Fatalities at California tracks in steep decline

Equine fatalities at California racetracks and training centers have declined sharply in the current fiscal year that ends on June 30, according to figures provided by the California Horse Racing Board.

Through Tuesday, the racing board had recorded 72 fatalities in racing and training or other incidents such as illnesses or stable accidents, compared to 122 in the 2019-20 fiscal year. The figure was 144 in the 2018-19 fiscal year when the issue gained international news following a series of fatalities in racing and training at Santa Anita in the early months of 2019.

A decade ago, in the 2010-11 fiscal year, the racing board reported 265 fatalities at tracks and training centers throughout the state.

In the current fiscal year, there have been 30 fatalities in racing, 21 in training and 21 categorized for other causes.

Del Mar had by far the lowest number of fatalities with five – one during racing, two in training, and two from other causes – but the track is open for a limited amount of time for training prior to its summer and autumn race meetings.

Golden Gate Fields and Los Alamitos, which operate training year-round, each had 25 overall fatalities. Golden Gate Fields, which runs for most months of the year, had eight racing and eight training fatalities and nine from other causes.

Los Alamitos had 13 racing fatalities, five in training and seven from other causes. Los Alamitos runs a year-round evening meeting for Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds as well as a small number of daytime Thoroughbred meetings on the Southern California circuit.

Los Alamitos came under racing board scrutiny last July for a series of racing fatalities in the spring and early summer of 2020 during its evening meeting. The track enacted several safety-oriented policies, including additional pre-race inspections and significant changes in permitted medications. Similar policies were put in place at Santa Anita in 2019 and remain in effect throughout the state.

In the current fiscal year, Santa Anita had 15 fatalities – eight in racing, four in training, and three from other causes. There were two horses lost in training at the San Luis Rey Downs training center.

The figures represent fatalities at racing board-sanctioned facilities, and do not include horses stricken at a track and taken to an off-site veterinarian clinic for injuries or illnesses.