As Triple Crown chase rolls on, horse racing at a crossroads after latest spate of deaths

BALTIMORE: Brad Cox sent 21 horses he trains to Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby and all came back from their races healthy with no problems.

Still, Cox is worried. Seven horses died in a span of 10 days at and around the famous track, thrusting horse racing into a familiar, negative spotlight during Triple Crown season. The sport, which  is as popular as ever, is facing intense scrutiny over the health of its animal athletes.

“The sales are strong, and the purses are strong, people are still involved — hopefully we can keep it going,” Cox said this week while preparing for the Preakness. “I think people are doing a good job of trying to keep their horses sound, healthy, happy and performing well. That’s the main thing. I’ve got a lot of questions about Derby week and what all happened there.”

He’s not alone. Industry leaders say racing is at a critical juncture, even though horse deaths are at their lowest number since they began being tracked, money is flowing and new national medication and anti-doping rules are set to take effect next week. The hope is to clean up the sport, making it fairer for those involved and perhaps more acceptable to skeptics.

“When it comes to passion about the horse and all of that, we’ve got a really vibrant industry,” Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus told The Associated Press. “We’re at a crossroads because of essentially what happened in the leadup to the Derby weekend, on Derby day, and obviously incidents over the last few years that shows that there’s nothing more important for the sustainability of our industry than ensuring that we’re taking the best care possible of our horses and the people who ride them.”

The authority