Santa Anita to inspect main track after three fatalities

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita announced on Sunday that it would close its main track late Monday morning and all of Tuesday to inspect the base of the surface.

The decision was made after a weekend in which three horses were euthanized as a result of injuries sustained in racing and training, most notably Battle of Midway, the winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.

Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, the parent company of Santa Anita, said on Sunday that inspection is “a precaution” after a series of injuries during a wet winter in Southern California.

“We hope to put everyone’s mind at ease,” Ritvo said. “We think the track is in good shape. We want to pull back the base and make sure there is no erosion or runoff. We’ll be able to work on it if we don’t have any problems.”

From Dec. 26 through Sunday, there have been 18 fatalities at Santa Anita, according to California Horse Racing Board officials – six in races on dirt, five in races on turf, and seven suffered by horses training on dirt. By comparison, there were 37 fatalities during racing and training at Santa Anita for the fiscal year from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, according to the racing’s board annual report published earlier this month.

“Our numbers are up from last year,” Ritvo said.

There were 138 fatalities at all racetracks throughout California in the 2017-18 fiscal year, a decline of 33 percent from 206 fatalities in the 2016-17 fiscal year. The figures include non-exercise-related fatalities such as illnesses.

Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director, said in an interview on Sunday morning that the number of fatalities in the state is expected to rise in the current fiscal year.

“The hope is that we’d improve on that, but that isn’t the situation,” Arthur said.

Arthur said there is no common cause for the rash of injuries at Santa Anita in recent months, and that studies are ongoing of necropsy reports.

“We’re looking at the factors associated with the uptick we’ve seen, trying to identify if there is an issue we can address in a number of different ways and continue to address the safety issue,” he said. “We have to do everything we can to make it safe.

“It’s always a challenge when you have so many off tracks.”

California is in the midst of a rainier-than-normal winter. Through Saturday, 15.7 inches of rain had fallen since Oct. 1, well above the average of 10.3 inches for the same time period, according to the Los Angeles Times. During a similar period last year, 1.9 inches of rain had fallen through Saturday.

Originally, Santa Anita said there would be no training on the main track on Monday but postponed the closure to 9 a.m. after an outcry from trainers who had scheduled workouts.

On Sunday, officials with Santa Anita and the racing board held a conference call to discuss the inspection. Mick Peterson, director of the University of Kentucky’s Agricultural Equine Program, was scheduled to be part of the inspection team along with Santa Anita track superintendent Andy LaRocco. Peterson evaluates soil samples of the Santa Anita racetrack on a monthly basis, according to a statement issued by the track on Sunday.

Battle of Midway, who won the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Feb. 2, was third in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. A 5-year-old, Battle of Midway is the most prominent runner to sustain a fatal injury in recent months at Santa Anita.

Battle of Midway was stricken during a workout. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Saturday that Battle of Midway suffered a rear leg injury and was immediately taken to his barn for evaluation.

“We X-rayed every angle we could X-ray,” Hollendorfer said. “My vets were very forthright and said they couldn’t save him.”