The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) April 11 approved an allocation of $2.85 million over the next three years for continuation of its racing equine injury prevention program with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).

The board, meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, gave unanimous approval to the program, which will cost the agency $950,000 per year.

The enhanced necropsy program, which began last year, is being conducted by the J.D. Wheat Orthopedic Research Laboratory at UC Davis. Despite its expense, it drew strong endorsements from CHRB executive director Kirk Breed and Rick Arthur, DVM, the board’s equine medical director.

Breed noted that the CHRB is required by the state to identify the cause of equine deaths. For 20 years, he said, the board "kind of found the cause" by usually blaming track condition or the horse for taking a bad step. For the first time, he said the board is making inroads into the actual reasons horses break down