New protocols instituted for Oaklawn's fans, horsemen

HOT SPRINGS -- There are new rules for horses and fans at Oaklawn.

For horsemen, adjustments are underway. In deference to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a pool limited to approximately 6,000 fans will begin to modify their approach to a day at the races -- as people have for many matters since March -- beginning Friday, the opening day at the racetrack.

"Basically, what we're doing is limiting our attendance to make it manageable," Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. "People can still go outside and go to the rail and watch a race, but they're going to be part of a handful and not of 15,000."

Fans had not been allowed to attend live racing at Oaklawn since March 12, the day Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, at the suggestion of the Arkansas Department of Health, announced the closure of nearly all non-essential public facilities across Arkansas. Similar mandates existed worldwide, though limited and restricted attendance at many public venues like Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort is now allowed and will likely persist through the lifespan of the contagion.

Everyone who enters Oaklawn's facilities will undergo a temperature check and be required to wear a mask at all times. Masks will be available upon request. General admission and individual reserved seats are out indefinitely. Fans who reserve tables or box seating in the grandstand at may be accompanied by up to five guests. Current holders of box seats and Oaklawn Jockey Club members also will be required to make weekly reservations.

Seating for boxes will be spread into the reserved grandstand seating to aid social distancing.

Current covid-19 protocols are subject to change.

"We know the fans are what make Oaklawn so special, but our main concern is for the safety and well-being of our guests and team members," Oaklawn General Manager Wayne Smith said. "We appreciate the support we have received from the Arkansas Department of Health in developing this plan. We will be working with them throughout the live season and will adjust as needed."

Horsemen and track employees who work in and around the track's barns are subject to similar restrictions, but changes in rules that cover the treatment of racehorses are also in place, similar to adjustments long suggested and now in place across much of North American racing.

"We've been working on these measures since last spring," Cella said. "We hosted a series of roundtable meetings with horsemen, regulators, racing officials, and our own management team where we asked a simple question: What can we do to enhance the safety and integrity of our program."

Most notable, with approval from the Arkansas Racing Commission and the Arkansas Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, the maximum dosage of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix has been reduced 50%, from 500 milligrams to 250, without specific approval from Oaklawn's state veterinarian.

Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's champion trainer last season, said most of his fellow trainers and he understand that they will have to adjust.

"A lot of these are things that needed to be done," Diodoro said. "I don't really see a problem with it, to be honest. This is the new way. For horseman, I don't see any use complaining about it or saying it's good or bad or stupid or a great idea or whatever. The game is changing and a guy's going to have to get used to it and deal with it for sure."

Lasix will not be allowed in Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby qualifying races, the Smarty Jones, Grade III Southwest and Grade II Rebel Stakes, and the Grade I Arkansas Derby, or Kentucky Oaks qualifiers, the Martha Washington, Grade III Honeybee, and Grade III Fantasy Stakes.

The use of Clenbuterol or any other beta-2-agonist will no longer be allowed 60 or fewer days before a horse's race. Long banned by sporting organizations around the world, the drugs can serve to treat asthma and other respiratory diseases but work as performance enhancers similar to anabolic steroids in large doses.

"Clenbuterol is the most abused drug in our industry," Florida-based trainer Mark Casse wrote in March in Thoroughbred Daily News.

The abuse of medication and procedures originally administered solely as an aid to equine health led to the new measures, Cella said.

"The horsemen agreed," Cella said. "Let's get rid of those things, and they have been embraced that pretty positively."

The use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy, radial pulse wave therapy, and other similar treatment will not be allowed 30 or fewer days before a race. More commonly, tracks allow the use of extracorporeal shock wave therapy within 10 days of a race. The use has been shown as a potential mask for pain, one that can turn minor injuries into major ones.

"By and large, we are a bit more strict, but we're also very reasonable in our approach," Cella said. "That's because we sat down and talked to the horsemen for five months."

Cella said Oaklawn's new rules might put a purer form of horsemanship on display.

"[Horsemen] are going to have to train their horses differently and more positively in a more natural way to achieve excellence, rather than relying on some of these crutches," he said. "I think we have a great group of trainers that are true horsemen that will be able to do that."