NYT: Horse Racing -Are Things Rosier in Europe? - Gina Rarick

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In the interest of clarity, I’d like to point out a few facts about racing across the pond. There are some similarities to U.S. racing: We do have racing all year long; the most lucrative purses are for 2- and 3-year-olds and horses here run about the same number of races as horses in America. The average horse in the U.K. started 6.3 times in 2006, according to the most recent statistics available from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. That is exactly the same average start for horses in the United States. Horses in France raced slightly less, with an average of 5.8 starts. In Hong Kong, the average number of starts was 7.8. The big difference is when it comes to fatal accidents. In the United States, there are 1.5 fatal accidents for every 1,000 starts, according to an estimate from the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. In Britain, the rate is 0.65 per 1,000 starts, according to the Animal Health Trust, and in Hong Kong, where horses face the heaviest schedule, the rate is 0.35 0.00035 percent, according to Hong Kong Jockey Club figures.