Santa Anita ponying up to buy PET scan machine

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will invest $500,000 in the acquisition of a PET scan machine that provides greater detection of vulnerabilities to a horse’s lower limbs, the track announced this week.

The Longmile Positron Emission Tomography machine will be based at the track’s backstretch equine hospital. The device allows a horse to undergo an examination that can “flag pre-existing conditions that can contribute to breakdowns,” Dionne Benson said in a statement released by the track.

Benson was recently appointed chief veterinary officer for the track’s parent company, The Stronach Group.

The examinations can take place while the horse is standing and do not require anesthesia. The machine is expected to be in place by the autumn.

Santa Anita canceled 13 days of racing in March after a series of fatal equine injuries since late December. The track has implemented a policy of stricter veterinary inspection of horses undergoing workouts and training and has tightened medication policies since late March.