Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit set for June 28

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A one-day conference focusing on issues related to the health and safety of racehorses has been scheduled for June 28 at Keeneland in Lexington, the organizers of the conference announced on Thursday.

The event, the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, will be the seventh conference of its kind held since 2006. The conference is organized by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and its parent, The Jockey Club, and it has been hosted by Keeneland since its inception.

Topics at the event will include lameness issues, the use of compounded medications and so-called nutraceuticals, the evaluation of horses during prerace inspections, and biomarker research related to horses.

In addition, the Racing Committee of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, a veterinary trade group, will provide a progress report, the organizers said. The AAEP has recently launched a project to attempt to identify treatments for bleeding in the lungs aside from furosemide, the diuretic that is legal to administer on race day in every racing jurisdiction in North America. Use of the drug on race day is controversial among some racing constituents.