Racehorse deaths in Saratoga renew old worries and prompt reforms

SARATOGA, N.Y. — It has become an all-too-common scenario: a thoroughbred suffers a ghastly injury before a packed grandstand and a national television audience and has to be euthanized by injection on the track. On the last Saturday in August at Saratoga Race Course, an undefeated colt named New York Thunder was just strides from winning a $500,000 stakes race when he stumbled and unseated his rider.

The jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, got up. New York Thunder had to be put down after shattering his left front fetlock.

It was the 12th horse fatality — the eighth while racing — at the Saratoga summer meet. Combined with the deaths of a dozen horses last spring at Churchill Downs, including two on Kentucky Derby day, the fatalities have brought renewed scrutiny of horse racing and again left owners, trainers, and racetrack executives struggling to reassure the public that racing is safe for its human and equine athletes.

In the wake of the deaths, New York racing officials have vowed to spend millions on PET and CT scans and outfit horses with sensors in the hopes of diagnosing preexisting injuries before they become fatal. And a synthetic racing surface, which equine injury data shows to be significantly safer than dirt and turf tracks, is being installed for winter racing at Belmont Park and is being considered for both Aqueduct and Saratoga.

“We can strive for zero fatalities and part of that is aggressive imaging, synthetic surfaces, and sensor tracking,” said David O’Rourke, the CEO and president of the New York Racing Association. The association is in the process of acquiring the diagnostic equipment and hopes to have it in place soon.

Also, the director of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which oversees racing safety nationwide, said the authority will soon implement a rule lengthening the time horses must wait to race after they have received a steroid injection. Steroids can mask pain and may cause horses to run hard even when they are hurt.

In recent years, racehorse deaths have deepened the sense of crisis in an industry that is dwindling in popularity as racing fans turn to other sports and forms of gambling.

In 2019, 30 horses died at Santa Anita Park in California in a span of six months, creating national headlines and drawing the scrutiny of state lawmakers and animal welfare activists. In response, state regulators and racing officials strengthened rules regarding the use of riding crops, medications for horses, education for trainers and jockeys, track safety and recuperation policies for injured horses.

The reforms appeared to be effective. Last year, 12 horses died at Santa Anita. Thoroughbred fatalities throughout California fell 54 percent from 2019 to 2022.

New York Thunder, the horse that broke down in front of the Saratoga crowd, was brilliantly fast but prone to injury, according to his veterinary records obtained by The New York Times.

The horse’s trainer, Jorge Delgado, declined to comment on his handling of the colt, the third of his horses to die since July 27. The colt’s Londonbased owner, Kia Joorabchian, could not be reached for comment.

New York Thunder had a slow start to his 3-year-old season. He spent two weeks in the spring on the Kentucky vet’s list described as “lame,” according to vet records, making him ineligible to compete. Horses are put on the vet’s list when they are deemed unsound by regulatory veterinarians or have undergone certain procedures that require extra time or scrutiny.

He returned to racing April 30 at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, easily winning a stakes race on a synthetic surface.

In June, Delgado entered New York Thunder in the Woody Stephens Stakes on the undercard of the Belmont Stakes. But the horse was scratched by state veterinarians the morning of the race because he was injured, according to the vet records. No other information was given in the records.

On July 14, New York Thunder went on the vet’s list again for two weeks after he was given a joint injection, the records say. It is common for trainers to inject horses with steroids to battle inflammation and reduce pain.

On July 28, the colt came off the vet’s list and won the Amsterdam Stakes on dirt in Saratoga.

Racing a horse two weeks after it has received an injection is allowable under the rules but controversial in the sport.

Dr. Greg Ferraro, the chair of the California Horse Racing Board, said the use of medications too close to a race limits the ability of regulatory veterinarians to identify preexisting conditions that may progress to catastrophic injuries.