The Thoroughbred Safety Committee
Overview
Stuart S. Janney III Stuart S. Janney III - Chairman, Thoroughbred Safety Committee

Ogden Mills Phipps: The Thoroughbred Safety Committee was formed five days after this year's Kentucky Derby. It has made amazing progress since that time.

Stuart Janney, the chairman of the committee, is going to update us on the committee's activities and we're going to hear from several others who have shared their respective expertise with the committee in recent months.

Stuart…

Stuart S. Janney III: Thank you, Dinny, and good morning everyone.

At the outset, I'd like to thank the six other members of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee who, since the first part of May, have made the work of this committee a huge priority in their lives.

I would also like to thank all those who have come in to talk to us. They have been both informative and candid. They did so on a confidential basis. We do not mention their names or cite their opinions unless we have asked them for permission to do so.

Three of them are going to step up to the podium this morning to share with you some of the things they shared with the committee: Bill Casner, Dr. Rick Arthur and Alan Foreman. We're also going to hear from one of my fellow committee members, Dr. Larry Bramlage.

Over the past three months, we've had five all-day meetings and numerous conference calls.

We heard from approximately 40 different industry stakeholders and reached a true cross-section of our industry. We heard from horseplayers, jockeys, trainers, veterinarians, chemists, pedigree experts, owners, breeders, blacksmiths, racing commissioners, racetrack executives and geneticists.

When the committee was formed in May, the Round Table Conference seemed like a good time and venue to announce some recommendations, but there was no reason to wait once we learned all we needed to know about toe grabs, steroids and riding crops. Those recommendations, as you know, were announced in June.

As Dinny mentioned, we have relied heavily on the work of the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits and the RMTC over the past several years. Fortunately, there was no need to start from scratch.

At this point, we thought it would be beneficial to give you an example of how we arrived at some of our recommendations, specifically that pertaining to toe grabs.

Bill Casner has been at the forefront of this issue since the first Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit and we're delighted to have him here today to speak to you on the topic.

Bill…

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