| Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.) By The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS May 16--Thoroughbred racing's newest safety committee plans to pressure the industry to step up implementation of many previously recommended measures. But Stuart S. Janney III, chairman of the panel, said Thursday that there might be little they can do beyond providing a bully pulpit. "Probably there are some things enforceable through the Jockey Club, but very few", Janney said in a media conference call. He said they won't limit themselves to issues that can be directly changed. The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, established in the wake of the fatal breakdown of second-place finisher Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby, will look at various topics, including breeding practices, medication, track surfaces and the rules of racing. The Jockey Club is the North American Thoroughbred registry and keeps racing, breeding and wagering statistics. But the sport has no governing body, and each state is regulated individually, without uniformity. Janney said the panel will build on research and recommendations of two previous welfare and safety summits in October 2006 and March 2008. "Without endorsing everything that was said there, where there has been good grounding in science ... we want to see it get done", he said. The panel won't focus specifically on the filly's death at Churchill Downs. Just after finishing second in the Derby, Eight Belles broke both front legs and had to be euthanized immediately on the track. "What has occurred is an opportunity to make some progress because people are focused on horse welfare", Janney said. "And there's been a broad acknowledgement that we need to do a better job." Only in the last few years has racing begun keeping widespread records on horse injuries in racing. Few states have implemented preliminary recommendations, such as banning horseshoes with toe-grabs, or banning anabolic steroids. "We don't think it's an adequate response to say here's where we want to go", Janney said. The panel held its first meeting by teleconference on Wednesday. It will meet May 27 in Lexington and June 4 in New York, and members hope to make recommendations at the Jockey Club's annual round-table conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in August.
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