Data collection/dissemination emphasized during Welfare and Safety Summit
Data collection/dissemination emphasized during Welfare and
Safety Summit
The fifth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit
concluded Wednesday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky, with an emphasis on the ongoing
need to collect data and make it available through transparency initiatives,
industry conferences, and continuing education in order to enhance safety.
The two-day conference in the Keeneland sales pavilion once
again brought together a cross-section of the Thoroughbred industry, including
owners, breeders, trainers, veterinarians, horsemen, jockeys, track managers
and regulators.
Like the four previous summits, held in October 2006, March
2008, June 2010 and October 2012, the summit was underwritten and coordinated
by The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and hosted by
Keeneland Association.
"As we have said in the past, this summit serves as a
'think tank' for this industry," explained James L. Gagliano, president and
chief operating officer of The Jockey Club. "This edition proved not only that
initiatives generated from past summits are having a positive impact but also
that there are new ideas, new information, new practices, and new technology
that can be used to further enhance the welfare and safety of our athletes, and
we need to share that information in a transparent manner."
There were panel discussions and/or presentations on Wednesday on the
owner/trainer/veterinarian relationship, changes in regulations of
corticosteroids, the Jockey Injury Database, racetrack surfaces, and continuing
education for trainers. There was considerable discussion pertaining to
transparency of veterinary records during Wednesday's first session, entitled,
"Making Safety a Priority in Your Racing Company."
Tuesday's topics included the use of data to promote equine
safety, the status of the modern Thoroughbred, an update on the National Uniform
Medication Program, and bone development in racehorses.
The summit was available on a live video stream from
grayson-jockeyclub.org. In addition to a few hundred attendees in the
Keeneland sales pavilion, nearly 1,800 people in more than a dozen countries
watched the live video stream. A replay of Tuesday's summit and many
presentations are available on
grayson-jockeyclub.org; the replay from Wednesday will be available soon.
A sampling of comments on several topics from presenters
and panelists follows:
the benefit of the horse. We need transparency. If we had transparency, we'd
have a lot less breakdowns."
transparency we have and the more accountability we have, the more we can reduce
catastrophic injuries...we have to continue to work to reduce catastrophic
injuries...we are still feeling the effects of Barbaro. Catastrophic injuries have
a catastrophic effect on our industry...wonderful things have come from this
conference and we're
putting more of an emphasis on doing the right thing for the horse and for
the rider."
Athletic Training, University of Kentucky, speaking about the Jockey Injury
Database: "Identification of injuries provides a better ability to better
protect and seek preventable mechanisms to put welfare of jockeys at the
forefront. You have to have data to understand trends."
"I'm not convinced that horses are weaker, but I am convinced that they are
managed differently...and the trainer and his vet know more about a particular
horse than a regulatory vet ever will...this is a cat and mouse game, the
same as we see in human sports...we need research and development to study new
drugs. We need a robust out-of-competition testing program."
Laboratory: "Surfaces do not 'cause' injuries but they can improve the
situation...the information we collect is shared industry wide; it is not
proprietary information...and safer surfaces benefit all horses, riders, fans
and owners."
Commission: "We as an industry need to dispel the myth of inevitability,
that a racing fatality is not just part of the game. No stakeholder benefits
from the death of a horse."
Commission: "If you are going to race a horse in Massachusetts, you will be
subject to our state racing commission rules, house rules and standards set
by the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance. If a horse is on a vet's list and
ineligible to race in one state, he should be ineligible to race in other
states."
sufficient time between treatment (with corticosteroids) and racing time for
regulatory veterinarians to accurately evaluate a horse."
on the topic of advanced horsemanship and continuing education: "The reality
is that (continuing) education is the heart of where meaningful change can
take place in our industry...getting educational programming into the hands of
those who can use it is vital."
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