Isn it true that more horses die in regular horse races than in the Suicide Race?
Stampede organizers claim that their death rate is equal to, or less than, that of the horses at Emerald Downs, a thoroughbred racetrack in Seattle. This is blatantly untrue. According to the Washington State Horse Racing Commission, eight out of 5,894 horses died in races at Emerald Downs in 2004. According to the Omak Stampede three out of 20 were killed in the Omak Suicide Race in 2004. That makes the death rate at Emerald Downs less than one half of a percent. The death rate of the Omak Suicide Race is a staggering 15 percent. In addition, the only thing that a thoroughbred race has in common with the Suicide Race is that there are horses and it’s a competition. Normal horse tracks don’t include two steep hills to conquer or a fast, cold river to cross.
