No Changes After Meeting in New York

By Mike Kane 

New York Racing Association trustee Anthony Bonono described the closed-door meeting Thursday night with horsemen and NYRA officials at Aqueduct as an opportunity to talk about the changes made as a result of the series of catastrophic injuries that have occurred during December and January. 

A total of 14 horses have suffered racing related fatal injuries since the inner track opened. The most recent happened a few hours before the meeting, which had been scheduled for about a week. 

Bonomo, who is chairman of the Safety Committee of NYRA’s Reorganization Board, organized the meeting, which was attended by about approximately 15 trainers and several NYRA executives. While some horsemen had said they questioned some of the safety rules changes made by NYRA in response to the series of injuries, Bonomo said no policy changes or adjustments came as a result of the meeting. 

“It was an informational forum where we spoke about the changes we’ve made at NYRA that were affecting the trainers–like you can’t enter again within 14 days of a horse’s last race–so that they will have an understanding of where we are coming from,” Bonomo said. “I would say, it was just a gathering of some trainers and us to talk about the changes and get their feedback. And it was to say that going forward we all have a stake in racing and us working together collaboratively can only be good for the industry. That’s what it was. I think the meeting was very good. It was very cordial.” 

NYRA President and CEO Chris Kay and Martin Panza, the Senior Vice-President and Racing Operations, attended the gathering, which lasted about two hours. Spokesman John Durso Jr. said that NYRA would not have any comment on the private meeting. 

“It was a good, frank discussion,” New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Rick Violette said. “Anthony Bonomo thought it would be a good idea if owners, trainers, jockeys and NYRA sat down a few times a year to lay cards on the table to make sure we are on the same page and where we weren’t on the same page see what we could do to get on the same page. That’s kind of all issues, whether it’s racing dates or workmen’s comp. Not a bad idea.” 

The meeting came a week after NYRA announced a several immediate changes on Jan. 16 intended to curb the rash of injuries. The most controversial with horsemen was a rule that prohibits horses to be entered for races within 14 days of their last start. Violette said that while some horsemen may not like the rule, which conflicts with stats that say that horses coming back on short rest are less prone to injury, they understand the gravity of the situation. 

“There is no question that we’re under a microscope,” he said. “We were all mindful that there are people who would say that the simple answer is to just shut the doors. A big reason behind being very aggressive in some rule changes was to make sure that we were going through this constant self-scrutiny and even re-examine areas where from a 30,000-foot level it might be an issue, but in reality it’s questionable. We’re trying to leave the doors open, make sure there is racing and providing a livelihood for a lot of people, but at the same time being very cautious to assure people that we are literally doing everything that we can to provide the safety. 

“The 14-day rule is very controversial. However, even though it is controversial, you have to be willing to look at everything if there a key there that could provide for a safer environment.” 

Bonomo said there was no outside pressure to close Aqueduct in response to the crisis. 

Violette said NYRA and its horsemen cannot be too careful. 

“I think there has to be a willingness when you’re talking fatalities and maybe injuring riders to go over the top as far as safety and examining things, even if you doubt whether that might be the issue,” he said. “If there is a reluctance to push yourself back from the table and take another look, you certainly are opening yourself up to criticism and maybe you’re not doing the best job that you can. 

“While the overall numbers do indicate that short rest is not the problem on a very large scale, we have to look at it on a smaller scale and that might be winter racing and might be the inner track and maybe there is a combination there that we are missing.” 

So far, frequent examinations of the inner track at Aqueduct have not produced an explanation of why so many horses have been injured. 

“It doesn’t seem to be the racetrack itself,” Violette said. “I train at Aqueduct and I have not had a higher percentage of injuries and I haven’t heard anything from the other trainers, especially those with sizable stables, like Linda Rice, David Jacobson and Rudy Rodriguez. The riders in the afternoon have not come back and said they think it’s the racetrack. And the scientific levels, with [track surface expert] Mick Peterson doing ground-penetrating radar and moisture evaluations, depth evaluations, there has been nothing.

“At the same time it also shows you, we’ve brought Mick Peterson back to do another evaluation. There is no room for assumptions here. Even when you don’t think it’s the racetrack you still bring back the experts to re-examine it.”