The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has announced that Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, has earned reaccreditation from the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.

April 2 marked the 45th running of Turfway’s signature event, the $500,000 Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati Spiral Stakes, a final prep race for 3-year-olds pointing to the Kentucky Derby.

Turfway’s reaccreditation was the culmination of a lengthy process that began with the track’s completion of an extensive written application and continued as the track hosted several meetings with alliance officials. An on-site review included inspections of all facets of the racing operations. Interviews were conducted with track executives, racetrack personnel, jockeys, owners, trainers, veterinarians, stewards, and regulators. The inspection team was comprised of Jennifer Durenberger, DVM, veterinary and regulatory consultant with past experience as a state veterinarian, track veterinarian, steward, and regulator; Jim Gates, racetrack operations consultant and former general manager of Churchill Downs; Mike Kilpack, security and integrity consultant and past chairman of the Organization of Racetrack Investigators; and Steve Koch, executive director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.

Alliance certification standards address an extensive list of safety and integrity concerns within six broad areas: injury reporting and prevention; creating a safer racing and training environment; aftercare of retired racehorses; uniform medication and testing; jockey health and welfare; and wagering security