The Jockey Club releases injury data

On Wednesday, The Jockey Club released an updated North American fatality

rate for Thoroughbreds that includes two years' worth of data in the Equine

Injury Database, the North American database for racing injuries. The Jockey

Club launched the database during the summer of 2008.

Based on an analysis of 754,932 starts collected during the two-year period

November 1, 2008, through October 31, 2010, the prevalence of fatal injury

declined to 2.00 per 1,000 starts, as compared to the 2.04 rate reported in

March for the one-year period November 1, 2008, through October 31, 2009.

The analysis was performed by Dr. Tim Parkin, a veterinarian and

epidemiologist from the University of Glasgow, who serves as a consultant on the

Equine Injury Database.

Parkin noted that the change in the overall fatality rate stemmed from

cumulative two-year data that revealed a statistically significant difference in

the prevalence of fatality on both turf and synthetic surfaces versus dirt. The

difference in the prevalence of fatality between synthetic and turf surfaces was

not statistically significant.

"The addition of 376,000 starts to the database in year two enabled us to

statistically validate certain trends seen in the data," Parkin explained.

"Trends will continue to emerge and evolve as additional data becomes available

for study and as more complex statistical analyses are performed. This will

allow us to understand how different variables, alone and in concert, may impact

the risk of fatality."

Among other trends gleaned from Parkin's analysis of the cumulative two-year

data:

The following table presents the comparable fatality rates by surface type

for the one-year and cumulative two-year periods beginning November 1, 2008.

Thoroughbred Fatality Rate per

1,000 Starts by Surface

and Reporting Period

"We will continue to publish these national benchmarks on an annual basis to

provide the necessary statistical foundation participating racetracks need for

monitoring and comparing their individual results," said Matt Iuliano, The

Jockey Club's executive vice president and executive director.

"Racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database have an extensive

menu of reporting tools and other resources available through the InCompass RTO

system designed to assist management in developing safety initiatives aimed at

reducing injuries to our equine athletes," he added. "As the database continues

to grow, we look forward to the additional information and statistical power it

will yield to improve the health and safety of the racehorse."

The Jockey Club, through two of its for-profit subsidiary companies,

InCompass and The Jockey Club Technology Services Inc., has underwritten the

cost to develop and operate the Equine Injury Database as a service to the

industry. By agreement with the participating racetracks, from time to time The

Jockey Club may publish certain summary statistics from the Equine Injury

Database, but will not provide statistics that identify specific participants,

including racetracks, horses or persons. The Equine Injury Database contains a

suite of reports for racetracks to analyze data collected at their respective

facilities.

A list of racetracks that have signed up to participate in the Equine Injury

Database may be found at

www.jockeyclub.com/initiatives.asp.

Please refer to the Analysis of the Equine Injury Database accompanying this

press release for additional detail.