The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., has been fully accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance following a complete review of all racing operations at the facility. Del Mar is the 11th racing facility to be so designated by the Alliance.

The accreditation of Del Mar was the culmination of a lengthy certification process that began with the track’s completion of a 48-page written application and continued as Del Mar hosted several meetings with Alliance officials. The on-site review included inspections of all facets of the racing facility, and interviews with track executives, racetrack personnel, jockeys, owners, trainers, stewards, regulators, and fans. The inspection team was comprised of Celeste Kunz, DVM; racing industry executive Dan Fick, and NTRA president and CEO Alex Waldrop. Observing the inspection was Mike Ziegler, executive director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.

“Del Mar was reviewed during its recent live meeting,” said Ziegler. “It exceeded prescribed benchmarks on many fronts, with industry-wide best practices established in several areas including post-mortem veterinary examinations, safety research, safety training and continuing education, out-of-competition testing, and testing for alkalinizing substances and exogenous steroids.”

“We are proud to know that Del Mar received high marks in so many different areas,” said Craig Fravel, executive vice president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. “There is no higher priority at Del Mar than the health and safety of our human and equine athletes