No On-Track Equine Fatalities at Santa Anita Fall Meet

While the nature of equine safety efforts never allow an opportunity to run up the victory flag, Santa Anita Park registered a milestone worth celebrating after completing its fall meet without a single on-track equine fatality.

Just more than a year ago, Santa Anita suffered a rash of breakdowns at its 2018-19 winter-spring meet. Since then the track and the California Horse Racing Board have put a number of reforms in place to improve equine safety and the recently completed meet—along with decreased catastrophic injury rates this season—seem to indicate those efforts are making a difference.

At the 16-day fall meet that concluded Oct. 25, there were no equine fatalities during racing from 1,100 total starts according to data collected by the CHRB. The track, one of the busiest in the country in terms of Thoroughbred training, also didn't see an equine fatality during morning workouts during the dates of the race meet.

CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur notes that changes in medication policies and a strong voided-claim rule have helped. He credits horsemen with picking up the safety ball and running with it, noting that during the recently completed Santa Anita meet that the horse racing safety panel only had to scratch one horse from a race because of safety concerns.

"We've seen a real change in the culture when it comes to safety," Arthur said. "That's what really has allowed us to accomplish these improvements. 

"Really if it gets to the point that the regulatory vets have to scratch a horse, that's not where we want to be. The horsemen are self-regulating, which is what we need. They're the ones who know the horse more than we ever will."

During the meet the track did see one horse suffer a catastrophic injury in a stable accident Oct. 6. Santa Anita has not had an on-track equine death since June 21.

For the year, five catastrophic injuries have occurred during racing at Santa Anita—meaning 99.89% of the track's 4,871 starts through Oct. 25 have been clear of such incidents. 

This year's Equine Injury Database rate of 1.02 equine fatalities per 1,000 starts at Santa Anita is about a third of last-year's rate of 3.01 and half the rate of 2018—2.04. When training numbers are included, equine deaths at Santa Anita have been reduced 62% this year.

Arthur noted that significant strides have been made on the Southern California Thoroughbred racing circuit, where there's been just one on-track equine fatality this fiscal year (beginning July 1). That single catastrophic injury was not caused by a breakdown but rather an awkward start at Del Mar.

"It's really satisfying," Arthur said. "We're just seeing everyone being more cautious and it's making a difference."