For the second yr in a row Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma dust coaching monitor has maintained a gold customary for equine security.
Open from April by way of mid-November, the dust monitor as soon as once more had no catastrophic accidents throughout 7,037 timed exercises over the floor.
In 2023, there have been 7,444 timed works and not using a deadly harm, bringing the overall to 14,481 works for the final two years.
“Any time you see numbers as little as this it is a optimistic,” mentioned Andrew Offerman, the New York Racing Affiliation’s senior vice chairman of racing and operations.
There was one deadly harm on the Oklahoma turf course, which additionally had no fatalities in 2023.Join BloodHorse Day by day
By way of dust and turf works on the Oklahoma facility, there was only one fatality harm in 2023-24 throughout 18,305 works.
“The capital put into redoing Oklahoma (in 2021), altering the floor  and widening it, has been a profit to the horsemen and to us when it comes to sustaining it,” mentioned NYRA govt vice chairman of operations and capital initiatives Glen Kozak. “The rebuild we did from the underside up at Oklahoma has been nice and set the usual for what we’ve got executed at different services to have consistency between the tracks.”
The Oklahoma figures additionally underscore an enormous change at Saratoga Race Course’s foremost racing surfaces the place there was just one catastrophic harm throughout this yr’s 40-day meet, in comparison with 9 throughout racing in 2023.
The dust surfaces for Saratoga’s foremost monitor and the Oklahoma dust coaching monitor are the identical combination, which may also be used for the principle monitor on the rebuilt Belmont Park. It’ll include a limestone base with a clay pad under the dust combination of sand, silt, and clay.
“The trainers which were on Oklahoma see how effectively it reacts to the climate through the prime racing season of April to December,” Kozak mentioned. “It provides us the power at Belmont Park to have the perfect floor when it comes to the sub-base, the bottom and the cushion on prime.”
Whereas surfaces play a key function in equine security, Offerman famous it additionally requires the dedication and help of all the racing neighborhood.
“Equine security is a multifaceted effort that additionally includes the individuals, the veterinary care the horses obtain from non-public practices, and from a regulatory perspective,” Offerman mentioned. “It even includes the racing workplace and different events which are watching the horse inhabitants frequently to verify everyone seems to be looking for the perfect pursuits of the horses.”
Offerman pointed to NYRA’s longer, six-day entry schedule as one other method to promote equine security, along with the monitor floor.
“The change (to a six-day entry schedule) was on the request of the regulatory vets so they might have additional time to undergo prescreening and danger elements,” he mentioned. “Doing issues collectively to make the game safer and defend the horses is what we are attempting to do. There’s satisfaction in seeing these numbers and realizing that everybody is issues otherwise than prior to now and understanding the significance of working collectively.”
