Scott Chaney, executive director at the California Horse Racing Board, has a message for commissioners in other states – you are not exempt from what happened to us.
“2019 was probably the worst thing that ever could have happened to us, but at the same time it was one of the best things,” Chaney said in a presentation at last week's convention of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).
Chaney looked back on the time period of Santa Anita's well-publicized fatality spike as a “watershed moment” for racing in the state, from which he believes the sport has grown.
One of the most important things to understand for regulators outside of California is that the 2018-19 season wasn't that much of an outlier in terms of the fatality rate, which the CHRB has been tracking for several decades. 2019 finished the year with 128 fatalities, even factoring in the perceived “spike” early in the year, while 2018 had had 146. The difference, of course, was the attention from mainstream media, which magnified the impact of every death.
Under intense pressure from the public and local and state politicians, Chaney recalls the commission took a “all hands on deck, kitchen sink-type approach” to passing new safety regulation. He said the state has seen 30 new welfare-related regulations in the last two years, which is an incredible rate.
“We didn't know what we were doing when we started … which is not a great approach to regulation,” he said. “Usually you'd want to have some scientific evidence behind new rules.
“But the governor said racing was going to end if we didn't do something.”
In that initial scramble, Chaney said he saw reduced resistance from interest groups like jockeys' and trainers' organizations that would historically push back at new restrictions on medication, whip use, or other regulations impacting their membership. In the moment, everyone just wanted to see the sport keep going.
In 2021, the state of California had 71 fatalities, only 20 of which came during racing events. Its rate is about half the national average, which as far as Chaney is aware, is the lowest in the country.
Roughly three years from the crisis, Chaney said there are a few changes he looks back on as being the most impactful in improving equine fatality in the state:
- The entry review panel, which screens entries for horses who may be at elevated risk for severe injury based on the horse's medical, training, and racing history. At first, Chaney admitted, the panel scratched a lot of horses, which didn't go over well with horsemen. Then, trainers modified their programs and the panel didn't feel it needed to scratch as many horses. This probably hurts the entries, Chaney admitted, but the panel can feel confident the horses who do start are safer.
- Restrictions on drugs, intra-articular injections, and shockwave, along with veterinary exams required ahead of workouts and races. While these things may have reduced risk for individual animals, Chaney said the regulatory changes to veterinarians' role also allowed a more important, fundamental shift in the veterinary business model on the backstretch.
“Veterinary medicine on the backside has always been a medication, prescription-driven endeavor,” he said. “That's how vets make money. You prescribe medication. What we've tried to do, both intentionally and as an ancillary benefit, is change that to a more diagnostic-based [endeavor]. Vets are out there to diagnose problems and prevent them, rather than fix them afterwards and prescribe medications. But veterinarians have to be paid for that, too.”
While veterinarians initially resisted the idea that they may have to charge for examinations (which is traditionally not done in the racing world), Chaney said they too saw the benefits to this business model shift.
- Taking veterinary reports electronic was also a big deal for California regulators. Chaney said this may seem more like a logistical victory than a welfare victory, but it actually allows regulators to do better research on the medical behavior going on at the racetracks, since digitization enables better data analysis.
- Then there were changes Chaney said had met with resistance before, like whip regulation and longer pre-race Lasix administration times, which finally went through in the aftermath of the intense public scrutiny.
“I don't know of any evidence out there that suggests overusing your crop leads to injury, but it's perception. We have a citizenry in California that cares about this,” he said.
“I am in a state where using medication for racing is not possible. I understand there's an animal welfare argument to be made [regarding Lasix]. It just doesn't work in California because the story becomes 'They're drugging horses in order for them to run.'”
In future, Chaney said regulators in California aren't necessarily prepared to rest on the laurels of improved numbers. He said they're even considering “crazy” ideas like opening a veterinary pharmacy at each racetrack to better monitor and control prescription drug use, or even training in both directions to make horses' use of their bodies more symmetrical.
Chaney echoed sentiments of California racetrack practitioner Dr. Ryan Carpenter in a presentation at last year's Tex Cauthen seminar: there may have been a learning curve for veterinarians and horsemen with some of these changes, but everyone got on the same page when the future of the sport was threatened. And, just as importantly: while California may be a socially more liberal place, both believe the public outcry that happened there over racehorse deaths could happen in other places, too.
A lot of people, Chaney said, “think 'California is the left coast, they're progressive out there. Whatever's going on out there doesn't apply to us.
“I don't view it that way,” he said. “I view it as one of two ways: either we're the miner's canary – this is what's coming to other states. Or we're the first domino. If animal welfare advocates, the fringe ones, are successful in making racing go away, the next state is easier.
“What's happening in California is relevant to everyone else.”
The post The Miner’s Canary Or The First Domino: Chaney Looks Back At 2019 In California Racing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
