Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit slated for Oct. 16-17 at Keeneland

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Corticosteroid use, pre-race inspections, and post-retirement programs are among the topics that are scheduled to be discussed at the fourth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, to be held Oct. 16-17 at Keeneland.

Organizers of the summit released the schedule of topics on Wednesday. The summit, which is open to the public, will run all day on Tuesday and for a half day on Wednesday, a live racing day at Keeneland.

Speakers at the summit will include Dr. Mick Peterson, who will provide an update on his work for the Racing Testing Surfaces Laboratory; Matt Iuliano, the executive director of the Jockey Club, who will discuss the organization’s push for a set of national medication rules; Dr. Mary Scollay, the equine medical director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, who will make a presentation on pre-race inspections; Dr. Tim Parkin, an epidemiologist, who will update his work analyzing data in the Equine Injury Database; and Dr. Wayne McIlwrath, who will discuss the use of corticosteroids, a class of anti-inflammatory drugs that have been targeted for research by the racing industry over the past several years.

The summit will also include a round-table discussion by trainers on horsemanship and two panels discussing the process of implementing new safety initiatives and the establishment and maintenance of post-retirement programs.

The summit is administered by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the Jockey Club.