Another Horse Dies At Del Mar Racetrack

DEL MAR, CA — An un-raced 3-year-old filly suffered a catastrophic injury in training at Del Mar and was euthanized, it was reported Tuesday.

Trainer Jim Cassidy told the San Diego Union-Tribune the filly, Bri Bri, suffered a broken pelvis Monday morning under exercise rider Abel Hernandez, who was not injured.

Bri Bri was prepping for an upcoming race at Del Mar, Cassidy told the newspaper.

The death is the fourth since the start of the summer meet at Del Mar on July 17. The first two came July 18 when horses collided and the third happened on July 29 on the main dirt track.

All four deaths happened during training.

PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo urged state racing officials to conduct a full investigation into the death of Bri Bri. She added that Cassidy owes the public an immediate explanation.

"It's time that trainers came clean about what condition their horses are in, what medications they're on, what treatments they may have had to block pain and keep them running when they shouldn't be, and how such young horses can break bones while training," Guillermo said. "There's no wet track or rain to blame here."

Del Mar is the first major Southern California race meeting since 30 horses died during the winter/spring meet at Santa Anita.

Cassidy, who was president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers before his term expired recently, told the Union-Tribune he trained one of the 30 horses and that horse also died of a broken pelvis.

Related:

• Del Mar Opens 2019 Horse Racing Season
• 2 Horses Killed In Collision At Del Mar Racetrack
• Third Horse Dies At Del Mar Racetrack

City News Service and Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.