Veterinarians affiliated with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will perform a post-entry soundness examination for horses racing at Saratoga Race Course until the end of the track’s meet on Monday, HISA announced Tuesday. The addition of HISA veterinarians to the post-entry screening process is one of two measures HISA said that it has put in place in reaction to a spate of racing-related injuries that have occurred at Saratoga this year. Members of HISA’s Track Surface Advisory Group also have been sent to Saratoga to assist in the assessments of its racing surfaces, HISA said. Seven horses have died at Saratoga this year due to racing-related musculoskeletal injuries, and another suffered a severe cardiac episode while running in a race. Two of the incidents occurred in deep stretch in stakes races on the dirt. All horses in HISA jurisdictions are already required to be screened after entering races, in addition to a pre-race soundness exam on the day of the race. Under the new policy, a HISA veterinarian, rather than a local regulatory vet, will perform the post-entry exam, “to provide an additional layer of independent analysis to identify any horses that may be at increased risk of injury.” A local regulatory veterinarian will continue to perform the soundness exam on the day of the race. Pre-entry screenings also utilize training and medical records of horses to identify any significant risk factors. Many of those risk factors have been identified through the analysis of data that has been gathered by most tracks in the racing industry beginning in 2009 through the Equine Injury Database. Under HISA rules that went into effect last year, all veterinary records of horses must now be submitted to HISA’s own database. :: DRF's 2023 Saratoga headquarters: Previews, past performances, picks, recaps, news, and more. HISA’s Track Surface Advisory Group consists of seven individuals who work closely with the Racetrack Surface Testing Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, which has developed data to identify anomalies in racing surfaces. HISA said that the panel will “thoroughly review both the dirt and turf surfaces” before live racing resumes Wednesday and that the group is currently examining “historic and pre-meet inspection data” submitted to the Racetrack Surface Testing Laboratory. NYRA currently inspects its surfaces before, during, and after each race card. Data collected during those examinations is “shared with independent engineers,” NYRA said. The association has said that ongoing inspections of the track’s surfaces have found that the surfaces have produced consistent data throughout the meet without showing any “anomalies.” Five of the seven musculoskeletal fatalities have occurred while racing on turf. A total of 59 races have been moved off the turf so far this year, in large part because of abnormal rainfall, compared to 17 races during the entirety of the 40-day meet last year. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.