Wellman Pens Detailed Account of San Luis Rey Aftermath

Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, penned a detailed account Dec. 8 of his experience at Del Mar in the wake of the Lilac fire that engulfed San Luis Rey Training Center Dec. 7 and the outpouring of support that followed from the entire Thoroughbred racing community. Below is an excerpt of his account courtesy of the Eclipse Thoroughbred website:

Yesterday’s unfathomable events are a blur and the daylight will only bring an unimaginable dose of reality to so many who have forever been affected by the fire that ripped through the beautiful and typically tranquil training center yesterday, taking an unknown amount of equine lives with it in the process.

Thankfully, I cannot claim to have experienced this devastation first hand. Yet, while I try to show empathy for the trainers, foremen, grooms, hot walkers, vets and anyone else on the San Luis Rey grounds during the horrific events, it is plain to see the trauma they and their horses have experienced physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I fear that the wounds caused by this tragedy will defy the old adage that, “time heals all wounds.”

With no access to San Luis Rey once the fire had erupted, I felt entirely helpless and immediately headed to Del Mar Racetrack/Fairgrounds, which was serving as an evacuation center for all livestock in the County.

The scene was daunting.

Like-minded, caring, concerned, and sensitive individuals from all walks of life congregated in the barn area to do anything and everything they could to lend a helping hand to all breeds of animals requiring shelter and attention.

For an emergency situation, the staff at the Fairgrounds was admirably organized and directed me to the area of the backside dedicated to what we hoped would be hundreds of Thoroughbred racehorses who had been evacuated from San Luis Rey. When I got to the row of barns, there were just a few familiar faces, all of whom were already hard at work, drenched in sweat, sometimes mixed with tears, bedding down stalls, filling up water buckets, preparing hay and setting up meals and shelter for the workers who had fled the scene along with their beloved horses.

Racetrack Execs, trainers, Eclipse Award-winning journalists, gamblers, local enthusiasts, janitors from the Fairgrounds, you name it…social status mattered not, everyone was equal and on a mission to do whatever possible to help the horses and humans we all optimistically envisioned barreling through the stable gate in search of comfort.

To read Wellman's full account, visit https://eclipsetbpartners.com/news/gaining-perspective-time-tragedy/