Difficult Day at Del Mar

The Nov. 10 Del Mar card saw a pair of catastrophic breakdowns, ending what had been an unblemished racing year in terms of equine safety at the seaside track. 

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Ghost Street was euthanized after suffering a front leg injury in the third race Sunday, a 1 1/8-mile maiden race on the turf. The paper also reported that Prayer Warrior was euthanized after suffering a front leg injury in the sixth race, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance-optional claiming race on the main track.

A third horse, Princess Dorian, also was pulled up and vanned off, but she was transported to the equine hospital at San Luis Rey Downs and that her prognosis was "improving," the Union-Tribute reported. 

While catastrophic equine injuries have made headlines in Southern California this year, Del Mar has been relatively safe. For the year Del Mar has seen just the two equine fatalities during racing from 2,565 starts, or 0.78 per 1,000 starts. That rate compares favorably to the 2018 national average of 1.68 per 1,000 starts.

This story has been updated. An earlier version had the incorrect rate for breakdowns at Del Mar this season.