Santa Anita Cancels Thursday Card; LATEST: Racing Suspended
 

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...march-7-racing

Weather playing havoc in Southern Cal and the protesters are gaining troops. The concern is growing over the perceived track conditions with 20 fatalities in the past two months....I hope this gets turned around quickly

Cancelled indefinitely, now.

"Ritvo said racing will not be held this weekend, and declined to speculate on a date of resumption."

http://live.drf.com/nuggets/47243-sa...g-indefinitely

Hmm. Has this ever happened before? What does that mean for Improbable and Game Winner?

Wow it was necessary but man the San Felipe horses got to be scrambling. Can’t wait to hear what Steve is hearing for those horses. Assume too late to ship for Tampa and Gotham. Looks like rebel may be packed next week

Game Winner has 30 points already. I think he should just prep for one of the 100 point races. If he finishes 2nd or 3rd, he ends up with 70 or 50 points and he’s still set for the derby.

It’s a little tougher for Improbable who only has 10 points and less margin for error. Maybe they rush him to something like the Rebel.

Would you really want to go straight to the Derby off 1 start though? I gotta think they'll either wait for the redraw or go to the Rebel.

I wouldn’t want to do that - but I also wouldn’t want to ship the horse from California to Arkansas and then...back to California? Or does that mean they’re sticking around for the Arkansas Derby?

Jim Cassidy, President of the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT), visits ATR at 9:15a ET Wednesday to address the situation and provide updates to all the working parts affecting horses, horsemen and owners.

Most notably, as of this morning, former Santa Anita trackman Dennis Moore has been engaged which should go a long way towards returning the main track to its' standard before the spate of catastrophic injuries.

Should be interesting. The whole science of the dirt and make up of racetracks is so complex. No two tracks are the same it seems. It really doesn’t take much to tip the apple cart, but when it’s askew , it can get obvious.

From what I'm hearing, the track is not going to be closed for just a few days. It's going to be closed for a few weeks.

Making national news on CBS evening news right now...

It was on the local news in Houston yesterday evening...

I heard the tentative date they plan on reopening is March 28th. That is 3 weeks from today. That could obviously change and it could be sooner. But that is what they are thinking right now.

Oaklawn officials are talking about splitting the race into two divisions.

I thought I read this morning that it was a done deal.

I think they will split it if they get at least 20 entries.

Where?

this is all I've read:

https://www.oaklawn.com/news/2019/ma...help-horsemen/

There is an “if” hidden in there. Are there 20 entrants?

Tracking 17-19 right now..

Baffert: Game Winner; Improbable
Hollendorfer: Gunmetal Grey; Galilean
Mandella: Omaha Beach; Extra Hope
Desormeaux: Easy Shot (Sueno possible)
Pletcher: TBA
McPeek: Lemniscate
Casse: Our Braintrust
Stewart: Classy John
Asmussen: Long Range Toddy, Jersey Agenda, Laughing Fox (Captain Von Trapp possible)
Moquett: Frosted Ice
Silva: Sleepy Eyes Todd
Lukas: Market King (Or other)

What’s the max if they don’t split ?

14

If you’re one of the contenders, do you enter some stablemates just to force the split?

They are now planning on reopening on March 22nd.
https://www.drf.com/top-news/santa-a...chedule-458931

Bad news. I heard there was another breakdown today at Santa Anita. That is very surprising because I thought they were only open for limited training. I didn't think horses were even working yet. It is possible the horse could have broken down during a gallop. I don't know. I haven't heard any details yet.

I read that for timed, high speed exercises, a request has to be submitted 24 hours prior to the workout.
Cant find anything on a breakdown yet....

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019...-for-training/

I haven’t seen it anywhere either and I actively searched the most reliable rumor mill out there - Twitter.

A horse was vanned off with a soft tissue concern. Otherwise OK.

Please get back to heralding celebrity deaths.

I think my friend's info was wrong. What happened was that a Phil D'Amato horse was vanned off. As fast as things spread, I guess that turned into "Phil D'Amato had a horse break down." From what I'm reading on DRF, it says, "One racehorse that was galloping was vanned off the main track early Monday, perhaps during the blackout. The incident was not serious, according to trainer Phil D’Amato, who was in Florida. After speaking with his help, D’Amato said via text that it was his understanding that a pony kicked the horse, who was “comfortable” after returning to his stable."

https://www.drf.com/top-news/under-w...a-anita-458971

:tro:
You can bet if this was true that the news would spread like wildfire on social media...I can only imagine what the circus is like outside the track

WEDNESDAY (3/13): Per Mike Willman, as of 9:15a PT, without incident, 150 workers on the main track so far this morning..

From Brad Free:
Sad.to report Princess Lili B broke both front legs at conclusion of half-mile workout Thursday at Santa Anita. Euthanized. Somber mood trackside. Training will continue this morning.

You know there are a lot of reasons why horses breakdown, so nobody should jump to conclusions. Maybe the track surface is wonderful, maybe the horse just took a bad step and it could have happened anywhere, maybe it was a soft tissue injury that was undiagnosed or treated improperly that caused a weakness in the animals' ability to jog properly? Let's wait for the necropsy report and the findings of the blue ribbon panel BEFORE suggesting SA management and or the racing surface is deemed the culprit. Tracks and the people maintaining them have rights too!

What do you do if you are an owner ? Trainer. ? What about the jocks and exercise riders ? It’s got to take a big toll on everyone mentally.

Catastrophic day for the sport we love...

Wow...I'm at a loss for words. This is a turning point for the sport for sure, I can only hope it will be in a positive direction. I have to hope that it will....

Does this mean the other Stronach-owned parks will be doing the same? It seems insincere to do it only at the CA tracks. Will the Preakness ban lasix?

If a horse in the wild takes a bad step and breaks thier leg, will an animal activist make a sound?

^^^
This

Insincere is putting it mildly. Outrageous that they basically blaming the victim. Do they think people and the press are dumb enough to not ask the question why horses are not breaking down at their other tracks and all tracks in general at the rate they are at Santa Anita? They need to shut it down for the season, rebuild the track from scratch and move the Breeders Cup. How can they and Breeders Cup proceed and risk the potential death blow that the sport would face if we had one or more incidents during Breeders Cup?