The overall fatality rate in 2024 at North American racetracks that provide data to the Equine Injury Database fell 15.9 percent compared to 2023, dropping to its lowest level since the rate began to be tracked in 2009, according to a release from The Jockey Club, which administers the database. The overall rate in 2024, 1.11 horses per 1,000 starts, was down from a 1.32 overall rate posted in 2023. The 2023 rate was up over the 2022 rate of 1.25 horses per 1,000 starts. Since 2009, when the rate was 2.00 horses, the overall fatality rate has fallen 44.5 percent. Declines in the rate, with 2022 as an exception, began accelerating in 2019, the year that a spate of fatalities at Santa Anita Park in Southern California led the North American racing industry to implement wide-ranging reforms on medication use and regulatory inspections in most jurisdictions. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “It is remarkable and indeed gratifying to see the sustained improvement in these figures,” said Tim Parkin, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol who has analyzed the data since the EID’s inception in 2009. “It is a credit to all involved in the industry that such a significant improvement in the risk of fatal injury can be achieved off the back of the establishment of the EID and, of course, alongside lots of hard work from very many parties.” The 1.11 rate reported by The Jockey Club is higher than a rate reported three weeks ago by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. In February, HISA said that the fatality rate at tracks under its jurisdiction was 0.90 per 1,000 starts. Tracks in Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia, most notably, do not fall under HISA’s jurisdiction. In a release, The Jockey Club said that the data collected for HISA tracks that provide data to the EID produced a similar figure to that released by HISA in February. The release also said that racetracks in the U.S. that are not under HISA’s jurisdiction had a rate of 1.76 per 1,000 starts. The Jockey Club led an effort to build support for the 2020 federal legislation that led to HISA. Under the rules of the EID, racetracks can choose to have their fatality data published. The Jockey Club said that those tracks that chose to have the data published had an overall fatality rate of 0.88 per 1,000 starts, compared to 1.27 for those tracks that opted out of publication. As has been the case for years, the fatality rate for races on dirt in 2024 was highest, at 1.18. The rate for synthetic was 1.02, and the rate for turf was 0.88. The rate on turf has been higher than the rate on synthetic in nearly every year since 2009. The 2024 rate on turf dropped 22.1 percent compared to 2023, while the rate on synthetic inched up 4.9 percent. By age, horses 4 years old or older had the highest fatality rate, at 1.21. Three-year-olds had a rate of 0.94, while 2-year-olds had a rate of 0.90. Races at less than six furlongs had a fatality rate of 1.20, while races at six furlongs to one mile had a rate of 1.12. Races greater than a mile had a rate of 0.98. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.