Churchill Downs to suspend racing after 12 horse deaths at racetrack

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Churchill Downs announced Friday that, after this weekend, racing will be suspended until July 3 after an unusually high number of horse deaths at the track.

Twelve horses have died at the racetrack since April 27.

"The team at Churchill Downs takes great pride in our commitment to safety and strives to set the highest standard in racing, consistently going above and beyond the regulations and policies that are required," said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI). 

"What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable. Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, and though no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or environment at Churchill Downs, we need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols."

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Churchill Downs ahead of the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby May 6, 2023, in Louisville, Ky.  (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Horse racing officials held an emergency summit on Tuesday to discuss the deaths at the track. Track officials also spoke with horsemen at the Trackside Training Center in Louisville Thursday in a meeting that resulted in a number of changes that will go into effect immediately. All 12 fatalities will be investigated, and there will be a probe on track conditions.

At this point, though, "no single factor has been identified as a potential cause, and no discernable pattern has been detected to link the fatalities," Churchill Downs said in a