HISA, seeking answers to Churchill fatalities, mulls suspension of racing

A review of a recent rash of fatalities at Churchill Downs could conclude that the track should cease racing until factors behind the fatalities emerge, the chief executive of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority said on Tuesday.

Lisa Lazarus, the HISA chief, said that she has already had discussions with Churchill officials over the possibility of suspending racing at the track. Since the track opened for training on March 30, there have been 12 equine fatalities, spanning a number of causes, including two breakdowns that resulted in euthanasia this past weekend.

“I’ve had multiple, long conversations with top-ranked officials at Churchill Downs since the weekend and they are committed to doing the right thing,” Lazarus said.

Racing is scheduled to resume at Churchill on Thursday, with live race cards running through Sunday.

The spate of deaths has generated enormous publicity over the past month. Seven of the deaths occurred in the lead-up to the Kentucky Derby, including two horses who suffered sudden deaths shortly after racing, and another who died as a result of a paddock injury. Two more horses died on the undercard of the Derby.

The deaths have triggered an intensive review by HISA and Churchill Downs over a number of factors that could be contributing to the deaths, including multiple assessments of Churchill’s racing surface. Those reviews have not led to any evidence that the surfaces at Churchill are noticeably different than previous years, Lazarus said, but another consultant, the racing superintendent Dennis Moore, has been called in to perform an additional analysis.

HISA officials have also been conducting interviews with horsemen on their opinion of the racing surfaces, Lazarus said.

“I have not had a single jockey or trainer tell me that they believe the track is a factor in these fatalities,” she said.

On Tuesday, HISA’s director of equine and safety welfare, Dr. Jennifer Durenberger, was hosting a meeting with other regulatory veterinarians to review the veterinary and medication history of the horses who died. The review was expected to be complete by the end of the day, Lazarus said.

“It’s basically trying to get a whole snapshot of that horse’s history in the month leading up to the injury,” Lazarus said. “We have to turn over every leaf, look under every stone.”

HISA is also waiting on the results of necropsies of the dead horses. Under HISA’s safety rules, which went into effect last summer, all horses that die as the result of an injury on-track must be necropsied. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission had an identical requirement prior to HISA’s jurisdiction going into effect.

Necropsies typically take a month to complete, though some of the examinations, including those of horses who die suddenly, can take longer. The reviews include physical examinations along with toxicology reports.

While the current probe has not turned up any smoking guns, Lazarus said that the focus of the review will be to identify any commonalities between a “majority” of the incidents. If those commonalities are found, HISA will seek to put in place new protocols and procedures to better identify at-risk horses, she said.

“Everyone is committed to figuring out what is happening and committed to stopping it,” Lazarus said.

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