At a special meeting of the Arizona Racing Commission on Wednesday, Turf Paradise’s equine safety record was once again the target of serious controversy, with commissioner Rory Goree calling the horse’s death toll toll again. the track is “reprehensible”.
In her routine track safety report, Sue Gale, chief veterinarian for the Arizona Department of Games, explains that 22 horses have died at Turf Paradise since the meeting began, on Nov. 5. last year – nine deaths were related to racing, five were in training, and eight were due to illness.
Racing-related catastrophic injury rates hit 2.8 fatalities per 1000 starting at the start of this season at Turf Paradise. According to The Jockey Club, the national mortality rate in 2020 is 1.41 per 1000 starts.
Last year in Arizona — including Turf Paradise and the Arizona Downs — the death rate was 1.94 per 1000 starts, Gale said.
“Unfortunately, this January, we had a week where we had four falls in a week,” said Gale, who did not provide any context on the possible reasons for the fall. deaths in addition to explaining that such events often occur. Multi-factor.
“We are looking forward to the consequences we take on all racing deaths and we will have a meeting of the racing safety committee later this month to review the reports. that report and see if we can see any common elements that we can focus our attention on,” said Gale, who added that the safety meeting would likely take place after the next meeting. according to the Arizona Racing Commission on February 15.
Among the commissioners, Goree was by far the most critical of the situation. “We still kill horses at a tremendous rate out there, and I’m sick of that,” he said.
Furthermore, since the start of Turf Paradise’s most recent encounter, there have been three times when the equestrian ambulance broke down, Goree said.
“One of them, a horse was chosen improperly. The other time, the second time, the horse ambulance was out of order and couldn’t assist a horse on the track,” Goree said.
“The third time, there was an incident on the lawn that was described as, in my opinion, a damn show with the horse ambulance unable to enter the parking lot until the 10th attempt,” said Goree. an incompetent veterinarian. .
“We keep killing the horses like this, we’re going to go bankrupt,” said Goree. “And I had to ask myself: How did we get to this point?”
One reason, Goree said, was insufficient funding to make previous recommendations that address the state’s tough, multi-year safety record.
Indeed, the high horse mortality in the 2017-2018 season of Turf Paradise prompted the release Report this commission.
“What happened in 2017, our budget broke,” explains Goree. “Someone went down to the legislature and lobbied to reduce RWA.”
Regulatory Payroll Assessment (RWA) is a wagering tax used to fund division.
“We got a million dollars. We cannot work on bringing in another state veterinarian. Mr. Goree said.
“And we are him, still with the same problems we had in 2017,” he added. “We are still killing horses at a tremendous rate out there. And I’m disgusted with it, and I’m tired of it. We need to act.”
Another major area of concern is the condition and maintenance of Turf Paradise’s training, racing and stability facilities.
Indeed, an Arizona Games Department inspection of Turf Paradise last October 20 – more than two weeks before the start of the current meeting – uncovered numerous child health and safety flaws. people and horses, including the lack of necessary track maintenance equipment, and the railings in need of repair or replacement.
Some of the broken grass railing support arms “have sharp protrusions that could easily pierce, seriously injure or kill a horse or rider if they fell on it,” the report states, before concluding with a list of eight key recommendations.
According to Rudy Casillas, VP of Games and Head of Racing Division, the agency continues to work with Turf Paradise to upgrade and purchase new equipment, which has recently included new tractors and a new roller to race track sealing.
“We’re monitoring with the track director on a daily basis the condition of the track and whether it needs any soil and materials into it,” Casillas said. “We asked Turf Paradise to hire a consultant to come out, review the situation every few weeks and make recommendations.”
Casillas added that the department inserted a provision in state and federal grants granted to authorized routes to fund the placement of an additional veterinarian.
“That money will be used to enable the department to hire a department veterinarian in addition to Dr Gale, so that we can have 100% pre-race testing by certified veterinarians,” Casillas said. .
The shortage of official veterinarians is an ongoing problem in Arizona. Indeed, at the October committee meeting, Gale suggested calling in the veterinarians who practice in the area as an opportunity for them to “collect some work.”
However, Gale said Wednesday that Turf Paradise recently hired a new veterinarian, Alyssa Butler.
“She and I met before the race to discuss which horses we thought might be of interest, and after the race when she let me know which horses were problematic,” Gale said. “I think communication is key and will probably greatly improve, or hope that it will significantly improve, our outlook here for the other half of the pitch meeting in Paradise. Future.”
The current meet at Lawn Paradise is scheduled to end on May 7.
Earlier in the meeting, the latest attempt to resend simulated signals from Stronach Corporation (TSG)-owned tracks to Arizona collapsed when the commission rejected Race Import Signals contracts. The company’s Simulcast horses for Turf Paradise and the Arizona Downs.
It’s been almost two years since Monarch – the TSG affiliate tasked with distributing the company’s signals – sent its product to Arizona.
A representative for Turf Paradise told the committee that the track supported their contract and that Monarch’s loss of signal cost them millions of dollars in revenue.
However, Kory Langhofer, an Arizona Downs consultant, argued that their contract offers an anticompetitive fee when compared to Turf Paradise, that it includes an illegal provision that prohibits Arizona Downs from operating the sites. OTB site within 60 miles of Turf Paradise, and it unjustly prohibits Arizona Downs from unilaterally expanding its business.
“All three of these things combined, we couldn’t make it work,” Langhofer said.
In the end, the commissioners agreed, rejecting the contracts by a score of 2-1.
There is also still no confirmed race date for this year for Arizona’s Rillito Circuit, which typically holds meetings in February and March.
Casillas explained that there was a delay in the permitting process due to the questionable financial viability of the track.
“We’ve discovered a number of financial concerns,” Casillas said. “We’re working with them every day.”
Casillas added that Rillito projects about $120,000 a day in revenue from school, parking, and food and drink sales.
According to Casillas, the division’s own calculations show that it cost Rillito about $1.2 million to organize the race.
“Without the state and federal money contributing to them, they would be a bit shy about holding the meeting,” Casillas said. “I hope that by the 15th everything is going in the right direction that we can proceed with you looking at their financial situation and determining if you want to approve their license and race date. Are not.”
