Canterbury Park horses, jockeys fare better than most in NY Times report

A New York Times investigation on horse breakdowns and jockey injuries at racetracks shows Minnesota's Canterbury Park has had fewer incidents than most tracks -- 3.2 incidents per 1,000 starts.

Canterbury spokesman Jeff Maday says maintaining the track's surface is important in preventing injuries.

"Having your track maintenance crew educated, trained, having the equipment to keep the track safe, it is a science, these guys are brilliant the way they work the track and maintain the surface to keep it safe. That is absolutely part of it," he said.

Maday says Canterbury had four horse fatalities last year but no jockeys were seriously injured. He says all horses competing at Canterbury are checked by a veterinarian the day of the race.

"We have high standards already, so that goes back to looking at each jurisdiction independently," Maday said. "So people that might want to operate on the fringes, you know, that might want to test the rules, they're not going to be in Minnesota, they're not going to be on a Minnesota race track."

The New York Times report shows that about 3,600 horses died racing or training at tracks across the country over the past three years. The report also showed higher incident rates at casino tracks, which are commonly called "racinos." Minnesota's horse racing industry, as well as some state lawmakers, has proposed opening a racino here.

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