Symposium: Equine Sensors Can Reduce Equine Fatalities

Innovations in sensors and equine-tracking technology, currently in testing or development, have the potential to assist horsemen and veterinarians and reduce the occurrences of equine breakdowns, experts said Dec. 6 during the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program Global Symposium on Racing.

Speaking during the "advancing equine safety through technology" discussion during the multi-day conference at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz., veterinarian Dr. David Lambert and Churchill Downs Inc. equine medical director Dr. Will Farmer described systems being developed that have means to flag at-risk horses and evaluate instances in which false-positive warnings could be further studied.

Lambert is known in the industry for having founded Equine Analysis Systems to scientifically evaluate horses at auction with increased potential for racehorse success. He is also CEO of StrideSAFE, a system meant to identify horses whose sensor-tracked gait suggests they are more in danger of injury.

According to Lambert, pre-existing pathology is present in 85% of equine fatalities, and in a study of the "fingerprints" of the strides of horses making 6,626 starts in 2021-22, SafeStride was highly effective in identifying such at-risk runners based on their stride and overall trends. With horses placed in three categories based on data—red, yellow, and green, like colors of a stoplight—the SafeStride system placed 18 of the 20 studied horses having fatalities in the most at-risk red category, Lambert showed in a slide presentation. One was in the cautionary yellow category, and the other was in the green group.

Lambert added that 90% of fatalities were identified from 12% of horses.

"So if this can all be validated—everybody who wants to go over this can tear it apart all they want—but in essence right there, I believe the catastrophic injury problem goes away," he said.

Lambert said the costs associated with StrideSAFE amount to approximately $35 per horse, a figure he views as "peanuts" but that had not been embraced by the racehorse industry. But he said that last week "we got saved by this guy," throwing up a slide of horse owner and furniture store mogul Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, noting he had generously agreed to subsidize racetracks to participate.

"So if any of you out there are operating a racetrack and you want to get this system in place, we can even pay the bill for you if you just do this and give us a chance to get this system up and rolling," Lambert said. 

Farmer, who serves on the Breeders' Cup veterinary team and has 14 years of experience in regulatory veterinary medicine, said sensor findings could prove key to communication between regulatory veterinarians and trainers.

Farmer cited contentious disagreements he has experienced with horsemen when he was advising the scratch of a suspect horse to the stewards. He said sensor trackers provide the opportunity to "where we can potentially have objective data that we can work together as a team and as a partnership, to try to make sure that when our horses hit the racetrack, they're as safe as possible."

He is excited to have Churchill Downs participate in a study taking place this coming spring, recently authorized by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission through the work of the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council. The goals of that study will be to identify true red flags, develop an appropriate protocol for dealing with at-risk determinations, and team up with trainers to validate the training and racing findings.

"Each of us all walks, but we all walk a little different," Farmer said of sensors tracking horses, noting he believes the equipment can potentially identify subtle issues.

Farmer's and Lambert's remarks were preceded by comments and visual demonstrations of products and testing by Valentin Rapin, managing director of Arioneo, and Dr. Warwick Bayly, professor at Washington State University.

Rapin's demonstration showed a real-time data system that can assist horsemen and veterinarians and can monitor an equine's recovery and show markers he said indicate pain detection. Bayly's remarks were accompanied by a video exhibiting horses in wearable technology that can monitor a horse's breathing through a mask and another that could record its breathing through a microphone placed in blinkers.

Valentin Rapin shows promotional video of Arioneo product of training monitoring technology. @UA_RTIP Symposium pic.twitter.com/kmsfVgCr9s

— Byron King (@BH_BKing) December 6, 2022

Earlier Tuesday morning, Mike Mulvihill, executive vice president and head of strategy and analytics for Fox Sports, and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus separately addressed the audience before a panel discussion of capitalizing on racing's global footprint.

Mulvihill spoke of horse racing being unique from other sports in offering the "poem, puzzle, and the party," and when they "are in balance, there's simply nothing else in sports like it."

Fox will televise the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) beginning next year, and Mulvihill said a companion show would air on Fox Sports 1, "specifically designed for regular horseplayers and will dive deeper into the language of handicapping than any Triple Crown show has ever gone before."

He added that horse racing has an opportunity "to stand out as a rollicking event where anyone can pay a reasonable admission, wear an unreasonable hat, smoke a cigar, yell at the top of their lungs, and just maybe leave with a little more money than they came with."

.@UA_RTIP Symposium. @FOXSports Mike Mulvihill: "Our entire business is about creating circumstances that allow fans to have bonding experiences with people they care about, whether that’s on-track at Saratoga or at a KY Derby party or going in with friends on a pick six ticket." pic.twitter.com/0SWxF58oGh

— Byron King (@BH_BKing) December 6, 2022

Lazarus, who followed Mulvihill's keynote address, praised his "poem, puzzle, and the party" analogy and emphasized unity to the audience. Implementation of federal regulation into racing has been a divisive issue at times this year, both in the courts and among industry stakeholders and participants.

She mentioned only in passing any reference to the constitutionality of HISA following a Nov. 18 ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that HISA's enabling legislation was unconstitutional. An appeal of that court decision, as well as other legal cases involving HISA working their way through the legal system, could be tied up in the courts for months.

If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stands, it would not go into effect until Jan. 10 at the earliest, after the planned start of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program at the beginning of the year.

Lazarus described 10 takeaways she has learned in her 10 months leading HISA and emphasized guiding principles of "collaboration, accountability, transparency, and unity." She said the industry can "fight and scream and yell and debate" but to the outside public, "We need to speak in one voice."

Moderated by Jim Gagliano, president and chief operating officer for The Jockey Club, a global-footprint panel of industry executives including Bill Nader, Tallulah Wilson, Dean McKenzie, and Simon Fraser emphasized developing a global brand for U.S. racing for growth in the burgeoning international market.

Time zone differences and local preferences will limit betting on U.S. racing, the panelists said, but increased uniformity with international racing, such as eliminating race-day medication, have opened up simulcasting. A visual presentation of past performance data, even something as simple as the colors of jockey silks, will assist international players, two panelists agreed.

Nader, currently CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and formerly an executive with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said he would not underestimate the pride and significance of sharing the merits of the top U.S. horses and races on an international stage.