Horse Racing

Where HISA’s Rubber meets the road


The closer the clock gets to November 4, when Turf Paradise’s most recent 130-day meeting is scheduled to launch, the louder questions arise about the facility’s historic approach to securing horse safety and welfare.

Near the halfway point in last year’s Turf Paradise meeting, its horse fatality rate was more than 2.8 deaths per 1,000 start. This compared to national horse mortality was 1.39 per 1,000 starting last year.

Between October 10, 2021 and May 7, 2022, 11 horses were seriously injured during morning training at Turf Paradise and 18 horses were injured during racing, 13 others were injured. lose in other cases.

Anyone with even the slightest understanding of catastrophic injuries knows the complex nature of causality, with the term “multifactorial” being used a lot. One of these key factors, however, is the condition of the track surface – an issue that can bedeviled Turf Paradise In recent years.

In preparation for the upcoming meeting – as well as for the Safety and Integrity Act (HISA), the safety section of the track that goes into effect July 1 – Turf Paradise has hired a new track director and has join forces with the Arizona Riders & Defenders Association (AZHBPA) hiring renowned track expert Steven Wood to oversee these activities.

In many ways, tracks like Turf Paradise – which still have a lot of work to do to meet HISA’s basic track surface standards – provide some inflection points for federal law, the rubber currently meeting road response.

For example, how long do tracks like Turf Paradise take to gain speed? What are some possible impacts of non-compliance?

In the long run, how long before the data-gathering components of these federal rules generate the kinds of answers needed to enhance racetrack surface safety in the US? “Patience,” racing surface expert Mick Peterson praised the answer to the latter. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Request HISA

HISA track maintenance component–summary here–Sets out two key compliance areas.

Before the start of each meeting, racetracks are required to perform a set of inspection procedures for all dirt, synthetic and turf surfaces. These include inspecting dirt or synthetic substrates with the naked eye or using ground-penetrating radar, as well as measuring the shape of grass tracks.

Then, on an ongoing basis during the meeting, HISA requested that a set of daily measurements be taken at all 1/4 mile markers at a distance of 5 feet and 15 feet from the side rails. in. This includes moisture and, especially for dirt and synthetic grooves, cushioning depth.

Sarah Andrews

Race Track Supervisors are also responsible for keeping a log of the types of daily maintenance they perform on the track surface and related equipment used, along with the amount of water that is poured onto the track.

While the key area differences mean that no two racetracks will have exactly the same surface activity, “our ultimate goal is for every track surface to feel the same. to each other as they run on them,” said Ann McGovern, HISA director of track safety, reflecting comments made about the work done in recent years at Del Mar and Santa Anita to make their main tracks physically twins – a job many see as instrumental in making these two tracks one of the safest places in the country.

That is the goal. To that end, its implementation, like much of HISA’s broader mission, is piecemeal.

In short, the reporting component of the law is already in place, with tracking directors being required to either log daily logs or file them digitally.

Where HISA is currently making room for smaller, less staffed facilities, it may not have all the equipment needed to meet the new needs.

Has HISA determined a specific date by which all routes should be accelerated? “We don’t have an end date for that,” replied McGovern, adding that “we plan to provide additional help to monitor that need and provide further guidance.”

Thistledown Racino in Ohio is one of those races playing catch.

“Getting things done has taken some time, but we are on the right track,” said longtime track school superintendent John Banno. “We may be behind some tracks, but we can go further than some others.”

As authorized by HISA, the track established a safety committee that Banno attended with the safety director and racing director, along with representatives of riders, charioteers and managers.

“We cover a lot of facilities,” says Banno of these monthly meetings. “Mainly keeping the lines of communication open.”

Ryan Thompson

Complying with another new assignment, Banno maintains a notebook of numbers, details, and wrinkles from his workday.

“If I were pouring 100,000 gallons of water down,” Banno said of the recorded details. “If we use harrows for the first few races and then we switch to floating. If it rains – things like that. “

But as someone “more comfortable with mud than with documents,” ducks and water can hardly be compared to how Banno carried out the task. “I hope it’s a little more streamlined,” he admitted. The effect can also be made in other places.

“I have an annual wish list,” says Banno, pointing out that his crew is working on equipment that is, in some cases, more than 40 years old.

“I’m sure many smaller racetracks have to deal with that as well,” says Banno, pointing out that new equipment is expensive — new floats or harrows can go up to $25,000 each — and the supply is quite limited.

“As far as I can tell, there are only two vendors selling this device and one of them doesn’t really offer too much anymore,” he said.

Matches at Thistledown currently end on October 14 before starting again next spring.

More than six months from now, Banno has plenty of time to prepare for HISA’s pre-response testing requirements. More meetings are scheduled to kick off in the interim.

This is where Peterson, the founder of the nonprofit Racing Surface Test Labexpected to enter.

“It doesn’t tell you anything”

HISA is in the final stages of reaching an agreement with Peterson for his organization to oversee regulations prior to this meeting.

“Our agreement is to ensure that HISA receives the necessary information when we go to the racetracks to do the test,” said Peterson. Not that he predicted the same level of engagement across all songs.

Many of the larger, more prestigious tracks have met and often exceeded baseline demand under HISA. Take readings for moisture content — what should be measured daily — with Fair Grounds “a good example,” says Peterson.

“I can tell you the humidity measured at 24 points [around the track] in 2010 at the Fair Grounds, every day of the race met,” he explained.

But not all US track directors are currently using the necessary tool to measure humidity – a time-domain reflectometer is fun to call an instrument. People who don’t usually judge it the old-fashioned way, take a lump of dirt and squeeze it with their hands. Or through the feel of the equipment on the track.

The good news is that a time-domain reflectometer will set the buyer back around $1,400 – hardly a bankroller. These tools also do not require a PhD in engineering.

“Extremely simple,” says Peterson, of the device’s ease of use. “You just put it in, press the button.”

Sarah Andrews

For struggling superintendents in under-resourced facilities, arguably the biggest headache under the new HISA regime has proven the time and discipline involved in keeping logs. daily inspection and maintenance.

Some racetracks have been linked to the Race Surface Testing Laboratory which uses the organization’s online portal to record the information, although Peterson admits it is still provable to the database. of a Bronze Age relic of the beginning of the digital age.

However, that old software is in the process of digital enhancement. Peterson said: “The new version with The Jockey Club will be more user-friendly. That improved software will undergo beta testing at the Keeneland fall meeting.

This leads to the ultimate goal, which Peterson describes as a wholesale collection of “standard data consistently pulled from a wide range of tracks”: the ability to refine information to better identify real Which track surface maintenance practices improve horse safety – and which do not.

“It doesn’t tell you anything,” says Peterson, dismissing the Clegg hammer – a hardness and compression device still widely used on US racetracks.

Then there’s the issue of sealed traces. In California, for example, horses are not allowed to train on such surfaces. According to Peterson, that caution is probably unwarranted.

“The largest study to date from the Horse Injury Database [EID]”There was no significant difference when comparing dirt versus conventional dirt monitoring in terms of risk factors,” said Peterson.

Then the question becomes: How long can we expect the data collected in the early HISA to have results?

“It will take a lot of data, compare it to the development of EID,” says Peterson.

“For the first four or five years, I don’t remember clearly that the EID would contribute any meaningful understanding of catastrophic injuries,” he said. “It takes a lot of data, even with full participation.”

With the ever-changing public opinion on horse racing, it’s likely that some racetracks with dice safety records may not have that four or five year deadline.

“This surface is not good,” coach Kevin Eikleberry warned during the Arizona racing committee meeting ahead of the 2021-22 Turf Paradise meeting when even the committee vet complained about the lack of equipment. Thorough and consistent surface curing standards.

However, with a significant staffing change at the Arizona facility in the interim, expectations are significantly higher a year later.

Coady

“HISA will absolutely react”

“We had to make sure the bank was running the way we wanted it to, before ticking off the long grocery list the other preparatory work that had already been done at the track, including getting rid of” a lot, Wood explains. much” of material from the existing surface, and added tons of sand and new bark for cushioning.

“All of this will help,” Wood said, before adding that “you’ll still have to get other people, vets and the like, to do their job” to move the needle properly. meaningful.

According to George Lopez, the newly minted race director at Turf Paradise – himself a former guard at Wood’s track management academy – the facility has also rolled out new equipment.

This includes a new grading machine – used to redistribute surface material – and two new water tankers. “We also have two good tractors now,” said Lopez, who describes her new job as a “challenge” to enjoy.

“I am very confident and I am very sure this time we will have a really good and safe meeting,” he said.

But what if the meeting resumes this November and safety expectations fall once again?

Emphasizing the “multifactorial” nature of equine injuries, McGovern said that in such a case the new federal agency would “immediately” get involved, though halted without outlining a series of actions. obvious potential.

“Participating can mean talking to management, talking to the track director, sending Mick [Peterson] McGovern said. “HISA will absolutely react to any track with significant numbers like we saw at Lawn Paradise last year.”





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