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Santa Anita Park in southern California is resisting calls to suspend its season, saying the recent changes have reduced the number of catastrophic injuries "by 50% in the race and more than 84% in training".
Jae C. Hong / AP
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Jae C. Hong / AP
Santa Anita Park in southern California is resisting calls to suspend its season, saying the recent changes have reduced the number of catastrophic injuries "by 50% in the race and more than 84% in training".
Jae C. Hong / AP
Los Angeles County's Santa Anita Park is strongly resisting calls to cancel the rest of its racing season after the death of two more horses this weekend, bringing to 29 the number of dead horses on the track since the month of December.
In a very unusual move on Saturday, the California Horse Racing Board asked the park to scuttle the competition for the remaining seven days in order to "give the industry more time to fully implement the announced safety initiatives and can -being others ".
The owner of the park, The Stronach Group, as well as the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers issued a joint statement on Sunday, announcing that the circuit would remain open until the end of the season. June 23rd.
"Since extensive reforms have been implemented in Santa Anita, catastrophic injuries have significantly decreased compared to the previous one," said the statement: "To be clear, there are no acceptable losses, and every day we work to end all serious injuries, but the reality is that our improvements and changes have been effective. "
Santa Anita suspended the races for much of March, when the number of horse deaths reached nearly two dozen – twice the rate of the previous year – and made it clear why so many horses were dying.
Prior to its reopening on March 29, the park announced a series of changes that it was planning to implement, including limiting the use of pain medication or anti-inflammatory drugs and treating horses and improving the early detection of pre-existing health problems. Santa Anita is already committed to regularly calling on external experts to examine its clay, turf and synthetic surfaces.
The park says that these movements have already reduced the number of catastrophic injuries "by 50% in the race and more than 84% in training".
Since the reopening of the park, seven other horses have died there.
On Saturday, a horse named Formal Dude was euthanized after "taking a bad step" in a kilometer race, according to the official chart. An examination revealed a fractured pelvis, reports The Daily Racing Form.
In response to the death of the 4-year-old gelding, the State Horse Racing Council on Saturday recommended Santa Anita "to suspend the race for the remaining seven days but to allow the horses to continue training for this period".
Santa Anita issued his refusal Sunday. On the same day, another horse died: Truffalino stopped during the third race of the day and the jockey dismounted just before the 3 year old filly collapsed. The horse died of an alleged heart attack.
In a statement sent by email, the California Horse Racing Board said it "has no power to suspend a competitive event or to remove race dates from an event in progress without the approval of the operator of the track or without holding a public meeting with ten days notice. "
At the time Santa Anita suspended the races in March, the question was whether heavy rains in southern California and poor track conditions were the cause of injury and death to horses. But other experts were not so sure.
"There is no obvious answer, so every question is asked: is it the surface, are the horses running on the surface?" Rick Baedeker, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, told NPR that all things were considered in March.
"The races have become more and more competitive over time," said Tom Goldman of NPR's Rick Arthur, Equine Medical Director at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis. "The horses are worked faster and there are fewer horses for the slot machines available, so there is more pressure on the horses to run more often."
According to People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, horses, with their massive mounts supported by lean legs, are simply not designed to withstand the rigors of training and running. The organization notes that it can be difficult to diagnose injuries such as tense tendons or broken bones before a horse is run again.
PETA called for a national suspension of the races until the implementation of enhanced security measures. "Coaches, owners and veterinarians have been carelessly controlling races and horses at risk for too long, and these days must end," said First Vice President Kathy Guillermo in a statement.
And if only a few days remain to run this season, Santa Anita will host the prestigious Breeders Cup in November. In the middle of the wave of horse deaths, according to the LA Times, the Breeders' Cup Committee plans to move the event to Churchill Downs, Kentucky.
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