Every day, on average, another horse dies at a track that's supposed to be regulated for safety. In 2025, an estimated 365 horses were killed while racing or being trained across the 41 American tracks that fall under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) oversight. Some estimates suggest the real total across every U.S. track, including those outside HISA's reach, is closer to three times as high.

These deaths aren't rare accidents. Horses are pushed past their physical limits, raced while hurt, and discarded once they can no longer make money for their owners and trainers. Advocates have spent years documenting fatal breakdowns on camera, from the filly Eight Belles at the 2008 Kentucky Derby to, more recently, a young colt named Vino Subito, whose catastrophic injury before this year's Derby was filmed and viewed by millions once the footage came out.

HISA exists specifically to stop this. But a death toll of roughly one horse a day at the tracks it already regulates shows the current rules aren't working. HISA needs to strengthen its enforcement, require independent veterinary review before every race, and hold tracks accountable when horses are sent out injured.

The public is losing patience too — Tripadvisor recently started warning travelers that many major racetracks don't meet basic animal welfare standards. Horses shouldn't have to die for entertainment. Sign the petition to demand HISA close the safety gaps that are still killing horses, before another one loses its life on the track.