Report: Santa Anita Cancels Racing Indefinitely

[Wandering Eyes]

Santa Anita has canceled racing indefinitely as track management continues to try to get to the bottom of what is causing a rash of fatalities since the meet opened Dec. 26.
The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form. Tim Ritvo, Stronach Group COO, told the DRF that the earliest racing would resume is Sunday. The timing is particularly bad as Saturday’s card is among the biggest of the meet and includes four graded stakes races, including the GI Santa Anita Handicap and the GII San Felipe, a major prep for the GI Kentucky Derby. The San Felipe was expected to attract two of the top 3-year-old Kentucky Derby contenders in the country in Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Improbable (City Zip). Both are trained by Bob Baffert. When reached by text, Baffert said he had not decided yet what route he would now take toward the Kentucky Derby with his two 3-year-old stars.
Santa Anita recently brought back its former track superintendent Dennis Moore as a consultant. It will be Moore’s responsibility to, hopefully, find a problem with the track and fix it.
“We’re going to discontinue training and racing until further notice,” Ritvo told the Form. “We’ll give Dennis a chance to fully examine everything.”
Since Dec. 26, there have been 21 fatalities during racing or training. Last week, Santa Anita closed the track on Monday at 9 a.m. and did not re-open it until Thursday to let experts examine the surface. Racing resumed Thursday and there were no problems through the weekend. However, on Tuesday, a filly named Lets Light the Way (Dunkirk) broke down during training and was euthanized.
“We want to gather all the information we can,” Ritvo told the Form. “We have to give people the chance to train. It could be possible the following weekend that Dennis gives the okay that people can train over the track.”

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