horse breakdowns

The U.S. Virgin Islands's Department of Sports, Parks, & Recreation Department has formally closed the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack on the island of St. Thomas until further notice after at least seven horses were euthanized last year, according to a press release from the agency on Friday. In an article on Thursday, Jan. 30, the TDN reported that breakdowns occurred starting in May, but the St. Thomas/St. John Horse Racing Commission (STT/STJ HRC) was regulating cards without anti-doping laws in effect nor had the surface undergone professional testing. Alongside these...

In an emergency California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) teleconference Friday in the wake of a series of equine fatalities at Los Alamitos, the board voted to put the track on a 10-day probation, while live racing continues, to devise a plan to address various horse welfare issues raised during the meeting. At the end of those 10 days, the board will reconvene to review the plan. At that point, if the proposed plan doesn't pass muster, the board has the option of suspending the track's racing license. "I agree that...

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine are launching a novel study exploring possible effects resulting from the combined use of furosemide, commonly known as Lasix, and bisphosphonates in equine athletes. Led by Dr. Mary Robinson, assistant professor of veterinary pharmacology and director of the Equine Pharmacology Laboratory at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center, the study is poised to be the first comprehensive analysis of the two drugs that, when used concurrently, could be capable of diminishing bone integrity and compromising cardiac function in racehorses. "The beauty...

SANDY HATFIELD, STALLION MANAGER, THREE CHIMNEYS What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I'm originally from Oklahoma. My family raised Quarter Horses, so I was familiar with the track in many ways. I was going to college at Oklahoma State University when the equine department at Murray State University was just getting started. They offered me a scholastic scholarship to join their program, so I moved to Kentucky as a junior in college. Between my junior and senior years of college, I had a...