The National Steeplechase Association (NSA) board of directors announced Nov. 14 the formation of a task force to evaluate all safety issues in United States steeplechase racing.

The Steeplechase Safety Task Force is composed of steeplechase community members with specific areas of expertise in racing, veterinary science, and race administration. The task force will immediately begin its inquiry into events that occurred in the 2012 racing season and will strive to complete its work before the beginning of the 2013 racing season in March.

Members of the Steeplechase Safety Task Force are:

• Guy J. Torsilieri, president of the NSA and co-chairman of the Far Hills Races, in Far Hills, N.J.;
• Dwight Hall, chairman of the NSA Stewards Advisory Committee and chairman of the Iroquois Steeplechase, in Franklin, Tenn.;
• R. Reynolds Cowles Jr., DVM, founder of Blue Ridge Equine Clinic, in Earlysville, Va., and an authority on veterinary protocols for steeplechase race meets;
• Bill Gallo Jr., NSA director of racing;
• R. Barry Watson, NSA safety advisor;
• Kate Dalton, president of the Steeplechase Owners and Trainers Association;
• Sean Clancy, former champion steeplechase jockey and Eclipse Award-winning journalist; and
• Richard Valentine, licensed steeplechase trainer and National Steeplechase Foundation Board of Directors member.

Don Clippinger, NSA communications director, will serve as task force secretary