West Virginia Racing Commission to hire equine medical director

The West Virginia Racing Commission announced it plans to hire an equine medical director and put in place “medical review boards” at the state’s two operating Thoroughbred racetracks, Mountaineer and Charles Town.

The two initiatives are related to the commission’s participation in a regional group that is seeking to implement uniform standards among the member jurisdictions, which are all based in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast. The group has called for all member jurisdictions to employ a full-time equine medical director as part of a plan to reduce catastrophic injuries.

The medical review boards will be established after the equine medical director is hired, according to the commission’s executive director, Joe Moore. Each board will include the equine medical director, a steward, a safety official, the track’s investigator, a representative of the track’s horsemen’s group, and the track superintendent, Moore said.

Moore also said that the commission is finalizing a plan to put in place a necropsy program. Funding for the program was approved by the state legislature earlier this year. That funding also allows for contributions from the commission to aftercare programs, and Kelli Talbott, the assistant deputy attorney general who represents the commission, said that the commission is working out policies and procedures to provide grants to aftercare organizations.