Trainer Dan Blacker dealt 90-day suspension, $15,000 fine by Santa Anita stewards

Trainer Dan Blacker was suspended 90 days and fined $15,000 by Santa Anita stewards on Sunday for 527 incidents in which horses in his care did not undergo pre-workout veterinary examinations from Jan. 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.

The suspension is scheduled to run from Feb. 26 through May 25. During that time, Blacker is banned from racetrack property, including access to his stable.

The penalty is one of the more severe sanctions issued by stewards in recent years.

Sunday’s ruling was signed by stewards Luis Jauregui, Kim Sawyer, and Tom Ward. The decision was reached by a 2-1 margin, with Ward dissenting, according to the ruling. Ward, who is based at Los Alamitos on a year-round basis but was part of the panel that heard the Blacker case, declined to elaborate on his decision when reached on Sunday.

The penalties stem from an investigation conducted by California Horse Racing Board investigators last summer.

Racing board investigators conducted an audit of Blacker’s pre-workout veterinary record after the unraced 2-year-old filly Animae suffered a fatal injury after a workout at Santa Anita on July 1, 2023.

The racing board issued a complaint against Blacker in September stating that no pre-race workout veterinary report was filed to an official database in the three days prior to Animae’s workout on July 1, and that no pre-workout veterinary reports were filed for two of the filly’s other three preceding workouts.

The racing board’s audit found that of 789 works by Blacker-trained horses from Jan. 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023 that pre-race veterinary reports were not filed for 527 workouts.

The absence of pre-race veterinary reports was cited in the complaint as a violation of a racing board rule that requires horses to be examined by a trainer’s attending veterinarian within 72 hours of a workout to determine whether the runner is fit for such exercise. In addition, a confidential record of the examination must be filed electronically with the racing board.

The racing board has implemented a series of rulings regarding workouts and pre-race examinations in recent years following a series of fatalities at Santa Anita in early 2019 that drew international attention.

Blacker, 41, has trained since 2011. He is best known as the trainer of Hit the Road, the winner of the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in 2021.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.