fatalities

I read with optimism HISA's 2025 fatality rate report showing a gradual but steady decline in the rate since 2009. However, I feel that it still doesn't address a major issue affecting U.S. horse racing (as touched upon by Mr. Sonbol in his letter), namely the extremely high level of short-term and long-term injuries suffered by US racehorses. There have been widespread commentaries (and potential solutions) recently by industry leaders regarding the major concerns affecting our industry, including the fatality rate, the rapid decline in the horse population, the extensive...

In response to a release on the subject of 'Equine Sudden Death Syndrome' issued by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) on Sept. 25 (TDN story), which found that atrial fibrillation (AF) was a contributing factor to equine sudden death, Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HPBA, called the findings into question in a statement of his own on Oct. 8, declaring that the HISA statement 'raised more questions than answers' and 'offered no scientific references, and provided no direct link to the alleged research behind their claims, even...

The 2025 First Quarter Metrics Report, released Tuesday by HISA, shows racing-related fatalities largely on par with previous averages. The first quarter, which runs from Jan. 1-March 31, saw racetracks operating under HISA's umbrella report 0.85 racing-related fatalities per 1,000 starts, consistent with the 0.84 fatalities reported through the same period last year. Additionally, this first quarter's 0.85 represents a 37% decrease compared to the 1.35 fatalities per 1,000 starts from two years ago through the same time frame. This also is 5.6% lower than the aggregate racing-related fatality rate...

In the wake of news that seven racehorses at properties under the jurisdiction of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) died in March, several commissioners and staffers at Thursday's monthly board meeting raised the verbal equivalent of a yellow flag with the goal of preventing future fatalities that would equate to a spike into red-alert territory. "Our injury rate, death rate, is creeping up," chairman Gregory Ferraro, DVM, said after CHRB equine medical director Jeff Blea gave the statistics in his report. "Do you have any solutions, reasons, comments about...

New York State Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott Palmer has described Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan as a "fantastic diagnostic tool" and that "it can play a very important role" in helping to identify and pinpoint subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but that the scan is not the best initial screening tool in singling out horses at risk for catastrophic injuries. Palmer addressed the issue during an equine health and safety briefing held at Tuesday's meeting of the New York State Gaming Commission and also offered some preliminary findings  on...

With the number of equine fatalities during the current spring meeting at Churchill Downs now up to 12, officials at the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) are convening an 'emergency veterinary summit' to be held Tuesday, May 30, in Kentucky. "HISA's highest priority is the safety and well-being of the horses and riders competing under its jurisdiction," a HISA statement released Monday begins. "We remain deeply concerned by the unusually high number of equine fatalities at Churchill Downs over the last several weeks. We continue to seek answers, and...

After reading both the Bennet and Parkin article published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association entitled "Fifteen risk factors associated with sudden death in Thoroughbred racehorses in North America (2009-2021)" followed by the TDN analysis of that article, I have become increasingly aggravated over the last three weeks from the implied message portrayed by each. The dramatic click-bait headline "Horses on Lasix at Increased Risk of Sudden Death" is unwarranted by the facts. When compared to the end of the article, one becomes more frustrated with the...

A new study published this week in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and funded by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation, has found that horses racing on Lasix were 62% more likely to die within three days of racing than were horses running without the diuretic. Fatalities due to catastrophic musculoskeletal injury were not included in the study. The use of Lasix was one of 15 risk factors identified in the report. The study, relying on information from the Equine Injury Database, examined starts made by 284,387 Thoroughbreds...

Trainer Richard Baltas is currently restricted from entering horses nor are his horses permitted to engage in timed works at Santa Anita Park, according to the Paulick Report. "We are conducting an investigation into matters concerning trainer Richard Baltas," Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST, which runs Santa Anita, told the Paulick Report via text message. "Pending completion of that investigation and any final decision based on the results, horses trained by Mr. Baltas are not permitted to enter races at 1/ST Racing venues nor engage in timed works."...

In a hearing conducted Friday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer--barred from The Stronach Group (TSG)-owned facilities since June of 2019 due to a number of equine fatalities in his care amid the well-publicized Santa Anita welfare crisis--was not granted a prohibitory injunction to be able to enter and race horses under his name at Santa Anita for the upcoming 2021-2022 winter/spring meet. According to Hollendorfer's attorney, Drew Couto, "the judge declined the motion saying that although it asked for a prohibitory injunction, in the court's...