Fatalities rose among young US Thoroughbreds; Covid disruptions the likely culprit

An anomaly identified in the injury rate among young Thoroughbreds, seemingly linked to Covid-related disruptions, highlights the importance of racehorses following suitable training schedules, especially early in their careers, say researchers.

Racehorse training and racing schedules in many parts of the United States and Canada were interrupted or otherwise reduced during the first three to six months of 2020, Euan Bennet and Tim Parkin noted in the journal Animals.

This was an indirect consequence of measures taken to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“The outcome of this situation was that a natural experiment occurred,” the pair wrote.

In early 2020, two-year-old Thoroughbreds preparing to begin their racing careers had both their intensive training and the start of their careers delayed.

Older groups of horses aged three and above also experienced an interruption to their usual training programs.

Bennet and Parkin examined potential associations between the disruption to training and fatal musculoskeletal injuries using data from the Equine Injury Database — a census-level report of Thoroughbred flat racing in the United States and Canada collected by The Jockey Club.