Second Welfare and Safety Summit to be held in March

The second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit is scheduled for March

17-18 at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion in Lexington, Kentucky. According to The

Jockey Club, the summit will feature wide-ranging discussions of critical equine

health- and safety-related issues, including progress reports from the working

committees established coming out of the original summit in October 2006.

The summit, once again, will be coordinated and underwritten by

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, and hosted by

Keeneland Association. The goal of the summit is to identify significant issues

that affect horse health and safety, and develop and implement action plans to

address each issue.

A steering committee is developing the agenda and list of participants and

presenters. The steering committee members include Nick Nicholson, president and

CEO, Keeneland Association; Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director, California

Horse Racing Board; Dr. Mary Scollay, association veterinarian, Calder Race

Course and Gulfstream Park; Dan Fick, executive vice president and executive

director, The Jockey Club; Kristin Hix, legal associate, The Jockey Club; Ed

Bowen, president, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation; Dr. Hiram Polk,

emeritus editor-in-chief, The American Journal of Surgery; Bill Casner,

chairman and co-owner, WinStar Farm; and Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, director of

Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, Colorado State University.

"The original Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit was a landmark step

toward identifying and addressing the multitude of reasons behind the apparent

decline in racehorse soundness and durability," Bowen said. "We look forward to

gathering a cross-section of industry representatives together again to share

the progress achieved since the original summit, examine our next steps, and

explore whether there are other areas and factors we need to be looking at as

well."

The summit will host approximately 60 participants, including jockeys,

trainers, breeders, veterinarians, racing secretaries, track superintendents,

farriers, racetrack management and sales company personnel.

The Monday morning session, which is free and open to the public, will

include a panel discussion on racing surfaces as well as updates from the Racing

Medication and Testing Consortium, the Equine Drug Research Institute and the

Sales Integrity Task Force. The session will begin at 8 a.m. (EDT).

At the original summit, working committees were established in a number of

areas considered essential to enhancing horse health and safety to help extend

the careers of racehorses, including On-Track Injury Reporting, Education and

Licensing, Shoeing and Hoof Care, Racing Surfaces, Durability, and Race

Conditions and Racing Office. Progress reports from each of these committees

will also be delivered during the Monday morning session.

Among the presenters at this year's summit will be Dr. Ernie Bailey of the

University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center, who will address the

equine genome and durability; Dr. Jeff Blea, president of the Southern

California Equine Foundation, who, with Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, will discuss

synthetic surface injuries; and Dr. Preston Hickman of the Wichita Equine and

Sports Medicine Clinic, who will examine the potential causes of on-track

injuries.

"The insights of Drs. Bailey, Blea, McIlwraith and Preston will shed light on

important new areas of consideration, namely the relationship between genetics

and equine durability and disease as well as a look at on-track injuries,

including the possible shift in the types of injuries being seen since the

introduction of synthetic racing surfaces," Fick said.

The strategic plan and recommendations that came out of the original summit,

presentations, research articles, committee updates, and other information can

be found on the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit website,

http://www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summit.

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is the nation's leading private

source of equine medical research funding. Since 1983, the foundation has

underwritten 230 projects at 32 universities for more than $14 million.