LOS ANGELES _ It was a sunny, picturesque Friday morning at Santa Anita, but the television trucks lined up side by side made it clear it was anything but business as usual.
The sound of hoofbeats pounding against the dirt track carried with it a hold-your-breath feeling, all with the realistic concern that the equine death toll at the track doesn't stop at 22. But there were no reported incidents during timed workouts on Friday morning. Seventy-four horses worked on the main track and 22 on the training track for a total of 96.
On Thursday, Princess Lili B, a 3-year-old filly, was the latest fatality when she broke both front ankles at the end of a four-furlong workout on the main dirt track. She was later euthanized. It was the 10th death in dirt training, adding to seven during dirt racing and five during turf racing.
The Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, announced a series of measures on Thursday it says will make racing safer. But instead of bringing a sense of calm to an industry on the precipice, it has been met with skepticism and a warning it could lead to the destruction of racing in California.
Santa Anita, closed for racing since March 5, is scheduled to reopen on March 22.
The new measures include a race-day ban on Lasix, a diuretic used to ease breathing and lessen the chances of bleeding from the lungs. Almost every country outside the U.S. bans its use on race day. According to the Jockey Club, only 3.6 percent of the almost 300,000 starts last year were made without Lasix.
John Sadler, trainer of last year's Eclipse Award and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Accelerate, fears a lot of horses will leave California if they can't use Lasix. Sadler and other trainers belonging to the California Thoroughbred Trainers will be meeting at Santa Anita late this morning to discuss the latest changes. The Thoroughbred Owners of California plan to have a conference call on Saturday afternoon.
"This stuff is so new, I don't know how it will be implemented or when," Sadler said. "(Management) has to have some serious discussions on their side. They've carded 13 races for the Santa Anita Derby (on April 6). You have to cut back the number of races and race dates, all those things. ... This kind of make-it-up-as-you-go-along doesn't make sense."
While resentment is high among the trainers, most are reluctant to speak publicly until they get answers or the situation plays out further.
"I'm not saying anything," Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. "I'm going to wait and see."
One rule that seems to already have been implemented is forbidding the use of a riding crop to urge horses unless it's required for safety.
The entrance to the stretch now has a sign, in both English and Spanish, that says, "USE OF CROPS FOR SAFETY PURPOSES ONLY. NO STRIKING ALLOWED."
Jockey Brice Blanc said he was still waiting to receive instructions on changing whip rules for afternoon racing. The last rule was to limit use to three taps in a row.
"It's going to be interesting," he said if whipping is restricted. "Some guys are going to be affected more than others."
As for the use of Lasix, the trainers will show studies that disprove it has any ties to musculoskeletal problems or breakdowns.
Dr. Larry Bramlage, one the country's most respected equine surgeons, points to a Scandinavian study that says, "The association between Lasix and fractures was disproved. ... In the overall scheme of calcium metabolism, it has very little effect."
These, and other issues, are at the center of a sport fighting within itself while finding itself on the brink of survival.
