LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby isn’t the richest race in the sport, but it draws the most eyeballs. That means keeping horses safe on the first Saturday in May is of paramount importance.
One group working on that effort is the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, created by Congress in 2020 to institute a uniform set of rules throughout the sport. Although not every state has agreed to be governed by HISA, they now regulate a large majority of the sport—including all the tracks in Kentucky.
HISA and Churchill Downs have made several safety changes since 12 horses died during last year’s Spring Meet. We’ll highlight three of the biggest heading into The Run for the Roses.
To start, this will be the first Kentucky Derby run under HISA’s anti-doping rules, which were adopted across the sport after last year’s Preakness—approximately 11 months ago. HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said the biggest impact from the new guidelines is how horses were handled before they arrived in Louisville.
She said, “Safety of the horses at the Derby is not just about what happens on Derby Day. It’s about how those horses are treated and cared for in the lead-up to the Derby as well. So having that anti-doping program in place across the country and consistent rules around veterinary inspections and protocols puts us in a much better position when the horses come into Churchill Downs for the Derby.”
Drug testing is performed by the Horseracing Integrity and Wellness Unit. Executive Director Ben Mosier says HIWU performed extensive pre- and post-race testing on every Derby hopeful and collected nearly 150 out-of-competition samples as well. He said there was expanded testing of the expected entrants, “employing the most expansive analytical technologies available, targeted to catch attempts to enhance performance and protect horse welfare.”
The second major change since last year is that Churchill Downs has added new dirt to the track and invested in new high-end equipment to create a better mix for the horses. Ann McGovern is the HISA Director of Racetrack Safety and said, “Based on our pre-race evaluation that HISA does at every race track prior to the beginning of their season, the metrics that we use to measure track safety are much improved over last year. When I say much improved, their surface was in very good shape last year (but) it’s improved even more with the addition of the material and additional equipment.”
The third new safety effort is that HISA has given the track access to a new Artificial Intelligence tool that evaluates 44 factors linked to horse vulnerability. It’s being beta-tested now at 10 tracks, including Churchill Downs.
Lazarus explained, “The model doesn’t actually flag horses as needing to be scratched. It assigns a numerical risk factor to each horse and the veterinarians on the ground can use that risk factor to help them in their inspections. Coupling it with the exam, hands-on-horses kind of thing, you really need both to be effective. So it’s a tool that’s designed to help the veterinarians do the most effective inspection that they can.”
While those are the main changes to keep horses safe, Lazarus said her group continues to make advances in wearable technology to measure risk.
She says HISA is also concerned about jockey safety, creating a national concussion protocol and investing resources to address the specific mental health challenges of the riders.
In the end, she said the best cure for anxiety is preparation, and HISA and Churchill Downs think they’ve done as much as they can to make Derby 150 run smoothly and keep the horses are safe and sound.