Third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit
Third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit What can be done to enhance the safety and soundness of Thoroughbred racehorses? Some answers should emerge from the forthcoming third Health and Welfare Summit to be held by the Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion in Lexington, Ky., June 28-29, 2010. The summit builds on the work started by earlier meetings in 2006 and 2008. |  |
"Many of the welfare and safety initiatives that have been recommended and adopted in recent years trace their roots to our first two summits," said Ed Bowen, president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. "I expect the interaction and dialogue among participants at the upcoming summit to yield additional ideas and recommendations that will be beneficial to our sport."
The two day conference aims to identify ways of enhancing the safety and soundness of Thoroughbred racehorses. Approximately 60 individuals have been invited to participate. They include jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, veterinarians, scientists, track superintendents, racing officials, educators, farriers, industry leaders and racetrack management personnel.
All of the first day's sessions are will be open to the public. Live video streaming of the open sessions will be available for the first time.
"We are particularly grateful to Keeneland for hosting the summit once again and for video streaming the open sessions on its website so that anyone with an interest in equine safety can follow all of Monday's and part of Tuesday's proceedings" Bowen added.
At the conclusion of the morning session, veterinarian and epidemiologist, Dr. Tim Parkin, of the University of Glasgow, who is analyzing data submitted to the Equine Injury Database, will provide an update and preliminary findings on reported fatality data.
He will be joined for the presentation by Dr. Mary Scollay, equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission who helped launch the Equine Injury Database.
Other topics to be covered in the morning session include a panel discussion on race track surfaces, and updates on the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, and the Thoroughbred Safety Committee.
The afternoon session, will feature panel discussions on racing equipment and safety, racetrack environment and training practices, and transitioning thoroughbred racehorses to second careers.
On the second day, participants will break into work groups to determine objectives and develop action plans. The work group sessions will be closed to the public and will not be video streamed.
After establishing goals and objectives for 2010, the summit will conclude with a panel discussion concerning implementation of safety and soundness recommendations.
For more information, including the link to the web stream, see:
http://www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summitDisplay.asp
Added on: 07/06/10.
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