Results of physical inspection before races and race-related characteristics and their association with musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbreds during races

Objective-To estimate the relative risk of injury among horses deemed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection fi ndings and to examine the association of injury during races with race-rela ted characteristics. Design-Cohort study. Animals-2,187 Thoroughbred horses that started 3,227 races in Kentucky. Procedure-All race starts for which a horse was deemed to be at increased r isk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection findings and a ra ndom sample of race starts for which horses were not deemed at increased ri sk of injury were included in the study. Findings of prerace physical inspe ction, race-related characteristics, and outcome of the race trace results and whether the horse incurred an injury) were recorded for each race start . Race starts in which a horse incurred an injury during a race were compar ed with race starts in which injuries were not incurred to identify factors associated with injury during races. Results-Abnormality of the suspensory ligament of the forelimbs detected du ring prerace physical inspection, racetrack, class of race (claiming race l ess than or equal to $25,000 vs other classes), and distance of race (< 7 f urlongs vs other distances) were significantly associated with increased ri sk of injury. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Preface physical inspection findings, pa rticularly abnormalities of the suspensory ligament, may bo used to identif y horses at increased risk of injury during races. Rate of injury differed among racetracks, and horses in certain types of races (lower-priced claimi ng races and races of shorter distance) may be at increased risk of injury during races.