The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club reopened horse racing on its new turf course Sunday, August 10, having held the competition instead on a synthetic surface after a thoroughbred was badly injured and ten other horses died in the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, Master the Blues won the $96,560 Daisycutter Handicap by a neck at Del Mar on Aug. 8, running on a five-furlong synthetic surface. The closure had marked the second suspension of the 7/8-mile turf course competition, which attracted more than 42,000 people for the July 17 opening day of the Del Mar summer season. Three-year-old Chattering Gambler was declared dead at the track August 2, with a “cardiovascular collapse” called the cause of death. This was the third heart-related death during the meet. Four deaths have been caused by injuries on the turf course, one fatality has been caused by an injury on the synthetic main track and two others came during training sessions. The season runs through Sept. 3. Officials had stopped racing on the new turf track on July 27 while a crew tended to it following the first rash of injuries. Racing resumed on July 30, but a 4-year-old filly named Serious suffered a broken bone in her foreleg the next day. Track veterinarians recommended euthanizing her, but the owner decided to transport her to Los Alamitos in Orange County, a California Thoroughbred Trainers Association official said. In a July 26 statement, the racetrack’s management expressed sorrow and concern for the injured animals.
“Del Mar,” the statement said, “is deeply saddened by the loss of thoroughbred lives we have experienced at the track since the start of our season. Despite that, we continue to have the utmost confidence in the course, as do our partners in this race meet – the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the California Thoroughbred Trainers, the Jockeys’ Guild and the California Horse Racing Board – all of whom have expressed that confidence to us today.”
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opened in 1937 with backing from Hollywood figures such as Bing Crosby and Pat O’Brien. Del Mar is a coastal community about 10 miles north of La Jolla.
On average, three race horses die each day at the nation’s 97 race tracks.
Turf surface is controversial among the equestrian community amid many years’ studies for and against various surfaces. In March, The Jockey Club, the breed registry club for North American thoroughbreds, released a report that found synthetic racing surfaces continued to be associated with “significantly fewer fatal injuries” than dirt and turf.
One Del Mar trainer said that some of the horses had little preparation for this level of competition and that that placed them at greater risk for injury.
The horses are reportedly assessed not only by track veterinarians but also by team veterinarians, but forces such as weather and pre-existing conditions may contribute to injuries severe enough to result in euthanasia. Necropsies of the euthanized horses will be conducted at the University of California, Davis.