Amid Safety Concerns, Turf Racing Halted at Parx

Under pressure from HISA and the local horsemen's group, Parx management has closed down its turf course after a horse broke down on the grass in the Aug. 24 Parx Dash S. The horse, Causes Trouble (Creative Cause), is co-owned by John Fanelli and was making his 33rd career start.

“It's always been known as a bad course, but if I knew it was that bad, I never would have put my horse on that surface,” Fanelli said. “I was really upset about the condition of the course and when I saw it myself, I was in shock.”

The Paulick Report was first with the story.

After the race, Harold Wyner, the trainer of Causes Trouble, walked the turf course and took a video that showed numerous holes, including one appears to be about a foot deep.

Following the incident, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's President Bob Hutt reached out to track management and demanded it do something about the course and that it be closed down until it could be fixed. Hutt said his pleas were ignored by Parx's chief operations officer Joe Wilson, which prompted him to reach out to HISA President Lisa Lazarus and ask for her help. Though HISA did not order Parx to shut down the course, Hutt said that it never would have happened if Lazarus did not put pressure on track management.

“I was horrified by the video because I knew what they were going to do, just go out there and fill the holes with dirt and then run more races on it and send horses to their death,” Hutt said. “I could see a chain reaction where five horses and jockeys were killed. I can't be a part of it. I found her number, sent her the video and she said, 'Oh my God, that's horrible. We're going to investigate.' This was on a Sunday. Everybody has problems with HISA, but on this particular case, the fact I was able to reach out to her on a Sunday evening and she got back to me, means that she's responsible for saving many horses' lives. If it weren't for her, they would have said 'the track is ok, who the hell is Bob Hutt,' and they would have kept running turf races.

“The course looks like a minefield, with holes that are six inches. You look at that video and it's horrifying. [Wyner] stops three times to put his hands in the holes. The first two are about six inches deep. The third one would be up to your knee.”

Hutt said he has never once had Wilson answer an email or phone call. Wilson also does not talk to the press and did not respond to a phone call and email sent to him by the TDN on Wednesday.

Hutt lashed into Parx management, saying that it refuses to spend the money needed to keep the dirt and turf courses safe.

“We are treated like crap,” Hutt said. “Joe Wilson, who the casino put in to feed us bread and water, is not cooperative and doesn't spend money on anything. The turf course had been a problem for 10 years. I call it durf, D-U-R-F. I sent a polite email to Joe Wilson asking him to not have any further turf racing because it's dangerous to the horses that are entrusted to our care and the jockeys. I begged him to stop. He didn't answer me. He never does.”

Hutt said Wilson's reaction, or lack thereof, was typical of a management that cares only about its casino and refuses to spend money on racing.

“The turf course has always been awful, but Joe Wilson will not spend any money,” Hutt said. “Every three or five years everyone gets a new phone, a new computer, a new TV. The Parx water trucks are 20, 30, maybe older, years old. The harrowing equipment is terribly outdated. If the harrow broke done, Wilson would tell the track superintendent to run over to Home Depot and buy a rake. This is what I am dealing with. They have not done anything. They do nothing to promote racing. They're sitting around waiting for racing to die. I'm dealing with a terrible, terrible situation. Anyone who would have looked at the turf course would have been horrified, absolutely horrified. They are destroying this sport. They are killing the sport we all love. We just have to keep fighting. That's all we can do.

“They have to put in several million to replace this turf course or repair it. It's an accident waiting to happen. They don't go for spit when it comes to racing. One of the water trucks still says Philadelphia Park. That's how old it is. Everybody is always complaining. They are using equipment that is 30, 40 years old.”

Fanelli questioned why HISA did not intervene sooner.

“HISA is supposed to accredit these tracks and the surfaces,” he said. “I'm trying to find out the last time they were here and how they possibly said it was a safe surface. It's obviously dangerous to the equine athletes and the jockeys. I am so relieved that nothing happened to [jockey] Dexter Haddock in that race because he could have died in that situation.”

According to Hutt, HISA officials were at Park Wednesday conducting tests on the turf course.

“[HISA] is going to have their task force test the turf course to see if it's safe to run on,” Hutt said. “This course should be shut down. It reminds me of when I was a little boy and we'd play baseball on a field with rocks and broken bottles.”