Horse euthanized after sustaining sesamoid injury at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – Kochees, a 9-year-old gelding who was pulled up in Saturday’s sixth race, was euthanized on Sunday because of a sesamoid injury, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.

An effort was made overnight to save Kochees, Hollendorfer said.

“We tried, but we couldn’t,” he said.

Kochees, 9, was pulled up at the top of the stretch of a $10,000 claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs by jockey Mario Gutierrez. Kochees was racing at the back of the field when he was injured.

Kochees was taken to the track’s backstretch hospital immediately after he was vanned off the racetrack.

Santa Anita has had 26 equine fatalities since the start of the winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26. After a series of fatalities in late February and early March, the track cancelled 13 days of racing to inspect and renovate the main track.

When full training resumed in mid-March, the track imposed greater scrutiny of horses allowed to train. When racing resumed on March 29, the track implemented tighter rules for medication use and added inspections for horses entered to race.

The track went six weeks without a fatality in training or racing from April 1 to May 17 when Commander Coil sustained a shoulder injury while galloping during morning training.