112 horses post works as main track reopens

ARCADIA, Calif. – While the California racing industry held its collective breath, it was full speed ahead Wednesday morning on the main track at Santa Anita.

For the first time since last week, when the main track closed and racing was suspended, timed workouts took place Wednesday. It did not take long for Santa Anita to look much as it normally does after the track opens at 5 a.m. – racehorses running fast, working out at full speed.

Pointed, a 5-year-old maiden mare trained by Marsha Schwizer, posted the morning’s first workout, a half-mile in 49.20 seconds. Minutes later, the 6-yearold mare Be a Lady rolled through a half-mile in 48.40 for trainer Neil French.

Pointed and Be a Lady were among 112 horses that worked Wednesday on the main track. Another 84 horses worked on the training track, but most attention was on the main oval, where racing will resume March 22.

“I’ve been confident in this [main] track from the get-go,” trainer Mike Puype said Wednesday after the 6:30 a.m. renovation when he worked four horses. “To me, it’s never been a track problem. It’s been the bad weather.”

Santa Anita suspended racing following a March 5 morning-workout breakdown that resulted in the 21st equine fatality of the winter meet that began in late December. Southern California received unusually high rainfall this season, requiring the main track to be repeatedly sealed.

Over the past week, in dry weather, surface expert Dennis Moore and track superintendent Andy LaRocco continually reexamined the main track, and rototilled and harrowed it to ensure a proper mix of silt and clay (called fines). Fines help bind surface material, creating uniformity.

The main track opened Monday and Tuesday for jogging and galloping, and workouts resumed Wednesday. Joe Talamo worked an unraced 3-year-old filly named Road Rager for trainer Brian Koriner. Talamo gave the surface a positive review.

“It felt great,” Talamo said. “But again, I’ve worked on it and raced on it [all winter] and it felt fine to me then. [Road Rager] galloped out really well, [the surface] was even throughout.”

A number of safety protocols initiated by Santa Anita in the wake of recent breakdowns include restricting the first 15 minutes following renovation to workers only. With fewer horses on the track during works, the risk of hazard declines. There are three morning renovation breaks, 6 to 6:30, 7:15 to 7:45, and 8:30 to 9.

Yet even after many maintrack workouts are completed during the 15-minute window, horses that jog or gallop later occasionally get loose from handlers. When that happens, warning lights and a siren get triggered, the same warning as when a horse is pulled up with an injury.

When the warning went off at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, observers tensed. An unidentified horse handled by retired Hall of Fame jockey Alex Solis unexpectedly veered outward at the top of the stretch, unseating Solis and getting loose. The horse took one lap around the oval and later was caught. Neither the horse nor Solis was injured.

That incident, and another loose horse 20 minutes later, reminded that nerves are on edge.

In addition to media attention on Santa Anita, morning workouts have attracted additional scrutiny from racing executives.

Belinda Stronach, chairman and president of Santa Anita owner The Stronach Group, attended morning workouts Wednesday. Stronach deferred a Daily Racing Form request for a brief interview.

The remainder of the Wednesday morning workouts unfolded without apparent incident, and trainers remain optimistic the surface is safe.

Jim Cassidy, trainer and president of California Thoroughbred Trainers, worked two horses expected to run April 6 in the rescheduled Santa Anita Handicap – Prime Attraction and Prince of Arabia.

Prime Attraction was the first Cassidy main-track worker at 7:45. He went five furlongs in 1:02. Cassidy believes the surface is safe, even on the first day workouts resumed.

“I have a lot of faith in Dennis” Moore, Cassidy said. “He said the track is as good as it’s ever going to be. You have to press forward.”

Cassidy acknowledged, “You hold your breath a little bit.”