dawgfan
25th June 2008, 12:53.10 AM
Found this to be an interesting article
Emerald Downs makes changes to address number of deaths at track
The 3-year-old filly was racing along the rail just behind the leaders in the 10th race at Emerald Downs when her left front leg fractured...
By John B. Saul
Special to The Seattle Times
The 3-year-old filly was racing along the rail just behind the leaders in the 10th race at Emerald Downs when her left front leg fractured, and she collapsed.
Within minutes, Sweeping A A was vanned off the track and given a shot. And on June 15, Emerald Downs recorded its third racing death of the meet.
The filly's death came four days before a congressional hearing last week that heard testimony on steroids, breeding and the number of horse fatalities in Thoroughbred racing. The House panel called the hearings after Eight Belles broke down after the finish of the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized.
From Emerald Down's season opening on April 18 until Sweeping A A's demise, there had been 2,176 starters in races at the track. Another six horses statewide have died in training this year and 11 have died in barn areas, according to the Washington Horse Racing Commission.
Last year, 37 racehorses died in Washington — up from 29 in 2006 — with 17 of the 2007 fatalities during races, 11 during training and nine in the barns. The seven-year average for horse fatalities at Emerald Downs is 28 deaths a year, with 12 in races, eight in training and eight in barns. The average number of starters per year was 6,406.
Officials at the track and on the commission took steps over the winter to address the deaths. Emerald Downs changed the surface mix of its dirt track, and the commissioners outlawed a type of horseshoe present in 90 percent of catastrophic injuries to horses nationally.
Last September, Emerald Downs' track surface was analyzed, revealing that the clay in the mix was hardening. Added to the surface mix was 2 inches of sand that contained silt and clay that was not supposed to be included, said Jack Hodge, vice president at Emerald Downs. Then came 5 ½ inches of rain between June 15 and Sept. 15, compared to a half-inch in the same period the previous year.
"We're so weather dependent, it isn't funny," Hodge said. "We would not have had any problem if the rainfall had been the same as in 2006."
This year, Emerald Downs added an inch of sand, which had been guaranteed to contain no silt or clay, thinning out the clay by 20 percent, Hodge said.
But "people focus too much on surfaces," he said.
"We're a convenient excuse," he said. "There are many other factors that go into why horses get hurt."
Toe-grab horseshoes could be one of those factors. They have a piece of metal that projects down from the front of the horse's hoof. That piece of metal digs into the track surface for better footing but also increases the forces on the horse's lower leg. In December, racing commissioners prohibited the use of toe grabs more than .16 of an inch long.
For the past seven years, the bodies of horses such as Sweeping A A have been trucked to the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine for necropsies, which have included Magnetic Resonance Imaging since 2006. They hope to determine the nature and cause of injuries and develop ways to prevent them.
The findings, summarized in the 2007 Equine Health and Safety Report prepared by Sally Calkins, one of the state veterinarians working for the racing commission, indicate other factors in catastrophic injuries:
• 73 percent of fatalities were because of injuries to the musculoskeletal system;
• Of those, 83 percent were to the front limbs;
• 90 percent of catastrophic injuries show evidence of pre-existing injury at the site of the complete fracture.
Thoroughbred racehorses are big animals with skinny legs filled with delicate, complicated bone structures that can crack and heal repeatedly. According to Calkins' report, it takes a horse as long as 90 days to repair stress fractures, which means a trainer and owner need to be willing to keep their animal off the track to avoid a possible fatal injury.
Many of the worst injuries are not repairable, Calkins said.
Often the injury cuts off blood flow to the lower part of the leg, or problems develop in the opposite foot because of uneven weight distribution.
"Horses can't lie on their backs like we can to recover," she said, "and they often fight coming out of the anesthetic and reinjure themselves.
"It would be inhumane to keep them alive to suffer with something that can't be fixed."
"It's a tragic, horrendous situation," said Joe Toye, trainer for Sweeping A A. "It makes you wanna quit."
Toye said the filly trained all winter at Turf Paradise in Arizona and ran one race there on April 29. At Emerald Downs, she had regular workouts at a respectable 12-seconds-per-furlong pace. Toye said there were no previous problems with the horse.
Sweeping A A was bred in Washington and owned by Lawrence O'Brine Jr. The June 15 race was Sweeping A A's local debut.
"These people revere these horses," Toye said. "The whole family was there to watch. There couldn't be a worse situation except for a human you know getting killed."
For Toye, a trainer for 35 years, it was not his first horse to go down. "When you train as many horses as I have, it's gonna happen."
State by state
Thoroughbred horse racing deaths from Jan. 1, 2003, through May 27, 2008:
State Deaths Starters Pct.
California 749 350,000 .214
New Mexico 61 29,939 .204
Louisiana 150 76,247 .197
New Jersey 75 38,871 .193
Oregon 61 32,540 .187
Kentucky 208 114,668 .181
Maryland 130 71,953 .181
Washington 72 39,806 .181
Minnesota 42 27,090 .155
Iowa 58 40,900 .142
Delaware 141 101,583 .139
North Dakota 10 7,280 .137
Texas 198 146,452 .135
Virginia 23 18,057 .127
Indiana 103 130,200 .079
Ohio 289 387,000 .075
New York 388 521,703 .074
Illinois 173 278,714 .062
Colorado 6 14,558 .041
Source: Racing Commissioners International
Notes
• From reports submitted by 19 of the 37 states under the jurisdiction of Racing Commissioners International.
• Deaths are for injuries suffered during a race or in the starting gate.
• For Washington, information is for races at Emerald Downs plus smaller Eastern Washington tracks.
Washington racing deaths
There were 72 Thoroughbred racing deaths in the state of Washington from Jan. 1, 2003 through May 27, 2008. Another 101 horses have died at tracks during training or in the barns.
Deaths 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total
During race 11 8 20 11 16 3 69
In starting gate 0 1 0 1 1 0 3
Training 8 3 8 8 11 6 44
Paddock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Barn 13 8 7 9 9 11 57
Total 32 20 35 29 37 20 173
Source: Washington Horse Racing Commission
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Emerald Downs makes changes to address number of deaths at track
The 3-year-old filly was racing along the rail just behind the leaders in the 10th race at Emerald Downs when her left front leg fractured...
By John B. Saul
Special to The Seattle Times
The 3-year-old filly was racing along the rail just behind the leaders in the 10th race at Emerald Downs when her left front leg fractured, and she collapsed.
Within minutes, Sweeping A A was vanned off the track and given a shot. And on June 15, Emerald Downs recorded its third racing death of the meet.
The filly's death came four days before a congressional hearing last week that heard testimony on steroids, breeding and the number of horse fatalities in Thoroughbred racing. The House panel called the hearings after Eight Belles broke down after the finish of the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized.
From Emerald Down's season opening on April 18 until Sweeping A A's demise, there had been 2,176 starters in races at the track. Another six horses statewide have died in training this year and 11 have died in barn areas, according to the Washington Horse Racing Commission.
Last year, 37 racehorses died in Washington — up from 29 in 2006 — with 17 of the 2007 fatalities during races, 11 during training and nine in the barns. The seven-year average for horse fatalities at Emerald Downs is 28 deaths a year, with 12 in races, eight in training and eight in barns. The average number of starters per year was 6,406.
Officials at the track and on the commission took steps over the winter to address the deaths. Emerald Downs changed the surface mix of its dirt track, and the commissioners outlawed a type of horseshoe present in 90 percent of catastrophic injuries to horses nationally.
Last September, Emerald Downs' track surface was analyzed, revealing that the clay in the mix was hardening. Added to the surface mix was 2 inches of sand that contained silt and clay that was not supposed to be included, said Jack Hodge, vice president at Emerald Downs. Then came 5 ½ inches of rain between June 15 and Sept. 15, compared to a half-inch in the same period the previous year.
"We're so weather dependent, it isn't funny," Hodge said. "We would not have had any problem if the rainfall had been the same as in 2006."
This year, Emerald Downs added an inch of sand, which had been guaranteed to contain no silt or clay, thinning out the clay by 20 percent, Hodge said.
But "people focus too much on surfaces," he said.
"We're a convenient excuse," he said. "There are many other factors that go into why horses get hurt."
Toe-grab horseshoes could be one of those factors. They have a piece of metal that projects down from the front of the horse's hoof. That piece of metal digs into the track surface for better footing but also increases the forces on the horse's lower leg. In December, racing commissioners prohibited the use of toe grabs more than .16 of an inch long.
For the past seven years, the bodies of horses such as Sweeping A A have been trucked to the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine for necropsies, which have included Magnetic Resonance Imaging since 2006. They hope to determine the nature and cause of injuries and develop ways to prevent them.
The findings, summarized in the 2007 Equine Health and Safety Report prepared by Sally Calkins, one of the state veterinarians working for the racing commission, indicate other factors in catastrophic injuries:
• 73 percent of fatalities were because of injuries to the musculoskeletal system;
• Of those, 83 percent were to the front limbs;
• 90 percent of catastrophic injuries show evidence of pre-existing injury at the site of the complete fracture.
Thoroughbred racehorses are big animals with skinny legs filled with delicate, complicated bone structures that can crack and heal repeatedly. According to Calkins' report, it takes a horse as long as 90 days to repair stress fractures, which means a trainer and owner need to be willing to keep their animal off the track to avoid a possible fatal injury.
Many of the worst injuries are not repairable, Calkins said.
Often the injury cuts off blood flow to the lower part of the leg, or problems develop in the opposite foot because of uneven weight distribution.
"Horses can't lie on their backs like we can to recover," she said, "and they often fight coming out of the anesthetic and reinjure themselves.
"It would be inhumane to keep them alive to suffer with something that can't be fixed."
"It's a tragic, horrendous situation," said Joe Toye, trainer for Sweeping A A. "It makes you wanna quit."
Toye said the filly trained all winter at Turf Paradise in Arizona and ran one race there on April 29. At Emerald Downs, she had regular workouts at a respectable 12-seconds-per-furlong pace. Toye said there were no previous problems with the horse.
Sweeping A A was bred in Washington and owned by Lawrence O'Brine Jr. The June 15 race was Sweeping A A's local debut.
"These people revere these horses," Toye said. "The whole family was there to watch. There couldn't be a worse situation except for a human you know getting killed."
For Toye, a trainer for 35 years, it was not his first horse to go down. "When you train as many horses as I have, it's gonna happen."
State by state
Thoroughbred horse racing deaths from Jan. 1, 2003, through May 27, 2008:
State Deaths Starters Pct.
California 749 350,000 .214
New Mexico 61 29,939 .204
Louisiana 150 76,247 .197
New Jersey 75 38,871 .193
Oregon 61 32,540 .187
Kentucky 208 114,668 .181
Maryland 130 71,953 .181
Washington 72 39,806 .181
Minnesota 42 27,090 .155
Iowa 58 40,900 .142
Delaware 141 101,583 .139
North Dakota 10 7,280 .137
Texas 198 146,452 .135
Virginia 23 18,057 .127
Indiana 103 130,200 .079
Ohio 289 387,000 .075
New York 388 521,703 .074
Illinois 173 278,714 .062
Colorado 6 14,558 .041
Source: Racing Commissioners International
Notes
• From reports submitted by 19 of the 37 states under the jurisdiction of Racing Commissioners International.
• Deaths are for injuries suffered during a race or in the starting gate.
• For Washington, information is for races at Emerald Downs plus smaller Eastern Washington tracks.
Washington racing deaths
There were 72 Thoroughbred racing deaths in the state of Washington from Jan. 1, 2003 through May 27, 2008. Another 101 horses have died at tracks during training or in the barns.
Deaths 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total
During race 11 8 20 11 16 3 69
In starting gate 0 1 0 1 1 0 3
Training 8 3 8 8 11 6 44
Paddock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Barn 13 8 7 9 9 11 57
Total 32 20 35 29 37 20 173
Source: Washington Horse Racing Commission
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company