A report prepared by the New York State Gaming Commission examining two clusters of racing fatalities at Saratoga Race Course last year has recommended that the track’s operator develop more sophisticated techniques to identify and modify the moisture content in areas of its dirt and turf courses, among a litany of other recommendations. The highly detailed, 107-page, single-spaced report, which emphasizes that racing fatalities can be attributed to a wide variety of often overlapping factors, contains 17 different recommendations for reducing the risk factors for racing and training fatalities. Five of those concerned measuring and maintaining the turf and dirt courses, while eight involved changes to veterinary procedures and protocols. Another four were classified as “other,” including the use of biometric sensors for ongoing research projects and using a “design-thinking process.” During the 2023 Saratoga meet, 13 horses died of musculoskeletal injuries while racing or training, with nine occurring during racing. The nine racing fatalities occurred during a five-day period surrounding the Whitney Stakes and a four-day period prior surrounding the Travers Stakes, two of the largest races put on at Saratoga. Two of the musculoskeletal fatalities occurred in Grade 1 dirt races -- the only two fatalities on the main track -- while the horses were leading in deep stretch, one on the Whitney undercard and the other on the Travers undercard. The two highly visible, gruesome deaths cast a pall over the meet and led to a brief consideration by Saratoga racing officials and regulators to cancel racing, at least temporarily. The New York State Gaming Commission report, which was preceded by a report from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, focused heavily on readings that indicated that areas of the dirt and turf courses had a higher moisture content than other areas on days when the fatalities occurred, including in the areas where some of the fatalities occurred. The 2023 Saratoga meet, which ran from early July to early September, was marked by an unusual amount of rainfall which led to 65 of the meet’s turf races being moved to the dirt course, a substantial increase over previous years. The report noted that the “sustained rainfall … made it difficult to maintain a consistent racing surface.” The report said that all the turf course racing fatalities occurred “as the horses were entering the turn, in the turn, or coming out of the turn.” Measurements of the moisture content in the turns revealed higher levels of moisture in some areas, the report said, and, coupled with the “centrifugal forces” acting on the horses as they raced around the turns, the two factors “may have made it more difficult for horses to safely negotiate the turns than would have been the case in dry conditions” [the report included italics]. For the dirt-course fatalities, the report said that all the injuries occurred in the main stretch or in the gallop-out after the finish line, “suggesting that fatigue was a contributing factor” to the injury. The two horses that suffered fatal musculoskeletal injuries in the deep stretch of the Grade 1 dirt races both broke down after posting fast fractions throughout their races. New York Thunder, who broke down in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens Stakes on the Travers undercard, was singled out for particular attention in the report. The report said that the horse was on the veterinarian’s list in Kentucky for soundness issues at the time he was shipped to Saratoga from his New Jersey base at Monmouth Park. The horse had also had repeated injections of corticosteroids in his fetlock joints in the months preceding the breakdown, the report said. Directly related to that incident, the report recommended that horses shipping into New York racetracks be examined by a veterinarian prior to being allowed to perform any “high-speed exercise,” such as a workout. The report said that the commission had discussed such a rule for approval in 2023 but abandoned the effort after pushback from industry constituents. It said that the rule would be re-introduced this year. Also in relation to New York Thunder, the report said that veterinary records available to regulatory veterinarians should note the location of intra-articular corticosteroid injections, which have been associated with higher risks of breakdown. HISA has already begun requiring that data point on veterinary records, and it recently began enforcing a stricter regulation on corticosteroid injections in fetlock joints. New York Thunder, who was trained by Jorge Delgado, came into the Allen Jerkens undefeated in four starts, but he was frequently laid up between his races. The $485,000 Allen Jerkens was his first start in a Grade 1 race. The report reserved its harshest language for the circumstances preceding New York Thunder’s death. “The unique opportunity to compete in historic prestigious races with a high purse structure incentivizes risk,” the report said. “For example, it was apparent from the history of repeated regulatory veterinary interventions and a history of multiple intra-articular injections that New York Thunder was a horse whose career was managed in a manner to enable him to race during the Saratoga [m]eet despite evidence of significant unresolved musculoskeletal injury. This pattern of racehorse career management is consistent with prioritizing entry in a boutique meet ahead of concern for the welfare of the horse.” Like the HISA report, the NYSGC report noted that 12 of the 13 fatal musculoskeletal injuries at Saratoga last year were due to failures in the fetlock joint. Typically, those types of injuries comprise 50 percent of fatalities, the report said. The Saratoga fetlock injuries were all “associated with repetitive cyclic fatigue combined with extreme hyper-extension of the fetlock joint,” the report said. Most existing research on musculoskeletal injuries has identified pre-existing stresses or microfractures in leg bones as a major risk factor. Those weaknesses are difficult to identify during lameness exams and may only be visible using sophisticated imaging technologies. The report recommended that the racing industry encourage more frequent use of the technologies. For its management of its dirt and turf courses, the report recommended that NYRA adopt new criteria for measuring moisture content and rating the surfaces. It included a recommendation that NYRA use the new criteria and ranking system to determine whether races should be moved off the turf. The report also recommended that NYRA consider the installation of a synthetic racetrack at Saratoga, although the report did not specifically recommend that the synthetic track replace the current dirt surface. NYRA earlier this year formed a committee to study the use of synthetic racecourses at its tracks and a greater adoption rate at tracks across the country. Last month, NYRA announced that it would conduct all its winter racing at Belmont Park over a synthetic track. Belmont Park is currently being rebuilt, and it is scheduled to open late in 2026. Although the report contained a detailed analysis of the 2023 fatalities, it also noted that the fatalities were “consistent” with previous years, and that the primary differences between the 2023 and 2022 meets were an increase in racing fatalities and a sharp decrease in training fatalities. The report also said that the total number of racing fatalities at New York racetracks was down 54 percent from 2009 to 2023. “The recommendations contained in this report are intended to supplement the New York Thoroughbred risk management program currently in place,” the report said. The full report can be found here. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.