TUCSON, Ariz. – Although the fatality rate in U.S. Thoroughbred racing has declined nearly 40 percent in the past 14 years, the general public believes that the fatality race is going up, according to panelists at the Global Symposium on Racing on Wednesday. Citing recent polling data, Chip Tuttle, a longtime publicist for racing companies such as Breeders’ Cup and TVG (now known as FanDuel), said that the disconnect between the data and the public perception underlines the challenges facing the racing industry at a time when polling data also show that larger and larger shares of the U.S population identify as being concerned about animal welfare. Tuttle said that the disconnect is likely due to the increased coverage of deaths in the racing industry over the past five years, starting with the spate of fatalities at Santa Anita that led to calls from some state politicians to ban the sport. Since then, other major circuits have been bedeviled by similar clusters, including Kentucky this year in the weeks before and after the Derby. Those clusters have resulted in deep soul-searching within the industry and expansive and expensive efforts to identify new protocols to reduce deaths. Most racing officials credit those efforts with the reductions in the fatality rates, but racing organizations and their publicists are finding little success in getting that message to resonate, Tuttle said. “It’s unfair, but horse deaths generate clicks, so we’re not going to be able to rely on [mainstream media] to get our message across,” Tuttle said. If racing wants its message to prevail, “we’re going to have to shout it from the rooftops.” Amy Zimmerman, a senior vice president at Santa Anita who was one of the panelists with Tuttle, said that part of the problem facing racing is that it has “ceded” arguments on animal welfare to groups she called “extremists” and “racing abolitionists.” Zimmerman said she counted herself as an “animal activist,” in contrast to the groups seeking racing’s demise, and she said that the vast majority of the people on the backstretch who care for horses share her values. “I spend pretty much every part of my waking hours thinking about how to improve the safety of the sport,” Zimmerman said. Tuttle also said that polling has shown that the public most trusts “large-animal vets” when being informed about equine injuries at the racetrack, a finding that has led to publicists putting veterinarians first and foremost on racing broadcasts in the event of an injury. After veterinarians, the public trusts the “hands-on horsemen,” or trainers, Tuttle said. Least trusted, Tuttle said, are “people like me.” “People are not trusting of guys in suits and ties telling them what they want to hear,” Tuttle said. Overall, Tuttle and Zimmerman said that polling also suggests that the general public does not expect racing to post a zero fatality rate. He said racing’s best strategy would be to embrace the work currently being performed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national organization formed by federal legislation in 2020 that has drawn heavy support and heavy criticism from various elements of the industry. “[The general public is] okay with an acceptable level of risk,” Tuttle said. “They know that accidents happen. But they need to see that we are serious about reform.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.