LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has announced new measures taken to better understand the recent spike in horse deaths at Churchill Downs and prevent future injuries.
Since the track's stables reopened in March, a dozen horses have died. 11 were euthanized due to injuries on the Kentucky Derby racetrack.
Earlier this week, on May 30, HISA convened an emergency summit with Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) to review all known health information about the euthanized horses.
The summit also focused on ways to prevent racing injuries including injury management, preventing at-risk horses from racing via veterinary scrutiny, and preventing at-risk horses from entering races.
While no "obvious or specific pattern" has been determined in those deaths, HISA said it welcomes new changes announced by Churchill Downs earlier on Thursday to minimize the risk of equine deaths.
HISA said effective immediately, these additional measures are being implemented:
- 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.
Officials said veteran track superintendent Dennis Moore began his analysis of the track’s racing and training surfaces on Wednesday. An earlier track analysis found nothing unusual.
HISA said it continues to investigate the unprecedented number of horse deaths at Churchill Downs.
"All options remain on the table," the organization said. "HISA will continue to vigilantly monitor events at Churchill Downs moving forward."
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