2 AAEP 'On Call' veterinarians to assist Breeders' Cup telecasts

Arcadia, Calif.

-- Two renowned equine surgeons will serve as "On Call" veterinarians at the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Friday and Saturday, providing ESPN and ABC Sports with horse health information during racing telecasts.

Larry Bramlage, DVM, MS, and Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, PhD, will be at Santa Anita Race Track near Los Angeles during the two-day event that features 14 races, highlighted by the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday.

They represent the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), which created the On Call program in 1991 to provide expert commentary for the media and viewing audience.

Funded in part by the Oak Tree Racing Association, the program serves more than 100 televised equine events annually, with more than 25 media-trained AAEP member veterinarians participating. Bramlage and McIlwraith have been On Call spokesmen at the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup and other top racing events in the past.

Bramlage, a partner in Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., is a past president of the AAEP, just completing a year as president of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and chairs the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's Research Committee. McIlwraith, also an AAEP past president, is a professor of surgery and director of the Orthopaedic Research Center at Colorado State University.

This year's Breeders' Cup Classic race features 2007 Horse of the year Curlin. The field of 12 also includes three European grass-track champions that are running because this year's Cup races are the first on a synthetic-surface track. Big Brown, the 2008 Kentucky Derby winner, will not compete because of a foot injury.