UNSOUNDNESS DOESN’T ‘JUST START AT THE RACETRACK’

Hamelback—whose long career includes serving as farm manager and general manager of a couple of America’s top breeding establishments—made it clear he believes the breeding industry must step up and be part of the solution by taking a hard look at how it raises future racehorses.

“Is the industry breeding to race or are they breeding to sell?” Hamelback asked. “We need to be breeding to race. That product that we see out there starts somewhere. Who is managing the breeding industry? We need to get to that point. I’m telling you, as a longtime farm manager, issues of unsoundness do not just start at the racetrack. It also starts at the farm.

“We need to get a better definition of preexisting injuries,” he continued. “Because, to my knowledge, transphyseal bridges, transphyseal screws, periosteal strippings don’t fall into that category as we speak. But those are done on the farms—corrective surgeries with the intent of having a better commercial product. That hurts at the racetrack, in my opinion. … We need more monitoring of the breed from the breed registry. Because as an industry, peeling back the layers, we need to look at all aspects of it.”

As it stands, HISA’s regulations don’t pertain to those breeding and raising future racehorses. Part of that is because HISA says it doesn’t have control over a horse until it has had its first race or first published workout, which HISA has interpreted as being at a licensed racetrack or training facility.

Hamelback said that a “published work” also should cover the timed eighth- and quarter-mile workouts at the 2-year-olds in training sales. He said HISA furthermore should change the regulations so a horse’s reported veterinary records include any procedures done on it as a foal, yearling or 2-year-old preparing to be sold.

McGovern was asked during her address why those areas aren’t covered by HISA.

“Many of the horses at the 2-year-old sales haven’t even been registered [with HISA] yet,” she said. “But that is something that from a legal standpoint we need to look at what our range can be, what we can do. My non-HISA opinion, my personal opinion, is that this is an area that really needs a little bit of oversight.”

Event moderator Nancy Holthus asked McGovern when HISA might regulate corrective surgeries performed on yearlings. Those surgeries “potentially could affect them breaking down during their racing career,” Holthus said. “A lot of times the first to be blamed is the racetrack, and that’s not the culprit.”

Responded McGovern: “I don’t know when, but HISA’s board and the Racetrack Safety Program is aware and has gotten a lot of input from folks wanting to look at certain procedures that are done on yearlings and what happens at the 2-year-old sales. We just don’t have the bandwidth right now, and we have to check if we even have the jurisdiction to do that.”

JOCKEYS: CROP RULE DOESN’T HELP

The June 13 program included a Q&A with Horseshoe Indy riding stalwarts DeShawn Parker and Rodney Prescott, who between them have won more than 10,000 races.

Both jockeys said they believe racing is safer now than at any time in their long careers, which for Parker began in 1988 and for Prescott in 1994. They agreed that a critical factor is for the riders to have a good relationship with the track superintendent so potential issues with a track surface can be discussed and addressed.

THAT PERCEPTION ISN’T REALITY BUT RATHER “REALITY IS REALITY” WHEN IT COMES TO POLICY CHANGES THAT SHOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND NOT BE WINDOW DRESSING IN AN ATTEMPT TO PLACATE DETRACTORS.

“The 30 years I’ve been riding, safety has come a long way,” Prescott said. “Track surfaces have improved. We’re definitely going in the right direction there. We don’t run as much on a bad surface [as in the past]. Rails have come a long way. Starting gates have come a long way.”

However, both jockeys said the HISA crop rule does not make racing safer for horses and should be changed.

HISA’s rules limit hitting a horse on the hindquarters to a total of six times with the specialized foam-padded crops made out of shock-absorbing materials and weighing no more than eight ounces. Jockeys are fined a minimum of $250 and suspended for a day for striking a horse between seven and nine times, with penalties increasing after that. A horse struck 10 or more times is disqualified from purse money.

“I can’t stand it,” Parker said of the rule. “I actually have [a one-day suspension] coming up because I hit seven times. It was neck and neck to the wire, so I’m trying to win a race [which he did]. Personally, I’ve offered like eight times [as an alternative], but I think six is not enough. The whips we’re using now are pretty much like pool noodles. A couple of years before we were getting fined for not riding hard enough to the wire. Now we’re getting fined because we’re riding too hard to the wire. I feel now we’re not able to ride a race to win.”

Prescott agreed, referencing public perception.

“The whip rule in effect now is designed for the head of the lane to the wire,” he said. “The whip we use is designed for the head of the lane to the wire. They didn’t take into consideration the 2-year-old you’re trying to get to the track in the morning or the first-time starter you’re trying to get out of the paddock and to the pony or to walk into the gate. It’s a tool to get a horse to go forward. From my point of view as a jockey, that’s the one spot we went backward in safety since I started.” HJ

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