Regulatory Veterinarians are often criticized for pre-race veterinary scratches, whether occurring during a high profile race or a normal race day. Often this results in highly publicized criticism from trainers, owners, and other stakeholders. Among the complaints raised is that veterinary scratches do not significantly lower fatality rates when pre-race examination protocols are implemented. While examining fatality rates is one metric to measure the value of the pre-race exam, it is not the only consideration. In an examination of data from Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park over 10 years, trends regarding horses that were scratched during pre-race examinations emerged with data showing those horses were less likely to come back to racing and training than cohorts in the same race. Moreover, those horses that did come back took significantly longer to do so.