Santa Anita to be closed again tomorrow (the 27th) to conduct ground-penetrating radar tests. Will also allow track to be “fully mixed”.
Possible cause is ‘segregation’ of the track’s material related to the greater than normal amount of rain this winter. This is a condition that SA doesn’t normally deal with but other tracks, like Fair Grounds, have the experience since they see heavy rain more frequently than SA does.
I wonder about the insurance carrier contesting payment
I would think they would have a leg to stand on denying payment. the moronic decisions made at santa anita over the past week still have me on fire.
Good grief, dig up the track and resurface it? The first step it to identify the specific problem, so you know what kind of change needs to be made. If there is too much clay, they may just need to add some sand, and redistribute the materials so they are consistent.
As to the rest of your statement, I’m just wondering what your sources are. What is this medication that has suddenly begun to be used at Santa Anita that is causing horses to break down? Let me guess, it came out of South America. And horsemen have backed off training in the past years. Once the horse is racing fit, they do just enough to keep them there. They train much lighter now than in the past. The lack of warmups prior to breezing??? How many horses have you breezed in your lifetime?
No, they do not. If the horse is dead then they have to pay out. It’s a contract between the owner of the horse and the insurance company. The owner of the horse had nothing to do with the horse breaking down, and to deny payment would be bad faith.
The only one who has mentioned the riders is @jennywho . I am also concerned for the humans out there - the riders of the horses who break down also hit the dirt, and any subsequent loose horse running around as a result of an accident on the track is a hazard for everyone.
NO it wouldn’t be ideal but they could create a law suit over it. Claim the trainers were negligent to the fact that they willingly put the horse at risk of harm on a track that was already under investigation by track staff. Not only are these trainers putting great risk to the equine athletes but they are putting lives in danger. Victor was almost paralyzed on a horse who had a heart attack and went down…and he and other great jockeys and exercise riders are out there on this track every morning exercising horses
Good luck with that. Trainers are not seen to be experts at track maintenance, and if management opened the track for training, then the track is deemed to be safe for training by track maintenance staff. If you read the BloodHorse articles, they did not find anything wrong with the track other than some redistribution of the surface. There were no holes, nothing washed away.
It is up to the jockeys and exercise riders whether they will ride or not. They (as a colony) have refused before when they felt conditions were unsafe and I’m sure they will do it again when they feel it is warranted. If the riders were on the track, it was because they felt safe enough being there.
(My comment “safe enough” is a nod to the fact that no one riding an extremely fit, thousand pound, flight animal is ever totally safe, no matter how good a rider they are or what precautions they take.)
@ASB Stars That photo is of our filly by Battle of Midway at Burleson Farm. She’s a mighty little thing and we all feel so fortunate to get to raise one of the few by him. She has been a stunner from the start so I cannot wait to watch her grow up!
As for the neck straps, we use them here for identification. Every single horse on the farm wears one with a name plate. We have all different sizes and it is much cheaper in the long run and much sturdier than halter tags. We are able to reuse foal sized ones from year to year as most of our mares are residents.
Not all farms use them, but it is pretty common around here to see even day old foals with them on.
Thanks so much for the explanation- she is adorable!
IIRC, I’ve seen all or partial race cards cancelled because the jocks wouldn’t ride because of the track condition or weather.
LaurieB is right, jocks can and will refuse if they feel unsafe. They all know that getting on a horse at speed has inherent risks built in.
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