Woodbine converts to POLY!

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=35063

JUSTICE FOR BARBARO

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE August 27, 2006 The City Justice for Barbaro By MICAH MORRISON BARBARO, the tragic hero of this year’s Preakness Stakes, is on the mend and it’s back to business for thoroughbred racing. This weekend the celebrated Mid-Summer Derby — the Travers Stakes — is taking place at Saratoga Race Course. And this week, a panel appointed by Gov. George Pataki is scheduled to begin considering bids to run New York’s $2.7 billion racing franchise at Saratoga, Aqueduct and Belmont racetracks. The current franchise expires in December 2007. All that is good news for the racing business but bad news for every thoroughbred headed for the track. In the aftermath of Barbaro’s injury, it seemed that news media attention might crack open a window on the racing world’s dirty little secret: the scandal of thoroughbred breakdowns. It didn’t happen. But in the weeks ahead, Governor Pataki will be presented with a historic opportunity to change the fate of the thoroughbred by spurring the creation of a national database on breakdowns. "Breaking down" is the euphemism of choice in the racing world, usually followed by "humanely euthanized." But it would be more precise to call it something like "horrifying catastrophic injury" followed by "veterinary execution." I wish I could tell you precisely how many horses break down and die at America’s racetracks every year, but I can’t. No one can. Comprehensive national statistics on thoroughbred breakdowns are more elusive than Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. In a 1993 Sports Illustrated article, William Nack cited a University of Minnesota study that projected 840 fatal breakdowns at American tracks in 1992, or "one fatality for every 92 races." The most common figure cited during the Barbaro affair was 1.4 per 1,000 starts, from a 1992 Kentucky survey. This summer, a staggering 26 horses have died at Chicago’s Arlington Park because of running-related injuries. An official with the American Association of Equine Practitioners told me that there is no central body in the United States keeping statistics on fatal thoroughbred injuries, and that the association has not conducted any studies on the number of injuries. We don’t know why horses break down. Theories range from drugs to breeding problems, training methods, and even track surfaces. But worse, without a comprehensive database, we don’t know if the number of catastrophic injuries is increasing and if this might be due to a general decline in the physical soundness of the breed. But the real scandal in thoroughbred racing is that the people controlling the game don’t want to know. These people are the thoroughbred owners and breeders. Today, the big money in horse racing is in the breeding shed, not at the track. Thoroughbred racing is now the feeder system for a multibillion-dollar breeding industry. Owners and breeders are looking for a colt to win a few big races and then retire to stud, where the top horses can earn upwards of $100,000 per mare. Fusaichi Pegasus, the winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2000, will service about 200 mares this year, with total earnings around $25 million. The babies are big money too. Earlier this year, a 2-year-old colt was sold for a record $16 million. But studies based on comprehensive national data might call into question today’s breeding techniques. The owners and breeders are not about to let that happen. They have the game wired from top to bottom, effectively controlling racetracks, racing organizations, equine research centers, lobbying groups and publications. No one dares speak out. Talking about thoroughbred breakdowns is "a no-win situation for us," one top racing official told me, before refusing to speak further on the subject. The American Association of Equine Practitioners, which claims a "meticulous concern for the health and welfare of the horse," stopped returning my e-mail messages on the subject. Ditto a half-dozen other official "horse-friendly" organizations. "There is much uncertainty about why so many racehorses end up dead on American tracks every year," Mr. Nack wrote in 1993, "but the figures are appalling and unacceptable by any humane standard." Thirteen years later, nothing has changed. But Governor Pataki has an opportunity to transform the fate of the thoroughbred with the stroke of a pen. The New York racing franchise at Saratoga, Aqueduct and Belmont is one of the biggest treasure troves in racing history. Bidders include some of the most prominent names in racing and breeding: Churchill Downs; Magna Entertainment; Stephen Swindal, George Steinbrenner’s son-in-law; and many others. The governor should direct his panel to mandate that the winning bidder for the New York franchise provide financing for an independent comprehensive national database on thoroughbred breakdowns. With New York as a sponsor, the rest of the racing world would support a national database. Reliable data will help settle troubling questions about thoroughbred breakdowns. Owners and breeders are decent people, but it’s tough to buck a multibillion-dollar industry. By mandating a national database as part of the new racing franchise, Albany can help provide what all horse lovers truly want: more protection for the wondrous creatures that afford us so much pleasure and joy. Micah Morrison is a former senior editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal.

WHICH TRACKS WILL BE CONVERTING TO POLY/SYNTHETIC?

• TURFWAY - WAS THE FIRST TO CONVERT TO POLY
• KEENLAND - GOES POLY
• WOODBINE - GOES POLY
• DELMAR - GOING POLY
• HOLLYWOOD PARK - CUSHION
• CALIFORNIA TRACKS (5 MAJOR) WILL BE CONVERTING BY END OF 2007!
• ARLINGTON IS GOING SYNTHETIC

HELP US TO CAMPAIGN TO CONVERT THEM ALL!

TO THE NATIONAL THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION AND ALL STATE RACING COMMISSIONS

To: National Throroughbred Racing Association and All State Racing Commissions Barbaro has awakened the public to both the joys and perils of thoroughbred horse racing. The tragedy of Barbaro is not and will not be seen as an anomaly. The recent reports of 7 deaths in 7 days at Del Mar and 25 racehorse breakdowns at Arlington Park in just 61 days have made this glaringly apparent. 1 These particular fatality rates are running >5 times higher than the already stunning national average of over 1 death per 1,000 race starts. This is at least 800 deaths per year and over 2 per day nationally. 2 We believe that the horse racing industry has the obligation to make racing safer and saner for all horses, their connections and the public. Yes, Thoroughbreds are born to run. Some Thoroughbreds, not all, love what they do. We as an industry are not doing enough to insure quality of life and protection of our equine athletes from fatal/career ending injuries. This industry is in a crisis and has done very little to bring about change. It becomes increasingly obvious on a daily basis that this industry is FOCUSED ON PROFIT over human/equine interests and it is the human/equine athlete that puts on the show and brings in the money. These atrocities of late can no longer be ignored. The repeated breakdowns, the repeated drug positives of big name trainers who get slapped on the wrist and continue to train at the expense of many others, the flawed training surfaces, the unsound and drug induced sires sent to the breeding shed, all must stop now. We the undersigned are requesting the following changes: 1) THE IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTATION OF A NATIONAL, PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASE THAT REPORTS RACING AND TRAINING INJURIES AND DEATHS. Several states and most nations involved with horse racing already have such a reporting system in place. The Equine Racing Injury Reporting System was briefly in use in the mid-1990s in the U.S and must be reinstated.3 This could easily be instituted with records being kept through Equibase or collected as before by the American Association of Equine Practioners (AAEP). The data collected must include injury and death rates for both races and training at all tracks. The national data should be published monthly (in both hard copy and on-line) for easily accessible public review. 2) A RE-EVALUATION OF CURRENT DRUG TESTING POLICY AND SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATORS. Fines and suspension length must increase and multiple violators should be banned from the sport. A “3 strikes" policy should be adopted. If a trainer is caught with a Class I, II, III drug positive 2 times then they will have their licensed revoked and suspended for a minimum of 1 year on the third drug positive. This policy should also include sanctions for veterinarians who are implicated in the administering of banned substances or attempts to skew test results. 3) RESTRICTIONS ON THE NUMBER OF TIMES HORSES CAN RACE PER YEAR. Limitations of on the number of races per month should be immediately set for all horses. In particular, horses entered in claiming races should be limited to no more than three races per month and mandatory retirement at age 8. 4) AN INDUSTRY-WIDE MANDATE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF SYNTHETIC SURFACES AT ALL EXISTING TRACKS. Plans should be made for the conversion of all tracks to synthetic surfaces with a timetable indicating how this will proceed in a timely manner. 5) A SERIES OF INDUSTRY-WIDE POLICES THAT PUTS HORSE AND RIDER SAFETY BEFORE PROFITS. This includes a policy of independent veterinarians to examine all horses at the track, bone density tests for all registered horses, and a ban on racing horses under the age of 21/2. 6) REAL COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THE RACING INDUSTRY TO FUNDING RETIREMENT FOR RACEHORSES. All tracks should contribute a percentage of the daily mutual pool to a retirement fund. In addition, all tracks across the US should hold an annual stakes race named in honor of Ferdinand or Exceller and contribute the entire mutal pool to a retirement fund. The need for these changes is well-documented, and they have been widely discussed in horse racing circles and among fans for years. It is long past time for the horse racing industry to instititute these sensible and relatively simple reforms to improve horse racing for the public, those employed in the industry most importantly for the horses. NOTES 1) http://www.chicagotribune.com/search/dispatcher.front?page=1&Query=arlington%20park%20track&target=article; http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/delmarraces/20060727-9999-1n27delmar.html, http://opinions.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=34352; http://watchingpolitics.com/?p=2210 2) http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=101750; http://opinions.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=33797; http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA052106.1A.dying.racehorses.7e1a7e5.html 3) http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/1997/Mundy.pdf; http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/1997/Wilson.pdf Sincerely, The Undersigned

Campaigning For Barbaro: Joe Harper (President of Del Mar) Responds

Campaigning For Barbaro: Joe Harper (President of Del Mar) Responds