Vets Address Lessons Learned From Past Breeders' Cups

During a Nov. 1 safety briefing related to the Nov. 3-4 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park, veterinarians indicated protocols have changed since two high-profile incidents the last two times the event has been hosted in California.

Four years ago, when Santa Anita last staged the Breeders' Cup, Mongolian Groom suffered a fatal injury in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), after which Dr. Larry Bramlage, a renowned orthopedic surgeon at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, issued a 25-page report with recommendations two months later. Among his proposals were adding diagnostic imaging as part of the pre-race exams for selected horses, taking advantage of video to spotlight horses needing extra scrutiny, and jogging horses in a circle to evaluate possible unsoundness.

Dr. Will Farmer, co-veterinary team Lead for Breeders' Cup, and Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer for 1/ST Racing, said those recommendations are in place, as they were at other recent Breeders' Cup host sites.

1/ST Racing is a division of The Stronach Group, which owns and operates Santa Anita and other racetracks nationwide.

"So we do have areas for horses to jog in circles," said Benson. "We do have examination of horses under saddle. We do have more extensive review of veterinary records as well as indicated. And I think the other thing is since that time, we have gotten (a positron emission tomography scanner) and those things on grounds, which we use extensively. I can tell you we did, I believe, over 200 PET scans last year alone.

"So it's not just the Breeders' Cup; it's every day at Santa Anita that we are working towards these safety goals."

Equine fatalities are down sharply in California in the years since a spike in the early part of 2019—though deaths and significant injuries continue to occur. Among horses that had been pointed for this year's Breeders' Cup, Practical Move experienced a sudden death from a suspected cardiac event following a routine gallop Oct. 31, and grade 1-winning horses, Echo Zulu  and Geaux Rocket Ride , suffered career-ending and potentially life-threatening leg injuries during workouts.

In the aforementioned second recent Breeders' Cup incident, two years ago at Del Mar, a veterinarian's premature recommendation led stewards to scratch Godolphin's Modern Games , the 9-5 favorite at the time, after his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate, Albahr , reared and became entangled beneath the starting gate. The two horses were alongside each other, and the starting gate was opened to allow Modern Games to pass through the front of the stalls.

But veterinarians on the scene initially believed that Modern Games had forced his way through, and the decision was made to scratch him.

Track veterinarian Dr. Dana Stead, ordinarily responsible for calling the stewards, did not contact them. Instead, another veterinarian, Dr. Chuck Jenkins, did, according to California Horse Racing Board executive director Scott Chaney, a former steward.

Realizing the error following the official scratch, Modern Games was re-inserted back into the race minutes later per CHRB rules to compete for purse money only—a decision meant to be fair to the horse's connections but that frustrated many bettors. Millions of dollars of wagers were affected by the pari-mutuel scratch.

Because of that purse-only status, bettors that wagered on him collected no winnings. Wagers like win, place, and show were refunded and wagers like the Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6 that had Modern Games in the Juvenile Turf were not considered fully winning tickets. (Consolations were paid on double and Pick 3 wagers.)

In some instances in multi-race wagers, bettors received the post-time favorite, Dakota Gold , instead of Modern Games. Dakota Gold ran fifth.

A chorus of boos reverberated in the Del Mar grandstand when Modern Games headed to the winner's circle—not directed at the horse but at the circumstances. 

Communication and oversight failures were contributing factors in the error. The CHRB did not issue any complaints or sanctions toward those involved.

Speaking with reporters on the evening of the Modern Games incident, Chaney said, "To be fair, there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen right now," a reference to the large staff of veterinarians brought onsite as part of the Breeders' Cup veterinary team.

Since then, "There has been a very specific protocol that has been developed," Farmer said. "There are two individuals that can only make that (scratch recommendation) call while on the race track or in the paddock, depending on where an incident may happen, so that there is direct, clear, and concise communication between that particular veterinarian and the stewards. And just to be clear, one that has control of paddock, one that has control of the racetrack."

No CHRB representatives were part of Wednesday's seven-speaker safety briefing, which, besides Farmer and Benson, included officials from Breeders' Cup, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, and the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit.

Chaney, in an interview with BloodHorse after the briefing, said all veterinary communication to the stewards will go through Stead if it concerns horses on the racetrack and Dr. Deborah Lamparter will handle any paddock-related notifications.

That has "eliminated all of the cooks, except for two," he said of communications.

He also said two-way radio communications between veterinarians and stewards work better at Santa Anita than Del Mar. Del Mar will host the Breeders' Cup again in 2024. 

Following the Modern Games incident, the CHRB urged advance deposit wagering companies to modify their software to allow bettors to have the option to select an alternative horse in a race, such as the Pick 6, as opposed to defaulting to the post-time favorite. Such alternate wagers can be made at the track.

Chaney cited only Xpressbet among licensed California ADW providers as having made that change.

"They've done the work; the other ADW companies have work to do," he said.

He said the CHRB intends to make adding an option of alternate wagers an expectation for ADW providers when they seek to renew their two-year licenses a year from now.