Death trap for horses

It was extremely troubling that 21 horses died in relatively short order at venerable Santa Anita Park before management finally closed its tracks to all racing or training on March 5. But it’s absolutely unconscionable that the park reopened less than a week later for training—only to have a 22nd horse die.

The filly, Princess Lili B, broke both her front legs in training Thursday morning and had to be euthanized. Hours after the horse’s death, the owners of Santa Anita called the deaths “beyond heartbreaking” (as if anyone could possibly disagree) and issued sweeping new restrictions on treating horses with drugs—including a complete ban on race day drugs, an overall ban on Lasix, the commonly used race day diuretic, and new rules on the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. The park also vowed to invest in diagnostic equipment to aid in the early detection of pre-existing conditions in racehorses.

This is a welcome and landmark change in a sport long dogged by doping scandals in which horses were medicated so they could run without pain. Officials have set a tentative date to resume racing on March 22 even though they have offered no explanation for what did cause the deaths. If drugs might have played a role, why not, at the very least, wait to reopen the park until the new medication rules are completely in effect?

Last week, after the 21st death, Santa Anita officials said the deaths were horrible. After the 22nd death, they put out a statement vowing to “do right by the horse.”

If another horse dies next week, what will they say in that statement?