The California Horse Racing Board's investigation into the fatalities last year at Santa Anita validated many of the prevalent theories as to why there was such a spike in deaths, but found no smoking gun or overriding reason for what happened.
The 76-page report was released Tuesday and pointed to 16 key findings, many a curation of data from necropsies. The study was confined to the 23 deaths between Dec. 30, 2018, and March 31, 2019. Seven more horses died during the track's winter/spring meeting. When the track reopened for its one-month fall meeting there were seven deaths, including Mongolian Groom in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the biggest race of the year for older horses.
This year there have been nine fatalities, compared to 21 to this date last year. However, Santa Anita is running fewer races and has a smaller horse population.
Most of the findings dealt with the well-known idea that horses who suffer a catastrophic breakdown have preexisting conditions. Many of those conditions are not detected because of a lack of proper equipment or way to detect the problem.
The report said:
_ 21 of the 23 horses had pre-existing pathology.
_ 19 of 22 catastrophic breakdowns had sesamoid bone fractures related to racing and training intensity.
_ 11 of the horses had corticosteroid injections in one of their joints.
_ 14 of the 22 had high-intensity exercise followed by a decline in activity in the month prior to their breakdown.
_ 7 of the 22 had six months between starts at some point in their racing career.
_ 39% of the fatalities happened on surfaces affected by rain.
The report also confirmed that trainers felt pressured by the track to run their horses, although only one trainer could give a specific example. No trainer interviewed blamed the track for any fatality.
There was criticism of trainers for mostly poor record-keeping and a lack of knowledge about the anatomy of horses or curiosity about past necropsies. And the investigation said that veterinarians reporting to the track is an inherent conflict.
Also found were several cases of program training, a practice in which someone other than the licensed trainer was overseeing the training of a horse.
No trainers or horses were named in the comprehensive analysis of each death, due to state confidentially statutes, but the date of each incident made it clear which horse was being detailed.
The report also outlined 47 recommendations, 12 of which are already in the regulatory pipeline process. Most dealt with establishing protocols for training, racing and when to cancel racing, moving toward digital record-keeping and transparency in medical records. It also asked for an examination of how the use of the riding crop, or whip, and breakdowns may be related.
The report comes a day after the industry's credibility came into serious question after a federal investigation cited systematic and widespread doping of horses. The indictments named 27 trainers, veterinarians and drug distributors in the probe, including well-known trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, both at Gulfstream.
No California-based trainers were named in the indictment, and California was not a state listed where the alleged doping took place.
Servis was the trainer of Maximum Security, who in a recent poll was voted the top horse in the world after winning the $20-million Saudi Cup. The horse's owners, Gary and Mary West of San Diego, on Tuesday moved Maximum Security from Servis' barn to Bob Baffert at Santa Anita.
The Stronach Group, which owns both Santa Anita and Gulfstream, will not allow Servis or Navarro to enter horses at any of its racetracks until the matter is resolved.
