New technology could prevent future horse deaths at Churchill Downs

Apr 25, 2023

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Even though races are canceled at Churchill Downs, the track is still taking steps to prevent more horses from dying in the future.

A relatively new technology called StrideSafe is being used at the track for the first time this spring to determine which horses are likely to suffer a breakdown.

"It is a tool that I think can be very effective in the future of identifying injuries way before they get serious," trainer Dale Romans told WLKY. He's taking part in StrideSafe's research, using a device to monitor his horses during morning workouts at Churchill Downs.

According to StrideSafe's CEO, David Lambert, it's a sensor that uses GPS technology to measure a horse's body movements at high speed.

"That tells us about how the horse is moving. And when we see changes in how he [the horse] moves, then we know that there's trouble coming," said Lambert.

Last week, a sensor indicated one of Romans' horses was, in fact, in trouble.

"He was moving poorly, and the machine picked it up," Romans explained.

"We knew from that data that there was an impending fracture about to happen in his left leg. So that horse, had he kept going, he was looking at becoming one of these statistics, a catastrophic injury," said Lambert.

After reviewing the data, Romans decided to let the horse rest and take him out of training.

Since the start of the 2023 Spring Meet, StrideSafe sensors have been used on every horse during every race at Churchill Downs, including the Kentucky Derby. The device is located on the rear end of each horse in a pocket just below the saddle.

Lambert said the technology is currently being used on 30 horses per week during morning workouts at the track. The goal is to eventually use it on every horse in training to reduce the number of catastrophic injuries during races.

"There will always be bad steps here and there, but we've got to get it [the number of injuries] as low as possible," said Romans. "I think StrideSafe won't be the end all, but I think it could be a major tool."

The StrideSafe program is funded by a grant from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Churchill Downs is the only horse racing facility to use the devices, which first came about in 2019.