Santa Anita Resumes Regular Training

There was a palpable quiet to the morning training hours Feb. 28 at Santa Anita Park, but it wasn't for lack of movement.

It was the first day of training on the Santa Anita main track since management shut down the surface for two days of evaluation and maintenance because of an increased number of equine fatalities at the Southern California racetrack. The noticeable difference to any other normal Thursday of training was the line of local television cameras at Clockers' Corner, the top-of-the-stretch café that serves fans and horsemen on a daily basis.

On-camera interviews with track officials were conducted, horsemen conversed in more hushed tones than usual, and, most importantly, the 45 horses who went through timed workouts over the main track returned to their barns without severe injury, although there was a brief moment of concern when a horse got loose on the training track and was quickly corralled.

The relatively incident-free morning was a welcome relief from what occurred in the previous three days of training Feb. 23-25, when three horses were fatally injured during training on the main track. Those three were part of a larger picture of 19 equine fatalities during racing and training since the Santa Anita meet began Dec. 26. From the 11 fatalities that occurred because of injuries during racing, six came from injuries on the main track and five came on the turf. Of the eight fatalities from training, one was classified as a "sudden death" by the CHRB, meaning it was not related to a musculoskeletal injury. The other seven were from injuries sustained on the main track, and none were associated with injuries on the training track, which remained open while the main track was closed for examination.

The afternoon's racing at Santa Anita also was completed without incident, as all 50 horses who participated during the eight-race card (five on turf, three on dirt) came back without any serious injury.

BALAN: Santa Anita to Close Main Track to Evaluate Safety

Throughout the morning, as intermittent sprinkles of rain coated the concrete apron in front of the grandstand, many horsemen were hesitant to comment on the record, but their opinions, as should be expected, were varied. Some had no issue putting their best horses out on the track to breeze, while others were more cautious—either giving the surface a day to "settle" or just to monitor how workouts went before they sent their own horses out a day later. Several even admitted they didn't want to work in front of the cameras, just in case something went wrong, whether it had something to do with the safety of the racetrack or not.

"I've been pretty good with the track, even before they redid it, so I didn't have any problem with it," said Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who was one of the first to work a pair of horses after the 6:30 a.m. PT renovation break. "It's a lot of circumstances that surround things like that. … There's all this attention now, but it's not good attention. I wish I knew the right thing to say."

"I didn't want to work in front of the cameras because anything can happen at any time, but I sent out my best horses today," said trainer Ron Ellis. "I wasn't worried about working today, but I wouldn't have been worried about working three days ago, either. I think the track has been fine on dry days."

Although consultant Mick Peterson, the director of Ag Equine Programs at the University of Kentucky, said Wednesday he didn't see any evidence of an issue with the track during his two days of study, that didn't necessarily mean there wasn't an issue previously. He said he worked through his evaluation off the assumption there was an issue with "segregation" of the material on the main track during a winter in California that has featured abnormally high levels of rain. When it rains, the finer material of the top cushion level of the racetrack "moves to the inside rail with the water as it's washing across the surface," Peterson said.

BALAN: Santa Anita to Reopen Main Track Feb. 28

Peterson gave Santa Anita management the go-ahead Wednesday to resume training and racing Thursday. But after morning training Thursday, Peterson stressed the need for more data and transparency moving forward—for horsemen, fans, and outside observers.

"What does concern me is whether we're giving the trainers enough information for them to make the right decisions," Peterson said. "Longer term, we've got to increase the transparency—increase the amount of information we're giving to them and to everyone."

Ideally, Peterson would like to have sensors on every tractor harrow that would record moisture levels and resistance data instantly. That, in turn, would allow trackmen and track management to react quickly if an issue or abnormality was observed.

"Every time a harrow goes out there, I want a sensor on the harrow so we can get the moisture and the resistance and tooth movement through the dirt," Peterson said. "So if something becomes uneven, a harrow tooth can sense the resistance and we could shut it down after any (training) break or between races."

And when could that type of monitoring become a reality?

"We're working on it. … I'm going to talk to (Santa Anita's owner) The Stronach Group about keeping moving forward, because we have to improve," Peterson said. "They already do a good job here of taking manual measurements, but everybody expects improved safety, and we're at the point now where putting sensors on the equipment is the next thing."

That data, Peterson said, would be invaluable to seek consistency in any surface, but especially Santa Anita, which presents unique challenges when substantial rain hits Southern California. For example, at certain times of the day during certain parts of the year, the backstretch can get full sunlight while the stretch is blanketed in complete shade because of the grandstand. This presents problems for track maintenance because the moisture content and other factors can vary after rain, resulting in an uneven surface.

"After a rainstorm, you have a floated (or sealed) surface, and the sun comes out. When do you switch from a floated surface to a harrowed surface?" Peterson asked. "We need to get that consistent because a huge risk to the horses is the timing of that. If you're off on that, it's a disaster because it could be uneven or hard.

"And here you have the shade. Here at Santa Anita, you can't have the backside harrowed and the front side floated—that wouldn't work. So you are having to decide, which part of the track drives that decision?

"Part of why we need to have a huge amount of data is, if we have an afternoon rainstorm, how are the decisions made to protect the horse? People say you do that with experience. Well, no. I don't want to practice on a bunch of horses. I want to figure it out (with data) and we can use it."