A Kentucky equine veterinarian believes the recently released “mortality review report” can help reduce horse racing deaths. The increased scrutiny comes following a spike in horse fatalities at a well-known California track.
The unusually high number of horse deaths at Santa Anita over the last year got the attention of many in the racing world including fans of the sport. Kentucky Racing Commission Equine Medical Director Mary Scollay said the mortality review report work began before the Santa Anita deaths. It reflects the deliberative process to try to understand what happened when a horse dies. “We need to defend to the public and the other stakeholders that we take these incidents very seriously. We are intent on doing our best to do better for the horses. And this demonstrates an exhaustive process that we’ve gone through for each horse,” said Scollay
Scollay added the review includes the necropsy report, the horse’s high speed exercise history, interviews with trainers and jockeys, and the race replay. Scollay says in Kentucky, the seven horse deaths this year thus far are about half that seen last year.
Here's the entire interview with Equine Veterinarian Mary Scollay:
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