New push in race to safety at Belmont

Daily Point

Belmont and Cornell to partner in new study

Belmont Park and its neighboring hospital, Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists, will be the focus of a new three-year study, funded by New York State and the New York Racing Association, regarding efforts to upgrade and expand the detection of thoroughbred injuries.

As part of the study, the equine hospital will gain new, standing CT scan and PET scan machines that will provide more sensitive and early identification of potential changes in a horse's bone structure and metabolic activity.

The study will look to determine how CT, PET and MRI scanning can attempt to find hairline fractures and assess trends that could determine a horse's risk for fracture and other concerns. And the use of new standing scanners is particularly helpful, as they won't require general anesthesia.

The state is putting $18 million into the study, which comes less than three years after a horse suffered a leg injury during the final Belmont Stakes race, an injury that ultimately required veterinarians to euthanize him on the track. A Newsday investigation later found that 221 horses died from racing or training injuries at Belmont in a five-year period.

NYRA donated $2 million toward the imaging equipment for Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists.

Belmont Park is undergoing an extensive renovation that will include a new grandstand and a new track that will be safer for horses, experts say. It's expected to reopen in September.

The new study comes as additional research is being done into the use of biometric sensors — wearable technology that can determine changes in the horse's health — and blood biomarkers.

Dr. John Pigott, the medical director of Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists, told The Point that while CT and PET scanning have been used for years, there haven't been as many opportunities to use the equipment in research among both healthy and lame horses.

"The whole purpose of doing research is trying to identify new and early changes in thoroughbreds that could be a very sign that may lead to fracture," Pigott said. "The way that we really try to make adjustments to the way we act clinically is through research. Then we can determine [whether] there are ways we can do this better and refine how we examine horses and how we image horses, to provide the most information and safety."

The research could help the veterinarians, trainers and others who work at Belmont Park, but also can assist those at NYRA, said Dr. Danielle Schilpp, NYRA's equine medical director.

"If you can catch something earlier, there's less downtime for the horse to recover, less damage to recover from, and hopefully you're helping horses remain sound and athletic and performing at their best," Schilpp told The Point.

And Pigott, a Huntington resident, noted that the research also brings a spotlight to Belmont Park and the region as a whole.

"I'm a fan of thoroughbreds, as they're incredible athletes and incredible horses to work on, so everything we're doing on a day in and day out basis is thinking about different ways to optimize thoroughbred safety and welfare," Pigott said. "But I'm also passionate about Long Island. We want this area to continue to benefit from all the rich history and investment that's going into the industry."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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Final Point

Dots all in for Blakeman

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican challenging Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul this year, got a shot in the arm when an internal poll showed him trailing Hochul by 9 points, not 20 as reported in an earlier Siena poll.

That's good news for Blakeman, who lags Hochul in fundraising. He has $1.14 million in his campaign account while Hochul boasts more than $20 million, according to January filings with the New York State Board of Elections. He's trying to flip New York from blue to red by reclaiming a statewide position last held by a Republican when Myspace was the hottest website, Twitter became a thing, and the Razr flip phone dropped.

Part of Blakeman's online strategy is getting people to sign up to put their name on a map of supporters. The idea is to create a visual showing red map dots of folks who support Blakeman.

The map section of the site doesn't ask for money, but there's a fill-in-the-blank box directing people to explain "Why I'm endorsing Bruce Blakeman." The site implores supporters to "Add your name today and place your pin on the map to show that you stand with Bruce Blakeman and the fight to restore safety, affordability, and strong leadership across our state."

A quick look at the map shows an interesting trend of names repeating across the state.

For instance, there's "Zbigniew Z" who, according to the map, resides in Merrick, Hicksville, Roslyn, Cohoes, Arcade and Webster. Another name, "Wayne Watson W," appears in Commack, Copiague, East Islip, Lynbrook and twice in Manhattan. And "yuhyun L" shows up in North Babylon, East Patchogue, Garden City, Brooklyn, Plattsburgh and Lancaster.

Then there's "indranie S," who apparently lives in Manhattan, Salem, Sag Harbor, Queens, Point Lookout and Bethpage. "valentinus B" hails from North Babylon, Brooklyn, Kings Park, West Sayville — and even in the bay off Lindenhurst. And "bentley Z" rolls from outside Buffalo to Brooklyn to Brookhaven hamlet.

There could be innocuous reasons for the duplication of names with exact spellings in multiple hamlets across the state. Maybe a bored campaign staffer wanted to boost the way the map looked. Or an internet troll was trying to have a little fun. Perhaps a techie had to create some map dots to get the site up and running.

Blakeman's campaign didn't respond to an email request for comment. Right before The Point was emailed, a bunch of the names disappeared from the map.

But it would be better for Blakeman if the names on the map led to donations. If they don't, the polls are still looking better for Blakeman, even if map dots can't vote ... yet.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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