With a current equine fatality rate at Turf Paradise more than double the national average, Arizona Racing commissioner Rory Goree met with local horsemen last week to discuss improving equine safety.
During a videoconferenced meeting of the Arizona Racing Commission Feb. 15, Goree reported he had a "great discussion going back and forth" and left with several suggestions. Those include maintaining a higher moisture level on the track, possible changes to claiming rules, and a shift to the administration of third-party Lasix.
Increased veterinary oversight and access to treatment records are also considered vital additions, participants in Tuesday's meeting added.
"I am hopeful that here in the near future we will be able to as a commission talk about some of the solutions and ideas and make Arizona the light it needs to be, that we're making the change doing the right thing instead of being the laughingstock that we are right now nationwide," Goree said.
Eleven horses have died from injuries sustained during racing at a meet that began in November, Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's state veterinarian, told commissioners. Gale added that tally includes the publicized death of Creative Plan, who was euthanized last week at a rehabilitation facility after racing Jan. 7 at Turf Paradise.
"If anything, Creative Plan has been the great wake-up call for all of us," Turf Paradise general manager Vince Francia said. "This is an opportunity for us to get it right."
Based on approximately 3,700 starts at the meet, Turf Paradise is averaging 2.98 fatalities per 1,000 starts, Gale informed the commission. The rate of catastrophic injury in Thoroughbred racehorses in 2020 was 1.41 per 1,000 starts per to The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database.
"The one thing that I will mention specifically is that there needs to be a greater presence of veterinarians or some type of administrative assistants so that we can do a better job of identifying horses that are at risk prior to doing the exam," Gale said.
Whether that happens will hinge on obtaining state funding, Ted Vogt, director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, told the commission.
Gale said she spends about an hour per day reviewing entries to identify at-risk horses to view more closely with a pre-race examination. She suggested up to four hours of time are needed for a review process as encompassing as one outlined by Dr. Scot Waterman, a leading expert in the field.
Equine fatality spikes have previously occurred in Arizona. The Arizona Department of Gaming conducted a mortality report after a 2016-17 racing season at Turf Paradise in which there were 31 fatalities from racing and 11 from training.
Francia said Turf Paradise currently has veteran track superintendent Steve Wood consulting on its track surface, assisting Turf Paradise's Ralph Heitzenrater III. Francia said plans call for the addition of more organic material and sand to the main track.
The Phoenix track, which runs a high volume of lower-level claiming races, has seen 441 claims at the meet, Francia said. Daily purses are averaging nearly $154,000, up from $110,000 a year ago, buoyed by supplements from the federal government and state, Francia said.
Also during the commission meeting, the ARC approved three years of race dates to Rillito Park in Tucson while encouraging the financially strapped track to be responsible in its spending.
Rillito Park general manager Mike Weiss said the track has already secured $165,000 in sponsorship pledges for a condensed 12-day meeting that begins Feb. 26.
