And no one cares!
Massachusetts has NOT adopted regulations to prevent the injuries, drugging and deaths of horses.
Aqueduct Breakdowns Lead to Order for Necropsies
By JOE DRAPE
Published: January 12, 2013
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board announced Friday that it would order necropsies for all horses that sustain deadly racing injuries at Aqueduct after four fatalities at the track's meet, which opened Dec. 12.
On Thursday, Pleasantfriday broke her right front leg while turning for home, sending jockey Cornelio Velasquez to the ground. Pleasantfriday, a 5-year-old mare, was taken away in a van and later euthanized.
Necropsies of horses that are fatally injured were among the recommendations of a task force requested by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate the increase of fatal breakdowns at Aqueduct Racetrack last year.
The four-member panel concluded that more than half of the 21 racehorses that died might have been saved had racing authorities more closely monitored their health and the liberal use of prescription drugs used to keep them racing for purses inflated with money from the track's adjacent casino.
"Necropsies for two horses that have died at Aqueduct - Pleasantfriday and Gulltopper - were ordered by the board because circumstances of those incidents raised red flags with investigators and required more information," Lee Park, a spokesman for the board, wrote in an e-mail. "Going forward, the board is ordering necropsies for all horses that are fatally injured while racing on the inner track at Aqueduct."
New York racing authorities have also enacted a series of rules - among the most aggressive in the nation - to restrict the use of legal drugs on horses and require trainers to disclose what treatments their horses have received.
"The Racing and Wagering Board continues to closely monitor and investigate the circumstances of every breakdown at Aqueduct," Park said. "Comprehensive investigative reports for the four equine fatalities from the inner track meet are being completed by board staff."
The rules come as racing wrestles with a drug culture that many of its most experienced officials contend is diminishing the sport. There have been Congressional hearings, stricter drug rules in several states and calls for an outright ban of drugs.
The breakdowns also offer the first test of a new New York Racing Association board that was handpicked by Cuomo. He appointed David Skorton, president of Cornell, as chairman, completing his takeover of racing in the hope of ending decades of scandal and mismanagement in an industry important to the state.
"NYRA is very concerned with any equine breakdown during a race or training, and we are constantly examining our procedures," the association said in a statement. "We have been aided in this by the recent New York Task Force Report on Racehorse Health and Safety, which was very clear on the safety of NYRA's inner track racing surface."
It says it is continuing to put into effect new safety policies recommended by the task force.
"NYRA is working to enhance preventative measures, monitoring and reporting with respect to breakdowns; and we are working with Chairman Skorton and our regulators to prevent future fatalities as much as we possibly can," it said.
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