LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A new count by North American horse tracks has found that more than two of every 1,000 thoroughbreds that started a race sustained a fatal injury.
The preliminary numbers from the Jockey Club’s equine injury database cover a one-year period that ended in November 2009. Only racing injuries involving thoroughbreds were counted, not accidents that happened to other breeds or during morning training.
Jockey Club executive director Matt Iuliano said he hoped the information could be used as a “benchmark” to guide safety improvements that have been heightened since the high-profile racing deaths of Barbaro and Eight Belles.
Another count last year by The Associated Press found at least 1,200 horses were reported killed in 2008 at thoroughbred tracks in the United States.
