CHRB approves safety plan for Los Alamitos

The California Horse Racing Board voted unanimously on Monday to approve a multi-point plan implemented by Los Alamitos for enhanced safety and greater veterinary oversight following a series of equine fatalities in recent months.

In an 80-minute meeting held via teleconference, the racing board voted 6-0 to permit Los Alamitos to continue its year-round evening meeting for Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds without disruption.

On July 10, the racing board placed the track’s racing license on probation and ordered the development of plans for greater safety. The track submitted a proposal to the racing board last week, which was altered the following days in consultation with racing board officials, according to testimony at Monday’s hearing.

The track proposed enhanced protocols in six categories – training, pre-race procedures, a panel to review entries, post-incident assessments, equine illness and recovery, and racing rules and conditions.

The first 45 minutes of Monday’s meeting focused on changes to medication policies and the development of a panel of racing officials that will review the racing, training, and medication records of horses entered to race. A similar review panel was started on the Southern California Thoroughbred circuit in June 2019 following a series of equine fatalities in racing and training at Santa Anita early that year.

At Los Alamitos, there will be greater surveillance of the stable area, with personnel assigned to monitor veterinary practices.

The Los Alamitos review panel began over the weekend.

“It is essential that we do this,” track owner Ed Allred told the racing board at the start of the meeting. “There are other areas we can stand some improvement and we’ll work on these things. I’m encouraged by the entry review panel, which did its work.”

The Los Alamitos entry-review panel recommended that five horses be withdrawn from racing on Friday, according to racing board executive director Scott Chaney.

“There are a lot more parts to the plan that haven’t been implemented that take time and approval from the board,” Chaney said in his introduction. “Some of the plan has been implemented.”

Becky Fitzgerald, the track’s official veterinarian, told the racing board that the review panel has had an immediate benefit.

“I’ve already seen improvement based on the new system that we are implementing,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re trying to work with trainers. They want to run the horses and they want the horses to be healthy and ready to go. We’ve identified the horses that needed to be taken out.”

Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director, said he met with private veterinarians at Los Alamitos last week and emphasized the need for a reduction in some practices, such as intra-articular injections in joints.

“I met with practicing veterinarians and made it clear that if veterinary practices did not change I would not hesitate to recommend more restrictive protocols,” Arthur said.

Through Monday’s hearing, a majority of the commissioners were supportive of the Los Alamitos proposals.

Commissioner Wendy Mitchell challenged the track on Monday to improve its safety record. Mitchell was the lone commissioner to vote against allowing Los Alamitos to be placed on a probation at the July 10 hearing.

“I appreciate the plan,” Mitchell said. “Let’s keep it in perspective. We’re in this situation and it’s not a good situation. I don’t mean to be difficult, but I want to be clear why we’re in this position. I don’t like being in this position in the first place.”

Since the start of the year, there have been 16 fatalities in races, five in training, and nine other fatalities, according to data on the racing board’s website. The fatalities that occurred other than in racing or training included gastrointestinal, respiratory, or neurological causes, according to officials.

There were seven fatalities in June – two in races, two in training, and three of other causes. There have been four this month, all in racing, including the Quarter Horse Jess Bet Me, who was pulled up with a leg injury in the $157,400 Vessels Maturity on July 5.

Two fatalities occurred as a result of injuries sustained in racing on July 11 and July 12, following the racing board meeting in which the track’s license was put on probation.

“We’re kind of humiliated by this whole thing,” Allred said of the recent fatalities. “Things happen in clusters. We’ll do all we can to do things properly in the future. Some of our trainers are upset by this, but they will adjust to it.”

In the first six months of 2019, there were four fatalities in training and five in racing at Los Alamitos, Chaney said at the July 10 meeting.

For the 2018-19 fiscal year, there were 33 fatalities at Los Alamitos compared to 32 for 2019-20 fiscal year that ended on June 30, Chaney said.