Horse racing-Churchill Downs to suspend racing amid safety review

Churchill Downs

02/06/2023 23:23

June 2 (Reuters) - Churchill Downs on Friday said it
would suspend racing as it conducts a "top-to-bottom" safety
review following the death of 12 horses at the famed Kentucky
track in the past month. 
    Racing will be halted from June 7 through the remainder of
the Spring Meet, which concludes on July 3. This weekend's races
will go ahead as scheduled and the remainder of the meet will be
relocated to Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky. 
    Investigations by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety
Authority (HISA), Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing
Commission have yet to identify a reason for the spike in equine
fatalities, which overshadowed last month's Kentucky Derby.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3730JJ
    HISA's track surface expert submitted his review of the
racing surface at Churchill Downs earlier on Friday and found
there were "no primary areas for concern" and that it was
consistent with previous years.
    Given that the surface does not appear to be the issue,
animal rights activists questioned the logic of moving the races
to Ellis Park. 
    "If the track surface was the singular cause of the rash of
horse deaths at Churchill Downs, changing the racing venue might
make sense," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness
Action. 
    "But it's apparent that there's more at work here than track
surface threats. 
    "We renew our request that Churchill Downs suspend its
racing schedule until there is a proper forensic analysis of the
horse deaths and a comprehensive plan to remediate future
deaths. 
    "This is a response, but it feels like a shell-game
response."

 (Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken
Ferris)
 ((Rory.Carroll@thomsonreuters.com Follow me on Twitter
@rorydcarroll; 503-830-8017;))