The second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit concluded March 18 with the 62 participants releasing action plans on how to improve various aspects of the Thoroughbred industry.

Some of the recommendations could prove difficult to execute, such as the call to coordinate all research regarding equine injuries and/or fatalities on all racing surfaces in all jurisdictions and publicize the results and the establishment of necropsy programs in all racing jurisdictions.

Indeed, some participants at the two-day summit, which was organized and underwritten by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, and hosted by Keeneland Association in Lexington, said there was considerable give and take during the discussions.

“In the last two days, there has been some really emotional, healthy discussion, but it has all been with mutual respect and trust,” said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. “Too often, in this day and time, we are not an industry that learns to work our way through problems with mutual respect. We can disagree without being disagreeable and there was a lot of that in the last two days. Through that process will come progress