For Immediate Release:
September 28, 2012
GOVERNOR CUOMO ORDERS BROAD OVERHAUL OF HORSE AND JOCKEY SAFETY MEASURES AT NYRA TRACKS
Steps
include creation of NYS Equine Medical Director position, reform of
conflict-ridden veterinary structure, new drug prohibitions, and
widespread rule changes
Changes come as Task Force Report on Racehorse Health and Safety is Released
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his
office has received the findings and recommendations of the New York
Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety and that the state will
undertake an unprecedented series of reforms to promote equine safety
at New York racetracks.
The Task Force was appointed at the request of the
Governor's office following a spate of deaths at Aqueduct Racetrack
during its winter meeting. The Task Force was directed to review the
circumstances involving the deaths, analyze the causes, and recommend
any necessary action to prevent equine breakdowns at NYRA operated
facilities. The Task Force was also charged with examining horse
claiming rules, veterinary procedures and drug use in order to promote
equine safety.
"New York is committed to placing the health,
safety and welfare of the equine athlete as the top priority of
horseracing," Governor Cuomo said. "As we bring accountability and
responsible business practices to horseracing, these recommendations
will be an integral part of a new and improved racing product. I have
requested the Racing and Wagering Board to promptly adopt the changes
identified by the Task Force to create a safety-conscious environment
for racehorses. I sincerely thank the members of the Task Force on
Racehorse Health and Safety for their important work."
The Governor's actions include recommending a
complete overhaul of NYRA's veterinary practices, the creation of an
Equine Medical Director position within the state's racing regulatory
body, strict prohibitions regarding medications, and new rules for
claiming races. Since the Task Force found that the inability of
jockeys to communicate their concerns about the health of horses
established an unacceptably elevated level of risk, the State will
create an anonymous equine safety hotline to enable jockeys to report
horse health concerns without fear of retribution.
Task Force Chairman Scott E. Palmer, VMD, said,
"The Task Force has spent countless hours analyzing the circumstances
of each equine death at Aqueduct. We found multiple factors that
created a 'perfect storm' of conditions that caused these tragic
breakdowns. We have produced realistic recommendations that will make a
lasting difference in racehorse health and safety. We are proud of this
report and thank Governor Cuomo for creating this Task Force."
Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John D. Sabini
said, “The recommendations put forth by this Task Force are strong and
effective responses to the equine fatalities at Aqueduct. The Board
stands ready to incorporate the full report into our policies and
procedures.”
The Task Force found that while there was no
single root cause for the Aqueduct fatalities, a combination of factors
likely led to the increased rate of horse deaths. These factors
included: increased purses in claiming races that incentivized
stakeholders to run substandard horses; the use of corticosteroids that
may have limited the ability of veterinarians to identify pre-existing
conditions that disposed horses to catastrophic injuries; a lack of
protocols and inconsistencies in pre-race inspections and veterinary
procedures; and mild weather on a track designed for harsher winters.
During its comprehensive examination, the Task
Force found that NYRA's organizational veterinary structure was
inherently conflicted by reporting to an entity (the Racing Office)
whose function is inconsistent with deliberate and careful equine risk
management practice. Other structural shortcomings with NYRA's
veterinary practice include: a lack of uniform protocols and procedures
among track veterinarians, a failure to standardize risk factors to
assess racehorses' fitness to run, and no uniformity in veterinary care
recordkeeping or proper use of existing veterinary practice management
software.
The State Racing and Wagering Board and NYRA will be directed to take these actions:
·
Establish an Office of the Equine Medical Director to oversee horse safety
·
Create an independent veterinary
practice structure within NYRA which will put the health of the horses
first and which reporting directly to the chief executive officer of
NYRA
·
Establish an anonymous reporting mechanism for jockeys to report health or safety violations without fear of reprisal
·
Prohibit Clenbuterol within 21 days of a race
·
Prohibit Methylprednisolone (DepoMedrol®) within 15 days of the date of a race
·
Prohibiting all other intra-articular corticosteroids within seven days of a race
·
Prohibiting all other systemic corticosteroids within five days of a race
·
Requiring trainers to maintain and
records of corticosteroid administrations and notify the Stewards in
writing within 48 hours of all intra-articular corticosteroid
administrations
·
Extending the claiming rule that
voids claims in the event a claimed horse dies on the race track to
make a claim voidable within 1 hour of the conclusion of a race if the
horse is vanned off the track
·
Amending the economic proportionality claiming rule to allow a purse-to-claim ratio no greater than 1.6-to-1
·
Requiring horse claimants be
notified within 48 hours of any intra-articular administration of
corticosteroids to the claimed horse in the 30 days prior to the race
·
Expanding out-of-competition drug testing to include corticosteroids and clenbuterol
·
Improving documentation of findings
of fatal injuries, including the development of standard protocols for
handling of horses sustaining fatal injuries
·
Requiring testing laboratory accreditation
·
Formalizing necropsy procedures
NYRA will also examine the possibility of installing of a synthetic surface on the inner track at Aqueduct.
The members of the Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety are:
·
Chairman: Dr. Scott E. Palmer, the
hospital director and staff surgeon at the New Jersey Equine Clinic,
has served as a past president of the American Association of Equine
Practitioners (AAEP). He currently serves as Chairman of the AAEP
Racing Committee. Palmer has also been twice named “Veterinarian of the
Year” by the New Jersey Association of Equine Practitioners.
·
Jerry Bailey, a retired Hall of Fame
jockey, is a seven-time Eclipse champion jockey who has won the
Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, as well as
five Breeders' Cup Classics. Bailey, who currently works as a
television analyst, served as President of the Jockeys' Guild.
·
Alan Foreman, the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Thoroughbred Horsemen's Associations, Inc., also
serves as Vice Chairman of the Racing Medication & Testing
Consortium and as counsel to many horsemen's and racing industry
organizations.
·
Dr. Mary Scollay, the equine medical
director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, previously led a
pilot racehorse injury reporting project that became the Jockey Club's
Equine Injury Database.
The report is available here:
www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/Report.pdf
The report's executive summary is available here:
www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/ExecutiveSummary.pdf
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Additional news available at
www.governor.ny.gov
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