West Point Remains Committed to California Racing

Just like virtually every other owner and trainer with horses stabled at Santa Anita Park, West Point Thoroughbred CEO and president Terry Finley is eagerly awaiting the March 29 resumption of racing at the beleaguered Arcadia, Calif., racetrack and hoping for a safe and peaceful weekend.

"Overall, everybody is looking forward to Friday and Saturday to get back to racing and get things rolling again in California," Finley said.

West Point will be represented by Kanthaka in the March 30 San Carlos Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, which comes less than a week after 3-year-old stablemate Gunmetal Gray suffered a condylar fracture while training there March 24. The son of Exchange Rate underwent surgery later that day, and Finley said the grade 3 winner is doing well but faces an uncertain future on the racetrack.

Owned by West Point, Pearl Racing, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Gunmetal Gray had 21.75 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby and was 17th on the leaderboard for the 20 starting spots in the Run for the Roses. The Kentucky-bred won the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita in January and was fourth most recently in the March 16 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.

"(Gunmetal Gray) is fine. I've talked with the surgeon, and I think we're OK," Finley said March 28. "I don't know if he'll get a chance to race again. It's not a slam dunk that he will be back."

The injury to Gunmetal Gray happened against the backdrop of 22 equine fatalities since December at Santa Anita, where racing has been suspended since March 3, though horses have been training on the main track since March 13.

Finley said the injury to Gunmetal Gray led to numerous conversations with concerned West Point partners, but he has no plans to stop racing in California or shift horses to the syndicate's trainers at venues in other parts of the country.

"It's a tough situation. The partners had plenty of discussions, and I told them their concerns are fair. They've asked about the outlook and the outlook changes, but it's fair to question the surface and I don't blame the partners for questioning what has happened. These are expensive horses that they care about and have invested their hard-earned money in," Finley said. "But, ultimately, there are enough guys running and training at Santa Anita that you have to side with them rather than make a rash decision to pull out of California. We're not going to do that, I can assure you of that, unless it's unequivocal—and if it gets to that point, we're all in trouble.

"We have a lot of things to discuss in this sport, but equine safety has to be on the top end of those discussions. The key is that we have to sustain the attention and focus we have placed on the situation."