Horse Racing Injury Prevention

California’s Racing Safety Program

The California Horse Racing Board initiated the Racing Safety Program in July, 2010 to address the requirements of the Business and Professions Code and to reduce the incidence of debilitating and fatal injuries at California race tracks and training facilities. The Program has 3 parts.

The Track Safety engineers are developing parameter ranges for safe track operations. The goal is to maintain race surface consistency. Field and laboratory measurements of surface parameters are compared to surface composition. These comparisons guide surface management so that surface parameters are kept within a range of safety

The Racing Injury Prevention Program was conducted in collaboration with the JD Wheat Veterinary Orthopedic Research Laboratory, University of California, Davis. The program was conducted from July, 2011 through June, 2013 because of the high fatality rates from musculoskeletal injuries and attrition due to mild injuries that adversely affect equine welfare and the industry.

A seminal finding is that pre-existing injuries predispose to catastrophic bone fractures; therefore, injuries are preventable. Further, factors such as training and racing schedules and race surface are associated with development of injuries. Consequently, factors can be managed to reduce injury rates.

Racing Injury Prevention Program

UCDavis CHRB Racing Injury Prevention Program 2011-2013 Report (pdf)

Continuing Education

Using the research and findings from these programs a comprehensive education program designed to educate licensees is being developed for injury prevention in equine athletes. Training materials contain an overview, interactive information, how to movies, and self-assessment sections.

Education Modules

Educational Modules for Continuing Education (CE) Credit through the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the North American Racing Academy (https://courses.grayson-jockeyclub.org/) – Register for courses before taking the modules to receive credit.

(The 5 modules below should be viewed in a current version of Firefox on a Mac, or Internet Explorer on a PC)

Racing Safety Program Overview Module

Jockey Safety Module – CE credit

Jockey Safety Module – no CE credit

Humeral Fractures Module - CE credit

Scapular Fractures Module - CE credit

Humeral Fractures Module - no CE credit

Scapular Fractures Module - no CE credit