HISA releases report on cluster of Laurel Park horse deaths

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority released a report Tuesday detailing the findings of its review of the circumstances surrounding the 13 horse deaths that took place during Laurel Park’s 2023 winter and spring meets.

The report, available here, noted that between March 5 and March 25, three horses sustained fatal musculoskeletal injuries while training or racing on Laurel Park’s dirt track. After two additional horses sustained fatal musculoskeletal injuries while training on Laurel Park’s dirt track on the morning of April 8, the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates Laurel Park, canceled that afternoon’s racing card to allow for a full evaluation of the racing surface.

HISA said reports indicated that jockeys refused to ride because of inconsistencies in the surface after inclement weather. Racing resumed on April 13 and, between then and April 20, three additional horses sustained fatal musculoskeletal injuries while training or racing on the dirt track. On April 21, the MJC suspended live racing indefinitely and began working with the Maryland Racing Commission to address concerns relating to the recent injuries.

The report includes a review of 13 equine fatalities that occurred at Laurel Park from Jan. 1, the beginning of Laurel Park’s winter meet, through May 7, the end of its spring meet. as the cluster spanned both meets. A trainer and jockey were also injured as a result of two of these incidents.

These events occurred before HISA established its track surface advisory group, so the authority did not conduct an independent investigation at the time of the fatalities. But HISA’s report said it has reviewed the procedures followed in response to the fatalities that is based on contemporaneous accounts of the situation, including expert reports, media reports, meetings, interviews and letters to the Maryland Racing Commission.

HISA’s report concluded that the cluster of fatalities cannot be attributed to a single cause. But HISA it notes that both the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association expressed concerns about the consistency of the track surface during March and April which lead to the track inspection visits of track surface consultant Dennis Moore and and track maintenance consultant John Passero.

After those visits, in late April, Laurel Park implemented changes in track maintenance practices that were designed to increase the consistency of the track surface pad and cushion, the review found. “It is notable that following the track maintenance procedures that were implemented after Mr. Moore’s and Mr. Passero’s visits, there were no further fatalities during the spring meet,” the HISA report said. “Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that those changes contributed to a safer surface going forward.”

The report said veterinary findings identified additional risk factors that likely contributed to the injuries. Eight of the 10 horses with musculoskeletal fractures had not raced as 2-year-olds, according to the report, with one not racing until age 4. Older age at first race start has been identified as a risk factor for musculoskeletal injury, according to the report.

The review also found that five of the horses had recently changed trainers, defined as within the previous three months and noted that the risk of fatal injury decreases with an increasing amount of time that a horse has been trained by a single trainer.

One of the horses sustaining a fracture was on the veterinarians’ list as unsound at the time of the injury, according to the review. And the report said the exercise histories suggested an increased risk of injury and are consistent with those horses that sustained musculoskeletal injuries during the 2023 Churchill Downs spring meet.

The HISA report said its findings and observations “underscore the necessity of implementing the critical initiatives previously identified in HISA’s strategic response.”

As outlined in the strategic sesponse, available here, HISA’s track surface advisory group was recently assembled and is available to respond immediately when racetracks are facing an ongoing crisis.

HISA said it also is collaborating with Amazon Web Services and Palantir to apply data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to HISA’s vast data sources to analyze the factors contributing to equine injuries and inform potential interventions to reduce them in the future.