The horse racing world has converged on Southern California for the Breeders’ Cup starting Friday. And the industry is facing unprecedented scrutiny.
Four years ago, racing was halted at Santa Anita amid a rash of horse fatalities that eventually led to a number of on-track reforms.
It’s the 11th time the annual two-day, year-end championships are being held at Santa Anita, and the first since contender Mongolian Groom was euthanized after being injured in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic, casting a pall on the weekend.
Now, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup begins Friday. The week got off to a rocky start when Practical Move died of what was thought to be a heart attack after a morning gallop. This Breeders’ Cup is the first to be held with a new federal oversight board in place.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, created by Congress, is in charge of anti-doping and safety rules across the country — aimed at correcting what had long been a patchwork of rules with little uniformity between states.
The authority began its oversight of racing in 2022 after a number of legal challenges were settled.
With Saratoga Race Course in his backyard, New York Congressman Paul Tonko introduced the bill that created HISA. The Democrat from the 20th district spoke on WAMC’s Congressional Corner in August.
"The goal and spirit of the legislation is to make certain that the integrity of the sport, that the horses that should not be racing on any given day because of injury, ought not be racing, that is still the intended goal," he said. "And also the track safety — making certain that the elements of safety at these tracks is again, at a level that the authority will designate."
And it’s not just horses.
In October, HISA introduced racing’s first-ever national concussion protocol for jockeys. The new protocol, pending approval from the Federal Trade Commission, would incorporate the digital concussion management platform HEADCHECK into its reporting process to document medical evaluations, possible concussion symptoms, and written releases permitting jockeys to return to riding after being medically cleared.
HEADCHECK’s implementation would also ensure that concussion-related medical records follow riders from track-to-track across the country for continuity of care.
In September, HISA released a report detailing circumstances surrounding a dozen horse deaths at Churchill Downs in Kentucky in the spring. The report found there was no single factor leading to the fatalities, but that some training histories indicated increased risk due to “the frequency and cadence” of horses’ exercise and racing schedules.
HISA is also probing more than a dozen horse fatalities this year at Saratoga Race Course. The meet ended on Labor Day with new safety protocols and HISA officials on site — work that the New York Racing Association says it supports. That report has not been released.
NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna spoke with WAMC at the end of the meet in September and said synthetic surfaces may lead to a safer future for racing, among other reforms.
"We strongly believe and have for some time that there is promise in synthetic surfaces now and in the future," he said. "From there, we’ll be investing significant resources in standing PET scan and CT scan technology that can detect very minor injuries before they become more significant, with a goal of preventing the most serious injuries before they happen. The third is wearable technologies."
The 40th running of the Breeders’ Cup includes 14 championship stakes races over two days.
