Since 2009, Indiana Downs (and Hoosier Park in past years) has been a participating racetrack in The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database. Recently, the figures for their 2013 meet were released for both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. According to The Jockey Club, the Equine Injury Database is designed to "identify the frequency, types and outcome of racing injuries using a standardized format that will generate valid statistics," "identify markers for horses at increased risk of injury," and "serve as a data source for research directed at improving safety and preventing injuries." The Equine Injury Database is really a Limited Equine Mortality Database.
The statistics are based on injuries occurring during a race resulting in the death of the equine athlete within 72 hours. Therefore, an injury in a race that results in the death of a horse after 72 hours is not counted. Hence, the use of "limited" in our description. Injuries during training that result in the death of the horse involved are not counted either. (Neither are on-track injuries that result in the retirement of the horse.) The Jockey Club uses these limited statistics to come up with a number of fatalities per 1,000 starts which will always be lower than true mortality statistics. While The Jockey Club has yet to announce the national statistics for 2013, in prior years that number has ranged between 1.88 and 2.00 fatalities per 1,000 starters.
Based upon the 11 fatalities from the 9,355 thoroughbred starters at Indiana Downs, the 1.18 fatalities per 1,000 starters would be lower than traditional national averages. This is an increase, however, from the 2 fatalities from the 4,350 starters in 2012 which worked out to be .46 fatalities per 1,000 starters. In 2013, 10 of the 11 thoroughbred fatalities at Indiana Downs occurred on the dirt course with 5 fatalities occurring in sprints less than 6 furlongs. Overall, if we add in the 2012 Hoosier Park fatalities (16 fatalities from 4,438 starters) to the 2012 Indiana Downs fatalities, the entire year numbers would be 18 fatalities from 8,788 starters which is 2.05 fatalities per 1,000 starters. So, there was a significant drop in thoroughbred fatalities, at least from those participating in races, from 2012 to 2013 in Indiana.
Indiana Downs Thoroughbred Racing 2009 through 2013:
http://www.thejockeyclub.com/pdfs/eid/IndianaDownsTB.pdf
Hoosier Park Thoroughbred Racing 2009 through 2012:
http://www.thejockeyclub.com/pdfs/eid/HoosierParkTB.pdf
The quarter horse fatality numbers for the 2013 Indiana Downs meet were above the traditional national average with 4 fatalities from 1,971 starters which works out to be 2.03 fatalities per 1,000 starters. This looks like a significant increase in fatalities as there was only one quarter horse fatality at Indiana Down in the past for years. However, from 2009 to 2011 at Hoosier Park, there were five fatalities, but none in 2012. To put the 2013 quarter horse fatality numbers in context, in 2012, according to The Jockey Club's parameters, there were 0 fatalities from 1,831 starters.
Indiana Downs Quarter Horse Racing 2009 through 2013:
http://www.thejockeyclub.com/pdfs/eid/IndianaDownsQH.pdf
Hoosier Park Quarter Horse Racing 2009 through 2012:
http://www.thejockeyclub.com/pdfs/eid/HoosierParkQH.pdf
Update: March 31, 2014 - According to The Jockey Club press release issued today, "The prevalence of race-related fatal injury for the timeframe from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2013, was 1.91 per 1,000 starts. The data was based on analysis of 1,871,522 starts. For 2013, the prevalence of fatal injury per 1,000 starts was 1.90." A statistical summary of the last five years can be found at the following link: http://jockeyclub.com/pdfs/eid_5_year_tables.pdf.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.