Federal regulations are Even if horse death and persistent regional differences continue to plague the sport, it has had a measurable impact on horse safety in American thoroughbred racing.

According to the 2024 annual indicator report of the Horse Racing’s Integrity and Safety Agency (HISA) track mortality rate in its jurisdiction fell to 0.90 times last year to 0.90 times per 1,000 starts – a 27% drop from 2023. From 2023, HISA said the figure marks the number since 2009 when the industry started tracking such data in 2009, when it was 1,000 starts of 2.0 thousand.

"HISA is bringing everyone and creating a proof of concept that federal regulations can work and that they are good for industry players not only for horses, but for the people," Chelsea Pererez said.

Data provides both progress and perspective.

While the decline suggests that HISA's federal oversight may help reduce deaths on the track, the sport still has inherent risks – the broader national sight remains forked.

The state where HISA does not regulate purebred racing has nearly double the number of deaths: 1.76 per 1,000 races. The gap points to a broken industry where HISA’s unified safety standards apply to only 47 locations in 19 states, while others operate under state laws and various procedures. The states of purebred racing operations within HISA's jurisdiction are Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia and Nebraska.

The report includes data on horse deaths related to training, which have never been compiled nationwide. In 2024, the speed of every 1,000 regular exercises will be 0.50 on the HISA-regulated track.

Hisa counts any horse that is killed or euthanized by an injury on the track within 72 hours of a race or scheduled exercise.

HISA's jurisdiction includes many of the sport's most eye-catching venues, including Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Saratoga, the host of this year's Triple Champions League. The authority was created by the Congress bill and operated under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission. HISA launched in July 2022, proposes new orbital surface standards, jockey crop use restrictions, enhanced training requirements, unified procedures for managing how drugs are applied to horses, and national drug testing policies.

Several states and some horse breeders have resisted federal regulations, and Texas even banned interstate seeding of its race to stay away from the federal government. Litigation challenging HISA's authority is passing through the courts, with sometimes conflicting consequences. They believe that although HISA is authorized by Congress and supervised by the FTC, it is a private organization that has no authority to impose federal powers.

The legal struggle can ultimately be ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the Federal Racing Administration. Meanwhile, the Sixth Circuit judge ruled to support the authorities.

HISA's regulatory scope will remain restricted until legal disputes are resolved. "One of our biggest concerns is that the resistance that exists now is the establishment of a two-layer system where people who comply with the HISA protocol are saving horse lives, and those who do not cause dangerous situations," Perez said.

HISA's latest report persists in a focus on the public image of horse racing and commitment to reform. The sport has lost fans for decades as betting opportunities are rampant elsewhere and the growing concern about the fatal damage the sport does to horses.

Churchill Downs saw 12 horses dead in just five weeks in 2023, including two at the Kentucky Derby dent. Saratoga also suffered 13 racing-related deaths, as well as another episode in the Barn Area that re-examined criticism and criticism from animal welfare groups and fans.

Horse Riding Mistake is a nonprofit that tracks horse deaths and aims to abolish the sport, recording 850 race deaths on tracks across the country in 2024. The figure does not include horses that died in 200 private training facilities in the United States, as well as those who died in states where limited information is shared. Overall, the organization estimates as many as 2,000 horse racing per year.

"Death or at least some level of horse racing system built in. Killing is inevitable," said Patrick Battuello, founder and president of the group. "So, my opinion on hisa is that things are getting better? Maybe."

To learn more about what these numbers mean and how Hisa sees the development of its role, we spoke with Lisa Lazarus, the organization’s CEO. Here is our conversation, edited for clarity and length.

Your latest report shows record mortality rates on HISA tracks. What do you most directly attribute this improvement to?

The most important factor is probably the buy we get from the vast majority of stakeholders. Owners, trainers, jockeys, veterinarians, truly prioritize safety spirit. When we launch the track safety program and the anti-doping program, we have many rules. These rules and regulations undoubtedly help reduce the risk of horse death. Another important thing I think is that we are leveraging the massive amount of data that is provided to us every day. We bring over 5,000 veterinary records into our system every day. This allows us to see what some patterns are and where some problem areas are.

What is the biggest factor that puts horse racing at risk?

The number one factor is horses that have been hurt, which absolutely cannot reach the starting point, but somehow missed it. No. 2 is the surface of inconsistent. It's about making the track feel the same at the beginning of the race as it feels at the end of the race because when you have inconsistencies, the horses are struggling. Grass and artificial surfaces are safer than dirt, but dirt can be very safe. The main problem is superficial consistency. The third thing is the anti-doping procedure.

HISA's new training death data is the first of its kind. Why is it important to start tracking and reporting these numbers?

Is this horse racing or horse training? That horse is our responsibility. We feel that if we are to truly and sincerely address horse injuries and horse deaths, we must study all activities that may put horses at risk.

Despite progress made on the HISA regulatory track, the mortality rate in non-HISA tracks remains higher. How to bring these places to your regulatory system?

This is indeed a legal issue. Two major countries that are not part of our jurisdiction successfully obtained the ban to avoid Hisa's regulation. The case has passed the Court of Appeal and is now heading to the Supreme Court. So, ultimately, the Supreme Court will decide whether HISA is constitutional. If so, as I think those states will need to follow the authority of HISA.

Public confidence in the sport remains shaky. Do you believe HISA can help fans rebuild trust?

I believe we have started. And we are starting to see some encouraging signs. For example, a racing consortium that just formed with (musical artist) Lil Wayne and Little Yachty and a few other entertainers, they contacted us and said, you know, one of the reasons we are going to play in the sport now is that we feel good about its regulatory structure and we don’t have a lot of cheating about our own cheating and are being taken care of. This is just an obvious example. Many people reached out to me and said they had been away from the sport for a while, but they are back now because they see Hisa progress.

Looking ahead to the Kentucky Derby and Triple Champions, what are the steps taken to ensure the horses on the biggest stage of racing are safe?

We have something called our big event agreement. This is not only because these horses have attracted a lot of media attention. This is also because they tend to have a lot of people, a lot of runners, and a lot of activities. So we need to focus on them in particular and we did an additional surface review. We also work closely with the local veterinary team to make sure they have all the horse history into the derby and that they have everything we need because we are truly a repository of all records. We performed a lot of competitive tests on horses that might be in the Derby. We are also responsible for human security. If it should happen to the jockey, we also simulate how to respond to medical emergencies.