Churchill Downs Meet Saw Reduced Equine Fatalities

[Chief Stipe]

A year after a spike in equine catastrophic injuries at its spring meet, Churchill Downs saw those injuries greatly reduced at the corresponding meet in 2019.

Speaking at the regular meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Aug. 20 in Lexington, Ky., KHRC interim equine medical director and chief veterinarian Bruce Howard reported numbers that saw Churchill cut the number of equine fatalities in racing or training in half this year.

Howard said there were three equine deaths in racing, only one of which resulted from a musculoskeletal injury; and three in training. At the Churchill spring meet last year, there were six equine deaths during racing (five musculoskeletal and one sudden death), and six in training.

When compared with the 2018 Churchill spring meet, the numbers mark a 50% reduction in equine deaths overall and a 64% reduction in deaths following musculoskeletal injury.

In terms of racing, the numbers are even more impressive as the 3,140 Thoroughbred starts at this year's meet were up 8.5% compared with 2018. The fatality rate at this year's meet, 0.95 per 1,000 starts, is well below the meet's 2018 rate of 2.07 per 1,000 starts. It's also much lower than the 2018 rate for North America, 1.68 per 1,000 starts.

Asked by KHRC vice chairman Mark Simendinger if there had been any changes this year, Howard said there weren't dramatic changes but they saw better compliance in reporting of shockwave therapy and the track was in very good condition throughout the meet.

Beyond that, he said the veterinary staff continued to be vigilant. There were 33 vet scratches at this year's spring meet, 18 pre-race and 15 on-track; up from 19 vet scratches in 2018.

"We're going to continue to err on the side of caution in those decisions," Howard said.

•    Chief steward Barbara Borden said that in the initial weeks the voided-claim rule has been in place in Kentucky since May 31, it has resulted in five claims being overturned at Churchill and Ellis Park.

Under the rule, if there is a post-race issue that requires a claimed horse to go on the vet's list, the claim is voided. (The exception being if someone specifically requests on the claim slip that they want to claim the horse even if the horse is placed on the vet's list.)

Borden said she hadn't seen any disputes following any of the voided claims. She said the stewards are communicating the voided claims to trainers about 20 to 30 minutes after the race.

•    The final fiscal year numbers are in for historical horse racing in Kentucky and it was another record year as total handle nearly doubled to $2.028 billion, up 86% from the $1.092 billion wagered in 2018.

Wagering on historical horse racing generated $13,977,415 for the Thoroughbred Development Fund, up 97% from $7,109,908 in FY2018. BloodHorse estimates that the commissions on historical racing in Kentucky for FY2019 will generate about $33 million for purses.