Santa Anita: Safety and Welfare with Breeders' Cup in Sight

Predictably, Satchel Paige's fatal injury at Santa Anita over the weekend was a staple of local and national news outlets, the lasso-effect the Breeders' Cup–now less than two weeks away–ensuring a hyper-focused media spotlight on the track for another couple of weeks, at the very least. Indeed, NPR ran a national story Monday headlined, “Horses Continue to Die as New Season Begins at Santa Anita Park.”

There have now been four equine fatalities since the track re-opened its doors to training and racing last month after a summer hiatus. But how do these numbers fit into ongoing efforts to make the industry in the state safer?

“We certainly have seen, state-wide, a decrease in racing fatalities,” said Rick Arthur, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director, of the broader impact state-wide safety measures, adopted in the spring, have had. “The real key to our ongoing success is to change the culture in racing. Horse safety needs to come first.”

The current meet at Santa Anita follows on the heels of Del Mar's summer carnival, which boasted an “unprecedented” safety record of zero race-day fatalities from 2,372 starts, and four fatalities during morning training, two of which were the result of a freak accident. There was one race-day fatality during the subsequent Los Alamitos meet, which ran Sept. 6 through Sept. 22, according to the CHRB.

As a result of the two raceday fatalities at Santa Anita since it reopened after the summer, the fatality rate specific to the meet is currently 2.2 per 1000 starts (the national average is 1.68, according to the Jockey Club). But that's a very narrow analytical slice to dissect–the national average is taken over a whole year, for example–and perhaps a more meaningful indicator is to compare-and-contrast comparable periods from before.

Last year's fall racing calendar at Santa Anita ran between Sept. 28 and Nov. 4. According to figures provided by the CHRB, there were six fatalities in all, five during training and one during racing (four were during the meet and two were before the meet started). This year's meet began Sept. 27, and so far, there have been two racing fatalities and two training (three during the meet while one was before the meet began).

“Any time we have a horse that has a catastrophic breakdown, everyone on our team sees it as a personal failure,” said Dionne Benson, The Stronach Group's (TSG) chief veterinary officer.

“We're currently going through the process at this point, making sure everything that we required to be done was done appropriately,” Benson added. “We will have a meeting with the trainer, coming up soon, to talk about his thoughts and perspectives. That's something we do after every fatality now.”

Nevertheless, according to TSG's own numbers, the safety protocols instituted in the spring have had a quite marked positive impact. Between Dec. 26 through Mar. 14 (when the new measures were first put into place), there were 4.40 fatalities per 1,000 starters during racing, and 0.094 fatalities per 1,000 training sessions. Since Mar. 15, there have been 1.95 fatalities per 1,000 starters during racing, and 0.021 fatalities per 1,000 training sessions.

That indicates a 56% decrease in racing fatalities since the new safety reforms were instituted, and a 78% decrease in training fatalities, according to TSG numbers.

“One thing I think we have accomplished, we have a much better idea of our horse population than we ever have,” said Benson. “Our fatality rate has decreased, and we hope to decrease it more as we continue to improve.”

So, of the fatalities so far this meet, have there been any underlying causes identified? “It's way too early to make any determinations,” said Arthur, emphasizing the buzzword behind any catastrophic injury: multifactorial. “We don't even have the final necropsy reports back.” Nevertheless, there is already a wealth of information in the public domain.

Of the two horses fatally injured during training, one suffered a fractured pelvis and the other suffered a sudden cardiac death. There's still much uncertainty as to the specific causes of sudden cardiac death in racehorses–as highlighted in this TDN investigation into the issue last year–though experts believe that things like “electrical irregularities” and physical abnormalities like lesions are primary causes.

The horses fatally injured during racing suffered injuries to the proximal sesamoid bones located in the fetlock joint, said Arthur. Indeed, the most common site of catastrophic injury is the fetlock, with injuries to the proximal sesamoid bones accounting for 50-60% of all musculoskeletal fractures, studies have shown.

There are currently multiple layers of scrutiny that horses must go through in order to get to the races in California, including review by a five-person panel of veterinarians and stewards. According to Arthur, Satchel Paige had been selected by the panel for additional pre-race scrutiny before the weekend.

“He was a horse that had a pre-raceday examination as instructed by the panel,” said Arthur, who added that about one-third of the horses running that day were singled out for extra scrutiny “under those circumstances.”

According to Arthur, the panel takes into account “the totality” of available information on entrants, including the horse's entire Veterinarian's List history. Satchel Paige received a shockwave treatment Feb. 4 of this year. After the treatment, Satchel Paige was placed on the vet's list for the requisite 10 days.

There are hundreds of individual shockwave treatments officially recorded each year in California. Interestingly, last month the TDN revealed how researchers had found a possible link between shockwave treatments and a higher probability of catastrophic breakdown.

Nevertheless, the study's lead researcher–who conducted the confidential study for research purposes only and hasn't published the findings in any peer-reviewed journal–along with other experts emphasized how much more detailed work needs to be done to determine whether a direct correlation exists. For example, the locations of the shockwave treatments weren't incorporated into the data–an important point if causal links are to be made between treatments and the site of the fatal injury.

Emtech was the other horse fatally injured during racing at Santa Anita Sept. 28. Emtech's trainer, Steve Knapp, was recently handed a $1,500 fine for a phenylbutazone (bute) positive after the horse's second to last race, Aug. 25. According to Benson, TSG wasn't aware prior to the Sept. 28 race of the horse's bute positive as a result of the CHRB's official administrative process for adjudicating drug positives.

According to Arthur, he didn't sign off on the complaint until the day of the Sept. 28 race. The complaint would have been served to Knapp that day or a few days thereafter, said Arthur, who further explained that the positive was for a “small” amount of bute that wouldn't have triggered a violation prior to a CHRB rule change in March, and wouldn't lead to a violation in any other state except California.

Indeed, even if TSG had been aware of the positive prior to the race, Benson said that she was unable to say whether Emtech would have been given the green light to run or not. “It certainly would have been more information to include in the picture of the whole horse,” said Benson.

When asked whether the circumstances surrounding any of the recent fatalities might trigger further changes to the state's safety and welfare screening protocols, Arthur explained that “reviewing strategies” was an ongoing process.

“We always try to refine and improve those processes,” said Arthur. “We're trying to have the best protocol for risk assessment, and that has been a challenge for everyone in horse racing around the world.”

According to Benson, she's currently researching a possible correlation between the number of high-speed furlongs horses are put through in a period of time at Santa Anita, and a higher probability of catastrophic injury. This will build upon pioneering work first undertook by Sue Stover, a professor of anatomy, physiology and cell biology at UC Davis.

“Not every horse is built the same. Not every horse will withstand the same amount of work,” said Benson. But if a correlation is identified, “we'll have to be cognizant of that as we look at horses of the number of high-speed furlongs they've been doing,” she added.

Aside from the CHRB's own ongoing investigation into the fatalities at Santa Anita during the winter-spring meet–of which there's yet no set date for completion, said CHRB spokesman, Mike Marten–there is a separate investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

In response to questions about the current status of the district attorney's investigation, a spokesperson linked to a department press release from April in which Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said, “I have formed a task force of experienced deputy district attorneys and sworn peace officers with varied expertise within my office who will thoroughly investigate and evaluate the evidence to determine whether unlawful conduct or conditions affected the welfare and safety of horses at Santa Anita Park.”

When it comes to catching problems before they worsen in potentially catastrophic ways, many experts bemoan the current absence of widely-used diagnostic technologies sophisticated enough to detect subtle injuries which aren't always clinically apparent. Indeed, pre-existing injuries are present in more than 85% of catastrophic breakdowns.

As reported in TDN earlier this month, a newly developed diagnostic technology–a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan unit–is expected to arrive for a trial period at Santa Anita in time to coincide with the Breeders' Cup. However, funding is still being sought for a proposed standing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit, a technology that studies have shown detects certain lower limb issues earlier than other common imaging modalities.

The Southern California Equine Foundation has already pledged $450,000 towards the unit, while TSG have promised further funds (of an unspecified amount). There has been no official announcement of additional donors as yet.

As first reported in Daily Racing Form, the formerly Breeders' Cup-bound Pee Wee Reese, trained like Satchel Paige by Phil D'Amato, suffered an injury during training at San Luis Rey Downs Saturday morning. D'Amato explained to TDN via text that the horse had been operated on Monday, and that on Tuesday, the horse was doing well. “Normal recovery,” he texted.