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Health/Safety Archive

Tepidly Going

… where many have gone before, the Thoroughbred Safety Committee, formed by the Jockey Club in the midst of the uproar that followed Eight Belles breaking down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby, announced Tuesday that it recommends eliminating steroids, banning toe grabs, and establishing more humane whip rules:

“Steroids, toe grabs and whip issues were all first identified at our Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits,” said Stuart S. Janney III, chairman of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee. “After closely examining each of them in detail and talking to many individuals with expertise in each area over the past several weeks, we feel strongly that these recommendations and actions will enhance the health and safety of both our equine and human athletes and further ensure the integrity of our sport.”

The NTRA, Breeders’ Cup, TOBA, HBPA, and several racetracks have endorsed the recommendations, which tells us only that in advance of the congressional hearings on horse racing scheduled for Thursday the industry is scrambling to show it’s unified enough to deal with the sport’s myriad problems and is really, really trying very, very hard to do all it can to improve equine safety and the integrity of the game — no federal intervention required, thanks. Full recommendations from the committee will be delivered during the Jockey Club Round Table on August 17. I hope not only that those recommendations to come at Saratoga are bolder, and address breeding and durability as much as they do training and safety, but that the industry moves quickly from talking to action, especially regarding these issues on which everyone apparently agrees.

Posted in Health/Safety on June 18, 2008

Safety Committee Formed

The Jockey Club, with its usual opacity, has created and announced a Thoroughbred Safety Committee in response to the outcry that followed the death of Eight Belles last Saturday. I’m assuming, since the announcement contains no direct mention of the filly, the Kentucky Derby, or any the criticism that’s been leveled at the industry this week.
Press release text below:

Ogden Mills Phipps, the chairman of The Jockey Club, announced today that the officers of The Jockey Club have commissioned a seven-member Thoroughbred Safety Committee.

Phipps said that the committee would be asked to review every facet of equine health, including breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing and track surfaces, and to recommend actions to be taken by the industry to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds.

The recommendations emanating from the two Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits will serve as starting points for the committee. Three of the seven members of the newly formed committee were participants in both summits.

The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation coordinated and underwrote those summits in October 2006 and March 2008. A strategic plan developed after the first summit and a summary of recommendations proposed at the second are available [here].

In addition to Phipps, the other officers of The Jockey Club are Vice Chairman William S. Farish and Secretary-Treasurer James C. Brady.

The seven members of the committee are Stuart S. Janney III (chairman), John Barr, James G. (Jimmy) Bell, Dr. Larry Bramlage, Donald R. Dizney, Dell Hancock and Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr. Each is a member of The Jockey Club.

“All seven of these individuals have dedicated a major part of their lives to Thoroughbred breeding and racing and have shown a consistent and unwavering concern for the welfare of Thoroughbreds,” Phipps said. “We will reach out to involve others in the industry and we will do everything in our power to encourage changes that will benefit the breed in any way. We will do this in a timely manner.”

Note: Will encourage, not mandate, not regulate.
Meanwhile, amid all this talk of improving safety and the breed, IEAH co-president Michael Iavorone boasted on Wednesday that a stallion deal for lightly-raced, achy-hooved Big Brown is nearing completion, and that the farms bidding for the Derby winner’s breeding rights included “one of the most widely recognized stud farms in the world” (Blood-Horse). All the outrage over Eight Belles’ unfortunate death, all the urgent discussion about what happened and what should be done differently, all the critics piling on Rick Porter and Larry Jones — I think we’re talking about the wrong horse, the wrong connections. Big Brown represents the racing industry gone awry, not the filly.
Update: The committee will meet for the first time on May 14 and release a timeline and summary of goals afterward.
Related: The committee needs an independent voice, someone not vested in the industry, writes Alex Brown over on the Rail. Good point.

Posted in Health/Safety on May 8, 2008

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