NEWS
Streamlining information key to several Summit objectives
Posted: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 6:54 PM
by Frank Angst
Previous Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits have documented the power of information, making it no surprise the third summit recommended developing a national database on jockey injuries and other objectives centered on information sharing that ultimately would improve the sport’s safety.
Conducted on Monday and Tuesday in the Keeneland Race Course sales pavilion, the summit developed key objectives in the areas of racing equipment and safety; racetrack environment and training practices; education, licensing, and continuing education; and transitioning Thoroughbreds to second careers.
After the first two summits developed ideas such as the Equine Injury Database, the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, and stallion lists that attempt to define durability, it is not surprising some of the main objectives from this year’s summit concentrated on information.
One of these objectives is to establish a rider injury database that eventually will supply information that could help tracks and medical officials develop practices that would reduce injuries. The Jockey Injury Database would be similar to the Equine Injury Database, which has garnered participation through assuring contributing tracks anonymity. Jockey injury statistics would be compiled anonymously to determine the most frequent types of injuries, the severity of the injuries, and where they are occurring on the track.
Such information could help improve the design of starting gates, safety rails, and equipment like vests and helmets.
Keeneland Race Course developed a database that registers jockey injuries to provide secure medical information to medical personnel and doctors at the time of an emergency. That information is kept between jockeys and their doctors. Summit participants suggested a similar system could be developed that would input the injury information without registering the personal information. Keeneland Association President Nick Nicholson said the industry could work with tracks, riders, and insurance companies to develop a system that satisfies everyone’s concerns.
The database would start with jockeys but eventually could be expanded to add exercise riders and other track workers. Rick Arthur, D.V.M., equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board, said such information is needed in an industry that long has been full of opinions but sometimes empty of scientific facts.
Arthur hopes the industry also can begin documenting equine injuries during training hours, both catastrophic and non-catastrophic; and non-fatal racing injuries. The Equine Injury Database currently tracks fatal racing injuries. One of the summit’s objectives is a comprehensive database of track maintenance, training, and veterinary records that could be integrated to the Equine Injury Database, surface database, and any human injury database.
Other information-related objectives that came out of the summit include a call for reciprocity of horses that land on lists that prevent them from starting in a state, like the veterinarians’ list, the stewards’ list, or the starters’ list. Arthur said horses sometimes might be placed on the veterinarians’ list in one state only to leave that jurisdiction and start in another state.
The summit was coordinated and underwritten by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the Jockey Club and hosted by Keeneland. Objectives from previous gatherings have led to the creation of model rules that have been adopted by racing states, for instance the ban on anabolic steroids, or provisions that are required by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Safety and Integrity Alliance or the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee. Previous summits also have advanced many objectives that became industry standards.
“Like its predecessors, this summit produced a number of safety and soundness objectives that should augment the meaningful changes and reforms that have occurred within the Thoroughbred industry in recent years when they are implemented,” said Ed Bowen, president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Other objectives to come out of this year’s summit included:
* Creation of a track liaison position at each racetrack to coordinate aftercare of retired racehorses;
* implementation of advanced safety equipment, including starting gates and safety rails, on a phased basis, depending on data;
* creation of veterinary guidelines, in conjunction with the American Association of Equine Practitioners, to determine potential and appropriate second careers for racehorses based on physical condition; and
* establishment of a mechanism to encourage continuing education for people working with Thoroughbreds, including trainers, grooms, farriers, and jockeys, to improve horsemanship and as a means to accreditation.
“Safety is a process,” Nicholson said. “There is never a final victory. We must always be fighting for improvements and innovations that will make our sport safer for all concerned. Our fans expect nothing less. This summit—and the action plans we are drafting this year—has been a catalyst for positive changes and innovation that are making our sport better. It’s our job to continue this momentum.”
Both of Monday’s sessions and part of Tuesday’s session were open to the public and, for the first time, video-streamed live at www.keeneland.com. The video stream of Monday’s session received approximately 900 hits from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and the United Kingdom.
“Summit participants have provided a roadmap for the future by identifying important areas for further analysis by the industry’s stakeholders,” said Matt Iuliano of the Jockey Club. “The Jockey Club and our Thoroughbred Safety Committee will once again strive to collaborate with like-minded organizations to implement the recommendations emanating from the summit in a prompt and comprehensive manner.”
The summit concluded with a panel discussion concerning implementation of safety and soundness recommendations, moderated by Jim Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of the Jockey Club.
“We have demonstrated to those who watch our sport closely that we can make reforms as an industry,” Gagliano said. “We should be proud of the steady progress we’ve made but we need to keep at it. We need to use any mechanism we can, whether it’s model rules, a regulatory compact, the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, or rules put in place by organizations such as Breeders’ Cup or the Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.”
Frank Angst is senior writer for Thoroughbred Times
