'Animal welfare is the most important thing' - US horse deaths lowest in decade

Equine fatalities at California Horse Racing Board-regulated facilities dropped to 71 in 2021, the lowest tally in the US state in ten years of data posted on the CHRB website.

The tally represents a 26 per cent drop from last year and nearly a 45 per cent reduction from 2019, when a spike in deaths at Santa Anita in the early part of the year led to scrutiny and public outcry from anti-racing groups.

California has implemented numerous equine health and safety measures since that time, either by track regulations known as "house rules" or through CHRB regulation.

Among the changes are medication restrictions, increased veterinary examinations and oversight, entry-review panels, and continuing trainer education programmes. The racing culture has also adapted to put equine safety more at the forefront.

Scott Chaney, executive director of the CHRB, said: "I think every stakeholder in California understands that animal welfare is the most important thing. It has to be because of the state in which we live, and because it's the right thing to do."

Fatalities from racing, training, and "other" all dropped to their lowest levels

The CHRB tracks equine deaths in racing, training and a category the regulator refers to as "other", in which horses who succumb to stable accidents or sickness are classified.

Chaney noted that 20 horses died last year in California in racing from more than 31,500 starts, a total that included races for thoroughbreds, quarter horses and standardbreds.

Fatalities from racing, training and "other" all dropped to their lowest levels in the CHRB data, which goes back to 2012, when 238 horses died.

Last year 39 horses died at CHRB facilities from musculoskeletal injuries and 32 from non-musculoskeletal conditions, including 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who collapsed and died after a workout on December 6 at Santa Anita.

Chaney said that findings from necropsy and toxicology reports into his death were expected within a month.

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