Notes on fatalities at Saratoga
During the nine years that the NYS Gaming Commission ( NYSGC) has been releasing statistics on equine fatalities, the previous high for Saratoga Race Course— including deaths resulting from both racing and training— was 16 in 2012. That number was reached this summer on August 19, when there were still 14 days left in the meet.
Whenever there’s a spike in racing fatalities, the initial response is usually that there must be something wrong with the track. But which one? Saratoga has three racing surfaces, one dirt and two grass. Most people probably assume the majority of fatalities occur on dirt. The fact is, though, that of Saratoga’s 49 racing fatalities since 2009 for which information is complete, 30 occurred on grass and only 19 on dirt. Of the eight that occurred this summer, five were on grass and three on dirt.
Dr. Mary Scollay, equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, is among those who discount the idea that track condition plays a major role in fatal breakdowns.
“It is nota hole inthe track,” Scollay said in a 2013 article in Thoroughbred Daily News, referring to her findings from necropsies of an unspecified group of horses. “They all had a musculo skeletal underlying problem.”
Ten of Saratoga’s 30 grass fatalities since 2009 took place in steeplechases, two of them this year. They included five in exhibition races that were held during Open House between 2010 and 2012, an annual event that has since been discontinued. The fatality rate in steeplechases over the past nine years was 6- 12 times higher than it was for races on the flat, depending on whether the exhibition races were included.
Turf sprints have also posted a relatively high fatality rate. Of the 39 flatracing deaths since 2009, 10 occurred in 5 ½ - furlong turf races, which works out to approximately 2.5 deaths per 1,000 starts. This is roughly twice the figure for all other races on the flat during this period ( approximately 1.2 per 1,000).
Somewhat surprisingly, the proportion of flat- racing deaths that occurred inclaiming races since2009 ( 13 of39, or 33percent) was approximately equal to the proportion these races
constituted over all. Claiming fatalities have increased over the past two years, however. In 2016 and 2017, seven of the 11 fatalities on the flat occurred in claiming events. Most of thesewere in lower- level raceswith claiming prices between $ 12,500 and $ 25,000, races whose numbers have increased in recent years.
Another common explanation for why a fatal breakdownoccurs, oneoftenused in racing charts, is that the horse just took a “bad step.” At a symposium at the University of Kentucky in October 2014, Dr. Laura Kennedy — an assistant professor at the university’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory who performed the necropsies of which she spoke — addressed this long- held theory.
“( Bad steps) happen,” Kennedy said in an article in The Blood- Horse. “But in the vast majority of cases, it’s justnot true. Does it exist at all? Probably, but ( deaths) are usually the culmination of all the damage sustained up to that point.”
In a joint release on August 21, the Gaming Commission, NYRA and theNew York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association ( NYTHA) announced the immediate introduction of additional measures to help prevent further incidents. These measures included “increased veterinary presence at the track during training
hours, state- of- the- art monitoring of horses, and comprehensive trainer education intended to share scientific findings of research into the types of injuries that occur ( at racetracks and risk and protective factors that can help prevent injury.”
There were no racing fatalities over the final 14 days of the meet and only one in training. It’s unlikely that these new measures by themselves would have had such an instant, dramatic effect. Another probable factor is that, given the publicity over the increase in equine deaths and the action taken by the NYSGC, NYRA and NYTHA, horsemen were more careful about running horses with issues.
The 2017 Saratoga meet aside, racing fatalities have been trending downward in recent years, in New York and elsewhere. The increased focus on preventing at- risk horses from making it onto the track is no doubt a big part of the reason.
Still, Saratoga can ill afford another record- breaking year in fatalities. While handle and attendance are the most common statistical measures used to evaluate the meet, this year the number of equine deaths emerged as a third index. No one should be surprised if there are people, both in and outside racing, keeping score again in 2018.
Jeff Scott writes about horse racing Tuesdays in The Saratogian. He may be reached at utahpine1@ aol. com.