Supreme Court Upholds Horseracing Authority’s Governance
UC Davis Efforts Contribute to Record-Low Racing-Related Fatalities
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) vacated the judgments of lower appellate courts in several cases concerning the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and sent those cases back to the lower courts for further consideration. The ruling essentially keeps the act intact, favoring the ability of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to provide national, uniform safety and integrity oversight for Thoroughbred racing.
The SCOTUS ruling comes as HISA released its 2024 Annual Metrics Report showing record-low racing-related fatalities. Forty-seven racetracks in 19 states were subject to HISA rules in 2024; the aggregate racing-related fatality rate was 0.90 per 1,000 starts, meaning 99.91% of starts did not result in a fatality. That figure is almost half of the rate 1.76 per 1,000 starts at non-HISA tracks, according to the report.
In 2009, that rate was 2.00 per 1,000 starts, meaning a 55% decrease in fatalities over the past 15 years at HISA tracks. Many efforts by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, reported in 2021 and 2023, contributed to this year-over-year decline. Among the most significant are:
• Dr. Sue Stover’s groundbreaking work showing that catastrophic injuries were not due to a “bad step,” but instead resulted from accumulated microdamage on top of pre-existing injuries
• Dr. Mathieu Spriet’s development of the standing PET scanner that is now in routine use
• Dr. Heather Knych’s work on metabolism of specific medications in exercised racehorses, which has been used to set rules to ensure that horses are not medicated at the time of racing
• Dr. Benjamin Moeller’s high-quality racehorse drug testing to protect the health of horses and jockeys, and the integrity of racing in California and beyond