20-05-2025
HISA Report Now Includes Classifications For Equine Fatalities
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has announced the publication of its 2025 First Quarter Metrics Report. This report provides a detailed analysis of key performance indicators related to the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing in the United States.
During the first quarter of 2025 (January 1–March 31), racetracks operating under HISA's rules reported 0.85 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts, roughly consistent with the 0.84 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts reported during the same period last year and representing a 37 percent decrease as compared to 1.35 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts in the first quarter of 2023, the first year HISA collected such data. This also is 5.6 percent lower than the aggregate racing-related fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts for the 2024 the first time, in furtherance of its commitment to providing deeper insights into the causes of equine fatalities, HISA is publishing data on fatalities' subclassifications: musculoskeletal injury, sudden death and other causes (i.e., traumatic injury not related to musculoskeletal injury). Of note, 94 percent of the racing-related fatalities recorded this quarter were attributable to musculoskeletal causes, 3 percent to sudden death, and 3 percent to other causes. As HISA continues to expand its use of veterinary treatment records to identify injury risk patterns, it has begun issuing advisories based on those insights. HISA recently released its first-ever equine health advisory focused on risk factors for fatal proximal forelimb fractures, using data drawn from the HISA Portal.
During the first quarter of 2025, racetracks reported 0.73 training-related fatalities per 1,000 workouts. Of the training-related fatalities recorded this quarter, 76 percent were attributed to musculoskeletal causes, 20 percent to sudden death, and 4 percent to other causes.'We're proud of the progress we've made as an industry and of the hard work being done every day to make Thoroughbred racing safer—but we also recognize that the work is far from finished, especially in training environments,' said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. 'We must continue pushing forward with the same sense of urgency and commitment when it comes to workouts, as well as races. Our responsibility to protect the welfare of horses and riders must be upheld every day, in every barn and on every track.'HISA also determined that 23,167 unique Covered Horses either recorded a published workout or made a start in a Covered Race in the first quarter of 2025, meaning that the total racing- and training-related fatality rate for the Covered Horse population was 0.35 percent.
The full report can be accessed here. The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit will also release a separate quarterly report detailing metrics from the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program.
When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law, it charged the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with proposing and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the United States. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA is implementing, for the first time, a uniform national set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA has two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which went into effect on May 22, 2023.
The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures.
The ADMC Program includes a centralized testing and results management process and applies uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms are initially administered by an independent body, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the Program, accredits laboratories, investigates potential ADMC violations and penalizes any such violations, subject to the FTC's plenary review.
