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Standing Equine PET Scan Now Ready For Clinical Use On Racehorses In Training

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The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with LONGMILE Veterinary Imaging, has completed the first phase of the validation of the MILE-PET, the first positron emission tomography (PET) scanner specifically designed to image the limbs of standing horses, using light sedation, eliminating the need for anesthesia.

The first phase of this study, funded by the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation and conducted under the supervision of Dr. Mathieu Spriet, associate professor of veterinary radiology at UC Davis, consisted of validating the safety of the system and establishing scanning protocols using research horses from the UC Davis Center for Equine Health. Six horses were imaged twice with the standing scanner and once under general anesthesia. This allowed the researchers to confirm the repeatability of findings and to compare with results obtained with the technique previously developed on anesthetized horses.

The horses tolerated all of the procedures well. All imaging sessions were successful, and no complications were reported. The quality of images obtained on the standing horses were similar to the ones performed under general anesthesia.

“I am very excited to report that everything worked according to plan, if not better! I am very impressed with the quality of images we were able to obtain,” said Dr. Spriet.

Scan lengths ranging from 1 to 10 minutes were compared, and the team of experts concluded that a 4-minute scan is long enough to obtain images of high diagnostic quality. The rapidity of acquisition is a great advantage for clinical patients, as multiple areas can be imaged with just a short sedation time. The focus of this initial validation study has been on the fetlock joint, as this is the area most commonly injured in racehorses, but the researchers were also able to obtain high quality images of the foot and carpus (horse knee).

The MILE-PET is now ready to image racehorses in training. This clinical trial will begin at UC Davis before the scanner be moved to Santa Anita Park in mid-December. The Stronach Group, owners of Santa Anita Park, and the Southern California Equine Foundation, who operate the veterinary hospital at Santa Anita, have been key partners in the project by supporting the scanner development costs. Although this project has been in the works for more than a year, the recent highly mediatized horse fatalities in Southern California have highlighted the need for improved safety in horse racing. Availability of imaging techniques that are able to detect bone changes that might predispose to catastrophic breakdowns is one of the measures that has been proposed to reduce the track fatalities.

“PET has a very interesting role to play in racehorses, as it detects changes at the molecular level, before structural changes occur,” explained Spriet. “In other words, PET provides warning signs that injuries might happen. There is still a lot of work ahead of us, as we need to learn to distinguish the PET changes that reflect normal adaptation to speed work from changes that are indicative of high risk for major injuries.”

The plan is to image as many horses as possible at Santa Anita over the coming year. Once the researchers have established a large database representing the different patterns of PET findings in racehorses, patterns at risk for breakdown will be identified. PET will ultimately become an additional tool to help in the management of racehorses with gait abnormalities in order to prevent breakdown.

The post Standing Equine PET Scan Now Ready For Clinical Use On Racehorses In Training appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Successful Fundraising Campaign Brings New Equine MRI To Santa Anita Park

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The Southern California Equine Foundation announced Tuesday that the fundraising campaign for installation of an equine Standing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility at Santa Anita Park has been successful.

“We are in the process now of arranging for the full operation of the new MRI by early in the upcoming Santa Anita season,” said Karen Klawitter, CEO of the SCEF. “We are very pleased to have received the support of so many individuals and organizations in the sport.”

With the news announced by the California Thoroughbred Trainers, pledges came from the Dolly Green Research Foundation and Oak Tree Charitable Foundation. Donations have been received from Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Los Alamitos Race Course, CTT, California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation, breeder and owner John Harris, veterinarians Vince Baker, Melinda Blue, and Ryan Carpenter, and many more individual owners, trainers, and supporters.

Santa Anita track owner The Stronach Group provided $500,000 in funding for the new PET scan facility also being added to Santa Anita, as well as infrastructure to enable the installation of the new MRI.

The MRI’s proven technology has been in use elsewhere previously, whereby the horse is standing while scanned, and will be an essential diagnostic element to protect the safety and welfare of race horses going forward.

The post Successful Fundraising Campaign Brings New Equine MRI To Santa Anita Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Industry Leaders Form Safety Coalition

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Several of the nation’s leading racing organizations joined together Tuesday to announce the launch of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an industry-led effort to unify and enhance existing protections and to develop new reforms to ensure the safety of the sport’s equine and human athletes. The group seeks to create and implement a series of significant safety, medication, operational and integrity guidelines across Thoroughbred racing to ensure the well-being of horses and jockeys and increase transparency and accountability.

Coalition founding members include Breeders’ Cup Limited, Churchill Downs Inc., Keeneland Association Inc., the New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA), Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and The Stronach Group.

“Our challenge is multifaceted, but our objective is simple: to make our sport safer,” Drew Fleming, president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup, said during a press conference at the Keeneland Library. “We are committed to action now, and in the coming months and years.”

The Coalition outlined three areas in which it will strive for change and uniformity: operational, medical and organizational. “This is not just a commitment on paper,” said Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “These are real reforms that can and will be implemented. We have an obligation to hold one another accountable, and if any of our coalition members are violating these rules, to bring them into accordance.”

Some of the measures include:
• Require medical records follow horses through ownership transfers
• Mandate direct daily reporting by private vets to state regulatory officials
• Increase withdrawal time for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) from 24 to 48 hours, and prohibit concurrent use of multiple NSAIDs, also known as stacking
• Increase withdrawal time for corticosteroids to 14 days pre-race, and prohibit stacking
• Establish safety committees at all member tracks staffed by management, jockeys, horsemen and veterinarians, among others
• Create a Safety Steward position in all jurisdictions
• Create racing surface database

Change has never come swiftly in racing, and the methods for adopting and implementing new regulations can vary greatly by jurisdiction. To that end, Flanery said the Coalition would take a wide-ranging approach. “The reforms will run the gamut of things we can do via house rule, and those things we can work in cooperation with regulatory authorities–and our other partners,” he said. “Every option is on the table.”

Bill Thomason, president and CEO of Keeneland, said it was imperative for the coalition to engage with the public in a transparent fashion in order for the initiatives to be successful. “We’ve got to put context around [the initiatives],” he said, “And give specific steps for what we’re accomplishing.”
It isn’t the first time industry groups have come together in the name of safety. Following on the heels of Eight Belles’s fatal breakdown in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, the National Thoroughbred Racing Alliance (NTRA) launched the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. That organization has encouraged reforms largely through its certification and accreditation of member tracks.

Thomason, also chair of the NTRA Board of Directors, said the purpose of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition is to build on progress already made. “The good things the [NTRA] Alliance has done will provide a foundation for a lot of the things we’ll be working on,” he said. “There are other efforts going on around the country, and we’re going to do everything we can to consolidate and coordinate all of those efforts to provide those implementable things that will provide an immediate impact.”

News of the Coalition’s launch comes as racing faces unwelcome national scrutiny, much of it centered around the rash of fatalities earlier this year at Santa Anita and the recent breakdown of Mongolian Groom (Hightail) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. The industry has scrambled to respond, and changes to the political landscape have occurred rapidly. On Monday, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), a vocal critic of racing in recent months, announced she would co-sponsor the Horseracing Integrity Act. That legislation would, among other things, ban Lasix and create an independent body regulated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that would oversee the use of drugs and medication in racing.

Regarding that issue, Drew Fleming commented, “Some of us in the Coalition are obviously for the Horseracing Integrity Act, some are openly against it. But everything’s on the table, including some form of federal legislation. One point I want to emphasize is the need for immediacy. We all know that federal legislation can take some time and that’s why we’re here today; to make immediate, impactful change.”

Fleming took a similar tack when asked about whether the Coalition would ultimately endorse synthetic tracks. “This is
Day 1, and we’re looking at all sorts of options. One of the initial things we’ll be working on is racetrack surface data. We’re going to place significant emphasis on this and we’ll look forward to what we find.”

Mike Rogers, president of The Stronach Group’s Racing Division, said his organization remains open to synthetic tracks. “Nothing’s off the table, and if that’s the decision this coalition makes or what we decide as an industry, we’re not opposed to that.”

Asked about the current mechanism for decision making, Flanery said, “Right now, we are around a table working to come to conclusions, and that’s worked well so far. Ultimately we’ll have a governing structure, but we want to be as nimble as we can.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if members holding a minority opinion on a given issue would be obligated to go along with the majority. To start, however, it seems that only those measures garnering full support of Coalition members would be brought forth.

“The number one thing to do is identify the issues we think can advance our cause,” said Flanery. “It is good to have people with different opinions in the room. We don’t want an echo chamber. [But] we are identifying those efforts we believe should be uniform across the board. For example, moving back the administration of NSAIDs and corticosteroids. We all agree on those particular pieces. And we’ll identify other medication standards that we agree on as a group, and we will push and advocate for those reforms to happen.”

He later added, “We want to hold each other accountable. A big part of this program is making sure that, as we make collective decisions about what’s good for horse racing, that all of our members move those issues forward.”

Flanery said that he hopes, and expects, the Coalition to grow. “It’s an open invitation for people to reach out to us, and we’ve been very excited about the reception we’ve gotten already,” he said. “People from around the country have called and asked how they can be part of the process.”

Currently absent from the Coalition is a horsemen’s group, but Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said in a statement, “We applaud the group. Certainly it was made clear from their announcement that the founding members are open to other important organizations providing input and direction toward the Coalition efforts. We look forward to working with the Coalition members to ensure the safety and integrity of our industry.”

The Coalition represents a huge swath of the U.S. racing, in terms of both handle and stakes races, and finds sometimes rivals in business, such as Churchill Downs and The Stronach Group, joining together. But for Rogers, the Coalition represents the push for a greater good.

“As you know, we’ve been working hard in California to make Santa Anita the safest racetrack in the country,” he said. “Sometimes it felt like we were on our own, and that’s why today we couldn’t be more excited to be here speaking with a united voice to answer the question many have been asking: how do we make the sport safer. It’s going to take everyone in this industry, from sharing information, sharing best practices, and pushing each other as much as we can.”
For more information, visit www.thoroughbredsafetycoalition.com.

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Imperial Hint Works Bullet for Mr. Prospector

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The “Little Rocket” is getting ready to blast off in Hallandale Beach, Florida, this winter.

Four-time Grade I winner Imperial Hint (Imperialism), forced to sit out a third straight appearance in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Nov. 2 with a minor foot issue, is being aimed at the seven-furlong GIII Mr. Prospector S. at Gulfstream Park Dec. 21.

The 6-year-old entire returned to the worktab with a four-furlong bullet in :46.80 (1/27) at trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr.’s Tampa Bay base on Monday.

“He’s doing good,” Carvajal said. “The horse was doing good when he was training at Santa Anita, too, and was 100%, but unfortunately they scratched him. It was a little upsetting, but there’s nothing we could do about it. Just turn the page.”

Imperial Hint was a strong second in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar and followed up with a flat third behind back-to-back winner Roy H (More Than Ready) as the 8-5 favorite in last year’s Sprint at Churchill Downs. Mitole (Eskendereya) and Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) put on a show in this year’s renewal, with the former putting an exclamation point on a championship season with a 1 1/4-length decision.

Imperial Hint successfully defended his titles in both the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga July 27 and GI Vosburgh S. at Belmont Sept. 28 prior to shipping to Arcadia for the Championships. Mitole was a well-beaten third in Imperial Hint’s track-record setting performance in the Vanderbilt.

“Unfortunately, he had a little bit of irritation above the coronet band–it was like a blister there,” Carvajal said. “The horse’s feet-his ankles and knees were ice cold–everything was fine and he trained good. But it wasn’t good enough for the vets there. It was hard for me to understand, but Santa Anita Park is going through a tough time and decided to scratch the horse. I would’ve loved to have seen him run against Mitole again, he’s a great horse. Imperial Hint came back good from the ship from Santa Anita to Florida and everything looks fine. He came out of the work Monday in really good condition.”

Plans call for the Raymond Mamone colorbearer to run as a 7-year-old next term, with intended early season overseas targets of the $1.5-million dirt sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 29 and the $2.5-million G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 28. Imperial Hint was a close third in this year’s Shaheen.

“The horse is doing great and is going to be 7-years-old next year,” Carvajal said. “He’s very sound and he still acts like he’s 4-years-old. He’s a racehorse. I haven’t seen him slowing down at all. Hopefully, we’ll have better luck next year. The way he’s been training and running, I think we’ll have another fun year for 2020.”

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