Number of horses in California euthanized due to musculoskeletal injuries up over 2022 since July 1

The number of horses euthanized as a result of musculoskeletal injuries sustained at California tracks or official training centers has risen during the current fiscal year that began on July 1 compared to the corresponding period in 2022, according to a presentation at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting in Sacramento.

According to the racing board’s website, there have been 25 fatalities caused by musculoskeletal injuries through Wednesday compared to 10 during a corresponding period in 2022. For the entire 2022-2023 fiscal year, there were 28 fatalities, a decline from 43 in 2020-2021 and 39 in 2021-2022.

“We are higher unfortunately this year,” said Francisco Uzal, who conducts necropsies on behalf of the racing board through the California animal health and food safety lab system in San Bernardino.

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In his presentation to the board, Uzal said the number of musculoskeletal injuries has been surpassed by the number of non-musculoskeletal injuries.

Through Wednesday, there have been 19 non-musculoskeletal injuries caused by illnesses, accidents, or sudden deaths. There were 21 through the corresponding period in 2022 and 41 for the entire 2022-2023 fiscal year.

“We’ve had more medical cases than musculoskeletal injuries,” Uzal reported, reflecting on end of fiscal year data. “This is a good thing. This means the accidents are going down.”

In the last several years, California has enacted changes in medication rules and pre-race veterinary examinations to reduce fatalities following a series of fatal injuries in early 2019 that made international news.

Overall, there were 69 fatalities at state racetracks in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, compared to 66 in 2021-2022. The number had dropped sharply in recent years. There were 144 fatalities in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. There were 265 fatalities in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

OC Tavern to reopen

OC Tavern, a sports bar and satellite wagering facility in San Clemente, Calif., will reopen later this month and resume wagering on races for the first time since early summer.

The racing board on Thursday approved a license for new owner Kevin Thi to operate the satellite wagering portion of the restaurant-bar. OC Tavern was the first mini-satellite located in a restaurant or bar to open in 2010 after legislation permitting such venues to take bets was approved in the 2000s.

Satellite wagering at OC Tavern is scheduled to begin on Dec. 26 in conjunction with opening day of the winter-spring meetings at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields.

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Rick Baedeker, a former track executive and racing board executive director who currently heads the network of off-track betting locations in Southern California, told the racing board on Thursday that OC Tavern handles “$6 to $7 million” annually.

Baedeker said OC Tavern was closed in July after the previous operator “left the facility in a state of disrepair.”

Thi has upgraded the facility in recent weeks in advance of a reopening, Baedeker said.

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