Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Light training could resume on main track Monday
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita is tentatively scheduled to reopen its main track for light training Monday and could resume racing on March 21-22 as an investigation continues into the cause of 21 equine fatalities since late December.
Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of the The Stronach Group, the track’s parent company, said Friday morning that plans are in place to increase activity for horses in coming days. Santa Anita ceased all training and canceled racing temporarily on Tuesday after a filly sustained a fatal injury in training that morning.
On Friday, the infield training track was reopened for joggers and gallopers. Workouts may begin on that surface Monday under a restricted plan in which trainers submit workout requests, Ritvo said. The track is hoping to allow limited training on the main track for joggers and gallopers beginning Monday, with workouts possible on the surface by next Saturday or Sunday, March 16-17.
“We’ll start jogging and galloping for a few days and look to start working next weekend, if everything is good,” Ritvo said.
Ritvo said a resumption of racing on March 21 or 22 was a tentative date, depending on factors such as weather and an ongoing inspection of the main track. There has been no racing since March 3.
The cancellation of racing occurred shortly before one of the biggest days of the season – Saturday’s program that featured five stakes, including the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds, a key prep for the Santa Anita Derby on April 6. Ritvo said Friday that the $500,000 Santa Anita Handicap may be run on April 6. Ritvo said the San Felipe Stakes is not likely to be rescheduled. Other races that were set for Saturday, notably the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf, have not been rescheduled, he said.
Track consultant Dennis Moore, who left Santa Anita in December, resumed working with the track this week and began an inspection of the surface Thursday with Mick Peterson, director of the University of Kentucky’s Agricultural Equine Program. Ritvo said Moore was “waiting for some tests to come back” on the main track. “He did say a lot of the material is good.”
“We’ll continue working on it the next few days,” Moore said. “When you get that much rain, it washes material down. We’re getting it mixed and blended. Saying that, the track was consistent.”
There was a moment of concern Friday morning when two 2-year-olds collided on the training track about 10:30 a.m. A filly trained by Paul Aguirre was vanned to his stable as a precaution. Less than a halfhour after the incident, which was not believed to be serious, the filly was standing in her stall with a member of the stable staff applying ice.
Ritvo said track officials were seeking reasons for the 21 fatalities, which have made national news. The incidents have come during an extremely wet winter in Southern California.
“It’s the easiest thing to say, but it might be caused by the horrible weather,” Ritvo said. “It’s an easy excuse, but we’re looking at everything.”
This is the second inspection of the main track in the last two weeks. An inspection conducted Feb. 25-27 found no irregularities in the surface, according to track officials and Peterson, who was involved in the study. That study was prompted by four equine fatalities from Feb. 22-25.
After racing and training resumed Feb. 28, two additional horses were euthanized from March 2 through Tuesday, including a runner injured in a race March 2.
Ritvo said the fatal injuries are being studied by the track. The California Horse Racing Board is conducting a study. All horses who suffer fatal injuries at a California racetrack are subject to a necropsy report.
“We’ll evaluate everything,” Ritvo said of the injuries. “It happened all over the track and in the morning and afternoon and on the turf. It’s a wake-up call to everyone.”
As some training resumed Friday at Santa Anita, the forecast was unsettled. There is rain forecast for Sunday.
Several trainers are shipping leading horses to Los Alamitos for workouts this weekend to remain on schedule for upcoming stakes.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is planning workouts for runners such as the 3-year-old Gunmetal Gray and the 4-yearold sprinter Kanthaka at Los Alamitos, while trainer Simon Callaghan said Bellafina will be sent there to work Sunday. Bellafina is a 3-year-old multiple stakes winner who is considered a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3.
Bob Baffert said Game Winner, the champion 2-yearold male of 2018, and Improbable, the undefeated winner of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in December, will work Sunday. They were scheduled to start in the San Felipe Stakes, but may run in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on March 16 at Oaklawn Park.
Baffert said McKinzie, winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, will work Sunday at Los Alamitos. McKinzie was expected to run in the Santa Anita Handicap and could run on the rescheduled date. The Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 30 or the Oaklawn Handicap on April 13 are other possibilities, Baffert said.
“We’ve got a lot of thinking and planning to do,” Baffert said.