Los Alamitos offers safety plan after spike in fatalities

Los Alamitos, currently conducting its evening meeting under probation following a series of recent equine fatalities, announced a multi-point plan Tuesday designed to enhance safety.

The plans were submitted to the California Horse Racing Board, which placed Los Alamitos on a 10-day probation on July 10 after six fatalities occurred in racing or training from June 1 through July 5. Last weekend, two additional horses were euthanized as a result of injuries sustained in racing or training.

The racing board is scheduled to meet via teleconference Monday to discuss the proposals submitted by Los Alamitos. The board could adopt the policies, but could also suspend the track’s license to race. On July 10, the board voted 5-1 to allow the track to continue racing under probation.

In its Tuesday statement, Los Alamitos announced 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 statement did not go into greater detail on how changes would be implemented, but said the track would welcome input from racing participants and members of the racing board. The protocols will take effect immediately, according to a letter track officials sent to the racing board.

The protocols are similar to programs put in place at Santa Anita in the spring of 2019 after that track experienced a series of equine fatalities that led to a three-week cessation of racing.

On Tuesday, racing board vice chairman Oscar Gonzales suggested Los Alamitos halt racing for the forthcoming weekend until the racing board holds its meeting Monday. Track owner Ed Allred said Tuesday evening that he rejected the proposal.

“They asked if we would voluntarily not race this weekend,” Allred said. “We said we couldn’t do that.

“I’m not going to have them do that to us. We’re not going to voluntarily close. I’m really discouraged.

“We’re planning on racing on Friday night.”

Allred described the recent fatalities as “terrible.”

“It’s terrible if we have one now, or three weeks from now,” he said. “What if they have one at Del Mar?”

During the two-hour racing board meeting on July 10, Gonzales asked Los Alamitos not to race last weekend, but the track was eventually allowed to continue racing under probation.

The Los Alamitos evening meeting consists of races for Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds.