LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Churchill Downs is testing its track after a string of horse deaths and injuries in the spring meet.

The horse racing industry focused on Churchill Downs after there were seven horse deaths in 10 days at the track.

Mike McCarthy trained Swanson Lake was the ninth horse to die at Churchill Downs on May 20. The three-year-old filly suffered a left-hind injury in a race and was euthanized after being vanned off the track.

Churchill said the Director of AG Equine Programs at the University of Kentucky, Doctor Mick Peterson, was at the track Tuesday to “run additional diagnostics” on it. 

"What we have been doing most recently is double-checking to make sure nothing has changed," Peterson explained. He said the dirt track is tested daily for moisture and cushion depths. The turf track is tested for penetration resistance.

"There has been an improvement, but we got to continue to improve. This level of catastrophic injury is unacceptable, and it's multifactorial," he said.

Peterson said once results come back the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will perform an overall evaluation.

"It's not just going to be just a matter of improving one thing of fixing one thing. We have got to get better at everything we do," Peterson said.

Critics of horse racing like Kathy Guillermo, Senior Vice President, Laboratory Investigations at PETA, have a different solution. 

"Churchill Downs could start with shutting down the track and suspending all the races until they get to the bottom of what's causing the problem," Guillermo said.

"It is always shocking to hear about so many deaths at one time, but I have to say this occurs every day in horse racing" said Guillermo.

A horse died May 14 after a race, and two horses were euthanized after being injured in races hours before the Kentucky Derby on May 6. Five others were euthanized after training and racing incidents at the track in the days leading up to the Derby.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was indefinitely suspended by Churchill Downs during Derby week after two of his horses collapsed on the track and died. Kentucky racing officials also scratched his Derby entry, Lord Miles.

One month before Derby, Peterson was at Churchill downs running tests, as well. 

"We do something similar to a preflight inspection, and we don’t let horses on the grounds. If we find anything, we fix it" said Peterson

All the incidents happened between April 27th and May 14th. Some happened on turf, others on the main track.

Concerns are not only being raised at Churchill Downs. On May 20 in Baltimore, a horse trained by eventual Preakness winner Bob Baffert was injured in a race on the event's undercard and was euthanized, and Golden Gate Fields in California has had eight horse deaths so far in 2023.

Industry leaders say racing is at a critical juncture, even though horse deaths are at their lowest number since they began being tracked.

The federally mandated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was established to set uniform regulations across the U.S. Its racetrack safety program has been in place since July 1, 2022, and the Antidoping and Medication Control Program that was delayed and challenged in court went into effect on May 22. It till oversee drug testing requirements for horses that should standardize the sport nationwide for the first time.

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