Santa Anita Park. In another major reform growing out of the deaths of 23 horses at Santa Anita Park, California state regulatory agency to order thorough exams in future race horse deaths.
Santa Anita Park: horses must get OK of veterinarian team to race. This is a joint effort between the California Horse Racing Board and Santa Anita Park to enhance safety measures and reviews to further protect horses. Twenty-nine horses have died at Santa Anita Park since December 26.
Santa Anita Park. Track to boost race day rules. Owner, in a historic step following the death of a 22nd horse at the winter meet, announces medication ban, limits on riding crop use.
Santa Anita Park: DA to examine death of 22 horses at track.
Additionally, Rep. Judy Chu calls for hearings into the treatment of horses at the nation’s racing venues
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether the 22 horse deaths at Santa Anita racetrack in the past three months were the result of criminal wrongdoing, authorities said Friday.
The probe began this week following the death of the 22nd horse Thursday.
Horse racing deaths report delayed. California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the state regulatory board, aims for January 15 release of investigation of Santa Anita Park incidents. The report was supposed to become public before the end of the year. Several new policies and safety regulations were introduced the past year as a result of a public outcry over the horse deaths at Santa Anita. The state is doing more drug testing, more pre-race exams, improving medical record keeping, pushing for new technology. Santa Anita Park installed a PET Scan machine to help identify pre-existing conditions in the fetlock area of a horse. To date, 37 horses have died at Santa Anita Park since December 2018. Despite the deaths, the equine medical director Rick Arthur stressed that the number of fatalities in California is actually decreasing, saying there have been 58 deaths at race tracks across the state in 2019, compared to 67 deaths in 2018.
Senator Dianne Feinstein joins call to end racing meet at Santa Anita Park. She demands suspension after two more horses die, racing total to 29 deaths.
Legislation. In the wake of 23 horse deaths at Santa Anita Park, California legislators are pushing for a new bill that targets racetrack oversight. It would allow state to suspend a venue’s license over safety concerns. Senator Bill Dodd, Democrat-Napa, and Assemblyman Adam Gray, Democrat-Merced, introduced the legislation and announced plans to have a joint oversight hearing on horse racing safety in the next month.
California Horse Racing Board (CHRB): ban more drugs, release tests. The CHRB wants California Governor Gavin Newsom to pursue changes to state law that would allow the agency to immediately release results of a positive horse drug test and permit more stakeholders, including jockeys and track veterinarians, to access a horse's medical history. Currently, drug test results are confidential. The changes are part of an effort to curb equine deaths and improve safety at California race tracks. Nearly 40 horses have died at Santa Anita Park in the last year.
Santa Anita Park: think of human toll if track closes. Workers gather at rally to warn about how shutting down horse racing permanently over the twenty-nine horse deaths would impact thousands of employees. Reforms have been instituted at Santa Anita Park, including stricter rules for medications and more thorough examinations, but horse deaths are inevitable in horse racing. Rally calls for compassion for track employees too, whose livelihoods will be affected by a closure. They are an already vulnerable population.
Santa Anita Park horse deaths initiate congressional, district attorney investigations. Santa Anita Park hopes to return to live racing March 29. D.A. Venusse D. Navid has investigators working with California Horse Racing Board.
Santa Anita Park race track rejects request from state regulator California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to cancel its last six days of racing this season, in the wake of two more horse deaths over weekend.
Senator Dianne Feinstein weighs in on Santa Anita Park tragedies. In a letter to California Horse Racing Board, she called for racing to be suspended at Santa Anita Park after the deaths of twenty-three horses since late December.
Santa Anita Park to open Friday, March 29 with California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) approval. Santa Anita Handicap now to be run on Santa Anita Derby Day April 6.
2 articles. 1. Racing returns at Santa Anita. The historic Santa Anita racetrack reopened Friday for racing amid concerns for horse safety and the future of the track and the industry. There were no deaths in eight races Friday, which had been closed for racing since March 5.
2. Back in the saddle: racing resumes without incident after 26-day closure.
District Attorney Jackie Lacey finds no crime or wrongdoing in horse deaths. Prosecutor says there is no evidence owners, jockeys or trainers knowingly raced injured animals at Santa Anita Park over the past year. Since July 2018, 56 horses have died at Arcadia race track. Of those, 34 died while running on Santa Anita's main dirt track. Santa Anita Park averages about 2.04 deaths per 1000 racing starts, according to the Jockey Club. The national average in 2018 was 1.68 deaths per 1000 starts. The District Attorney's report includes 27 recommended changes to improve safety and reduce fatalities. See also same story at Arcadia Weekly, p. 2, December 26, 2019.
Horses at Santa Anita Park suffered fatal racing injuries at more than twice the rate of horses competing at California's other 3 major thoroughbred tracks over the last fiscal year, according to statistics. The fatality rate spiked at Santa Anita Park after the switch from a synthetic running surface back to a dirt track in 2010. There were 12 fatalities, or 3.7 per 1,000 starts, at Santa Anita Park in the last fiscal year.
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments Inc. (MID), the owner of Santa Anita Park, will reveal a plan for Santa Anita Park on Wednesday to horse owners and trainers and he plans to address the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). He did not discuss details but his plan aims to revitalize the ailing horse racing industry.
Santa Anita Park at a crossroads. Racetrack remains profitable but a string of cancellations, fewer horses in the running, and off-track betting show problems in the backstretch.
The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) delayed a decision on conflicting requests for 2011 racing dates from Santa Anita Park and Oak Tree Racing Association. The CHRB urged Santa Anita Park, Hollywood Park and Oak Tree to get together to come up with a plan that works for the good of the industry.