Mick Peterson Q&A: Thistledown, HISA Compliance And Climate Change

[Wandering Eyes]

After well-publicized track management issues last month that saw racing and training suspended for a short period, Thistledown has been back up and running since August 4 with a new track superintendent. But that doesn't mean the work is done.

The task of keeping a racetrack in good shape is an ongoing daily headache–just ask Michael “Mick” Peterson, professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky and executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL).

The RSTL is the centralized hub where track operators transmit back maintenance information required under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) racetrack safety program.

In this edited Q&A, Peterson talks events at Thistledown, the overall state of compliance with HISA's racetracks safety rules, and the worsening impacts from climate change on the sport.

TDN: Let's talk Thistledown, with all sorts of different factors that appear to have weighed into events there.

MP: The former track superintendent Sean Wright blamed a long dry period, and an allegedly recalcitrant crew who ignored his demands over watering. There were pictures on social media showing rocks on the track. Track management were also for a period failing to submit a set of daily cushion and moisture measurements to the RSTL, as required by HISA.

TDN: I also remember comments you made just over a year ago, however, about how former Thistledown track superintendent John Banno was doing an amazing job with subpar tools.

MP: Thistledown is a great example of that. That is a fantastic surface. And Dan, I don't know how to say it, the equipment is inadequate,” you said. “But John Banno, he just works so hard to make it work. I'm not sure anybody else could take over there and make it work like he does.

TDN: What can you tell us about the key track-management related events that led to what we saw at Thistledown? Does the maintenance crew have what they need to do a good job?

MP: We've gone ahead and re-tested and they are now, once again, one of the most consistent tracks tested in North America, if not the most consistent.

They've made some progress with the equipment. What's great from our perspective is they have moved forward with getting an Integrated Racetrack Surface Tester, which will give us better daily data to be able to track anything else that's happening. That daily data is so important. If you see an event, then that's additional information that the veterinarians can use when they're assessing the other veterinary related issues for the horses.

TDN: In terms of just the track-related issues, what have been the important factors?

MP: There are only a few things that change day-to-day. One of them is cushion depth. You have to grade the track properly. If you've had big rain events, you can have segregation of the material, when the fine material goes to the inside rail. You have to know how to water it and you have to make sure you get it sealed properly before a rainstorm or overnight.

It's very region-specific, and what we've once again shown is how difficult the job of a racetrack superintendent is.

But they [Thistledown] also had a reputation among horsemen going all the way back to [former California trainer] Howard Zucker 20 years ago that it was a fantastic surface. But we never properly tested [the track] until HISA came along. What we've shown is that with the proper expertise and the right team, they can overcome some deficiencies in equipment.

TDN: Multifactorial is the much-used phrase around equine fatalities. What are the other factors weighing in on events at Thistledown?

MP: I think it's a challenging horse population, and that's a better question for someone like Dr. [Susan] Stover [chair of the Racetrack Safety Standing Committee]. Dr. Stover has emphasized how, through the number of furlongs worked, basically it's like you wear out the horse. That would be one of the things you would immediately look at.

Then there are 10 other factors that came out of equine injury database you've got to check off to understand what the risk factors are for these horses.

TDN: Is the track now reporting daily what it needs to?

MP: Yes.

TDN: What should be the main lessons learned from this whole set of events?

MP: Well, we've had recently a couple other tracks that have had increases in catastrophic injuries. From my perspective, what we've seen at the other tracks is when we have that complete daily data, we can look at it and say, 'oh, the track was too wet. Too dry. The cushion depth was inconsistent. Or, we're not seeing anything. Maybe we need to look at the other factors?'

So, the real lesson is that having the daily data is hugely helpful for the team on the ground to understand what all the risks are to the horse and rider.

TDN: Stepping back, how would you grade the compliance rate among all HISA-regulated tracks with the things they're supposed to do under the racetrack safety program?

MP: We, HISA, has continued to put pressure on the tracks. What we're seeing is some tracks that are continuing to resist. But I mean, we are in solid B+, A- sort of territory. And that would've been a C last year.

TDN: What are the key areas that are still needing work?

MP: Some of the issues are difficult and are structural. Some of the old race-rail vendors are not around anymore. Some of the parts are hard to come by. Those are the things that you can't really fault the track on. They need help in order to solve some of those problems.

What I'm most excited about is we're now beginning to have the quantity of data to focus efforts on the issues if we see something, like if they begin to see injuries in the gates.

But what we're seeing is vastly improved compliance. And that makes it easier for HISA to push the ones who aren't complying because now they're standing out. If it was 40% of the tracks [not complying], it's one thing. But when it gets down to be 10% of the tracks, then it's much easier to push.

TDN: Who are those 10% holdout tracks?

MP: They're seasonal, and so, what I'm hoping is, as we go into winter this year, we've got another round of tracks opening up, and I think we'll probably see much, much better compliance.

Fair Grounds has complete maintenance data and moisture data going back to 2008. I want to get to the point where everybody's a Fair Grounds or a NYRA or a Churchill.

Sarah Andrew

TDN: It's been a while now since HISA was implemented. I'm sure there'll be a few trainers out there wondering, 'why are the tracks allowed to get away with non-compliance with the rules and not me?' Do you think it's time to really crack down on racetrack safety rules breaches?

MP: Oh, they are. That's really the point I was making there. We're down to the point where the tracks that are not complying are getting follow ups. And I think this next round of accreditation, [ongoing issues] are going to be front and center.

There were such huge disparities in the expectations of the different racing commissions [prior to HISA] that it was really difficult to make this suddenly happen.

Now, with these uniform expectations, people are coming along. I'm thoroughly impressed with what I see at some of the tracks, and it isn't necessarily the tier one tracks. There are the tracks where the money's tight and they have to deal sometimes with the gaming companies to get the [necessary] capital and budgets.

TDN: For another piece I did last year we discussed how climate change was impacting the work of maintaining racetrack surfaces. It was good to see climate change brought up this year at the Jockey Club Round Table, as I don't think this sport broaches this topic nearly enough. How are we doing as an industry in grappling with the impacts from climate change?

   MP: When we talked about this before, the thing that I did not expect was the role of flooding on racetracks. This has been quite a year and a half or two years for racing as far as the risk of that. Belterra and Ellis Park both had turf tracks [flooded]. It's one thing to fix a dirt track. Fixing a turf track is a lot more challenging.

TDN: Is there something we could and should be doing to better prepare ourselves in terms of risk mitigation?

MP: I have, a number of times, referred racetracks to the engineering firm GRW Engineering, here in Lexington, [to help with their] drainage plans.

This is not a cool thing to do with your capital. But drainage plans for facilities are absolutely critical at this point. The poster child for this is what NYRA has done at Belmont. The ability to store water and manage water on that site is going to be second to none.

Obviously, most tracks do not have the resources to build out the way the new Belmont facility is being built out. But having an overall drainage plan in place, and every time you rebuild a barn, every time you regrade a horse path, if you've got a master plan to work from, you can help better manage the water on the facility.

In other locations, we see these longer, deeper droughts. It's going to be more and more difficult to water the track. So, whatever can be done to manage the water, to retain it, reduce evaporation, is going to be critical as well.

It's a long-term challenge that certainly applies to both turf and dirt, and to a lesser extent the synthetic surfaces. Most of the synthetic tracks have a drainage system that's sufficiently oversized that they should be able to handle what's coming.

TDN: You mentioned earlier a couple other tracks with an uptick in fatal injuries. There have been five musculoskeletal training and racing related injuries at Saratoga during what has been a typically rainy summer. You've mentioned in the past how tough it is to maintain a track's consistency after opening it up after rain. Is that a factor this time?

MP: Here's where having the daily data is fantastic. We have a weekly meeting and we look at it all with the daily data, meaning we're going to be able to look at the time stamps and understand what's happening, [including] when these events occur relative to the rain events.

Given that [fatalities are often] multifactorial, as a part of the analysis of the risk to the horse, we're going to be looking at time off, work times, number of fast works, number of races, and how recently it rained.

If human medicine had access to the data that's soon going to be available to HISA, it would be just an amazing thing for public health. We don't have this sort of data for the human population, and we probably never will because of privacy issues.

It's going take a data scientist to get through these postmortem examinations, which is what HISA is doing at this point with some of their work with Palantir and some of their internal modeling, working with epidemiologists. It is very, very exciting both from a protecting the horse standpoint, but also from a basic public health data standpoint.

The post Mick Peterson Q&A: Thistledown, HISA Compliance And Climate Change appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article