health and safety protocols

Responding to a rash of recent breakdowns at Woodbine, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which regulates racing in the province, has taken steps it hopes will lead to fewer injuries. Woodbine has now had six fatalities since the Nov. 9 card in which two horses died and the remainder of the day's program was cancelled, as was the next scheduled day of racing. The biggest change is that any horse that has raced within the previous 14 calendar days is ineligible to race and will be scratched...

As the sport continues in its efforts to drastically reduced the number of fatalities that occur in races and in morning training, there's little doubt that StrideSAFE is going to play an important role in preventing breakdowns. StrideSAFE is a biometric sensor mechanism that slips into the saddle cloth to detect minute changes in a horses's gait at high speed. Those changes can, and often do, signal that a horse is in the early stages of having a problem that could lead to a fatal injury. If the StrideSAFE data...

The Breeders' Cup outlines health and safety protocols for the 2021 World Championships, which take place Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar. EQUINE SAFETY, TESTING AND SECURITY All Breeders' Cup runners are subject to: Randomized out-of-competition (OOC) testing (beginning internationally in June and concluded Nov. 1, resulting in the collection of over 300 blood and hair samples Expanded veterinary scrutiny in-stall and during training at Del Mar, Santa Anita and San Luis Rey Training Center Mandatory trot up observations of every horse prior to being permitted to enter a racing surface...

Once again, issues of horse and rider safety at Turf Paradise were a bone of contention during the latest Arizona Racing Commission meeting Thursday, due to a shortage of attending veterinarians at the track and concerns over the overall state of the facility. The upcoming Turf Paradise meet is scheduled to start on Nov. 5 and run through May 7 next year. There are roughly between 664 and 700 horses currently stabled and training there, with around 1,500 eventually anticipated. But according to Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's...

Churchill Downs Racetrack officials have released a detailed 62-page health and safety operations plan that will limit attendance to the 146th running of the GI Kentucky Derby Saturday, Sept. 5 to less than 14% of total capacity from the 2015 attendance record. The Kentucky Derby, first staged in 1875, is the longest continually-held major sporting event in the United States and was originally scheduled for May 5. A record crowd of 170,513 attended the event in 2015. Due to physical distancing protocols and other safety measures in place to mitigate...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 149 initial entries for its July Horses of Racing Age Sale, to be held Monday, July 13 in Lexington, Kentucky, beginning at 4 p.m. The catalogue will continue to grow as Fasig-Tipton approves entries up until sale time. "We just conducted a successful Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale this past week in Maryland," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "Now, we are excited to welcome buyers, consignors, and horses back to Fasig-Tipton Kentucky." "This year, the July Horses of Racing Age Sale takes on added importance. As racing...