by Lee Park, director of communications, New York State Racing and Wagering Board

Schenectady, NY — The New York State Racing and Wagering Board today released two comprehensive and searchable databases to the public: a detailed list of every horse that has broken down, died, sustained a serious injury or been involved in an incident at a track in New York State since 2009; and a list of every fine and suspension issued by the Board to licensees for nearly three decades.

The two databases bring an unparalleled transparency to New York’s horseracing industry and regulation.

“The public has every right to know exactly what is happening at race tracks in New York State,” Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John D. Sabini said. “The wealth of information in these two databases leaves no stone unturned regarding incidents at tracks in New York and who is being held accountable for rule infractions by the Board. As the adage says: sunlight is the best disinfectant, especially for the state’s horseracing industry.”

The equine compilation — an unprecedented industry database — consists of reporting data from Racing and Wagering Board employees at every Thoroughbred and Standardbred track in New York. Interested parties may search the database through a variety of parameters, including by horse, trainer, jockey/driver’s name; year or a specific date; individual track; and breed. Significantly, the database includes racing, training and non-racing fatalities and incidents.

Each individual result includes:

• Horse’s name
• Incident type (equine death, accident, fall of horse or rider, injury, stewards/vet list, etc.)
• Racing type (Thoroughbred or harness)
• Location/Type (e.g. “Belmont Park (NYRA), Training Track; Training”)
• Date
• Trainer
• Jockey/Driver
• Weather
• Brief description of incident (e.g. “Jockey fell while breezing on training track”)

The rulings database, which had already existed, has been enhanced and reformatted with improved search parameters. Individuals may search for fines, suspensions and other actions against licensees by name, year or date, track, ruling number and racing type.

Each result includes:

• Licensee name and type of license (trainer-driver, owner, jockey, etc.)
• Notice number and date
• Racing type (Thoroughbred or harness) and track
• Ruling type (suspension, fine, license refusal, etc.) and specific rule(s) violated
• Full text of ruling

Both databases will be updated promptly as data submitted by field staff at each track is logged in by Racing and Wagering Board investigative staff. The Board will include more statistical information on equine breakdowns in the near future, including variables about the race in which an incident occurred, the horse’s racing history and more detailed descriptions about each incident.

The Equine Breakdown, Death, Injury and Incident Database can be found at this link.

The Racing and Wagering Board Rulings Database can be found at this link.

Both databases are also available through the New York State Racing and Wagering Board’s website, www.racing.state.ny.us.