72-hour surveillance before Santa Anita Derby, Oaks

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita will conduct video surveillance for 72 hours before the race for all runners in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby and $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks on April 4, the track announced in a brief statement on Wednesday.

This will be the third consecutive year of surveillance in advance of those races. Surveillance will begin on Wednesday, April 1, the day entries are taken for both Grade 1 races.

Raceday surveillance is commonplace for approximately six hours in advance of major stakes here.

Dr. Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director, said out-of-competition testing has already been done on some of the probable starters for the Santa Anita Derby, and that similar tests will be conducted on Santa Anita Oaks candidates in coming days. He said further testing of Santa Anita Derby runners could take place before the day of the race.

The measures are similar to those being taken at Keeneland in advance of the Blue Grass Stakes and at Aqueduct in advance of the Wood Memorial. New York officials have gone a step further, announcing that all pre-race veterinary records of Wood Memorial runners will be made available to the public.