On Saturday, March 2, 2019, the 20th horse racing death occurred at the Santa Anita race track since racing opened on Dec. 26. The horse, Eskenforadrink, suffered a life-ending injury during the third race on Saturday.
Horse racing at Santa Anita
The number of horse deaths has raised both concern and criticism at the race track in Arcadia, California.
© 2018 by Santa Anita Race Track
The 4-year-old filly was in the lead in a $16,000 claiming race on the backstretch. Entering the far turn, jockey Geovanni Franco quickly pulled her up with an injury to her front leg. She was taken off the race track by a van.
Later the horse was euthanized when it was determined she could not recover from her injuries.
Although rain had made the track sloppy, it’s unknown whether the condition of the track played any role in the horse’s fatal injury. It was the seventh death during a race on the dirt track. There have been five on turf and eight during training on the dirt.
The number of horse deaths has raised both concern and criticism at the race track in Arcadia, California. Santa Anita brought in a soil and safety expert from the University of Kentucky at the beginning of the week to determine whether there was anything in the dirt that was making the track unsafe. After extensive testing, Mick Peterson declared the track “100% ready” for racing.
Demonstrators are calling for Santa Anita Park to be shut down in the wake of 20 horse deaths since Dec. 26; however, racing resumed at the track on Sunday, one day after this latest fatality.
Press release provided by Sports News