Nineteen horses have died at a famed California racetrack in just two months, forcing officials to temporarily shut down and test the track surface to find out what is causing horses to break their legs.
Citing record cold temperatures and a deluge of rain this season, the Santa Anita track on the outskirts of Los Angeles shut down on Monday and Tuesday as experts assessed the surface.
The shutdown was spurred by an extraordinary 16-hour period in which three horses died on the track, including Battle of Midway, a Breeder's Cup winner who was pulled from the breeding stable to race once again.
On Friday, Hot American broke down leaving the backstretch in a 1 1/8-mile turf race, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Battle of Midway is seen after winning the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in 2017. The top-flight horse broke down on Saturday during a workout at Santa Anita
Officials at Santa Anita racetrack (above last year) are concerned about the rising death toll and ordered the track be shut down for testing on Monday and Tuesday
Then Battle of Midway suffered a fracture during a timed workout on Saturday. Not long after, Just Forget It, an unraced four-year-old gelding, suffered a training breakdown.
The incidents occurred at different places on the track. All three horses were euthanized.
Early on Monday, Charmer John, a three-year-old gelding, was the latest fatality, suffering a catastrophic injury to his left front fetlock as he entered the stretch during training, and was euthanized.
The death brought the toll to 19 horse fatalities since December 26, the start of the winter meet - more than double the seven horses that had died at Santa Anita by the same point last year.
Six of the fatalities have occurred during dirt racing, five during turf racing, and eight during training.
In response, Santa Anita shutdown at 9am on Monday and all day Tuesday to 'fully evaluate sub-surface conditions such as moisture content and soil consistency,' the racetrack said in a statement.
The racetrack said that it has received an abnormal 11.5 inches of rain in February alone, and the shutdown will allow staff to 'peel back' the track to examine the subsurface.
A race on February 10 at Santa Anita Park shows the sloppy track conditions this season. The region has seen 11.5 inches of rain and record cold during the winter meet
'Track Superintendent Andy LaRocco, in addition to performing all regularly scheduled maintenance on the dirt oval, will examine the entire track surface and if any issues are found, he will address those areas,' the statement said.
The track also called in specialist Mick Peterson, PhD, who serves as Director of the University of Kentucky's Agricultural Equine Programs, and who evaluates soil samples from Santa Anita on a monthly basis.
Peterson was on-site this week to review Santa Anita's sub-surface and surface data.
If the track is found to be in prime condition, regularly scheduled training is expected to resume Wednesday morning and live racing will proceed on Thursday.
Peterson and a spokeswoman for Santa Anita did not immediately respond to messages from DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning.
Battle of Midway is seen on February 2 winning the Grade 2 $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes. Poor track conditions are one suspect in the spate of horse fatalities
Break downs, the euphemistic term for a horse breaking its leg, are a fact of Thoroughbred racing.
By some estimates, a horse breaks down roughly once in every 500 starts in North America.
Experts say track surface can be a factor, but also point to drugging as a common factor in break downs, saying that medication allows a horse to race through pain that would otherwise signal it to slow or stop.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement that the animal rights group was planning a protest at Santa Anita but canceled it after meeting with track representatives who 'pledged to take definitive steps, including extending the review of medication records to horses who are in training — and not just before races.'
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/27/california-race-track-is-temporarily-shut-down-after-19-horses-die-in-just-two-months/
Main photo article Nineteen horses have died at a famed California racetrack in just two months, forcing officials to temporarily shut down and test the track surface to find out what is causing horses to break their legs.
Citing record cold temperatures and a deluge of rain this season, the Santa Anita track on...
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Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/27/14/10358614-6751625-image-a-4_1551277689318.jpg
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