More Santa Anita Park Horse Deaths: Track Refuses To Halt Races

ARCADIA, CA -- Officials at Santa Anita Park are refusing a request by the California Horse Racing Board to suspend racing at the track for the remaining seven days of the season, after two more horses died at the facility over the weekend, marking the 28th and 29th since Dec. 26.

Formal Dude was euthanized Saturday after suffering an injury during that day's 10th race, CHRB spokesman Mike Marten confirmed to City News Service. The death was first reported Sunday afternoon by the Los Angeles Times.

On Sunday, a three-year-old filly reportedly collapsed and died during a race conducted in near-triple digit temperatures. The death of Truffalino was reported Sunday by the Daily Racing Form,
which said the horse pulled up inside the eighth pole and collapsed after jockey Joe Talamo dismounted.

A heart attack is the suspected cause.

``Under current law, The California Horse Racing Board does not have the authority to suspend a race meet or remove race dates from a current race meet without the approval of the race track operator or without holding a public meeting with ten days public notice,'' the CHRB explained in a statement.

The CHRB said that it recommended to Santa Anita management that racing be suspended for the seven remaining race days but that they allow horses to continue to train during that period in order to give the industry more time to fully implement announced safety initiatives and perhaps additional ones.

``It is our understanding that Santa Anita management, after consultation with certain other industry stakeholders, believes that for a variety of reasons, the future of California racing is best served by continuing to race,'' the Horse Racing Board stated.

The number of deaths at the track have prompted calls from animal-advocacy groups and some politicians for a halt in racing at Santa Anita, or even to ban the sport in California altogether.

In April, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced the creation of a task force to investigate the deaths of the horses at the track.

In a letter to the CHRB on April 2, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for racing to be suspended at the track ``until the cause or causes of these deaths can be fully investigated,'' a call she repeated last month as the deaths continued piling up.

Racing was suspended at the track for most of March while examinations were conducted on the track. Races resumed April 4 after the state horse racing board approved a series of safety measures, and Santa Anita officials announced a series of new measures to help bolster the safety of horses at the track, including restrictions on certain medications, requiring trainers to get
permission in advance before putting a horse through a workout and investing in diagnostic equipment to aid in the early detection of pre-existing conditions.

No further deaths occurred until May 17, when an unraced 3-year-old gelding named Commander Coil suffered a fatal shoulder injury while galloping during training.

Two days later, Spectacular Music, a 3-year-old gelding, sustained a pelvic injury while running his first career race and was put down.

On May 26, a 9-year-old gelding named Kochees was put down after suffering a leg injury during a race the previous day.

On June 5, River Derby, an unraced 2-year-old colt, suffered a shoulder injury during a gallop at Santa Anita and was later euthanized. Track spokesman Mike Willman said the horse was initially examined at Santa Anita but the shoulder injury was not diagnosed until it was taken to Chino Valley Equine Hospital, where it was euthanized.

City News Service contributed to this report.