Race-Level Reporting of Incidents Using the New Online System During Two Seasons (2019/2020-2020/2021) of Harness Racing in New Zealand.

The research paper focuses on an investigation and comparison of an old paper-based system and a new online-based system implemented for reporting and recording race-level, horse- and race-specific injuries and other clinical outcomes during harness racing seasons in New Zealand.

Objective

• The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the new online reporting system implemented for documenting race level injuries, non-incident examinations, and various associated variables during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 harness racing seasons in New Zealand. This was achieved by comparing it with the traditional paper-based system used during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons.

Findings

• The online system correlated with a 0.01% rate of misreporting events associated with horse identification. This signifies a very accurate form of reporting when compared to the paper-based system.
• The new system witnessed an increase in the reporting frequency of non-incident or random examinations. This could be attributed to the better definition and cues provided by the online system.
• The biggest coding category recorded was ‘No Observable Abnormalities Detected’ (NOAD), which suggests that most of the check-ups were part of routine screening processes rather than a result of some incident occurring either during the warm-up phase or the race itself.
• The frequencies of most of the clinical findings’ recordings were almost the same between the two systems, pointing towards a consistent reviewing process.
• The reporting of musculoskeletal fractures was quite low, with an incidence rate of 0.12 per 1,000 starts (95% confidence interval: 0.05 to 0.28), which suggests the occurrence of these types of injuries is quite rare.

Implications

• The new online system shows potential to serve as a powerful tool in the future to monitor and report injuries and other conditions associated with harness racing in New Zealand. By offering a seamless and efficient method to report incidents, this system could greatly enhance the overall process of incident and injury tracking, and contribute to the advancement and safety of the sport.