Churchill Downs Announces New Health And Safety Measures After 12 Recent Horse Deaths

Horse racing's oversight authority and Churchill Downs have each announced new safety and health measures after 12 horses died at the track since the lead up to the Kentucky Derby, according to the Associated Press.

One of the big changes coming is that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) will perform additional post-entry screenings of horses to see which ones are more likely to get injured. It also plans on collecting blood and hair samples for investigations of deaths moving forward.

Meanwhile Churchill Downs will immediately start limiting horses to four starts during a rolling eight-week period and will implement ineligibility standards for poor performers.

The ineligibility standard would affect horses that have lost by more than 12 lengths in five consecutive starts. They would not be able to compete at Churchill Downs until they are approved by the track's medical director.

The HISA is also conducting a second analysis on the track's surfaces, both for racing and training, and can recommend pausing competition if the results of the analysis call for it.

Both of these announcements come following a set of emergency meetings called for by the HISA to discuss the ongoing issue at Churchill Downs. All but two of the horse deaths at the track were caused by leg injuries, either in training or in a race.

The causes of the remaining two have not been confirmed but are currently being investigated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and HISA.

Churchill Downs continued its spring meet following the conclusion of the meetings and the HISA was happy with the track's cooperation throughout the process and the measures it has taken to promote safety.

"While no obvious or specific pattern emerged, HISA welcomes Churchill Downs' efforts announced earlier today to minimize risk of equine fatalities," it said in a press release.

Additional measures by Churchill Downs include pausing incentives, such as trainer start bonuses and purse payouts to every finisher, and instead limiting payouts to just the top five in each race.

The track is still discussing on how to allocate all the money.

It has also leaned on Ryan Carpenter, a California-based horse surgeon, to present trainers and veterinarians with certain information and tools that can help treat specific injuries.

"I think Churchill is trying to dot every I and cross every T," Brad Cox, a local Louisville trainer, said during a NTRA teleconference. "It's been a lot of stuff happening since the meet began and hopefully we're kind of coming to the end of this."

All these changes come after seven horses died in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby on May 6, two on the undercard. Five more have died at the track since then, which has put the sport of horse racing under a huge microscope.