Cover image courtesy of Sleip
Last Thursday, a new clause was noted amongst the licence renewal applications for New South Wales trainers, mandating the trainers’ agreement to the use of AI gait analysis app Sleip as Racing NSW saw fit.
Details were to follow on what that would look like, so a week on, we can ask - what do we know about the app’s implementation?
At this stage, not enough.
Reasonable concerns
While the use of Sleip was first mentioned in the Chairman’s Report in Racing NSW’s 2023 Annual Report, the app didn’t enter the zeitgeist properly until earlier this year when Racing NSW announced they would mandate the app’s usage state-wide.
The initial proposal was that every horse in work would be recorded with the app every week they were in the stable. Seminars in early June did not resolve trainer questions on cost, data protection and practicalities, prompting a walkout from trainers. NSW Trainers Association CEO Richard Callander publicly called for a trial of the technology before rollout.
Racing NSW eventually walked back their July 1 launch date and announced they would perform a trial. Fast forward to that date and the app’s mandated use appeared in the licence renewal paperwork.
Richard Callander | Image courtesy of Racing NSW
The specific wording is: “Racing NSW is introducing a compulsory requirement for Trainers use of the equine gait analysis technology Sleip. Further information in regard to the required processes will be provided when available.”
No more, no less.
In an open letter to Racing NSW on July 6, country trainer Debbie Prest raised the concern that trainers did not yet have the full detail of what they were being asked to agree to.
Debbie Prest | Image courtesy of NSW Country and Picnic Racing
“Trainers should be fully informed of the scope and consequences of any compulsory requirements before entering into the agreement,” she wrote.
“As a matter of procedural fairness and good governance, is it reasonable to expect trainers to commit to an agreement where the material details remain undisclosed?”
"Trainers should be fully informed of the scope and consequences of any compulsory requirements before entering into the agreement." - Debbie Prest
Prest also reiterated the worries of many smaller trainers, that the technology comes with a monthly subscription that it appears to be expected the trainer will pay and that to get a suitable video is not a quick task. The process to capture suitable video for Overpass (Vancouver) before his Royal Ascot trip took a full 10 minutes with a quiet horse and an experienced handler.
In addition, the app only works on Apple devices and there has been no word on what will be done for regional trainers in areas with limited connectivity.
Prest’s concerns are reasonable. Before agreeing to any compulsory requirement, trainers should be able to understand what it means in practice. That includes who pays, how often recordings are required, how the data will be used, what equipment is needed, and what happens if a trainer cannot comply.
Overpass | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
The difficulty for trainers is that the licence renewal paperwork includes a compulsory requirement, while key operating details remain outstanding. There has been no public release from the authority on either the promised trial or the app’s future use.
The NSWTA’s response
Prest has since taken to social media to request a response from the NSWTA on what is happening between the association and Racing NSW. Until July 7, her requests had not received a response.
On the evening of July 7, Callander sent out an email to trainers on the app’s implementation.
“We appreciate it has been a process, but we have come a long way from when Racing NSW proposed to implement the technology to where we are now,” the email starts. “Make no mistake, the NSWTA has been at the forefront of the issue since the outset.”
"Make no mistake, the NSWTA has been at the forefront of the issue since the outset." - Richard Callander
The email states that the association has been in “continual dialogue” with the regulator, and has committed to finding an outcome that is “practical, fair, and workable for trainers”.
“Our understanding is that the final paper is now with the Racing NSW Board for discussion,” it said. The email said the NSWTA believed Racing NSW had listened to the concerns and reasoning put forward by the association.
“We believe we are moving closer to an outcome that will tick the necessary boxes for Racing NSW, while also delivering the protections and practical safeguards trainers quite rightly expect.”
There is no mention in the email of the trial, nor any further details on the technology itself, however it stated that Racing NSW’s Head Veterinarian Dr Carly Garling has agreed to meet regularly with trainers to discuss matters.
Dr Carly Garling | Image courtesy of Team Thoroughbred NSW
TTR reached out to Callander to find out more about the final paper being presented to Racing NSW’s board, and the possible timeline for further clarification for trainers.
Callander, who was not present at the meeting where trainers staged a mass walkout in June, shared that the rollout was likely to start on August 1 and would not be a blanket rollout for the whole state.
It will most likely start with “some” metropolitan and provincial trainers, before a “slow progression” across to all trainers in the state. He indicated he is hopeful that final details will be “ironed out” within the next week.
“I think sometimes we jump at hurdles that aren’t there,” he said.
A sticking point for the conversation was the perception that trainers are against the technology itself altogether. However, Prest made it clear that's not the case.
“No Trainer opposes genuine welfare initiatives,” she said. “Trainers are the frontline providers of horse welfare and have a vested interest in maintaining high standards of horse care.”
"No Trainer opposes genuine welfare initiatives." - Debbie Prest
The pushback appears to be less about the concept of gait analysis and more about the detail around its use. Trainers want to know what they will be required to do, how often they will be required to do it, what it will cost, how the data will be used, what devices will be needed, how regional issues will be handled, and what happens if a trainer cannot comply on a given day or week.
Those are practical questions for any stable, particularly smaller operations already managing staff, horses, owners, compliance and costs.
At this stage, the central issue is simple: trainers are being asked to agree to a compulsory requirement before the full operating detail has been released.
