Turf Racing on Maintain at Parx; HISA to Look at Course

Turf racing at Parx Racing has been suspended till additional discover whereas Horseracing Integrity and Security Authority officers make plans for a course examination from the Racing Companies Testing Laboratory and HISA’s Monitor Floor Advisory Group.

The protection and situation of the Parx turf course have been referred to as into query after Causes Hassle was fatally injured in the course of the Aug. 24 Parx Sprint there. Within the days that adopted, Bob Hutt, president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Affiliation, voiced his displeasure with the situation of the course with media shops. He circulated a video taken by a horse person who confirmed somebody strolling a turf course that had quite a few divots, a few of important depth. The video reveals one particular person sticking their arm right into a gap as much as their forearm.

Hutt informed BloodHorse Aug. 29 he views the course as a “minefield.”

Joe Wilson, chief working officer for Parx Racing, didn’t return messages looking for remark. In a monitor assertion printed by Thoroughbred Each day Information, the monitor described Hutt’s statements to the media as “patently false and deceptive.”

Ann McGovern, director of racetrack security for HISA, mentioned she spoke to Wilson. She mentioned he informed her that “If it was his course, it was taken following a race day and never after the divots had been repaired, which might have occurred the following day previous to racing. So we have been seeing a course that had not been attended (to) or maintained following racing.”

She mentioned security statistics compiled from the Parx turf course don’t exhibit a spike in accidents, whereas acknowledging the lack of Causes Hassle. A necropsy of that horse may even be examined on account of their analysis, she mentioned. 

In talking with Wilson, McGovern mentioned his response was to precise “his initially concern for the security of the horses and jockeys, and if there’s any concern in any respect, he needs to deal with it. His response to me is he would by no means have let a horse race on the monitor if he felt it was unsafe.”

Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys’ Guild, mentioned he spoke to regional supervisor Keith O’Brien, who described “put on and tear in lots of locations” within the turf course, however he mentioned it was not the jockeys who raised considerations concerning the turf course. Parx sometimes makes use of its grass course from spring by means of fall.

Hutt, who helped provoke HISA’s investigation, informed BloodHorse on Thursday that Parx has invested little in racetrack operations whereas directing its focus to its on line casino. He factors to outdated monitor upkeep gear and a deep fundamental monitor as examples.

This isn’t the primary event HISA officers have addressed monitor situations at Parx. Final 12 months, Parx got here underneath criticism for racing over its fundamental monitor regardless of a pool of water in mid-stretch that required horses to both splash by means of it or circle round it.

McGovern mentioned she spoke to Wilson then and in session with Parx’s monitor superintendent, and “he got here up with a plan to deal with it they usually did.”

Hutt mentioned he acquired no current communication in attempting to voice his considerations to Wilson. He mentioned he fears that had he not reached out to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, continued racing would have occurred over what he deems as unsafe situations.

4 years in the past, jockeys at Parx threatened to not settle for mounts due to the situation of the jockeys’ room. In addition they objected to a kind administration mentioned jockeys have been required to signal that included admission of any previous authorized issues and Parx Racing’s place to not contribute funds to the Jockeys’ Guild which might be used for insurance coverage.

They resolved their variations for a continuation of racing. Nonetheless, Parx Racing is just not an insurance coverage accomplice with the Jockeys’ Guild, Meyocks mentioned.

HISA has not finalized the entire course of for accrediting Parx Racing, McGovern mentioned Thursday, regardless of its being visited by officers in April 2023 and once more this spring. Accreditation is supposed to make sure that racetracks comply with requirements geared toward enhancing equine welfare and to reduce equine and jockey harm.

HISA beforehand influenced Turf Paradise to make security repairs to its monitor.

“However no monitor has been informed by HISA which you can’t ship your (simulcast) sign since you’re not assembly our security requirements,” McGovern mentioned. “There have been tracks which have chosen to not ship their sign as a result of they did not meet a few of the HISA necessities, however they made that call on their very own.”

Parx Racing mentioned in its assertion posted by TDN that it was licensed by the Nationwide Thoroughbred Racing Affiliation in 2018, and in June of this 12 months the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory inspected and permitted each of its racing surfaces.