Ahead of the 150th Kentucky Derby (G1), Churchill Downs and others say a series of changes have been made to improve safety at the Louisville racetrack after dozens of deaths last spring forced the school’s 2023 spring meet to end in at the time Ellis Park in western Kentucky.
The most visible changes may be the new controlled cutting harrows used to condition the track surface and — to some extent — the track surface itself.
Although Churchill Downs’ official statement outlining its safety efforts made no mention of changes to the track’s surface appearance, several trainers and an official with the Safety and Integrity Authority Horse Racing itself said the surface had been changed.
“You could tell the surface was different,” coach Todd Pletcher said. “It’s a different color. It’s got a little different texture, a different depth. We’ve only been here a short time, just the first winds, but it seems to be in good condition.” .”
Track director Jamie Richardson said what Pletcher was able to see was the result of the new controlled-cutting harrows and the larger-than-usual amount of padding material added to the track this year compared to a typical year.
“It’s not significantly different,” Richardson said. “But the tracks are always changing as Mother Nature—whether it’s wind or rain—cleans it up (of fine dirt) and then you add material. You’re always trying to add more because that’s usually what you lose.” Silt and clay off the track.” They wash out first so you always have trouble replenishing them.”
Although Richardson said the dirt track’s mix of sand, silt and clay is no different from previous years, this year there was an additional 2,200 tons of dirt compared to the usual 750-1,000 tons.
“I need more cushion,” he said. “I just went into a year where 750, 1,000 wasn’t enough, so we went ahead and put 2,200 tons out here.”
A 2016 panel included moderating Dr. Mick Petterson and (lr) Jamie Richardson, Jim Pendergest and Glen Kozak
He said the new material mix is about 82 percent sand, with the remainder about 16 percent silt and 2 percent clay or less. “We always try to stay within that range.”
The source is from Northern Kentucky, which Richardson said he had purchased in advance.
Mick Peterson, director of the Track Safety Program at the University of Kentucky, worked with Churchill to test the track. He said the new modern equipment includes harrows and new sorting equipment with laser measurements.
“What Jamie has done is he has pretty much perfected the grading on the track,” Peterson said. “… He’s just perfecting it. We’ve never seen it this good. And Churchill has always been a good track… but I have no words to describe how good it looks in This year. Imagine this, friend. I have a track this size, 50 to 80 feet wide, a mile long, and a depth of within a quarter of an inch, across the entire track.
“Talk to a construction company and try to tell them you’re going to try to get within a quarter of an inch across the entire track. But he’s there and that sets a new standard and We must always get better.” . We cannot be complacent, and Churchill was committed to this.”
Peterson said the changes were not an indictment of last year’s path, “far from it,” comparing it to “continuous improvements” in manufacturing.
Churchill Downs-based trainer Greg Foley, whose barn abuts the track, credited Richardson for what Foley said was a better track than last year.
Foley, who has trained at Churchill himself since 1981 and worked for his father, the late Dravo Foley, previously said: “From last year to this year, the surface, in my opinion, is much better ”. “Historically, this track surface has always been a good surface.”
The new controlled cutting harrows are more stable than the old diamond harrows that hung on diamond frames and created ridges along them, Richardson said. The new harrow controls depth using six floating tires that help balance the frame.
“That loose padding is about 3 1/2 inches thick,” Richardson said. “You won’t get a hard spot because they’re heavy enough to cut through the hard spot. And you won’t get a hard spot. The risk with drag harrows is if you start to get a hard spot. You can continue on day after day.” deeper every time you go over it (because the frame will sink), where now that won’t happen because the tire is supporting it.”
Small “rakes” at the top of the harrow create a smoother surface than the ridges created by old harrows.
Not that Richardson believes the old harrows were to blame for last year’s problems.
He noted that the new harrows were ordered in 2021 and were available last spring, as Churchill was waiting for four-wheel-drive tractors because their old two-wheel-drive tractors could not pull new harrows. When they arrived, the new harrows were in use last September, replacing the diamond-shaped harrows used at Churchill for decades.
While the new harrows are more stable, Richardson said, “for the record, we’ve had very safe years with those drag harrows.”
Richardson said Churchill’s turf “is getting better as it gets older, it’s getting more consistent and more consistent.”
The track’s $10 million turf debut in 2022 has underperformed the track’s own appeal as racing on the turf has been limited.
“I hope we got away with that,” Richardson said. The surface will be monitored and “if it starts to show signs (of a problem), we’ll take care of it before anything happens.”
Multiple investigations have not found a specific root cause of last year’s deaths but have identified risk factors. A September HISA report on the number of deaths at Churchill in 2023 found “no causal relationship between the track surface at Churchill Downs and the number of equine deaths.”
While the track has withstood that scrutiny, everyone involved is committed to making improvements. In a pre-Derby safety press conference, HISA director of track safety Ann McGovern said changes to Churchill’s surface and new equipment were paying dividends.
“Based on our pre-race assessment that HISA conducts on every track before the start of the season, the metrics are much improved compared to last year,” she said. “When I say ‘much improved,’ Churchill’s surface was in very good condition last year, but it has improved even further with the addition of additional materials and equipment.”
One measure, she says, is how horses react when racing and training on multiple surfaces.
“I think when we talk about uniformity and track surfaces, it’s about the combination of materials and how it’s maintained and how the horse responds to that material,” she said. That combination will be different on the East Coast than it will be on the West Coast or the Midwest,” but the goal is “to maintain the surface so that when horses go from one track to another, they don’t feel the difference.” The surface may require several tracks and a different combination of materials or other types of equipment to maintain it.”
Foley said his initial assessments—and those he heard from other horsemen—this spring were that Churchill’s current surface meets that test.
Race from 2023 at Churchill Downs
“It’s good and clean, and horses can get through it well,” he said. “They’re working through this pretty quickly, but it’s got good recovery. So far, when it comes to getting your horse up and running at Keeneland, the horse is coming back well after that. That’s all it’s worth.” tell.”
Tracking and monitoring conditions are only part of the effort to improve safety.
“Everyone in the industry is trying to do everything they can to continue to improve safety, and it looks like Churchill has made some significant changes on the surface and hopefully a significant part of it,” Pletcher said. That’s safety.” “But it’s something that’s on everyone’s mind. It’s everyone’s responsibility to try to move forward and proactively continue to improve, and I think we’re seeing that from all areas of the industry.”
Some of Churchill Downs’ safety efforts date back to the 2009 establishment of the “Safety from Start to Finish” program.
Part of that is tighter veterinary supervision — by Churchill and the management veterinary teams — of Derby horses, which this year are required to be at the track a week before the race, two days earlier. days compared to last year. Oaks’ horses must arrive on the same day.
This will be the first Derby week in which HISA has overseen anti-doping efforts and controlled drug regulation, as it launched ADMC on May 22, 2023. This will be the second year that HISA has overseen Derby week. Monitor the safety of horses and riders in this sport.
Trainer Chad Brown said he believes HISA is good for racing.
“Does it have some work to do? Of course it does,” he said. “But I think some general rules of uniformity are really necessary. Everyone has to make sacrifices here. … I know that I’ve had to adjust to some of the rules and things that I have You might not think it’s necessary or practical, but (in general) the benefit is that there’s a lot of things that come with it that I think are useful and necessary.”
Regarding safety efforts in the industry overall, Brown said, “I can see a lot of progress so far and I’m actually quite excited about where it’s headed.”
