As promised, NY Times link is here.

One quote worth repeating:

The analysis showed that during those three years the rate of incidents for horses in the United States was 5.2 per 1,000 starts.

By contrast, Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, which year after year has one of the lowest breakdown rates in North America, had an incident rate of only 1.4, according to the Times analysis. “One of the differences here is medication is not as permissive as it is in the U.S.,” said Jamie Martin, executive vice president of racing at Woodbine.

Enough said.