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Despite precautions, racehorses risk injury
Trainers, vets inspect animals at races for health, illegal drugs
| DEATHS AT THE TRACK In 2005, New Mexico's six tracks saw 43 racing-related horse deaths out of 23,381 horses that started a race statewide, or one death per 544 starts. The industry standard is one death per 1,073 starts. Here is the breakdown of deaths per track.
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TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*
He's trained winners and losers. He's seen horses get sick and horses break legs. Sometimes, he's had to have them euthanized.
So when Chavez saw Triple Crown hopeful Barbaro shatter his right hind leg last month in an ugly career-ending injury at the Preakness Stakes, he could relate.
"The only thing that shows is it can happen to the little guy," said Chavez, 56. "It's unfortunate. You don't like it. But a multi-million-dollar horse can get hurt, just like ours."
It's a reality that trainers and officials with the state Racing Commission live with. They expect Barbaro's broken leg and the ensuing publicity to have little effect on the local racing landscape.
New Mexico has strict guidelines to ensure the safety of jockeys and horses, they say. For his part, Chavez guesses that today's Barbaro-less Belmont Stakes will produce an enthusiastic crowd of bettors at the Downs of Albuquerque, where he runs his horses.
"We have a responsibility"
The accepted industry estimate for deaths of horses at racetracks is one equine death per 1,073 "starts," or horses that started a race, said Robert Betts, a veterinarian contracted to work for the state commission.
New Mexico's six tracks saw 43 racing-related horse deaths last year, said Julian Luna, executive director of the state Racing Commission.
That's out of 23,381 horses that ran statewide, or one death per 544 starts.
Luna stressed that the commission's staff - including, among others, investigators and veterinarians at every track on race days - follows strict guidelines.
Every horse that dies, for instance, is tested to see if it was under the influence of banned drugs. For that matter, horses are tested randomly before races. Every winning horse is tested.
In 2005, there were 50 positive drug tests, Luna said, 10 for illegal substances and 40 for legitimate medications that should not be administered on a race day.
"We've got some major races in New Mexico. We have a lot of responsibility to ensure that everything goes well," Luna said.
Even the surface at every track is scrutinized. A consultant studies the composition and reports to the commission, which would order changes, if deemed necessary.
At the Downs earlier this week, Milton Romans, one of three commission investigators, poked his index finger into the dirt to demonstrate just one of his tasks.
"I have a measuring tape right on my finger," he said.
The track's surface should be about 2 inches deep, Romans said, with a good mixture of silt, clay and fine sand. You don't want to find large pieces of gravel.
Romans pushed aside the cushion to reveal the track's hardpan, the surface underneath. He pronounced it wet enough to allow a horse's hoof to get a hold, but not too wet.
The track that day was adequate, Romans said.
On racing days, Romans has other jobs as well.
He would, for instance, wander through paddocks, checking for abuse, possible drug violations or other problems. He would witness the start of every race.
Betts, the veterinarian contracted by the state, conducts random inspections on horses to determine if they're fit to run. If a horse is unfit, Betts makes a recommendation to the track vet, who has the ultimate decision.
"I go and view somewhere between 16 and 22 horses in their stalls in the morning. I identify these horses, look in their stalls, feel their extremities to see if there's heat or swelling. Then, they're taken out and prodded so I can view them in motion," Betts said.
When he's not on the track, Romans handles everything from disputes on the outcome of a race to overseeing background checks on track employees.
On this day, Romans had five open cases.
Romans and the other investigators make recommendations to the commission. Should a complainant appeal, that would go to the state District Court.
"When we have to put down a horse on the track, I have to witness it," Romans said. "I say a prayer for that animal. I don't think of myself as religious, but I'm spiritual."
"Every athlete has its day"
Chavez, the trainer, knows what it is to have to put down a horse.
He trained a $15,000 quarter horse named Victor Andres, who earned $142,000 in prize money. In February, 2004, at Sunland Park, the 6-year-old took a bad step and broke his leg, above the ankle. He was euthanized.
That December, Chavez bought Victor Andres' full brother, Mr. Roberto. The following spring, Mr. Roberto won second place at a race at the Downs at Albuquerque. Four days later, in March 2005, he became sick with colitis, an infection of the intestinal track. Mr. Roberto met the same fate as his brother.
Chavez describes race horses and jockeys as athletes. Any athlete can get injured, he says. "Every athlete has its day. And every athlete's day is numbered."
This year's meet at the Downs - which ends Sunday - has been a successful one: Chavez was leaving Albuquerque with four wins, five seconds and six thirds.
None of his horses suffered injuries.
Today, 11 of the 12 horses that Chavez trains were to be in Farmington, where the meet at SunRay Park is just beginning. One, 6-year-old quarter horse gelding Meikiomio, will race Sunday at the Downs before he, too, heads to Farmington.
"Excellent," Chavez called his prospects for the Farmington meet. "We're taking a lot of really nice horses there."
One of the horses carries a strong emotional legacy.
Economic Trend, a 10-year-old black quarter horse, is special because he reminds Chavez of his son, who used to own him.
One day in December 2003, the younger Joe Ray Chavez, a trainer like his father, helped him winterize a barn at the Downs. The son caught a cold. He went home to California, and when he returned to visit his parents the following March, his cold had gotten worse.
Within days, he was hospitalized. On April 22, 2004, Joe Ray Chavez died of pneumonia. He was 33.
"After he passed away, I didn't want to do nothing with horses," said his father. "But I thought, no, he wouldn't want that."
Chavez arranged to have the horse brought from California to Albuquerque. The animal naturally reminds him of his son. "Every single day."
After this season, after an eight-year career, 10 wins, 19 seconds, 14 thirds, and $164,000 in prize money, Economic Trend will retire at Chavez' West Side home. He deserves to rest and "do nothing," Chavez said.
