Turf racing at Parx Racing has been suspended until further notice while Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority officials make plans for a course examination from the Racing Services Testing Laboratory and HISA’s Track Surface Advisory Group.
The safety and condition of the Parx turf course were called into question after Causes Trouble was fatally injured during the Aug. 24 Parx Dash there. In the days that followed, Bob Hutt, president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, voiced his displeasure with the condition of the course with media outlets. He circulated a video taken by a horse person that showed someone walking a turf course that had numerous divots, some of significant depth. The video shows one person sticking their arm into a hole up to their forearm.
Hutt told BloodHorse Aug. 29 he views the course as a “minefield.”
Joe Wilson, chief operating officer for Parx Racing, did not return messages seeking comment. In a track statement published by Thoroughbred Daily News, the track described Hutt’s statements to the media as “patently false and misleading.”
Ann McGovern, director of racetrack safety for HISA, said she spoke to Wilson. She said he told her that “If it was his course, it was taken following a race day and not after the divots had been repaired, which would have happened the next day prior to racing. So we were seeing a course that had not been attended (to) or maintained following racing.”
She said safety statistics compiled from the Parx turf course do not exhibit a spike in injuries, while acknowledging the loss of Causes Trouble. A necropsy of that horse will also be examined as a result of their evaluation, she said.
In speaking with Wilson, McGovern said his response was to express “his first and foremost concern for the safety of the horses and jockeys, and if there is any concern whatsoever, he wants to address it. His response to me is he would never have let a horse race on the track if he felt it was unsafe.”
Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys’ Guild, said he spoke to regional manager Keith O’Brien, who described “wear and tear in a lot of places” in the turf course, but he said it was not the jockeys who raised concerns about the turf course. Parx typically uses its grass course from spring through fall.
Hutt, who helped initiate HISA’s investigation, told BloodHorse on Thursday that Parx has invested little in racetrack operations while directing its focus to its casino. He points to outdated track maintenance equipment and a deep main track as examples.
This is not the first occasion HISA officials have addressed track conditions at Parx. Last year, Parx came under criticism for racing over its main track despite a pool of water in mid-stretch that required horses to either splash through it or circle around it.
McGovern said she spoke to Wilson then and in consultation with Parx’s track superintendent, and “he came up with a plan to address it and they did.”
Hutt said he received no recent communication in trying to voice his concerns to Wilson. He said he fears that had he not reached out to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, continued racing would have occurred over what he deems as unsafe conditions.
Four years ago, jockeys at Parx threatened not to accept mounts because of the condition of the jockeys’ room. They also objected to a form management said jockeys were required to sign that included admission of any past legal problems and Parx Racing’s position not to contribute funds to the Jockeys’ Guild that are used for insurance.
They resolved their differences for a continuation of racing. However, Parx Racing is not an insurance partner with the Jockeys’ Guild, Meyocks said.
HISA has not finalized the whole process for accrediting Parx Racing, McGovern said Thursday, despite its being visited by officials in April 2023 and again this spring. Accreditation is meant to ensure that racetracks follow standards aimed at enhancing equine welfare and to minimize equine and jockey injury.
HISA previously influenced Turf Paradise to make safety repairs to its track.
“But no track has been told by HISA that you can’t send your (simulcast) signal because you’re not meeting our safety standards,” McGovern said. “There have been tracks that have chosen not to send their signal because they didn’t meet some of the HISA requirements, but they made that decision on their own.”
Parx Racing said in its statement posted by TDN that it was certified by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in 2018, and in June of this year the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory inspected and approved both of its racing surfaces.
