Breeders' Cup ups safety protocols; next, will synthetic come back?

As horse racing continues to grapple with equine safety issues, the Breeders’ Cup hosted a panel discussion Wednesday at Santa Anita Park that outlined the protocols put in place for this weekend's championships, plus touched on the possible return of synthetic racetracks to California. 

Among the array of new safety and security measures instituted for horses competing in this year’s Breeders’ Cup includes an increased veterinary presence, expanded out-of-competition drug testing, increased security and surveillance and the addition of a “track engineer” to assist Santa Anita track supervisor Dennis Moore. 

Panelist Dr. Mick Peterson, executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, said the Santa Anita racing surfaces have been monitored daily in the lead up through a multi-tiered process that includes logging the track conditions for every race. However, despite this exhaustive process, Santa Anita has endured several equine breakdowns during its current meet, both on the main track and the training track.

“We’re seeing it across all the surfaces,” Peterson acknowledged. “Part of what we have to do at this point is to look at everything we can do to improve the consistency. Also, to look at the historical data to make sure nothing is changing.”

There will also be a record number of veterinarians on call at this year’s Breeders’ Cup. A group of 20 vets has been assigned to examine Breeders’ Cup horses while in their stalls, said Dr. Debbie Lamparter, who serves as team leader of the Breeders’ Cup Veterinarian Team. She said every horse will have been examined three times, both while at rest and in motion, before allowed to race. If there is any concern during these exams, diagnostics are to be requested. The official state veterinarian on call would recommend the horse be removed from the race if deemed unfit, Lamparter said.. 

In addition to the pre-race exam team, an additional 30 veterinarians will be stationed around the racetrack at all times during both days of the event..

“There should be no incidents at any place that a veterinarian would not be able to see,” Lamparter said.

Out-of-competition drug testing for prospective Breeders’ Cup horses started in June, coinciding with the peak of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” program, said Dr. William Farmer, Breeders’ Cup's out of competition veterinarian and adviser. He said 252 horses were tested in seven different jurisdictions around the world, which includes the U.S., Canada, France, Ireland and England, among others. 

In addition to standard urine testing, for the first-time this year hair samples were also collected on a small number of horses. Farmer said about 10% of potential Breeders’ Cup starters had both urine and hair samples taken during out-of-competition testing. 

Of the 168 horses entered for the Breeders’ Cup, Farmer said 155 of those (92%) were subjected to out-of-competition testing this year, which includes all North American-based runners.

“Testing is still ongoing and will continue up until race day,” Farmer said. “But so far, all the results we’ve got we’ve had no positives. No suspicious samples at this point.”  

As for security, officials said an individual officer has been assigned to monitor every horse competing in the Breeders’ Cup. In addition, there are 15 Breeders’ Cup investigators on-site, 12 California Horse Racing Board investigators, 140 equine security officers to monitor stables and shedrows, and more than 1,100 surveillance cameras throughout the Santa Anita backstretch.

It remains to be seen if these measures will be enough to provide a safe two days of racing. During the past racing week at Santa Anita, there was a fatal breakdown on consecutive days. This left panelists and the media alike to wonder aloud whether it’s time for the re-introduction of a synthetic racing surface at Santa Anita. 

“I actually see a major attitude change, cultural change, in the horsemen community this last year, especially at Santa Anita," Arthur said. "So all issues are on the table..Everything is on the table to make horse racing safer.

“It would need a decision by Santa Anita with a consensus of the horsemen," Arthur said later. "Unfortunately, the [synthetic] track was taken out. Back when it was removed, there were people who were unhappy with the track despite the rather remarkable [safety] numbers.”

Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer of The Stronach Group, said Santa Anita's owner is exploring all possible avenues to increase equine safety at the facility  including a synthetic track. 

“As far as Santa Anita Park is concerned, we haven’t ruled anything out. Nothing is off the table,” Benson said. “We are looking into a number of things including the potential of bringing synthetic back."