SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A total of 18 horses died from the time of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival to the end of the 2025 Saratoga race track season, according to the New York State Gaming Commission. Although only 11 of these deaths are related to racing and training, overseeing organizations like NYRA and HISA are looking into how they can prevent this number from growing in the future.
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) confirmed that from the start of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in June to the end of the 2025 season, there were six horse deaths related to racing and five horse deaths related to training. The rest of the deaths were related to other causes.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is the organization that enforces safety standards for horse racing across the U.S. CEO of the group, Lisa Lazarus confirmed that the horse deaths rate in Saratoga this summer is 1.5 per 1,000, which is higher than the national average of 1.03 per 1,000.
NYRA noted that just last year, the Saratoga Race Course had it safest year on record— with one horse death related to racing, two deaths related to training, and two deaths related to other causes. HISA said each year, they analyze these numbers.
“We collect over 5,000 veterinarian records a day into our system and we have over five million veterinarian records so we can not only look very closely at the Saratoga records, fatalities and those veterinarian records, we can compare to the other race tracks,” said Lazarus.
Lazarus said looking at the data will take time, but now the track season is over that will be a priority for HISA. At this time, she doesn’t believe there is a specific, singular cause for this year’s deaths.
“Because they’re live animals, live beings just like people, it’s very often or almost always a combination of multiple factors,” said Lazarus.
Some of the factors they check into include how frequently the horses are racing, any supplements the horses are given and the weather. Lazarus said the weather can impact the track surface.
“We all are concerned about weather and climate change and what that does to our race tracks,” said Lazarus. “We are always concerned is there something the horses are given as a supplement that maybe doesn’t have the intended effect.”
However, Patrick Battuello, founder and president of the national nonprofit organization Horseracing Wrongs, believes the problem is rooted within the system.
“It’s so much more than just a few horses dying here and there,” said Battuello.
Battuello has been keeping track of horse deaths at tracks across the country since Jan. 1, 2014. Through multiple Freedom of Information requests, he has been closely monitoring the reports of how horses die each year.
“We started this because there was this void in the animal advocacy community. At the time, no one was really taking on the horse racing industry,” said Battuello.
Members of the Horseracing Wrongs group advocate that horse racing is no different than dog racing, which has been banned across nearly all of the U.S.
“Death is part of the horse racing story, its inevitable its unavoidable,” said Battuello. “We see this as animal cruelty, animal exploitation.”
However, NYRA is continuing to push solutions forward. In a statement to NEWS10, Vice President of Communications Patrick McKenna said they are investing in new technology.
“Continuously improving equine safety is a fundamental responsibility and an organizational imperative at NYRA. While that commitment has led to real progress reducing equine injuries, there is always more work to be done. To that end, NYRA, New York State and Cornell University are investing in the most advanced equine imaging technology available to help prevent the most serious injuries before they occur and support important scientific research. NYRA is devoting the resources and expertise required to further improve safety for the horses and riders competing in New York,” said McKenna in a statement.
Yet Battuello believes those studies and research is not enough of a solution.
“That’s our biggest hurdle, is to get people to look at it through a fresh lens. We’re confident that if they do, if they come to our website, horseracingwrongs.org, if they just read, just spend one week everyday reading, they’ll be convinced because the evidence is overwhelming,” said Battuello.
Lazarus said HISA will continue analyzing what factors may have contributed to the 11 racing and training-related horse deaths in Saratoga this summer. For more information on the number of horse deaths nationwide, visit the New York State Gaming Commission website.
Vanessa Blasi
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