Trainer Hansen loses 15 horses in San Luis Rey Downs fire
The impact of the tragic fire that devastated San Luis Rey Downs on Thursday was starting to be known on Friday, when trainer Scott Hansen – who had 30 horses in training there – reported that half his barn, 15 runners, had perished.
“I basically lost half my barn,” Hansen said. “It’s horrible.”
Hansen said the horses who survived were found at a number of nearby facilities, and all were on their way to or already had arrived at the farm of owner Gary Broad in Murrietta, Calif. Hansen trains almost exclusively for Broad. Of the 30 horses he trained, 29 were owned by Broad. The other horse was a homebred of Hansen’s. That horse, who was unraced, died.
Hansen said that among the horses of his who died were Monster Man, a 3-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song who won twice in 10 starts, and Puig, a 4-year-old son of Scat Daddy who was second in both his career starts against maidens. Monster Man finished eighth in the Del Mar Derby during the summer meeting in his final start.
He said a couple of the ones who survived were “burned pretty bad.”
Hansen said his assistant at San Luis Rey Downs described a grim, graphic scene on Friday. “It’s apocalyptic. Corpses everywhere,” Hansen said.
The horses of Hansen’s who survived were set free when the fire hit his barn. He said his barn “burned to the ground.”
“There’s no tack left, nothing,” he said.