CHRB Issues Report on Findings Regarding Horse Deaths

A report issued March 10 by the California Horse Racing Board into the rash of catastrophic injuries that occurred during the 2018-19 winter meet at Santa Anita Park concluded there were no illegal medications found in any of the 23 horses that died.

The report's introduction said 22 of the horses that died between Dec. 30, 2018, and March 31, 2019, incurred a fatal musculoskeletal injury; one horse died suddenly during training. The report outlined various factors that could have led to the fatalities, including weather, backgrounds, health histories of the horses, track conditions, and management practices.

READ THE FULL DOCUMENT: California Horse Racing Board Report on Fatalities

"The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) routinely reviews all fatalities but opened an in-depth investigation of these 23 deaths," the CHRB said in the introduction. "The goals of this CHRB investigation were to uncover any potential CHRB violations related to these fatalities and, more importantly, to analyze the information in order to improve racehorse welfare and safety in California. The purpose of this investigation was fourfold: 1) To prevent more horses from suffering catastrophic injuries as part of the cluster or outbreak; 2) To prevent future clusters or outbreaks of catastrophic injuries; 3) To further understand the etiology (causes) of catastrophic injuries; and 4) To develop injury prevention strategies."

In regards to whether there was pressure for horsemen to enter horses in races, the report concluded, "While several trainers said during investigative interviews that they felt pressured to run their horses, only one gave a specific example."

The report stated that as a result of the investigation into the horse fatalities, there will be complaints filed against individuals for alleged violations of CHRB rules.

"For each horse fatality, the investigator wrote an investigative report covering the entirety of the law enforcement investigation, concluding with whether any CHRB rules or criminal laws appeared to have been violated," the report stated. "Seven complaints will be filed alleging violations of Rule 1842, Veterinarian Report, for failing to turn in daily reports, and three complaints will be filed alleging violations of Rule 1894, Duties of a Trainer, and/or Rule 1489(a)(4) Grounds for Denial or Refusal of License, for training without the proper license. None of the investigations found evidence of an animal welfare violation (CHRB Rule 1902.5)."

During a teleconference to discuss the report, CHRB officials said many of the recommendations in the report that could help prevent future catastrophic events, including the implementation of diagnostic equipment that could help identify at-risk horses, have already been implemented.

Also, CHRB chairman Dr. Greg Ferraro said that although the possibility of Santa Anita considering reinstalling a synthetic track is referenced in the report, it is unlikely the regulatory agency would mandate their implementation. The CHRB mandated the installation of synthetic tracks via a regulatory amendment in 2006; the organization reversed the mandate in 2008, giving tracks the option to switch back to dirt.

"I don't think you're going to see us mandate anything in the near future," Ferraro said, noting that the previous experience with artificial tracks in California was not successful. "Synthetic tracks are certainly under consideration and are being investigated but the question is, if you're going to switch to synthetics, which synthetic? Until you come up with a surface you are confident of and is going to work for us, I don't see the investment going forward and I doubt seriously it would be mandated by the board in conjunction with any racetrack interested in making a conversion."

The report said "record-keeping by the horsemen involved in the investigation overall was poor save in a couple of instances. Large gaps in historical information were noted in case histories for the affected horses," the report stated. "Organizationally the Track Veterinarian and Examining Veterinarians being supervised by the racing association's Racing Office poses an inherent conflict."

In addition to its key findings below, the report included a list of recommendations "in furtherance of promoting a comprehensive culture of safety in horse racing in California."

Key Findings

• No illegal medications or procedures were uncovered.

• 21 horses had evidence of pre-existing pathology at the site of their fatal injury based on gross pathology.

• 19 of the 22 catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMI) had proximal sesamoid bone fractures. Proximal sesamoid bone fractures have been related to racing and training intensity.

• 21 of the 22 CMI cases had evidence of pre-existing pathology that is presumed to be associated with high exercise intensity, which predisposed CMI horses to catastrophic injury.

• Eleven horses had received intra-articular (joint) corticosteroid injections. Five of those intra-articular corticosteroid injections were within 60 days of fatal injury, and two of those were within 14 days of injury.

• The overwhelming majority of the CMI (21 of 22 cases) in this cluster involved the fetlock joint (metacarpophalangeal/ metatarsophalangeal).

• The majority of CMI cases (14 of 22) exhibited a high-intensity exercise profile followed by a decline in activity in the month prior to CMI.

• Nearly a third of the CMI cases (7 of 22) had a history of at least six months between race starts at some point in their respective careers.

• The data suggests that 39% of the fatalities occurred on surfaces affected by wet weather.

• Although several trainers expressed concern over the condition of the track due to the weather, none blamed the track itself for any fatality.

• Prior to the fatality review, the majority of horsemen had not previously reviewed the necropsy reports on their horses; furthermore, many did not display good working knowledge of anatomy or grasp the significance of major pre-existing lesions (e.g., Palmar/Plantarsteochondral Disease (POD) lesions).

• Record-keeping by the horsemen involved in the investigation overall was poor save in a couple of instances. Large gaps in historical information were noted in case histories for the affected horses.

• Organizationally the Track Veterinarian and Examining Veterinarians being supervised by the racing association's Racing Office poses an inherent conflict.

• In several cases it is suspected that program training was taking place. Program training entails someone controlling (overseeing) the horse other than the listed CHRB-licensed trainer.

• 16 horses were under the care of trainers with at least one other fatality within a 12-month period.

• While several trainers said during investigative interviews that they felt pressured to run their horses, only one gave a specific example.