Santa Anita Training Track to Re-open Friday

[Wandering Eyes]

The training track at Santa Anita will, as expected, re-open for training Friday morning, after veteran track superintendent Dennis Moore evaluated the surface Thursday. According to California Thoroughbred Trainer president Jim Cassidy, horses will be restricted to jogging and galloping only–no breezes.

The hours of operation have been extended, and the track will remain open until 11:00 a.m. in order to lessen the bottle-neck of horses expected on the track Friday, said Cassidy, who added that it’s still up in the air as to when workouts will resume on the track. A press release by the Thoroughbred Owners of California stated that expanded training on the training track could resume “as early as next week.”

The track was off limits for training Wednesday and Thursday morning after Santa Anita announced Tuesday evening that both the main and training tracks were closed. The decision was in response to two more fatalities at the track over the weekend. This brought the total of equine fatalities since the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meet to 21. None of those catastrophic injuries were sustained over the training track.

A number of trainers have already shipped some of their horses to Los Alamitos or San Luis Rey Downs to train. Roughly 350 stalls were reported available at Los Alamitos, and between 50-70 at San Luis Rey Downs.

According to trainer Richard Baltas, he’s taken 9 “pretty nice” horses to San Luis Rey Downs, where he also keeps a string. “These horses are ready to roll–I need to work them,” he said.

Peter Eurton told TVG that he was sending 15 horses to Los Alamitos on Thursday to train, including Giant Expectations, who was originally scheduled to run in the San Carlos S. this weekend.

John Sadler told the TDN he’ll get “creative” if workouts are restricted on the training track for a period of time. “I’ll probably work some of my horses at Los Alamitos,” he said. Sadler typically maintains a string of between 25-35 horses at Los Alamitos. “It’ll be on a case-by-case basis,” Sadler added.

Santa Anita announced Thursday that Moore and the University of Kentucky’s Mick Peterson had begun extensive testing of the one-mile main track. Though before the “formal process of testing [could] begin,” Moore and Peterson had requested that Santa Anita personnel “[harrow] and [aerate] the track which has been saturated due to recent rains.”

There is currently no news on when the main track will re-open for training and racing. However, California Horse Racing Board commissioner Alex Solis told the TDN Wednesday that the picture could be much clearer by next Monday, by which time Moore will have had more time to conduct his tests. “We’re working hard on finding solutions for the safety of the horse and the rider,” he said.

 

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