Harness Racing Australia (HRA) developed and introduced an Injury & Incident Database in 2011.

Race day injury and incident reports are designed to capture veterinary information for any horse which undergoes a veterinary examination at a racetrack on race day.

Examinations may emanate from a variety of sources including a request by the trainer of the horse, the on- course veterinarian or Stewards, and be undertaken at any time - including upon arrival at the track, during warm-up or post-race.

Vet inspections are mandatory for horses over a certain age or who have had a large number of race starts, as well as horses returning to racing after an injury.

Since inception, the Injury and Incident Database (the database) has grown to include statistics on over 2 million starters at more than 30,000 race meetings. Something as minor as a graze during transport through to an illness or major injury is recorded in detail, often with a requirement for the horse’s regular vet to provide clearance before it is permitted to race again.

Data from the database is reviewed regularly in reports to HRA Specialist Committees including the Regulatory Veterinarians, Integrity Departments, Administrators, Insurers and relevant Government Departments upon request.

These reports debunk many myths with regards to the regularity and severity of injuries in harness racing, including the number of catastrophic racing injuries resulting in death - which averages at less than 10 per year, across 6 States running 15,000 races with 10,000 individual starters (equivalent to 0.007 of all starters).