Santa Anita rehires Dennis Moore as track consultant amid rash of fatalities

Slightly more than two months after leaving his position as track consultant at Santa Anita, Dennis Moore has resumed his role as a racing surface consultant amidst a rash of fatal breakdowns in recent months at Santa Anita.

Moore was scheduled to be at Santa Anita on Tuesday afternoon to inspect the course “as a precautionary measure,” the track said in a statement.

The announcement of Moore’s return comes hours after the filly Lets Light the Way suffered a fatal injury in morning training, the 21st horse lost since the winter-spring meeting began on Dec. 26.

Moore, 69, is currently employed as track superintendent at Del Mar and Los Alamitos. In December, he left Santa Anita, saying then that he had told Santa Anita officials of his plans in September and wanted a reduced work load. Moore said the time commitment of overseeing Santa Anita’s surface was a factor, and that it kept him from home for several nights a week.

Since the start of the year, Andy LaRocco has overseen the racetrack at Santa Anita.

Santa Anita closed its main track for training late on the morning of Feb. 25 and did not conduct training on Feb. 26 or 27 to inspect the base of the surface following four fatal injuries from Feb. 22-25 and a winter of extensive rain.

Track officials and consultants said no irregularities were found during the inspection. Since the track reopened for training last Thursday and racing resumed the same day, there have been two fatalities – one in a race on Saturday and one in training on Tuesday.

The fatalities led to a protest near track property by animal rights activists midday on Sunday.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the California Horse Racing Board said the horse fatalities will be a subject of discussion at a regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 21. Officials with the Stronach Group, Santa Anita’s parent track, are expected to speak at the meeting.

Chuck Winner, the chairman of the racing board, said Tuesday afternoon that he has been in discussion with Santa Anita officials frequently in recent days.

“There is no doubt they are as concerned about safety as we are,” Winner said. “They are aware this will be on the agenda.”