Discussing this season's equine deaths at Saratoga Race Course

Over the past two weeks, four horses at Saratoga Race Course were euthanized and another died after receiving pre-race medications. While the New York Racing Association made big strides in lowering deaths during training and racing at Saratoga in 2024, the number of deaths so far this year could put the Saratoga racing and training season on track to match the troubling 2023 season. WAMC’s Andrew Waite spoke with the Albany Times Union’s Adam Shinder earlier this week after Shinder reported on the eighth death of the 2025 training and racing season. Two more horses died after their conversation. Andrew’s conversation with Pat McKenna, NYRA’s vice president of communications, follows his discussion with Adam, which begins with the story of what happened to the horse Stop Giggling.