KEEP Statement on Horse Health and Safety
KEEP shares the concerns of everyone in the Thoroughbred industry over the recent unprecedented loss of horses in our sport. KEEP is committed to supporting initiatives to strengthen and improve the positive health and welfare of the Thoroughbred athlete as well as Jockeys. KEEP strongly supports the coalition of racetracks banning the use of Lasix in two year old races beginning in 2020 and all stakes races beginning in 2021. KEEP encourages all industry stakeholders: trainers, veterinarians, owners, and other racetracks, as well as all industry participants, to support this national compact. KEEP also calls on the industry to enact national guidelines for medication testing and laboratory standards, to perform extensive and strict pre-race evaluations of all participants to ensure their wellbeing, to require mandatory reporting of breakdowns and injuries and to apply all technology and proven materials to provide the safest facilities and racing surfaces available in the world today. These policy changes, combined with increased accountability, transparency and collaboration across the industry, will ensure a safer, trusted and more successful sport.
Note: While these views reflect the consensus of KEEP, they do not necessarily represent the specific views of individual KEEP members.
ABOUT KEEP
The Kentucky Equine Education Project, Kentucky’s equine economic advocate, is a not-for-profit grassroots organization created in 2004 to preserve, promote and protect Kentucky’s signature multi-breed horse industry. KEEP is committed to ensuring Kentucky remains the horse capital of the world, including educating Kentuckians and elected officials of the importance of the horse industry to the state. KEEP was the driving force in the establishment of the Kentucky Breeders Incentive Fund, which has paid out more than $141 million to Kentucky breeders since its inception in 2006, and pari-mutuel wagering on historical horse racing, which has been responsible for more than $32 million to purses and more than $24 million to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
KEEP works to strengthen the horse economy in Kentucky through our statewide network of citizen advocates. To learn more about how you can become a member or support our work, please visit www.horseswork.com.
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