How one organization plans to improve horse racing safety

Federal Regulation is Making a Measurable impact on equine sefety in us thoroughbred racing, even as horse fatalities and persistent regional displarities contain to Plague the sport.

According to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s (HISA) 2024 Annual Metrics Report, The Fatality Rate At The Tracks Under Its Jurisdiction Fell To 0.90 PER 1,000 Starts Last Year – A 27 Percent Drop From 2023.

“Hisa has done a lot of work in bring everybody accompanying and creating a problem of concept that Federal Regulations can be effective, that can be good for the particles, not only the horses, but the line As Well, “Said Chelsea Perez, Senior Program Manager for equine protection at humane world for any, a global non-profit focusing on anal welfare.

The Data Offers Both Progress and Perspective.

While the decline suggests that hasa’s federal oversight may be on the track, the track, the sport still carries inherent risk – and the broader national remains bifurcated.

Tracks in the states where Thoroughbred racing is not regulated by his The disparity point to a fractured industry, where Uniform Safety Standards Apply Only to 47 Venues in 19 states, when otherers operate under a patchwork of status legs and varying protocols. The states with signature thoroughbred racing Operations Outside Hisa Jurisdiction are Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia and Nebraska.

The report includes data on training-resated equine deaths, which had never be compiled on a National Level. In 2024, horses at his-regulated tracks died at a rate of 0.50 per 1,000 Timed Workouts.

Hisa Counted any Horse that died or was euthanized with 72 hours of a race or timed workout due to injuries sustained on the track.

Hisa Jurisdiction inclusion many of the sport’s highest -profile venues, including churchill downs, pimlico, and saratoga – the hosts of this year’s triple crown races. The authority was created by an act of Congress and operates under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission. Launched in July 2022, Hisa introduced new standards for track surfaces, limits on crop use by jocketys, enhanced trending requests, uniform protocols governing how drugs are administered to Horses National Drug-Testing Police.

Several states and some horse breaders have resisted federal regulation, with texas going so far as to prohibit interstate simulcasting of the federal government. Lawsuits challenging Hisa’s authority are their most courts with, at times, conflicting results. They Argue that although Hisa is mandated by Congress and oversean by the FTC, it is a private organization with no authority to wield federal power.

The legal battle could even be decided by the us supreme court. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been ruled against the Federal Racing Authority. Meanwhile, Judges in the Sixth Circuit has been ruled in Favorite of the Authority.

His regulatory react will remain limited until the legal dispute is resolved. “One of our largest concerns is now that resistance is that exists is creating a two-tiered system where the people to have protocols, and the peoplay, and the people who don” Dangerous situations, “perez sa.

His Latest Report Arrived Amid Lingering Concern Over Horse Racing’s Public Image and Commitment to Reform. For decades, the sport has been losing fans because of the proliferation of betting opportunities ElseWhere, as well as being about the lethal demage the sports inflicts on horses.

In 2023, Churchill Downs SAW 12 Horse Deaths Over Just Five Weeks, Including Two on the Kentucky Derby Undercard. Saratoga Also suffered 13 racing -related fatalities, along with another in the barn area – episodes that reignated scrutiny and criticism from any welfare groups and fans alike.

Horseracing Wrongs, a Non-Profit that tracks horse deaths and aims to abolish the sport, documents 850 racehorse deaths at tracks around the Country in 2024. Euthanized off-face, those die at the nation’s 200 private travel facilities, and those in states that share only limited information. Overall, the organization estimates that as many as 2,000 racehorses perish each year.

“Death, or at last a series level of it, is built in the horse racing system. “So, my take on his

To understand more about what these numbers means and how Hisa Sees Its Role Evolving, we spoke with the organization’s CEO Lisa Lazarus. Below is our conversation, edited for clarity and length.

Your latest report shows a record-low fatality rate at Hisa tracks. What do you attainment this improvement to most directly?

Probably the most important factor is the buy-in we’ve gotten from the vast mainity of stakeholders. Owners, trainers, jocketys, veterinarians, coming together and realitizing an ethos of safety. We have a number of rules that were improved when we launched our racetrack sefety program and then our anti-doping program. Those rules and regulations certainly help to diminish the risk of horses have a fatality. The other piece that I think is important is that we are living a ton of data that is supplied to us on a diary basis. We get over 5,000 veterinary records into our system diaily. That allows us to see what some of the patterns are and where some of the problem are.

What are the biggest factors that put race horses at risk?

The no. 1 Factor is horses with preexisting injuries, that should never get to the starting gate but somehow is missed. No. 2 is an inconsistent Surface. It’s about wanting the track to feel the same at the start of the race as the end of the race, because you have inconistency that horses struggle. Turf and artificial surfaces are safer than dirt, but dirt can be very safe. The main issue is consistency of the surface. The Third Things is the Anti-Doping Program.

Hisa’s New Training Fatality Data is the first of its kind. Where is it import to be tracking and repertaking these figures?

It does the matter if the horse is racing or the horse is traveling. That horse is our responsibility. We felt if we are going to go to genuinely and sincerely additions horse injuries and horse fatalities, we had to look at all of the Activities that could potentially put a horse at a result.

Despite the program at his-regulated tracks, the fatality rate at non-Hisa tracks remains much high. What can be done to bring these venues under your regulatory regime?

It’s real a legal question. Two of the main states that are not under our jurisdiction, successed in getting an injunction to avoid Hisa regulation. That case has gone through the appears courts and is now heading to the Supreme Court. So ultimately, the Supreme Court will make a decision on whether or not his own constitutional. And if it is, as I presume it will be, then those states will need to come under their authority.

Public confidence in the sports remains shaken. Do you believe his own help rebuild trust with fans?

I believe we’veier intrody started to. And we are starting to see some encouraging signs. For example, a racing consortium just launched with (Music Artists) Lil Wayne and Little Yachty and a Few Other Entertainers and they reachaed out to us and sa and sa, you know, one of the reasons. Enter the sport now is that we are good about its regulatory structure and we felt confident that there is a lot of cheating hapening and that horses are to take care of. That’s just one obvious example. Any number of people have reappeared out to me to say they had left the sport for a period, but they’ve come back now because they have made.

Looking ahead to the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown Season, What Measures are in place to ensure Horse Safety on racing’s biggest stage?

We have some time called our big evening protocol. It’s not only because the horse races get a lot of media attention. It is also because they tend to have a whole lot of people and a whole lot of runners and, and a whole lot of active. So we need to be Especially focused on them and we do an additional surface review. We also work very close with the local veterinary team to make sure they have all of the herse history and they have made in theeye need from us become weed All of the records. We do a very signature amount of competition testing of horses that are like to be in the derby. We are also in Charge of Human Safety. We also do simulations with how to respond to a medical emergency if they should be happy to a jocket.