Princess Lili B 22nd Equine Fatality at Santa Anita

A day after Santa Anita Park reopened its main track for full training, Princess Lili B became the 22nd equine fatality related to racing or training at the facility since its race meet opened Dec. 26.

The California-bred Indian Gods filly trained by David Bernstein was a homebred of Bernstein and Elizabeth Philippian. Princess Lili B sustained a catastrophic injury during a timed workout on the main track March 14 and was euthanized. She is the seventh horse to be fatally injured while training on the Santa Anita main track since Feb. 17.

Her injury and death were first reported by Brad Free of the Daily Racing Form and were confirmed by Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group. California Horse Racing Board equine medical director Rick Arthur declined to comment on the specifics of Princess Lili B's injuries, as his investigation requires the process of a full necropsy. Bernstein was not available for comment Thursday morning.

"Obviously it is devastating," Ritvo said. "When you look at that filly, she's a 3-year-old filly who had two starts, a good breeze pattern, and never ran on a sealed track. A horse like that is going to be cleared (to work)."

Ritvo's reference was to Santa Anita's enhanced screening for workouts, which involves an application process for trainers to conduct a timed workout with their horses. That includes a veterinarian check for horses considered to be "at risk." An example of an "at risk" horse would be those who haven't started or worked for an extended period of time.

Ritvo emphasized that he felt the main track, which was shut down March 5 for training and racing to be evaluated by former Santa Anita track superintendent and current consultant Dennis Moore, was not at issue in this case. The Stronach Group has circled March 22 as a tentative start date to resume racing.

"It's tragic, but we stand fully behind the track, and we're going to keep the track open," Ritvo said. "(Jockey) Aaron Gryder came to me and said he worked five horses today and all of them went over the track fine."

Ritvo also indicated Thursday morning that a "groundbreaking" announcement from Santa Anita was imminent. He said a meeting was held yesterday between The Stronach Group's chairman and president, Belinda Stronach, and representatives from the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Del Mar, and the CHRB and "new protocols" will be part of the announcement. He emphasized that the announcement was not a reaction to Princess Lili B's fatal breakdown Thursday.