Santa Anita Park sees sixth equine fatality since Sept. 18

The Stronach Group issued the following statement Sunday after Bye Bye Beautiful was pulled up in Santa Anita Park's third race and vanned off. According to the Los Angeles Times, this marked the sixth equine fatality at Santa Anita since Sept. 18. It occurred less than a week before the Arcadia, Calif., track will host the Breeders' Cup.

Bye Bye Beautiful was humanely euthanized after the third race on Sunday, October 27, at Santa Anita Park.

After being pulled up past the half-mile pole, Bye Bye Beautiful was immediately evaluated by a team of on-track veterinarians, led by Santa Anita Park veterinarian Dr. Dana Stead, and transported in the equine ambulance. Dr. Stead observed that the filly had suffered a right forelimb lateral condylar fracture with medial sesamoid involvement and, because of the severity of the injury, made the decision to humanely euthanize the horse.

Jockey Tiago Pereira was uninjured.

As mandated by the California Horse Racing Board, Bye Bye Beautiful will undergo a necropsy at the University of California – Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine.

Bye Bye Beautiful, a 2-year-old filly, was making her second start for owners Grenier, Lawless or Lewkowitz, et al. She finished fourth in her first start on September 13th at Los Alamitos.

The thoughts of the team at The Stronach Group and Santa Anita go out to everyone who cared for the filly, including trainer J. Eric Kruljac and his staff.