The overall fatality rate for all US races regardless of surface in 2015 was 1.62 fatalities per 1,000 starts, the lowest level recorded since data on catastrophic injuries began to be published in 2009, according to statistics released on Tuesday by The Jockey Club.
The fatality rate was down 14 percent compared with the same rate in 2014, when horses suffered catastrophic injuries at the rate of 1.89 per 1,000 starts. The rate declined in 2015 on all three types of racing surfaces, with significant declines in the rates for dirt and turf racing, which have long had much higher fatality rates than synthetic surfaces.
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