HOW MANY?

26th Horse Dies at California’s Santa Anita Track Since December

The third horse to die in nine days brings the thoroughbred death toll to 26 fatalities in five months at the famous California racetrack.

Another horse has been euthanized after suffering injuries in racing or training at Santa Anita racetrack in California, bringing the death toll to 26 since Dec. 26, 2018. Kochees, a 9-year-old gelding, fell during his 49th race on Saturday and had to be put down on Sunday morning following a decision that he had lost too much blood and could not be saved. Kochees is the third horse to be put down in just nine days at the now infamously dangerous track. Commander Coil was injured during training on May 17 and Spectacular Music fell on May 19. Both horses had to be euthanized. “We’re going to be judged over the short-term,” Belinda Stronach, head of the group that manages the track, told the Los Angeles Times. “All eyes are on us. And we will continue to be judged about how we continue safety reforms. That’s definitely our goal—to do everything we can when it comes to horse and rider welfare.”