New protocols released for Santa Anita downhill turf course

ARCADIA, Calif. – In the wake of a fatal breakdown in a hillside turf sprint April 4, followed by miscommunication that compromised heavily favored Queen Maxima in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes the same day, Santa Anita veterinary staff have issued new protocols for hillside turf sprints.

The Santa Anita Downhill Turf Course Protocols limit horses eligible for downhill races and require jockeys to school their mounts downhill over the dirt crossing before going to the starting gate at the top of the hill. The directive also precludes apprentice jockeys from riding in those races.

The downhill protocols were issued by a Santa Anita veterinary staff that is led by Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer for 1/ST Racing. Race 6 on Saturday is the first hillside race that was drawn after the protocols were distributed.

Hillside sprints will be limited to stakes and allowances. Claiming races will not be offered and horses cannot enter for an optional claiming tag. Since the Santa Anita season began Dec. 28, three of the five hillside races that included an optional claiming runner were won by a horse in for a tag. Neither hillside runner who suffered a catastrophic injury this season (Cosmic Heat, Garden Party) was in for a tag.

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According to information posted on the California Horse Racing Board website, five other fatalities during the winter meet were not associated with the hillside course.

Furthermore, the downhill protocols state: “Horses participating in downhill races will be required to complete one schooling session.”

The directive applies to the post parade. It requires jockeys to school their mounts downhill over the dirt crossing. Schooling previously was optional.

The mandate follows the events of April 4, which began with a dirt-crossing breakdown in the first hillside race. Subsequently, jockeys for the next hill race were directed to school horses downhill over the dirt crossing. Juan Hernandez, rider of odds-on Monrovia favorite Queen Maxima, did not receive the directive. He took Queen Maxima straight to the gate, as usual.

Queen Maxima was familiar with the crossing, as she had won three races on the hill, including two stakes. At the gate for the Monrovia, a veterinarian reportedly told Hernandez to take Queen Maxima back to the bottom of the hill for schooling. The implication was Queen Maxima might otherwise be scratched.

Hernandez took Queen Maxima to the dirt crossing, then back up to the gate, a round trip of about one mile. She finished a flat third at 2-5, the most heavily favored runner on the card. Hernandez later said Queen Maxima was “done” before she reached the gate a second time.

Notwithstanding two breakdowns this winter on the hill, there has never been a published study that finds hillside turf sprints to be less safe than other configurations. The protocols issued last week did not address the dirt crossing for turf sprints on the main oval.

The third instruction in the downhill protocols state: “Apprentice jockeys will not be eligible to ride in downhill sprint races.”

This merely reestablishes a guideline. None of the 19 hillside turf races since opening day of the winter meet have included a horse ridden by an apprentice jockey.

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