High Stakes
[-Back to High Stakes-]
Can biomechanics research improve racetracks and prevent injuries to horses and jockeys?
Video Text: One of the challenges in horse racing is that tracks have always been blamed for every problem under the sun. If you lose and bet on the wrong horse, it's always the track. If a horse is injured, it's always a problem with the track.
In reality it's a multifactorial issue--it's the injuries, it's the breeding. There are all kinds of risks that are associated with an injury to a horse, whether it's catastrophic injury or some sort of a more minor injury that the horse will come back from.
Track safety has become an issue recently, partly because of the introduction of synthetic tracks. The synthetic tracks have introduced consistency to track surfaces that didn't exist in the past. What biomechanics brings to this whole issue is the ability to test tracks to compare a track that may be of a traditional design to one of these new synthetic tracks, and to assure the veterinarians, the owners, and the trainers that the track will be a track that's consistent relative to the other surfaces they've run on.
What we've been developing over the last 10 years are tools that will allow measurements to be made on these tracks, and allow a trainer to make the decision to ship a horse to a particular track based on quantitative evaluations of the track surfaces. The protection of these magnificent animals is helpful for the health of the industry. It also has a huge impact on the safety of the jockey, as well as the enthusiasm of the fans.
