sport news Churchill Downs set to limit horse schedules over eight-week period to curb ... trends now
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Churchill Downs will limit horses to four starts during a rolling eight-week period and impose ineligibility standards for continued poor performance in the wake of the recent deaths of 12 horses at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
Other safety initiatives announced by Churchill Downs on Thursday include pausing incentives, such as trainer start bonuses and purse payouts to every race finisher, with payouts limited to the top five finishers. Churchill Downs officials say they'll continue talks with horsemen to determine how to allocate funds.
The measures take effect immediately and follow a special meeting between Churchill Downs officials and horsemen based at the track and its trackside training center. Horse racing's federally created oversight authority had convened an emergency summit this week with Churchill Downs and Kentucky's racing commission to examine the troubling spate of deaths.
All but two deaths have been attributed to racing or training leg injuries.
