Industry Professionals Discuss Equine Safety

Some horse racing professionals gathered Wednesday in Louisville to discuss concerns about safety in the sport.At the monthly Louisville Forum Wednesday, trainer Tom Amoss expressed disagreement with several safety measures proposed in the wake of Eight Belles’ catastrophic injury at last month’s Kentucky Derby, including more synthetic tracks.“We haven’t had these surfaces long enough to decide just how good they are," said Amoss.Timothy Capps with the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program said trainers just need time to adjust to synthetic tracks.“They are a work in progress," he said. "I think it’s fair to say they’re promising in a lot of ways, but what we’re finding I’m sure Tom can tell you this in spades…Trainers are finding the types of things that happen to horses – the little aches and pains and minor injuries that occur are different on synthetic surfaces than they are on dirt surfaces.”Amoss also said he’d like to see the creation of a national horse racing commission to govern safety issues.