Smoke from the Canadian wildfires that has drifted over New York and put the running of the Belmont Stakes Saturday in jeopardy could serve as a metaphor for horse racing.
Ominous clouds hover over the sport, and they won’t lift at the third leg of the Triple Crown.
Not after seven deaths in 10 days at Churchill Downs leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Not after a horse trained by Bob Baffert died the same day another of his horses won the Preakness Stakes. Not after the horse owner with the favorite in the Belmont captured the essence of racing’s most vexing issue.
“Unfortunately, because the way these beautiful animals running 40 mph are built, they just can’t survive sometimes on a broken leg,” said Mike Repole, owner of Forte, the 5-2 favorite for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
“If every time an NFL athlete broke a leg he wouldn’t survive, what would happen to that sport?” Repole said, also asking what might happen if players could not survive torn ACLs. “That’s the sad part. That’s exactly what’s happened.”
The Jockey Club, a non-profit founded by horsemen, reports the death rate in 2022 was 1.25 fatality per 1,000 starts and that there were 275,434 starts. That’s approximately 330 racing deaths.
Patrick Battuello, a prominent activist calling for the abolishment of horse racing, estimates 2,000 race horses die a year – during races, during training and resting in stalls.
Unlike Battuelo, the Jockey Club does not count deaths that occur in training or when the horse is found dead in its stall.
Repole said the focus on deaths has detracted from the beauty of racing and undermined the sport.
“If the NFL handled their concussions and the other things they have going on the way horse racing is handling this situation, the NFL would have been banned 10 years ago,’’ he said. “There would be no NFL.’’
‘My goal is zero fatalities’
Dr. Scott E. Palmer, the veterinarian who oversees the health and safety of horses at all New York state racetracks, understands the skepticism people might feel about one of his assertions.
“My goal is zero fatalities,’’ he told USA TODAY Sports. “I want a perfect safety record, and (others) say, ‘Well, Doc, that’s just not possible. It’s not practical.’ “
Zero fatalities? Ludicrous? Perhaps, but hear Palmer out.
The deaths of 21 horses at Aqueduct Race Track in New York during 2011-12 winter season led to the creation of a task force that included Palmer. The group created a risk-management program, and a year after it was implemented, horse fatalities dropped by 47 percent, according to Palmer. He said the rate of reduction has been sustained.
Palmer said he thinks new technology can similarly curb fatalities. In particular, he cited biometric sensors that, as part of research for the past two years, have been used to identify horses at risk for injury long before a human could.
Identifying a pre-existing injury in a horse is thought to be critical to protect against a fatal injury. Studies show more than 80 percent of horse fatalities are the result of a pre-existing injury.
“The important part of risk management is you don’t ever stop until you get to zero (fatalities), however difficult that may be, but I’m a realistic person,” he said. “I do believe we’ll continue to get better and better.”
‘The deadliest track in America’?
Battuello, who collects data on horse deaths and posts it on his Horseracing Wrongs website, predicts Belmont Park in New York will become “the deadliest racetrack in America.”
The claim stems from New York state legislators in May approving a $455 million loan to rebuild Belmont Park, the 118-year-old track..
The new track, scheduled to be completed in 2026, is expected to absorb most races from nearby Aqueduct. And if the racing deaths continue at the same rate as over the past five years, Battuello said, Belmont Park will be the deadliest track in America after an infusion of government help.
He rejects the claim the fatalities can be vastly reduced, much less stopped.
“There’s always going to be a certain level of killing in horse racing, and they know it,” Battuello said. “It’s almost like they’ve accepted that this is the cost of doing business.”
Searching for answers after deaths at Churchill Downs
Crisis at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, thrust the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) into the public spotlight last month.
HISA was created by federal law and designed to govern racing with new uniform rules and an anti-doping program. Its influence was tested earlier this month.
On June 2, after the deaths of 12 thoroughbreds in six weeks at Churchill Downs, HISA recommended the track temporarily suspend racing. Churchill complied and moved the remainder of its season to Ellis Park, another Kentucky track owned by Churchill.
“Listen, I think it shows that the industry is very much united in doing everything, taking even extreme measures to address any issue with regard to equine safety,” said Lisa Lazarus, CEO of HISA.
But HISA knows it needs to do much more to prove its worth. Among its tasks: provide an accurate accounting of horse fatalities.
“We really need to expose the full extent of the problem before we can really properly, fairly and truthfully address it,” Lazarus said. “Above all else, HISA will be judged and should be judged by the number of breakdowns, the number of times horses suffer injuries.”
A sport under scrutiny
With 250 horses and some of the best at America’s racetracks, Repole is no ordinary owner. He also likes to say he built two billion-dollar brands: Glaceau and BODYARMOR, two sports drink companies.
He should be heard – and it would be wise to listen.
At one point, he mused about the possibility of the racing industry spending $50 million to find a way to save racehorses that have suffered broken legs.
“I think that would solve everything,” he said. “And listen, if you can (successfully treat) cancer now and help people with diabetes live a full life, why can’t we figure this out?”
But Repole also said racing is suffering from the intense focus on fatalities, along with his belief that non-horsemen commonly mistake a positive test for too much allowable medication and the use of banned drugs — compared to what some might believe is rampant doping of horses.
“I’m concerned for the perception that is reality right now,” he said.
Battuello sees things differently.
“It’s the same rhetoric that we heard ad nauseum for years; every time the industry is under intense scrutiny, they come out and make all these promises and it sounds good to the media, to the lay public, it sounds really impressive, they’re going to really get a handle on this,” he said. “Nothing ever changes.”
And that’s one thing Repole and Battuello can agree on – something must change.
