HISA Reports Third Quarter Fatality Rate Remains Low

[Wandering Eyes]

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its Third Quarter Metrics Report for 2025 and the racing-related equine fatality rate was 1.02 fatalities per 1,000 starts, which translates to 99.90% of Thoroughbred racehorse starts occurred without a fatality within 72 hours of racing due to race-related injuries, according to a release from the regulator on Friday morning.

The report provides detailed data on key safety metrics under HISA's Racetrack Safety Program, including racing-related and training-related equine fatalities, riding crop rule violations and scratches. Over the past 24 months, the racing-related fatality rate remains unprecedentedly low at 0.95 fatalities per 1,000 starts.

During the third quarter of tracking training-related fatalities, HISA has seen a 10% year-over-year decrease. This quarter, training-related fatalities dropped to 0.38 deaths per 1,000 workouts from 0.42 in the same period last year. The third quarter rate is also 24% lower than the 2024 calendar-year rate (0.50). HISA's training-related fatality metric captures horses that die or are euthanized within 72 hours of training as a result of injuries sustained during training.

“We are proud that HISA continues to chart the path forward for Thoroughbred racing in the United States,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “No matter how you slice it–year-to-date, 12 months or 24 months–the racing-related fatality rate continues to hover around 1.0 per 1,000 starts, a benchmark previously thought unreachable. That said, we still have work to do and are actively collaborating with veterinarians, racetracks and trainers to understand why fatalities occur and implement best practices to prevent future incidents.”

Among the 29 racetracks open for racing in the third quarter, 12 improved their year-over-year racing-related fatality rates, and three racetracks–Santa Anita Park, Timonium and Aqueduct–reported zero fatalities for the second consecutive third quarter.

At the track-specific level, HISA completed an analysis of racing-related and training-related fatalities at Saratoga Race Course in 2025, compared to other horses in the same races or workouts as the deceased horses, revealing that horses that sustained fatal injuries had significantly higher rates of high-speed exercise in the six to ten months preceding the fatal event.

Accordingly, the report underscores the importance of monitoring the behavior, performance and soundness of horses participating in intense high-speed exercise–and of adjusting training and racing intensity to mitigate injury risk.

As set forth in the report, use of riding crop violations also continued to decline. Violations decreased approximately 39% year over year, from 4.79 to 2.93 violations per 1,000 starts. In addition, HISA racetracks recorded an average 14.7% scratch rate per entry, roughly consistent with the 2024 third quarter rate of 14.8%.

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit will publish a separate quarterly metrics report on the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program later this month.

Click here to access the report.

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