A ‘deeper culture of safety’ in horse racing | GUEST COMMENTARY

The groundswell of positive, collaborative work and collective investment currently being undertaken to advance vital equine safety reforms and innovations is remarkable.

I’m fortunate to have spent most of my life working with horses. I do not take this privilege for granted, in either the good times or the bad. It’s fair to say we have had some challenging times in recent years, and, as the 149th Preakness Stakes approaches Saturday, I am more optimistic about our sport’s future now than I was just a few years ago.

The groundswell of positive, collaborative work and collective investment currently being undertaken to advance vital equine safety reforms and innovations is remarkable. Thanks to new technologies and long overdue, strengthened uniform safety rules, we’re seeing a welcome expansion in the care surrounding our horses. While we understand there’s plenty more work to be done, racing is already seeing results from these efforts, with a consistent drop in the number of equine injuries as these reforms have been implemented. For example, 2022 and 2023 had the fewest number of catastrophic injuries on record since The Jockey Club began keeping the data in 2009.

A major catalyst for the progress we’re seeing throughout the sport was the recent establishment of racing’s first-ever national regulator, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Under HISA, we finally have national, uniform safety and integrity rules — a significant improvement over the patchwork of state-by-state rules that previously existed. HISA’s new rules include expanded veterinary oversight and surface maintenance standards, in addition to its rigorous anti-doping program, designed to detect substances that shouldn’t ever be in a horse’s system as well as those therapeutic medications that are allowed but should not be present on race-day.

This newfound uniformity not only makes rule compliance easier for trainers who race across multiple states, but more importantly, it means there is a higher level of care for every horse, no matter where they run.

But this is just a start. Much of the progress around safety will be driven by new and innovative applications of emerging technology, including AI and machine learning.

For example, HISA last year announced partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Palantir to use advanced data analytics to screen horses for risk factors and inform decisions about their fitness to race. The use of big data is bringing Thoroughbred racing in line with other professional sports leagues and major industries.

As game-changing as HISA has been, it’s equally promising to see the collective efforts of others in the sport going beyond what’s required, enhancing a culture of safety as the first priority. One example of industry investment in promising technological applications is the integration of wearable biometric technology. These devices help support injury detection by constantly measuring and recording the length of a horse’s stride, planes of motion and other indicators. Horses racing at several tracks across the country have already started wearing these sensors as racing works to develop these technologies for industry-wide adoption. In fact, late last year, the American Association of Equine Practitioners issued a national RFP designed to facilitate the expanded use of this technology.

And, with more tracks investing in advanced diagnostic technology, like PET scans, trainers and veterinarians are now better able to detect hard-to-identify injuries or precursors to injuries.

Tracks are also investing millions of dollars to ensure the condition of the surfaces on which our horses are racing are optimal and consistent, regardless of the weather, season or time of day. Dedicated teams are using state-of-the-art tools to maintain and test these surfaces, including ground-penetrating X-rays, GPS technology, sensors that mimic the motion and impact of horses’ hooves, and “smart water trucks” to optimize moisture content.

I have been around horses all my life, and I continue to be amazed by their grace, determination and athleticism. They have unique personalities, and each must be managed in their own way. Keys to success in my job include my team monitoring them diligently, understanding the variables that come into play with their daily care, and ensuring that they are as happy and healthy as they can be.

The renewed industry-wide effort to put safety first is not a top-down mandate. It is part of a welcome shift towards a deeper culture of safety, at all levels, from the backstretch to the boardroom.

Graham Motion (office@herringswellstables.com) is a multiple stakes-winning thoroughbred trainer whose Herringswell Stables have been based in Maryland since 1993 and a long-time advocate of safety and welfare reforms in racing. His horse Animal Kingdom won the 2008 Kentucky Derby.