Live thoroughbred racing returned to Belmont Park on April 26 for its 48-day spring/summer meet. So, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is highlighting its broad-based safety program currently in effect at all NYRA tracks—Aqueduct Racetrack, in Ozone Park; Belmont Park, in Elmont; and Saratoga Race Course, in Saratoga Springs.

In addition to accreditation of each NYRA track by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance (NTRA), a variety of initiatives have been put in place since 2013 at all three NYRA racetracks in areas such as racing surfaces and race-day scrutiny, as well as capital improvements and collaborative efforts with industry partners designed to ensure the safety of all participants.

These reforms and NYRA’s commitment to improving safety have led to demonstrably safer races: NYRA’s equine fatality rate has remained below the industry average in each of the previous six years.

In 2018, NYRA’s fatality rate was 1.20 per 1,000 starts as reported by The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database. In addition, at the recently concluded 2019 Aqueduct winter/spring meet (January 1-April 20), the fatality rate was 0.86 per 1,000 starts. The 2018 national average as reported by The Jockey Club is 1.68 per 1,000 starts