Tag: The Paddock

The Thoroughbred breeding and racing world is descending on central Kentucky this week. The excitement is palpable, Lexington is abuzz, and anticipation is building each day as we get closer to Friday and Saturday's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland. And while this event will begin the wind down to the 2022 racing calendar, I am reflecting on my first year as president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA).

I've been a Thoroughbred enthusiast my entire life, but this is the first year where I've lived, ate, and breathed Thoroughbred breeding and racing like so many other stakeholders, customers, and fans. The year has been filled with great racing, record sales, incredible enthusiasm, and strong handle and on-track attendance. These and other metrics make me more excited than ever to see what the future holds for the Thoroughbred industry.

This year was a strong one for racing. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic where many of the biggest races were run without fans or in limited numbers, this year's Kentucky Derby welcomed nearly 150,000 people to Churchill Downs on Derby Day alone and delivered an almost unfathomable fairytale ending. Attendance and handle figures at racing's premier meets were as strong as they've ever been. Prize money is also up significantly, more than 10 percent higher than where we were at this point last year. Like in all aspects of life after COVID, people were ready to get back to the racetrack, or at least they were ready to get back to enjoying their favorite horse betting app.

We have also had a tremendous year in the auction ring, with records set at many sales. The OBS Spring Sale, annually the highest grossing of all 2-year-old in training sales, surpassed last year's sales record by almost $20 million. The Saratoga Select Yearling sale produced 10 seven-figure yearlings and topped its gross sales record from 2018 by more than $4 million. The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the leading source of champions and stakes winners around the world, saw the highest gross sales in Keeneland auction history. With two sales immediately following the Breeders' Cup and based on these trends, there is every reason for optimism that sales will finish the year strong.

This year also saw a dramatic increase in sports betting, as 36 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports wagering in some capacity in the four years since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision. The widespread acceptance and legalization of sports betting across the country is hugely exciting for horse racing. We have an opportunity to introduce our product to a whole new universe of people and a whole new generation of gamblers. With the anticipated addition of pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing to sports betting platforms with millions of account holders, I'm very bullish about the bright future we have on sports betting platforms.

And last, and most importantly, more emphasis has been put on the health, safety, and welfare, and, yes, aftercare of Thoroughbreds in 2022 than ever before. As we as an industry continue to move through the creation of greater national uniformity, we are improving America's first sport for generations to come.

In January, we will celebrate the success of the 2022 racing year at the 52nd Annual Eclipse Awards being held at the Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. Many of the horses racing at the Breeders' Cup this weekend will be contenders for the awards, and their success will determine many of this year's champions. I am excited to welcome the entire industry so we can together celebrate the best of the best. While no good thing comes without its challenges, the Thoroughbred industry is thriving, and the future is bright.

Former Congressman Tom Rooney is the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The post Rooney: Future Is Bright For A Thriving Thoroughbred Industry appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the past 48 hours, a pair of champion trainers were faced with regulatory veterinarian decisions which forced scratches of the likely top wagering choices in graded stakes races.

One occurred in Lexington, Ky., at Keeneland, where the 2022 World Championships of the sport will be held in just a week's time. The other was on the opposite side of the globe in Australia, and came from the country's most famous Thoroughbred race.

Let's first look at the Australian case.

The Melbourne Cup, “The Race That Stops A Nation,” saw Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller's entrant and presumable third-choice Durston scratched on veterinary advice. Intense veterinary protocols, including compulsory CT scans of all four limbs, became part of the pre-race examination for the Melbourne Cup after seven horses died across eight runnings from 2013 to 2020.

Racing Victoria officials released the following statement:

Racing Victoria (RV) Veterinary Services have advised RV Stewards that, in their opinion, Durston is unsuitable to compete in the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

In accordance with the conditions of the race, Durston was presented at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre in Werribee on Friday, Oct. 21, for compulsory CT scans of its distal limbs.

Reports received from the members of the international imaging panel who reviewed Durston's CT scan results indicate that the horse is at heightened risk of injury.

Acting on the specialist advice received from the international imaging panel, trainer Chris Waller has been informed by RV Veterinary Services that Durston is unsuitable to compete in the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Waller, best known for training the brilliant race mare Winx, a four-time winner of Australian Horse of the Year honors, issued a public response via his social media pages.

Unfortunately, Durston is unable to take his place in the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup. It is extremely disappointing however according to Racing Victoria Durston's scans show what's called a 'grey area' and there is a small lesion in his left hind leg. The specialists cannot determine whether it is old or new, or whether it is even something to be concerned about, but we must respect this.

It is all about safety, for the horse, and for the rider and the longevity of the horses. It is very disappointing for all connections of the horse, as well as my stable, because so much time and effort goes into these horses. It's just heartbreaking.

Durston is sound, he galloped well on Tuesday morning and my vet trotted him up following this however we must respect modern science and learn from this.

The horse will undergo an MRI scan to investigate further.

Now, consider Friday's case from Keeneland. American racing has been under fire in recent years, especially since a run of equine fatalities in Southern California in 2019. Those incidents helped bring the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act past the finish line, launching the country's first national oversight body for horse racing.

Thus far, HISA has implemented its Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect July 1, 2022. One of the program's targets was creating a national requirement for pre-race veterinary examinations — something that Kentucky regulators have been doing for years

With that backdrop, four-time champion U.S. trainer Chad Brown brought 5-2 morning line favorite Dolce Zel to Lexington for the Grade 3 Valley View Stakes. Dr. Bruce Howard, equine medical director for Kentucky, told the Daily Racing Form that chief state veterinarian Dr. Nicholas Smith and colleague Dr. Brent Cassady made the decision to scratch the filly from the race after a pre-race exam on Friday morning.

“Both were concerned enough with what they saw that they decided to make the scratch,” Howard told DRF. “Safety of the horse is always our primary concern. They are two of our very experienced veterinarians.”

Brown, meanwhile, vehemently disagreed with the veterinarians' decision.

“She's had a puffy tendon sheath the whole time I've had her,” Brown told DRF. “It's nothing, just something cosmetic. She's completely sound. I told the vet I'd jog her 50 times for him if he wanted. It's the worst call I've ever seen in terms of pre-race evaluations.

“It's too bad that it's come to this with these horses. It seems like there's no room for reasonable discretion when it comes to these pre-race exams.”

Two trainers at the top of their game; two totally different takes.

With the recent emphasis on increased veterinary standards in both countries, it would seem erring on the side of equine safety would be not only in the horse's best interest, but that of the entire industry, as well.

Clearly, not everyone agrees.

That's not to say that trainers never disagree with veterinarians' opinions — after all, veterinarians often disagree with each other. In this instance, Brown may even be correct about the horse's tendon sheath. But state veterinarians don't have a financial incentive to scratch horses, and in this case, two of them agreed that the risk to the horse wasn't appropriate.

Brown's decision to publicly state otherwise could feed into a narrative already far too prevalent in this country: that trainers are willing to risk their horses for a financial reward.

It isn't doing his horse any good, and it surely isn't serving the sport in which he makes his living.

The post Tale Of Two Vet Scratches: ‘We Must Respect Modern Science’ Vs. ‘Worst Call I’ve Ever Seen’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), came to Prairie Meadows on Thursday to answer questions from Iowa's horse-racing stakeholders. Her appearance was at the behest of Iowa's seven-term U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.

The gathering included representatives from the Iowa HBPA, Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, Prairie Meadows, Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission and others. Also in attendance was Marc Guilfoil, the former executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and now HISA's director for state racing commission relations.

“The Iowa HBPA is grateful that Senator Grassley initiated this meeting at Prairie Meadows,” said Iowa HBPA executive director Jon Moss, who moderated the session. “We heard from many constituents and are glad all the various components of the racing industry participated, expressed their views, pointed out the start-up issues, the continued issues regarding every facet of HISA at this point in time. And they look to see improvement.

“The takeaway is yet to be determined,” Moss continued. “We are very thankful that we are not racing January 1st to see how the ADMC (Anti-Doping and Medication Control) program shakes out. We have our continued concerns how horsemen are going to understand and completely change their training regimens and medication regimens to fully comply with the new rules that go into effect January 1. The HBPA requested a delayed implementation and were told no. It's obvious that HISA has a huge burden placed on top of them and that additional time would be to their benefit to make sure everything is correct. Once again, rushing to push something out the door that's not fully vetted and fully ready does an injustice to a $63 billion a year industry.”

Senator Grassley has publicly expressed concern about the rocky and chaotic implementation of the Horse Racing Integrity Act that created HISA, a private corporation granted authority to oversee on a federal level aspects of horse racing previously left to individual states.

“Transparency in government is very, very important,” Grassley said in opening the meeting. “You can't expect constituents, taxpayers, residents and citizens of this country to go along with what the government is doing until the government makes it very clear to them what they're doing.

“I've heard a lot about the challenges that you all are having. I've worked with Jon and the Iowa industry to try to find ways to address these concerns. I recently sent a letter to Ms. Lazarus voicing some of our concerns that I'd heard. Unfortunately I felt the response from HISA did not reflect a full understanding of the challenges faced by horsemen, and that's why we're here today. I asked Ms. Lazarus and her staff to come to Iowa and answer questions you may have.”

Lazarus, as in previous appearances with horsemen, asked for patience in implementing a new and complex program of such broad scope. She acknowledged the Authority has had to backtrack on some policies and promised to lean heavily on HISA's recently appointed Horsemen's Advisory Group. That 19-member group, which is to meet monthly, is charged with providing feedback to HISA's executive team and committees on the implementation and refinement of its Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control regulations. The advisory group includes prominent Iowa horse owner and lawyer Maggi Moss, who participated in Thursday's session.

A major concern expressed at the meeting was HISA's funding. The Iowa racing industry's cost is $1 million out of HISA's announced 2023 budget of $72 million. The assessments for individual states are based on the number of thoroughbred racing starters and purses, Lazarus said.

“To me, you are putting a nail in the coffin of these smaller tracks,” said horse owner-breeder Linda Juckette. “They will not be able to overcome that number. Prairie Meadows alone is $1 million. That's going to get handed down to the owners and the people participating in Iowa.”

Lazarus said states can get credits toward their assessment if they use existing commission staff in certain capacities. Under HISA, she said states will no longer be paying for horse-racing drug testing or the cost of defending appeals of rulings.

Concern that horsemen will wind up footing the bill was not assuaged.

“How can you be against integrity and safety? It's like mom, apple pie and baseball. But I am concerned about the overall cost,” said Dr. Daryl Olsen, a veterinarian and member of Iowa's racing commission. “For Iowa, I'm struggling to see the advantage. Yeah, we need uniformity, but it's the cost that's going to fall back, unfortunately, on the horsemen. Our numbers say it's going to cost twice as much. At the state level, I felt this was something we were handling very well. And now, what have we gained? In a small state, where we're struggling to maintain racing, it makes it just that much more difficult.”

Horsemen also brought up inconsistencies between states in applying the very rules meant to create uniformity. Jon Moss noted conflicts and discrepancies in HISA regulations that are leading to confusion, such as when lameness triggers a voided claim.

“You have a lot of legitimate questions and concerns,” Lazarus said. “What I can say is we're listening and we're adjusting and we're going to get better… If we get something wrong, we'll fix it.” But, she stressed, “that will not happen overnight.”

Lazarus made a couple of commitments that horsemen were happy to hear.

One was her strong recognition of the existence of contamination and environmental transfer that can trigger a positive finding of certain drugs through no fault of a trainer. Lazarus, who in the show-horse world both prosecuted and defended horsemen on drug-violation charges, said it was important to her that the rules have a category for “those substances that have a high risk” of being inadvertently transferred to a horse.

“If you have a positive for one of those substances, there are no consequences to start with,” she said. “If they (internal adjudication panel) decide it was contamination, it's as if it never happened…. We are not trying to punish people for things they can't control, but we are trying to get cheaters out of racing. So the rules reflect that.”

Lazarus also said the efficacy of the popular anti-bleeding medication furosemide (known as Lasix) will be determined by “a totally independent body” with no connection to HISA. She said the first step will be collecting all the existing Lasix studies, which generally have found race-day furosemide to be an effective treatment to prevent or lessen an episode of the pulmonary hemorrhaging that is prevalent in horses.

“We are completely agnostic on Lasix; we have no opinion,” she said. “We are going to wait for the research. We have three years to conduct the study. Nothing is going to change in three years.”

National HBPA President Doug Daniels, an equine veterinarian and horse owner, attended the meeting. He said Prairie Meadows and the Iowa horsemen are representative of many American racetracks already struggling to survive in a tough economic and competitive climate.

“We appreciate Senator Grassley staying on top of the HISA issues facing our horsemen,” Daniels said. “We appreciate Ms. Lazarus' appearance and look forward to her fulfilling promises made. We all want the same thing — safe and clean racing — but we need rules and enforcement that actually make the industry better. That can only come from working with all the involved parties on an equitable basis. Change for change's sake — especially with a huge price tag — doesn't improve racing and could endanger small tracks and small racing stables.”

The post ‘If We Get Something Wrong, We’ll Fix It’: HISA’s Lisa Lazarus Meets With Iowa Stakeholders appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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