Category: Paulick Report

In The Face Of Climate Change, Experts Offer Tips For Making The Most Of Your Hay

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by Natalie Voss

 

The cost of keeping horses has been rising for some time now, but last year was an especially bad one when it came to finding hay. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, hay stocks fell to the lowest point they’d seen in a decade and in December 2022 were at their lowest since 1954. After a dry late summer and fall in many places, some 37 percent of the country is still considered to be in “extreme drought” conditions, with even more sitting at milder drought ratings despite recent precipitation.

According to statistics presented at a webinar hosted by the American Horse Council, the average cost of grass hay is up to $109 per ton nationally while alfalfa has climbed to $143 per ton. (This varies widely depending on where in the country you are.)

AHC President Julie Broadway said that hay prices and availability are subject to a variety of drivers, from the weather to fuel costs to fertilizer expenses and even the pricing/demand for hay from foreign countries that import it for their grazing animals.

Tracy Brothers Granted Appeals After Delta Downs Search Turns Up Injectable Medications, Albuterol Solution, Hundreds Of Needles, Syringes

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Trainer Greg Tracy and his brother and assistant, James “Jim” Tracy, have been issued six-month suspensions after a routine search by Louisiana State Police at Delta Downs turned up the following in their tack room: 59 bottles of injectable medications, 352 hypodermic needles, 256 syringes, and 75 packs of Albuterol Sulfate inhalation solution. Nine syringes with clear liquid were sent to Louisiana State University for testing.

The search, conducted on Feb. 4, 2023, led to a hearing conducted with three stewards on March 1, according to rulings posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website. Jim Tracy and Sgt. Dallas Brasseaux attended in person, while Greg Tracy and an attorney only referred to in the ruling as “Moak” attended via phone. Moak advised the Tracy brothers not to answer any questions; stewards introduced the state police report into evidence and suspended both Greg and Jim Tracy for six months, from March 5, 2023, through Sept. 4, 2023.

Each was granted an appeal on March 9, and Greg Tracy started two horses at the Fair Grounds on Sunday, March 12, finishing third and fourth in the first and fifth races, respectively.

 

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Texas Casino Legislation Gives Licensing Edge To Racetracks

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Texas State Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) on Friday filed House Joint Resolution 97 that would authorize casino gaming at seven destination resorts across the state and require license applicants be limited to racetrack associations or designees of those associations.

The legislation seeks to amend the Texas Constitution and give Texans the opportunity to vote on the issue this November. State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) previously filed a similar resolution in the Senate.

If passed and approved in a statewide vote, the casinos would be regulated by a newly created Texas Gaming Commission. Geren projects the casinos would create tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic development through tourism, and billions more in tax revenue to state and local governments.

 

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CHRB Releases Annual Report: Fatalities Down 52 Percent Over Last Three Years

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The California Horse Racing Board released its annual report on Tuesday, covering the fiscal year revenue of 2021-2022 and the California horse racing through the calendar year of 2022.

CHRB chair Dr. Gregory Ferraro lauded the efforts of the executive director Scott Chaney and deputy executive director Cynthia Alameda for their cooperation with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on racetrack safety rules: “The result has been federal regulations that reflect, in large part, that which is already in place here in California.”

Ferraro also praised the CHRB’s efforts to improve equine safety and reduce catastrophic injuries on the racetrack.

FDA Confirms Botulism Found In Alfalfa Cubes Tied To Deaths Of Nearly 50 Horses

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The Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry (LDAF), in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS), has confirmed the presence of Clostridium botulinum type C in alfalfa hay cubes linked to the death of at least 20 horses in Louisiana. This incident, which has evolved into a multi-state epizootic of Equine Botulism linked to the same alfalfa hay cubes, has also been connected to at least 28 similar horse deaths in New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, with many other horses becoming clinically ill.

Equine Botulism is a condition caused from a bacterial toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. In this incident, the condition was likely caused from direct ingestion of the toxin produced by the vegetative bacteria through contamination of the alfalfa hay cubes.

The FDA began their investigation, in conjunction with state departments, after reports that horses in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas showed neurologic symptoms consistent with botulism. During LDAF’s investigation, LDAF Investigators received information of possible alfalfa hay cube adulteration with animal remains. LDAF Investigators subsequently confirmed the presence of animal remains in an unopened 50 lb. bag of “Top of the Rockies Alfalfa Horse Cubes” (Lot # 111422), produced by Manzanola Feeds LLC, a feed manufacturing firm in Manzanola, CO. This finding indicated that material from an animal or animals may have been incorporated into the cubes during alfalfa harvesting. Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism, is commonly present in decaying animal carcasses.

 

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Louisiana Officials Revoke Ownership License Of Former Co-Defendant In Zetas Money Laundering Case

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by Natalie Voss

 

Louisiana stewards have revoked the ownership license of Carlos M. Nayen-Barbolla after determining Nayen-Barbolla – one of the men convicted as part of the Zetas drug cartel’s drug laundering case – lied on his application.

According to a ruling dated Oct. 21, Nayen-Barbolla was affiliated with the ownership group Red Sea Racing and applied for an owner’s license on July 20.

“When filling out his application he answered ‘no’ to Question 1 Have you ever used an alias or been licensed under any other name? and Question 6 Have you or your spouse ever been arrested or charged with any misdemeanor or felony, including DWI?’” the ruling read.

 

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New Study Finds Horses Racing On Lasix At 62 Percent Increased Risk Of Sudden Death

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by Paulick Report Staff

 

A new study of data from the Equine Injury Database has revealed that horses medicated with furosemide (Lasix) on race day were at 62 percent increased odds of sudden death compared to horses that were not racing on furosemide.

Funded by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation, the study was published by Dr. Euan Bennet and Dr. Tim Parkin on Oct. 20, 2022, in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. It examined the 4,198,073 race starts made by 284,387 Thoroughbred horses at 144 racetracks in the United States and Canada between 2009 and 2021; those numbers represent 92.2 percent of all official race starts during that period.

Of those nearly 4.2 million starts, 536 resulted in a horse’s sudden death, an incidence rate of 0.13/1,000 starts. Sudden death was defined as any horse that was recorded as a fatality within three days of racing, along with one or more of the following fatal injury descriptions or (presumptive) diagnosis, as provided by each participating track to the EID: (1) sudden death (recorded as “SUD” in the EID), (2) pulmonary hemorrhage, (3) exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), (4) postexertional distress/heatstroke (PED), and (5) cardiac arrhythmia.

 

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Lasix Mythbusters: Drug Masking, TCO2, And Impact On Racehorse Breakdowns

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by Natalie Voss

 

For decades now, people with an interest in horse racing have had opinions about furosemide, commonly referred to by its trade name of Lasix or Salix. Even now, as its use has been gradually pushed back farther from race time, theories abound on why trainers use it, and how (or whether) it should be used.

But floating about amongst all those opinions are sometimes misconceptions, including one we’ve heard repeatedly at the Paulick Report – that furosemide is used as a masking agent to cover up illegal drug use in post-race testing.

Dr. Rick Sams, former laboratory director at LGC Science, said that under current regulations, that just isn’t possible. Here’s why.

 

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Judge Rules CDI Can Ban Broberg From Fair Grounds Over Alleged Neglect

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by Paulick Report Staff

 

Trainer Karl Broberg

Last September, Churchill Downs, Inc. banned trainer Karl Broberg from the entry box at its parent company’s racetracks after an incident involving a voided claim led to what CDI alleged as neglect.

When racing began at the CDI-owned Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., however, the Louisiana Racing Commission insisted that only state racing stewards could legally exclude Broberg from racing. Commission chair Benjamin Guilbeau argued that since the Kentucky commission did not take action against Broberg, the trainer’s license remained in good standing.

Broberg wound up starting 40 horses at last year’s Fair Grounds race meet, per Equibase, running out earnings of $152,900. For comparison, the trainer started 76 horses at the 2020-2021 race meet.

 

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Fourteen HBPA Affiliates, Four Tracks Seek To Join HISA Lawsuit

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by Paulick Report Staff

 

An alliance of 14 affiliates of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and four racetracks are seeking protection from the alleged harms of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA). They are asking a federal judge to allow them to participate in an existing lawsuit that claims HISA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) violated the Fourth and Seventh Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations, T. D. Thornton of Thoroughbred Daily News reports.

The HBPA affiliates and the tracks on Friday filed a “motion to intervene” in United States District Court (Western District of Louisiana). If accepted by the judge, it would grant the petitioners status in the case alongside the lead plaintiffs from the states of Louisiana and West Virginia.

The HBPA affiliates seeking to join the lawsuit are Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Washington, Charles Town, and Tampa Bay Downs. The Colorado Horse Racing Association, the state’s statutorily recognized horsemen’s group, also wants to be an intervenor.

 

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