Rillito GM 'Very Excited' by StrideSAFE Introduction

Speaking via videoconference during an Arizona Racing Commission meeting Feb. 9, Rillito Park general manager Mike Weiss said he is "very excited" by the initial use of StrideSAFE sensors this winter at the Tucson, Ariz., track.

The sensors, which slip into saddle cloths to detect small changes in a horse's gait at high speed, were utilized with both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses when the track began its meet last week. The system identified three-to-four at-risk runners, according to Sue Gale, chief veterinarian for the state's Department of Gaming.

The trainers of those horses were advised to have their horses examined, she told commissioners.

The track had no fatalities over its two days of racing last week, she added.

Gale said a meeting is planned to clarify the role the sensors would play. According to Weiss, horses that are determined to be at-risk, designated with the sensors by the color red, would not automatically be placed on the veterinarian's list, a grouping of horses ineligible to run.

The New York Racing Association conducted a StrideSAFE study of 6,600 Thoroughbred race starters in 2022 and per individuals involved in the study, 90% of all catastrophic injuries were detected. 

The state's equine fatality rate, which has consistently been higher than the national average, has dropped over the past year, Gale told commissioners. A Jan. 19-22 track renovation project at Turf Paradise, made after soft-tissue injuries to horses there, had elicited "generally positive comments" from horsemen.