After Santa Anita fatality, call made for 'industrywide' reform

In the wake of Santa Anita Park's 23rd fatality of its current meet, The Jockey Club on Monday issued a statement calling for "comprehensive reform" that would align United States racetracks with counterparts operating under the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

Looking bigger picture than Santa Anita, the statement from North America's breed registry says "horse fatalities are a nationwide problem that needs to be addressed on an industrywide basis."

"There has been tremendous focus on the track surface," it reads further, "but the core of the problem lies in a fundamentally flawed system that falls far short of international horse racing standards — standards that better protect horses and result in far fewer injuries and deaths."

Santa Anita's rate of catastrophic injuries has trended well above average since Dec. 26, bringing the issue into a national spotlight. The stumble and subsequent euthanization Sunday of San Simeon Stakes (G3) contender Arms Runner was the first such incident since the track re-opened following inspection and new rules regarding race day medication were instituted.

Arms Runner fell on the dirt strip that separates Santa Anita's downhill turf course from its grass oval. According to the official chart, the 5-year-old gelding trained by Peter Miller "took a bad step on the dirt crossing, appeared injured and fell."

Brian Trump, racing manager for Rockingham Ranch, which campaigned Arms Runner, said Monday that, "As I reflect this morning, I can tell you that the accident at Santa Anita yesterday was just that, an unfortunate accident. As you saw, Arms Runner took a misstep when crossing from the turf to the dirt and was coming down the hill with such momentum that the jockey was unable to slow him down before he collided with another horse.

"The Santa Anita track has had to deal with record breaking rains this fall and have brought in expert after expert to provide the safest possible surface for these horses, and after speaking with other horsemen and jockeys we are confident that the track is safe. Furthermore, our team would never put a horse out there to race if we didn’t  feel that the track was safe and our horse was 100% healthy."

Days prior, Rockingham Ranch's Roy H scratched from the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) after an overseas ship due to a sore foot. Trump also pointed out a recent scratch of the champion turf horse Stormy Liberal on Pegasus World Cup day when a race switched from grass to the main track.

"The safety of our horses always comes first, and if they ever show any sign of potential injury," Trump said, "we immediately scratch them from the race and remove them from training until they have recovered. Our horses receive the best available care that you could imagine and each one of them holds a special place in our hearts."

Before resuming racing last Friday, Santa Anita owner The Stronach Group took immediate steps to medication rules, while The Jockey Club on Monday called for wider creation of "an independent central rule-making authority, full transparency into all medical treatments and procedures, comprehensive drug reform, and strict anti-doping testing both in an out of competition."

Last week, The Jockey Club announced it had commissioned a white paper report -- Vision 2025 -- outlining more broad changes.

Santa Anita issued a statement of its own Sunday evening.

"While this incident happened during competition on a track that has been deemed by independent experts to be safe, we are working closely with the California Horse Racing Board to understand if there was anything additional that we could have done to prevent today’s tragedy," it reads.

"Today’s incident speaks to the larger issue of catastrophic injuries in horse racing that The Stronach Group together with our industry stakeholders are working to solve throughout California and across the country.”