• “WS” available to data suppliers to publish on racecards to denote that a horse has had “new wind surgery since last performance” from 19 January
• Enhanced data to provide openness and transparency for betting customers, and help generate data for equine health and welfare research

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has today announced that, as of 19 January 2018, racecards will be able to carry information that confirms when a horse is having its first run after having undergone a wind surgery.

This has been introduced with the needs of the sport’s betting customer as the focus, and in the interests of openness and transparency. A survey led by the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF) recently found that information on wind surgeries is the piece of information most requested by the betting public.

As well as enhanced data for betting customers – and the beneficial impact this will also have on the integrity of betting markets – this development will also allow the BHA to collect research data on the nature, frequency and impact of wind surgeries on racehorses.

Jamie Stier, Chief Regulatory Officer for the BHA, said:

“The sport’s betting customers, and potential customers, are at the heart of this development. It is simply essential that the sport is seen to be open, fair and transparent. In a modern world, information which may have an impact on a horse’s performance should be available to all, not only those who are close to the horse in question.

“The more data that is available to the betting customer serves to make the sport a more attractive betting product. It is vital that we keep up with other sports if we are going to continue to compete in an increasingly crowded betting marketplace.

“We commenced consideration of this initiative some time ago as we were aware, anecdotally, that it was an issue which concerned the betting public. A survey by the Horseracing Betting Forum which showed that this piece of information was the punters’ number one issue reinforced the need to act on this matter.

“We are grateful to the many stakeholders who have shared their views on this issue through an extensive consultation period.

“Declaration of wind operations is already mandatory in some other racing nations, and the BHA are led to believe that other racing nations will also consider following suit following the BHA’s implementation of the changes.”

David Sykes, Director of Equine Health and Welfare for the BHA, said:

“Wind operations are routine surgical procedures which are designed to assist a horse with its breathing. We have identified a list of five of the most relevant and frequent surgeries, which we are asking trainers to declare.

“We believe it is reasonable that the betting customers will take it as read that the trainer, owner, and their veterinarian will have performed the most appropriate surgery to address the issue with the specific horse.

“Assumptions on the impact of the surgery on the horse’s form should rest entirely with the betting customer. It is understood that not all wind surgeries are successful…but some clearly are. Because of this, it is our view that the information should be in the public domain, and the betting customer should be given the opportunity to assess the value of the information.

“We are aware of the view that information about wind operations being made public may have an impact on bloodstock values. However, we place the importance of openness and transparency above this commercial interest.

“Moreover, the gathering of data from declared wind operations could be invaluable for equine welfare research and development in the future.”

Simon Rowlands, Chair of the Horserace Bettors Forum, said:

“HBF welcomes this initiative by the BHA and the decisive way in which it has responded to requests for wind-operation data from a section of the British horseracing public surveyed by HBF.

“The requirements asked of the sport’s professionals for declaring wind operations and the procedures involved in exposing the resulting information to the public seem reasonable and pragmatic. HBF looks forward to discovering, along with the wider public, the value that exists in this data once it starts to be published.”

Declaration of wind surgeries: Details

As of 19 January 2018, racecards will have the ability to display “WS” identifying that a horse has had “new wind surgery since last performance”.

This means that WS, when carried in racecards, will only appear for a horse’s first race start following wind surgery and not for subsequent race starts.

The types of wind surgery required to be declared are:

• Tie back (prosthetic laryngoplasty)
• Hobday (ventriculectomy/cordectomy)
• Epiglottic surgery
• Tie forward (dorsal displacement soft palate surgery)
• Soft palate cautery

Racecards carrying “WS” will not display the specific type of wind surgery.

The declaration of wind surgeries will only be required for horses which have previously raced, regardless of whether this was in Great Britain or elsewhere. The declaration of a wind surgery will be required prior to declarations for the horse’s first race start after it has been subjected to wind surgery. Where a horse is subjected to wind surgery on multiple occasions the declaration will be required on each occasion.

The requirement to declare wind surgeries will apply equally to horses trained in Great Britain and horses trained overseas which are racing in Great Britain.

In instances when the surgeries are not declared, and of which the BHA becomes aware, there will be a framework within the Rules to enable the non-compliance to be addressed. Non-compliance can be detected through, for example, accessing horses’ veterinary records, or other information gathered through the BHA’s regulatory processes.

Other aspects of data declaration, such as mares in foal, are currently being considered by the BHA, and further updates will be provided on this front in the new year.

Notes to editors:

Information such as WS is part of Pre-Raceday Data (PRD), which includes information you would find on a racecard, such as final fields, owners, trainers, jockeys, weight, colours, draw and ratings. Racecourse Data Company is the organisation which licenses PRD information (supplied by Weatherbys) to all third parties via a transparent rate-card utilised across all customers.