In an effort to avoid another Life At Ten situation, the Breeders’ Cup, Churchill Downs, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) have adopted new policies that will be in effect for this year’s World Championships, being held Nov. 4-5 at the historic Louisville, Ky., racetrack.

According to an announcement from the three organizations, the new policies relate primarily to communication and responsibilities of the veterinarians, stewards, and other officials on race day.

The new measures include:

• Establishment of a Communications Command Center (CCC) at Churchill Downs, staffed by a KHRC employee who is also an accredited steward. The CCC will monitor all radio channels used by the veterinary team and track personnel, television broadcasts, and simulcast and on-track feeds;
• Designating one of the three stewards to be in the paddock during saddling for each race;
• Instituting easily identifiable uniforms with the words "VET TEAM" in large block letters for both the KHRC and Breeders’ Cup veterinarian team members to aid race participants;
• Inclusion of the stewards and representatives of the Jockeys’ Guild in a pre-event television production meeting; and
• Advance meetings with the Jockeys’ Guild regarding on-track veterinary team and pre-race communications protocols.

Life At Ten, owned by Candy DeBartolo and trained by Todd Pletcher, finished last in the 2010 Ladies’ Classic as the second choice at odds of 7-2. With jockey John Velazquez aboard, Life At Ten had no run when the field left the gate, and she was not persevered with throughout the race