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Post by In The News on Apr 1, 2019 6:37:36 GMT -5
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Post by In The News on Apr 2, 2019 17:37:13 GMT -5
Baffert: ‘We have to make this work’ at Santa Anita Park
By Jonathan Lintner April 02, 2019 02:42pm
Bob Baffert_Pacific Classic 2017_615x400 Photo: Zoe Metz/Eclipse Sportswire
As the conjecture continues regarding safety Santa Anita Park following the meet’s 23rd equine death over the weekend, America’s highest-profile trainer, Bob Baffert, on Tuesday said he has been assured there will be racing this weekend, when a blockbuster Saturday card with both the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Santa Anita Handicap (G1) are carded.
But Baffert remains concerned about the "tens of thousands" who work in California’s racing industry.
“We want to make it as safe as possible for these horses,” the Hall of Famer said during a national media teleconference. “These horses — they’re not our livelihood. They’re our way of life. There’s lots of people back here who are employees.
“We have to make this work. I worry about the families. I have a lot of employees…They’re worried. Racing needs to do well. This last month has been a little stressful."
Multiple entities weighed in after Arms Runner, a 5-year-old gelding, tripped, fell and suffered injuries he could not overcome on the dirt crossing of Santa Anita’s downhill turf course Sunday.
The Jockey Club has suggested industrywide reform related to medication, while People for Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Kathy Guillermo called Gov. Gavin Newsom to "form an independent panel to investigate the training and veterinary practices in California racing."
"The negative publicity, I was very concerned about that," Baffert said. "They (PETA) don't know really how it works here, and you can only say so much. They don't know how we take care of these horses, and the employees, the families — there's a lot of jobs.
"They've never wanted horse racing. My job is not to worry about them. I'm worried about these horses."
Last week, before Arms Runner's breakdown, Claiborne Farm's Walker Hancock published a tweet that illustrated the urgency of this situation.
"We can all debate whether we should validate and cave to PETA," Hancock said, "but one thing every one needs to keep in mind is it only takes ~600,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to eliminate horse racing in California and PETA has over 700,000 members living in the state."
“It’s a beautiful sport,” Baffert said. “People don’t really understand it. We’ve had some bad luck here, and it’s very unusual what’s going on here.”
No breakdowns beyond Arm Runner’s fall have been reported since Santa Anita resumed racing last Friday following weeks of evaluating the surface and discussions about new rules proposed by The Stronach Group.
Ultimately, a number of medications were banned, and the amount of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix allowed was halved, with plans to completely do away with it in the 2-year-old crop of horses that begin racing in 2020. The California Horse Racing Board will later discuss further a Stronach Group mandate to ban most use of the whip in races.
“They’re athletes. There can always be injuries, but hopefully we’re moving forward,” said Baffert, who as with many others suggested above-average rainfall over the winter may have played a part in the spate of catastrophic injuries. “It’s like we’ve been under a dark cloud. Hopefully we can move forward.”
Getting through the weekend without issue would represent a start.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2019 18:00:51 GMT -5
Let's wait for the uttopsey ....lol...then see what happened...
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Post by DoctorDisaster on Apr 2, 2019 18:24:13 GMT -5
More horses have been hurt at that transition than other place on the track.For years I have heard the rumblings from trainers about that cross over taking it's toll.Maybe it's time to re-do the turf course there.The novelty of the downhill should be put to rest.Nowhere else do they have such a monstrosity.All the other BS aside this has been and will continue to be a problem area.Stronach talked about it when he first bought the track but he had a lot of opposition from fans and horsemen.
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tc
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Post by tc on Apr 2, 2019 18:55:59 GMT -5
This is the most interesting part of the article...did not know this...only a matter of time?
"We can all debate whether we should validate and cave to PETA," Hancock said, "but one thing every one needs to keep in mind is it only takes ~600,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to eliminate horse racing in California and PETA has over 700,000 members living in the state."
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Post by In The News on Apr 3, 2019 7:51:20 GMT -5
U.S. NEWS
Feinstein calls for Santa Anita to stop all racing after 23rd horse is put down
California's senior senator urged state racing authorities to shut down events just five days before the prestigious Santa Anita Derby.
April 2, 2019, 8:54 PM PDT
By Alex Johnson
LOS ANGELES — Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for all racing to be suspended at Santa Anita Park on Tuesday after a 23rd horse was fatally injured since Christmas at the track, one of the most prestigious venues in the sport.
"The death of a single horse is a tragedy, but as a lifelong lover of horses, I'm appalled that almost two dozen horses have died in just four months," the California Democrat said in a letter to Chuck Winner, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board.
The letter was sent five days before the park in Arcadia, about 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles, is scheduled to host the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, one of the sport's premier events.
Twenty-one horses suffered injuries that required them to be euthanized from Dec. 26 until March 5, when racing was suspended as track officials tried to figure out what was going wrong.
A 22nd horse was put down following a training accident March 14, prompting the track's owners, the Stronach Group, to ban the use of drugs on race days and to sharply limit jockeys' use of whips.
The state horse racing board last week approved extending most the reforms instituted at Santa Anita to all of California's tracks, which still faces regulatory approval.
Racing resumed after almost a month on Friday, and just two days later, Arms Runner, a 5-year-old gelding, collided with another horse at a dirt crossing during the San Simeon Stakes and suffered fatal injuries.
In her letter Tuesday, Feinstein called the moves already made at Santa Anita "positive initial steps," but she called on the track to shut down racing "until the cause or causes of these deaths can be fully investigated."
And she called on the state board to consider going further by banning more medications and the use of synthetic track surfaces.
Separately, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, on Monday called on the board to enact emergency rules to ban the use of all drugs and at California tracks.
"Anything short of this is inadequate," Kathy Guillermo, PETA's senior vice president for investigative and legal cases, said in a statement.
Santa Anita Park called the euthanization of Arms Runner "a gut-wrenching blow," saying it "speaks to the larger issue of doing all that we can to better understand and prevent such catastrophic injuries, not only at Santa Anita, but throughout California and across the country."
A full slate of racing was scheduled to continue Thursday.
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Post by In The News on Apr 3, 2019 8:06:41 GMT -5
Sen. Feinstein Demands Santa Anita Racing Shutdown After 23rd Horse Death
Racing is scheduled to resume at Santa Anita on Thursday.
By City News Service
Published Apr 2, 2019 at 10:32 PM
Following the 23rd horse death at Santa Anita Park, Sen. Dianne Feinstein Tuesday called on the California Horse Racing Board to suspend all racing at the track, and hours later the board scheduled a special meeting to consider relocating races to other tracks.
Feinstein, D-Calif., sent a letter to the CHRB saying racing should be suspended at the Arcadia track "until the cause or causes of these deaths can be fully investigated."
"I also ask for more information about what the California Horse Racing Board is doing to both investigate this matter and address some of the concerns that these incidents have rightly raised," Feinstein wrote.
On Tuesday afternoon, the CHRB announced a special meeting for April 12 -- providing the required 10 days of public notice -- to discuss "possible reallocation of race dates granted to the Los Angeles Turf Club at Santa Anita Park Race Track."
No further details were immediately provided. There was no immediate comment from Santa Anita officials.
Racing is scheduled to resume at Santa Anita on Thursday. However, there won't be any racing on the hillside turf course, where the injury leading to the most recent death occurred, racing board chairman Chuck Winner told the Daily Racing Form.
Winner said racing on the course would be suspended this week "to evaluate the circumstances" of the recent spill.
Two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert told reporters Tuesday morning during a National Thoroughbred Racing Association conference call that he remains confident about the level of safety at Santa Anita.
"If I thought there was a danger out there, I wouldn't even (send) my horses out there so I'm feeling good about what's going on here. But I don't want to jinx myself," said Baffert, who noted that he hasn't had any issues at the track since the racing season began Dec. 26.
"We've been under this dark cloud, so hopefully we can move forward," he said.
Baffert is expected to have two of his top 3-year-old colts -- Game Winner and Roadster -- in Saturday's Santa Anita Derby.
The 23rd horse death at Santa Anita since Dec. 26 occurred Sunday when Arms Runner, a 5-year-old horse, suffered a severe and ultimately fatal injury to his right leg during the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on turf, resulting in a two-horse spill.
The trailing horse, La Sardane, fell but quickly got back on her feet.
Santa Anita had been closed to racing for most of March in response to the spate of horse deaths. Racing had just resumed Friday at the famed Arcadia track, one day after the California Horse Racing Board approved restrictions on certain medications administered to the animals.
The CHRB approved previously announced proposals to strictly limit the use of anti-inflammatory medications on horses. It also approved a much-discussed 50 percent reduction in the allowable amount of Lasix, a diuretic that helps prevent horses from hemorrhaging. Santa Anita officials had initially proposed a ban on Lasix, but struck a compromise with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers calling for a 50 percent reduction in allowable dosage.
Santa Anita officials previously announced a series of other measures being implemented to help bolster safety of the horses, including:
-- Complete transparency of all veterinary records;
-- Trainers must apply for permission to work a horse (a timed, high-speed training exercise) at least 48 hours in advance;
-- No therapeutic medications of treatments will be allowed without a qualified veterinary diagnosis from a state licensed veterinarian;
-- Significant and strict out-of-competition testing;
-- Increasing the time required for horses to be on-site prior to a race; and
-- A substantial investment by The Stronach Group in diagnostic equipment to aid in the early detection of pre-existing conditions.
Those measures, however, did not prevent animal-advocacy groups from protesting the resumption of racing at Santa Anita, who point to the dangers they say are inherent in the sport.
Between December and February of the previous year, 10 horses died at Santa Anita, compared with eight in 2016-17 and 14 in 2015-16. The track averaged about 50 deaths per year from 2008-18, according to data from the CHRB.
The unusually large amount of rain that has fallen over the Southland this winter has been mentioned as a possible factor in explaining the surge in deaths.
Former track superintendent Dennis Moore and Mick Peterson of Racing Services Testing Lab were brought in to conduct a thorough analysis of the main track, and officials repeatedly said they found no problems.
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tc
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Post by tc on Apr 3, 2019 8:16:58 GMT -5
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Post by In The News on May 17, 2019 23:15:27 GMT -5
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