Fatalities at HISA tracks drop during first quarter of 2026
Horses racing at tracks under the jurisdiction of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority had a fatality rate of 0.95 per 1,000 starts in the first quarter of 2026, HISA said in a quarterly report issued on Tuesday.
The first-quarter racing fatality rate is a slight decline from the overall 2025 rate, which was 1.04 deaths per 1,000 starts. The fatality rate in the first quarter of 2025 was 0.85 deaths per 1,000 starts, while the overall 2024 rate was 0.90 deaths per 1,000 races, the lowest rate ever recorded at U.S. tracks.
Fatality rates have steadily declined at U.S. racetracks over the last 10years, concurrent with industry efforts to tighten rules on medication use, place a greater emphasis on pre-race veterinary examinations, and conduct detailed analyses of injury data.
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Also during the first quarter, there were 0.67 fatalities per 1,000 workouts at HISA-regulated tracks, according to HISA. That was a slight decline from the 0.73 rate posted in the first quarter of 2025. HISA first began collecting data on training fatalities in 2024.
Of the fatalities, 81 percent of the racing deaths were attributed to musculoskeletal injuries, with 16 percent attributed to sudden deaths and the remainder categorized as “other causes.” For training fatalities, 82 percent were attributed to musculoskeletal injuries and 18 percent to sudden death.
HISA has begun funding studies to examine the causes of sudden death, which are usually attributed to cardiac events, though the exact origins are difficult to determine in most cases.
In the quarterly report, HISA said that a new non-profit it started in 2025 to take possession of critically injured horses that may have otherwise been euthanized had funded the recoveries of three horses injured while racing and two horses injured while training. All five horses are undergoing transitions to other careers, HISA said.
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