Health Laws Cited for Limited Disclosures on Scratches

Speaking during an Oct. 30 media briefing before the Nov. 1-2 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, officials outlined procedures that have led to increased equine safety and explained why Breeders' Cup provides limited or no health information when horses are announced as scratched or withdrawn for physical reasons. The Chosen Vron, for example, was an early withdrawal from the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), days before post positions were drawn, after being placed on the veterinarian's list, a group of ineligible horses. The only reason provided for placement on that list was "unsoundness," not a more specific description. Other horses have been pulled this week without even that degree of disclosure, with information only provided via the connections of the affected horses. Breeders' Cup Outlines Safety and Integrity Measures "With regards to the disclosure, obviously, it's public record of who gets scratched, but very similar to human health records where there are laws that protect what kind of information can be given," said Dr. Will Farmer, a Breeders' Cup veterinary team leader. "These medical records are also private information between the attending veterinarian and the owner through VCPR, the veterinary patient-client relationship. "And so that information—an owner can certainly do with it what they want. But from our standpoint, it does remain confidential." Scott Chaney, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, said changing such disclosures "would be difficult; it would certainly require statutory change." "We try to give as much information as we can in terms of a reason for scratch, right? Unsoundness, sick, stewards' list, whatever it might be," Chaney said in reply to a reporter's question. "But in terms of the specific injury, we do have to wait for the owner or the attending veterinarian to disclose that. "It's not a fair fight. And I think you recognize trainers report certain things to you but probably not the full picture." In the case of The Chosen Vron, his co-owner and trainer, Eric Kruljac, was highly critical of the veterinarians who examined his horse. He told BloodHorse after the incident that they erred and that his star sprinter was sound. More recent scratches, with no formal reason provided by Breeders' Cup, include: Out On Bail, Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T); Non Compliant, Juvenile Fillies (G1); Ylang Ylang (GB), Filly & Mare Turf (G1T); Tenacious Leader, Juvenile Turf (G1T); Miss New York, Distaff (G1); Minaret Station, Juvenile Turf; and Batucada, Distaff. Ylang Ylang's trainer, Aidan O'Brien, said he is understanding of the role regulatory veterinarians play. "They are horsepeople—horsemen or horsewomen—and they look, and they have an opinion. It has to be a good feel from experience from them, and whatever they decide, we are always very happy to go with, really," he said. "When it's from a person that has a lot of experience and they know what they're doing—I think that's what you have to respect and, win, lose, or draw—to take them all out, leave them all in. We respect their decision, totally." Ballydoyle indicated in a statement to Racing Post that Ylang Ylang was scratched on recommendation from their vet after the filly ran a fever and didn't clean up her feed. Chaney said that communication with the stewards will take place with one veterinarian on race day. He added that prior radio communications issues at Del Mar between the regulatory veterinarian and stewards have been rectified. Three years ago, when Del Mar last hosted the Breeders' Cup, the Juvenile Turf was marred by a veterinarian's premature recommendation to scratch Godolphin's Modern Games (IRE) that led to a wagering snafu that affected millions of dollars of wagers. Reinserted into the race, he competed for purse money only, and when he was victorious but not treated as a competitor for wagering purposes, boos reverberated in the grandstand.