Goree. “Somebody went down to the legislature and lobbied to reduce RWA.”

The Regulatory Wagering Assessment (RWA) is a wagering tax used to fund the department.

“We got whacked by a million dollars. We were not able to implement bringing in another state vet. We were not able to implement bringing in another safety steward,” said Goree.

“And he we are, still with the same problems we had in 2017,” he added. “We're still killing horses at a terrible rate out there. And I'm disgusted about it, and I'm tired of it. We need to take action.”

Another key area of concern has been the condition and maintenance of Turf Paradise's training, racing and stabling facilities.

Indeed, an Arizona Department of Gaming inspection of Turf Paradise on Oct 20 last year–a little more than two weeks before the start of the current meet–found numerous human and equine health and safety failures, including a lack of necessary track maintenance equipment, and railings that needed to be fixed or replaced.

Some of the broken turf railing support arms “have sharp protruding points that would easily impale, severely injure or kill an equine or jockey if they were to fall on it,” the report states, before concluding with a list of eight key recommendations.

According to Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, the agency continues to work with Turf Paradise to upgrade and purchase new equipment, the latter of which has recently included new tractors and a new roller to seal the track.

“We're monitoring with the track superintendent on a daily basis the track condition and whether it needs any soil and materials put into it,” said Casillas. “We have had Turf Paradise hire a consultant to come out, look the track over every couple of weeks and make recommendations.”

Casillas added that the department has inserted a provision into state and federal grant monies being issued to permitted tracks to fund the position of an additional veterinarian.

“That money would be held out to allow the department to hire a department veterinarian in addition to Dr. Gale, so that we can have 100% pre-race exams by certified veterinarians,” said Casillas.

A shortage of official veterinarians has been an ongoing issue in Arizona. Indeed, at the October commission meeting, Gale suggested putting a call out to practicing veterinarians in the area as an opportunity for them to “pick up some work.”

Nevertheless, Gale said Wednesday that Turf Paradise has recently hired a new track veterinarian, Alyssa Butler.

“She and I meet prior to the races to discuss which horses we consider might be of concern, and also after the races when she lets me know which horses have problems,” said Gale. “I think that communication has been key, and is going to maybe greatly improve, or would hope that it greatly improves, our outlook here for the remaining half of the Turf Paradise meet going forward.”

The current Turf Paradise meet is scheduled to end May 7.

Earlier on in the meeting, the latest attempt to return simulcasting signals from The Stronach Group (TSG)-owned racetracks into Arizona crumbled when the commission denied the company's Simulcast Horse Racing Import Signal contracts for Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs.

It has been roughly two years since Monarch–the TSG arm tasked with distributing the company's signal–sent its product into Arizona.

Representatives for Turf Paradise told the commission that the track supported their contract and that the loss of Monarch's signal had cost them millions in lost revenue.

Nevertheless, Kory Langhofer, counsel for Arizona Downs, argued that their contract provided an anti-competitive fee rate when compared to Turf Paradise, that it included an unlawful provision barring Arizona Downs from operating OTB sites within 60-miles of Turf Paradise, and that it unfairly prohibits Arizona Downs from unilaterally expanding its business.

“All three of these things together, we can't make it work,” said Langhofer.

In the end the commissioners agreed, denying the contracts on a 2-1 vote.

There also remains no confirmed race dates this year for Arizona's Rillito Race Track, which ordinarily runs a meet in February and March.

Casillas explained that there have been delays in the permit application process due to the track's questionable financial viability.

“We have discovered some financial concerns,” said Casillas. “We're working with them on a daily basis.”

Casillas added that Rillito projects approximately $120,000 a day in revenues from admission, parking and food and beverage sales.

According to Casillas, the department's own calculations show that it costs Rillito approximately $1.2 million to run the race-meet.

“Without the state and federal monies being contributed to them, they would be running a little shy to run the meet,” said Casillas. “I'm hoping that come the 15th everything is on track that we can proceed with having you review their financial state and determine whether or not you want to make an approval on their permit and race days.”

The post Safety Featured at AZ Commission Meeting appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Concerns Over Track Conditions, Veterinary Shortage as Turf Paradise Meet Looms

Once again, issues of horse and rider safety at Turf Paradise were a bone of contention during the latest Arizona Racing Commission meeting Thursday, due to a shortage of attending veterinarians at the track and concerns over the overall state of the facility.

The upcoming Turf Paradise meet is scheduled to start on Nov. 5 and run through May 7 next year. There are roughly between 664 and 700 horses currently stabled and training there, with around 1,500 eventually anticipated.

But according to Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's chief veterinarian, those horses are attended by a shortage of active veterinarians.

“The main concern that we have, found out that several veterinarians that practice on the backside were not returning to Turf this year,” said Gale, about the venue switch from the recently concluded Arizona Downs meet to the upcoming Turf Paradise meet.

Gale stressed that this shortage applies to attending veterinarians only, not official veterinarians, and she doesn't envisage the scarcity would necessitate a halt to racing.

Nevertheless, Gale added, “it would be a good idea to put some information out to the various practicing vets in the area because certainly there is an opportunity to pick up some work.”

Several stakeholders raised during the meeting concerns over the general condition of the track surface and facility itself–an ongoing problem highlighted by a 2020-21 Turf Paradise race-meet marred by a high number of equine fatalities.

During the whole of 2020 and as of Aug. 19, 2021, 67 Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses have suffered equine fatalities at Turf Paradise–18 during morning training, 31 during racing, and 18 due to other circumstances–according to a TDN public records act request.

During Thursday's meeting, Gale provided a state-wide update on equine fatality numbers.

According to Gale, there have been 15 race-day fatalities in Arizona so far this year: Two at Arizona Downs (which ran June 1 through Sept. 15) and 13 at Turf Paradise.

This works out, Gale added, to a rate of 1.94 fatalities per 1,000 starts–currently lower than the 2020 statewide rate in Arizona of 3.11.

The 2020 national average was 1.41 per 1,000 starts.

In discussing some of the factors underpinning these numbers, Gale zeroed in on two key variables. The first concerned a lack of comprehensive historical record keeping in evaluating horse soundness.

“We have been doing pre-race exams,” Gale said. “However, we have not been maintaining the records and not making full use of the history of the horses in order to direct greater scrutiny to those horses that might be at higher risk.”

The second concerned a lack of thorough and consistent track surface maintenance standards.

“This requires looking at the composition of the surface, the consistency of that, the depth of the cushion of the surface, the moisture content and what maintenance is done,” said Gale.

During the public comment period, several industry stakeholders took aim at the track conditions and safety protocols at Turf Paradise.

These criticisms included a shortage of outriders and compromised rail support beams that could prove potentially dangerous in the event of a horse collision.

“This surface is not right,” warned trainer Kevin Eikleberry. “We have some purse money–we should have a very good meet. But if we have a racetrack like we have right now, we will not. We will have more breakdowns than we can handle.”

Turf Paradise general manager, Vincent Francia, didn't directly address these criticisms.

Earlier in the meeting, however, Francia explained that much of the work has been completed to prepare the facility for the start of the meet. This includes an apparent fix to a problem with the facility's water trucks, said Francia.

“Should something give us a challenge with one of our water trucks, we have plans to make sure water is put on the track,” said Francia.

When pressed by one of the commissioners, Rudy Casillas, the gaming department's deputy director, explained that the department routinely visits Turf Paradise to conduct inspections, and provides the operators with “updated information” about their findings.

“We've given Turf [Paradise] up until the 20th to get certain things completed and repaired,” Casillas added. “We will continue to monitor as we go forward.”

During the meeting, Leroy Gessmann, the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association's executive director, broached the impending implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), and its potential effects on the state industry.

His presentation hit many of the key topics of conversation around the federal bill, including the currently unanswered question of cost, and the status of the various lawsuits against HISA.

“USADA will take over the testing,” Gessman said, of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. “If there is a bad test, they are going to take over the hearings, so, the hearings won't be done any longer by your stewards for Thoroughbreds.”

(TDN recently reported that there'll likely be a tiered approach in the beginning, with the severity of the infraction governing which set of regulatory personnel–either the state stewards or USADA's–will handle such a hearing)

“HISA has put together a committee, I believe it's two or three people, that have started going around to different jurisdictions to meet with the commissions and are giving them a preview of all this information,” said Gessman.

“I would say someone will be contacting the department shortly and you guys will be getting a visit on how things are going to go,” he added.

The post Concerns Over Track Conditions, Veterinary Shortage as Turf Paradise Meet Looms appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights