LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The signs said it all at Churchill Downs, Sunday, as fans watched the last horse races that will place at the track for the rest of the 2023 Spring Meet.
Churchill Downs announced it is pausing action, in response to a wave of recent horse deaths on and near the track.
”We didn’t really know about it. I mean, we knew about some of the tragedies that have gone on with the horses," Lisa Goody, an Iowa resident visiting the track, said.
Since April, 12 horses have died -- 11 of those horses were put down due to injuries, including two horses on Derby Day.
The rest of the Spring Meet races will take place at another Churchill Downs-owned venue, Ellis Park, in Western Kentucky.
”All the races are moving to Ellis Park and that’s a long drive, so I gotta' get one more in before that," Mark Friedrich, who decided to buy a last-minute ticket to Sunday's races, said.
Friedrich went with his wife Lynda. The two have a unique perspective on the whole situation, since they’ve been coming out to the track for some 40-years.
"I think [Churchill Downs] is taking all the appropriate actions," Mark Friedrich said. "I think they’re timely in what they did. I think they’re going to get to the bottom of it."
Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen called the recent deaths "deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable."
"Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, and though no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or environment at Churchill Downs, we need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols,” he said.
At this time, no "obvious or specific pattern" has been determined in the deaths — Churchill Down's race track also hasn't been linked to the incidents, thus far.
Friday, CDI announced it will be implementing new safety measures at the track, in collaboration with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).
HISA announces the additional measures may help prevent horse injuries going forward:
In addition to Churchill Downs' measures to prevent horse injuries in the future, several new measures are being implemented by HISA.
- Effective with Saturday's entries, there will be additional post-entry screenings to identify horses that may be at an increased risk of injury.
- HISA has directed the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) to collect blood and hair samples of all horses that died to further investigate their deaths.
- Dr. Alina Vale, an equine forensics specialist, will conduct an additional review of all necropsies performed on the horses. Vale previously investigated the horse deaths at Santa Anita in 2019.
A spokesperson with HISA confirmed the regulating body will continue to investigate the unprecedented number of horse deaths, saying "all options remain on the table.”