BY JOCKEY CLUB NEWS SERVICE (Edited)

The 12th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, held on June 29-30 in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion in Lexington, Kentucky, featured presentations highlighting the racing industry’s measurable progress and continued commitment to improving the safety, welfare and integrity of racehorses.

The summit was underwritten and coordinated by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club and hosted by Keeneland. The summit was open to the public and emceed by Jessica Paquette, track announcer at Parx Racing.

A video replay of the summit, which was livestreamed, will be posted on The Jockey Club website in the next few days.

The first presentation was an update on the Equine Injury Database from Dr. Tim Parkin, head of Bristol Veterinary School. Parkin reviewed database findings since its inception in 2009, noting declines in the overall fatality rate of 47%, dirt surfaces of 46.2%, turf surfaces of 55.2%, and all-weather surfaces of 34.9%. Overall, the fatality rate at North American racetracks has fallen from two fatalities per 1,000 starts in 2009 to 1.07 in 2025.

A panel featuring Dr. Mick Peterson, director, Racetrack Safety Program, and professor, University of Kentucky; Branden Brookfield, on-site testing manager, Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory; Jamie Richardson, track superintendent, Churchill Downs; and Chris Bosley, assistant track superintendent, Churchill Downs, discussed track surfaces and maintenance reporting and the importance of maintaining track conditions through various tools. Dr. Peterson gave a detailed presentation on pre-meet and daily measurements of racing surfaces science to support decision making, including how the Maintenance Quality System works.

Steve Keech, chief technology officer of HISA, discussed how HISA’s CHECK program combines vet records with data that comes from training and racing, analyzing more than 127 risk factors to give a horse its own individual risk profile and aiding regulatory veterinarians in prioritizing possible at-risk equine athletes.

Dr. Mary Scollay moderated a panel on the regulatory vet scratch process with Dr. Stuart Brown, vice president of Equine Safety, Keeneland; Dr. Will Farmer, equine medical director, Churchill Downs; Dr. Nick Smith, chief racing veterinarian, Kentucky Racing & Gaming Commission; Barbara Borden, racing official, Kentucky Racing & Gaming Commission; and Dr. Shari Silverman, veterinary liaison, HISA. The panel focused on the importance of pre-race exams for the long-term health of racehorses.

Statistics provided by Dr. Smith showed that out of 155 regulatory vet scratches for unsoundness in Kentucky from January 1 – April 25, 2025, 30% of the horses did not race within a year of being scratched and 16% showed no racetrack activity for a year.

“We encourage trainers with a horse with a funny way of moving to bring the horse to us long before race day and let us see it,” Dr. Smith said. “We’ve worked through things like higher diagnostics, PET scans and bone scans. It opens up the communication and we get more time to assess instead of making a snap decision on a horse that is presented to us.”

A panel on aftercare that focused on on-track placement programs for Thoroughbreds was moderated by Erin Halliwell, executive director, Thoroughbred Charities of America, with panelists Lucinda Lovitt, executive director, CARMA; Chris Block, trainer; and Andy Belfiore, executive director, New York Thoroughbreds Horsemen’s Association. All panelists agreed that when purchasing a Thoroughbred, potential owners need to also consider how to responsibly retire the horse when its career on the track or in the breeding shed is over.

“For me, that means you need it to be written into your business plan,” Lovitt said. “This should be the first thing you think about when you decide to get into racehorse ownership. I think that while there has been a lot of progress made in that direction, we still have a long way to go in this industry of educating breeders and owners about the importance of having a retirement plan.”

Dr. Scott Morrison, equine podiatrist and partner at Rood and Riddle, presented on maintaining proper hoof balance and explained that hoof balance is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress in the horse’s body. He asserted that restoring the foot’s natural mechanics through trimming and supportive shoeing or mimicking the barefoot condition while maintaining protection gives the horse a better chance of remaining sound.

Moderated by Paquette, panelists Dr. Larry Bramlage, surgeon, Rood and Riddle; David Ingordo, bloodstock agent; Garrett O’Rourke, general manager, Juddmonte USA; and Mark Taylor, president, Taylor Made Farm, discussed the importance, the risks, and the challenges of equine surgeries in developing racehorses. Dr. Bramlage mentioned two of the most common surgeries: one that addresses specific joint issues and another that corrects linear movement. He noted that performing a surgery at the right time, such as placing a screw across the growth plate, is important because if it is done too early in the horse’s development, the genetics of the horse will tell it to grow back the other way.

To end the session, Dr. Laura Kennedy, director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Postmortem Program, and Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer of 1/ST Racing, presented on necropsy and mortality reviews.

Tuesday’s session began with a presentation on diagnostic equipment and injuries by Dr. Evan Becker and Dr. Laura Werner, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, followed by presentations on diagnostic technology, including biometric and lameness sensors by the following: