The Death of Eight Belles: How to Stop the Carnage?

tags: Kentucky Derby, horse racing, racetrack surfaces, racehorses, injuries and fatalities report, Eight Belles, Barbaro

This morning, the book, My Guy, Barbaro: A Jockey's Journey Through Love, Triumph, and Heartbreak with America's Favorite Horse co-written by Barbaro's jockey Edgar Prado and John Eisenberg, was presciently announced on National Public Radio. They were interviewing Barbaro's jockey as part of their show about today's upcoming 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, American's most famous horse race. Little did the NPR commentators know, but they were casually talking about the last few hours that another noble horse would have on this planet.

Little did they know, but this evening, the grey filly, Eight Belles, would finish second in this race but then, a few strides after crossing the finish line, she would unceremoniously collapse into the soil of Churchill Downs, attempt to right herself, and go down again for the last time. A few moments after that, she would be diagnosed with condylar fractures of both front legs, a dislocated left ankle and an additional sesamoid fracture of the right front. She would be killed moments later by the track veterinarian in front of tens of thousands of horrified spectators, and millions of television viewers. At least a few of these people will never again attend a horse race.

Many of you know that I took care of racehorses when I was younger, and that I struggle with a powerful love-hate relationship with horse racing. On one hand, having worked with these horses, I am keenly aware of their competitive spirits and their strong desire to run -- fast. But on the other hand, I have watched excellent horses "break down" on the track followed by being "humanely destroyed" either on the race track or later, back in the barn, and it has upset me terribly every time. In fact, I have not attended a horse race for many years.

What can be done to stop this unnecessary carnage? There are several factors that contribute to racehorse injuries and deaths: the youth and immaturity of American horses when they are raced; the pressure to race horses when they are not fully healthy; and intensive breeding for speed rather than soundness. But probably the biggest single influence over a racehorse's long-term health is the surface that they run on. For example, in the United States, racehorses are run on two types of surfaces; dirt or grass (turf). In general, a race run over a hard dirt surface produces faster race times than those run over a hard grass surface, which excites racing fans who love to see speed records being made. Thus, dirt is the typical racing surface in the United States, whereas European racehorses generally run on turf.

But why do dirt surfaces result in faster running times? Comparing dirt and grass racing surfaces reveals that horses slide more when running over dirt surfaces because after the hoof strikes the ground, it skids through the loose dirt that sits on top of the hard smooth surface underneath. As you might expect, sliding places severe stress on the ligaments, muscles and bones in horses' feet and legs, frequently causing pain, injuries, permanent unsoundness and even death. In contrast, when a horse runs on turf, sliding stops when the hoof comes into contact with grass roots, resulting in less strain on the ligaments and other support structures. Oh, yes, and slower racing times.

But a few trainers have been working on developing a synthetic racing surface that can produce fast times and fewer injuries for horses. For example, one such artificial surface, called Polytrack, was recently installed at one of America's premier racetracks; Keeneland, which is just down the road from Churchill Downs in Lexington, Kentucky.

Polytrack was developed in England in the late 1980s by Martin Collins, who rode and trained jumpers for horse shows. He became interested in decreasing the injuries suffered by horses by improving the surfaces that they perform on, so he developed a synthetic surface, Polytrack. Polytrack is a cushion consisting of 90% silica sand mixed with recycled rubber and polypropylene fibers, wrapped in a petroleum-based wax coating that sits on top of a drainage system. This synthetic surface allows for less stress on the joints, muscles and bones of thousand-pound racehorses carrying a 110-pound human at speeds of 40 miles per hour. As of 2008, Polytrack has been installed on ten racetracks in the United States, England and Ireland.

Two other synthetic racetrack surfaces have also been developed recently; Tapeta Footings, developed by trainer, Michael W. Dickinson, and Cushion Track, developed by a group in the United Kingdom. All of these synthetic surfaces are resilient enough that they often are described as "riding on a cloud."

But synthetic racetrack surfaces are not the cure-all that everyone wishes they could be. It is well known that most synthetic surfaces tend not to tolerate extreme cold. When it is very cold, the track surface materials ball up inside the concave hooves of horses thereby causing their feet to strike the ground unevenly, resulting in injuries and fractures when they are running at speed.

Additionally, artificial surfaces are not appreciated by everyone. Horse racing fans complain that they cushion the horses' hooves so they cannot hear them thundering past the grandstands and down the homestretch. Additionally, synthetic surfaces eliminate track biases for horses with particular running styles, such as those that prefer to run in the mud and particularly those that begin a race with an early burst of speed. Because of this lack of racing bias, gamblers and hard-core horse players complain because "handicapping the ponies" loses most of its subtleties, and thus, racing becomes too predictable and betting payoffs shrink accordingly.

But those people who actually care about the health and welfare of their horses generally approve of synthetic surfaces. Early results from Keeneland, where Polytrack was installed in time for the 2005 racing season, were good: Polytrack reduced racing injuries of all types, and they only suffered three catastrophic breakdowns during the same period of time when they previously had 16 on their old dirt surface. Additionally, the trainers at Keeneland report their veterinary bills have been cut in half.

But unfortunately, not all data agree with Keeneland's early success. For example, a March 2008 BloodHorse article reports that injury and fatality data collected from 42 (out of 90 total) American racetracks did not show any statistically significant improvements: synthetic surfaces had nearly identical injury and fatality rates to those on dirt tracks (1.95 compared to 1.96 per thousand starts).

Oddly, data released by The Jockey Club in early April 2008 shows a drastic difference from the earlier published BloodHorse report. The Jockey Club's numbers show 2.02 fatalities per 1,000 starts on dirt surfaces compared to 1.47 starts on synthetic surfaces. But The Jockey Club's numbers are drawn from 35 racetracks instead of 42, and many of those tracks' data were collected from less than one year of racing. (I wonder if new racing surfaces of any type have a protective effect?)

So at this point, it is blatantly obvious that something must be done to reduce the tragic loss of American racehorses such as Barbaro and Eight Belles. If the racing industry doesn't take a stronger stand to protect the health and welfare of its equine athletes, other agencies and organizations will. Further, outside organizations will likely pressure the industry to stop racing horses altogether. And a public who has repeatedly watched its equine heroes needlessly die horrible deaths in front of their eyes will stand on the sidelines, cheering, just as they cheered for the gallant horses racing down the homestretch.

Sources:

A horse-racing change? [Herald Tribune]

Review: Racetrack Fatality Ratio Changes [Bloodhorse]

Polytrack.

Tapeta Footings.

Cushion Track Footings.