Under Peterson’s direction, the RSTL has been particularly effective at reinforcing the welfare and safety commitment through its central testing laboratory for dirt, turf, and synthetic racing surface materials. | Photo: iStock

A gift of $100,000 announced April 17 by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Charities will enable the University of Kentucky (UK) to further support equine surfaces and safety research under the direction of Mick Peterson, PhD, director of UK Ag Equine Programs.

The funds will be used to renovate existing space within the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment to create the NTRA Charities Equine Surfaces and Safety Laboratory. The investment will allow UK to impact the sport of horse racing through surface and safety research conducted by Peterson, a nationally known expert in surface safety and faculty member in the UK Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

“NTRA Charities is excited to support UK’s new Equine Surfaces and Safety Research Laboratory, which through its important work will absolutely lead to a safer racing environment for our human and equine athletes,” said NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop. “This presents a unique opportunity to achieve significant advancements in the science of creating and maintaining safer racetrack surfaces. This lab will also help us train the next generation of track maintenance personnel to analyze the wealth of data that will soon be available to keep racing surfaces as safe as possible