Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) called for more protections in horse racing on Monday after the California Horse Racing Board’s annual report on horse racing in the state revealed that nearly 90 percent of fatalities in 2019 were associated with pre-existing, undetected stress fractures.
“This report confirms what we have been hearing from trainers, owners, jockeys, veterinarians, and others: that we need to do a better job of protecting horses from overwork and unsafe tracks,” Chu said in a prepared statement. “Medicines like Lasix and grueling training schedules make it easier to overwork horses, leading to many of the small, unnoticeable fractures that can become fatal in a race.”
Last year, 37 horses died at Santa Anita during the racing season. The deaths led to calls for the end to race horsing in the state.
The report also found that the dirt track at Santa Anita was responsible for four times as many fatalities as the turf track, despite holding only 30 percent more races.
The report recommended curbing horse deaths with better veterinary record keeping, stricter regulations on the use of all medications, use of diagnostic imaging before a race, and a prohibition on racing on tracks deemed to be unsafe due to weather conditions, like the dirt track at Santa Anita.
“Rushing to race on a dirt track even when weather conditions have made it dangerous exacerbate this threat,” Chu said. “With this report, we have even more support for stronger regulations on when horses can race and on what surfaces. It also supports the need for pre-race screening. I am encouraged that Santa Anita has recently purchased a state of the art standing PET Scanner to detect these injuries, and I urge them to use it to ensure every horse scheduled to race is safe to run. Finally, we cannot rely on a patchwork of regulations to solve this problem. Regulations recommended by the CHRB could save lives for horses outside of California as well, but because we lack a federal body to oversee horse racing, each state is free to set their own standards, contributing to America’s higher rate of horse deaths compared to other countries.”
Chu said she supports HR 1754, the Horseracing Integrity Act in the Energy and Commerce Committee. The legislation would establish a federal Horseracing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority to standardize safety and medication standards across the United States.
After investigating the deaths, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey issued a 17-page report on the deaths in December. The report included more than two dozen recommendations on how to improve safety at all California racetracks. The report found no criminal wrongdoing at Santa Anita Park.
“Horse racing has inherent risks but is a legally sanctioned sport in California,” District Attorney Lacey said. “Greater precautions are needed to enhance safety and protect both horses and their riders.”
The recommendations included urging the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to prepare an annual racing fatality report that includes all equine fatalities at California racetracks and identifies contributing factors, mandating that all racing and training fatalities undergo thorough investigations conducted by sworn CHRB investigators that includes obtaining necropsy, training and veterinary records as well as interviewing people associated with the training, treatment and care of the fatally injured horse, evaluating the need to enhance penalties for CHRB violations of rules and regulations to reflect the severity of some violations and to serve as an effective future deterrent and establishing a tip line to encourage the reporting of suspected animal cruelty, horses at risk or illegal practices.
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