By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) – Racing-related horse fatalities at racetracks subject to federal rules fell below a rate of one horse per 1,000 starts in 2024, regulators said on Thursday, but animal rights activists said more work still needs to be done.
The 47 racetracks across 19 states operating under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) last year recorded an aggregate racing-related fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 horses breaking from the gate, HISA said in a release.
It’s around a 27% decrease from the 1.23 rate reported by HISA in 2023 and a 55% decrease from when The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database began reporting fatalities in 2009 at a rate of 2.00, HISA said.
“It has never been clearer that Thoroughbred racing has become safer under HISA,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus.
“While we celebrate this progress, HISA remains committed to collaborating with industry stakeholders to further reduce fatalities and to enhance safety for horses, jockeys and all those who love and participate in the sport.”
HISA has sought in recent years to replace the patchwork of state-by-state regulations around racetrack safety and anti-doping rules with national standards.
A HISA spokesperson said a more detailed report documenting last year’s fatalities, which will include training deaths and state-by-state statistics, will be released in March.
Animal rights activists applauded the progress but said the number of horse deaths was still too high.
“HISA has made progress and this is commendable, but 0.9 deaths per thousand races is still more than 230 horses who were killed in racing, which is a tragedy that must not be ignored,” said Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president for PETA.
“HISA should also report complete statistics, including the number of deaths that occur in training, not just during races, as well as the number of horses who sustain injuries that end their use in racing.
“And as horses are dying on tracks that don’t participate in the HISA program, the report can’t be viewed as representative of all U.S. racing.”
Guillermo also urged HISA to mandate synthetic tracks, which she said have been proven to reduce deaths.
“We look forward to zero deaths, on or off the track,” she said.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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