by Pete Denk
The track crew at Santa Anita Park was power harrowing and running tests on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface on Tuesday following the breakdown of four horses over the meeting’s first four days.
Two of the four horses were euthanized while the other two were to undergo surgery.
Although synthetic tracks anecdotally have been linked more with soft tissue and back-end injuries, the injuries at Santa Anita included two broken sesamoids, a stress fracture to a cannon bone, and a shattered knee.
The injured horses included multiple graded stakes winner Indyanne, who broke down during the stretch run of the La Brea Stakes (G1) on Saturday. Indyanne will not race again but there is hope she will have a career as a broodmare.
Santa Anita President Ron Charles said management was concerned and surprised by the type and number of breakdowns.
“We did some work on the track this morning, and it’s something we’re taking seriously,” Charles said. “We’re looking for consistency—power harrowing it to see exactly how tight it is. They’re doing a lot of tests.
“Most of the riders say it’s a very forgiving surface and the track seems to have a good bounce to it, so we’re not exactly sure why this is happening. We went almost a month without picking one horse up in the morning, literally thousands of horses working. The confidence level was extremely high coming into the meet.”
Two horses broke down in the first race of the meeting on Friday, a $32,000 maiden claiming race. Trainer Caesar Dominguez said Nascar Johnny, a two-year-old El Corredor gelding out of Dark Champagne, suffered a stress fracture to his cannon bone. Nascar Johnny was to undergo surgery, Dominguez said.
Trainer Jorge Gutierrez said Warren’s Kenzo suffered a broken sesamoid after clipping heels and taking a bad step. The Kris Kross colt, out of Shanes Queen, was euthanized.
The other horse to be euthanized was Flashing Forward, a four-year-old Outflanker filly, out of Flashy Bold Lady, who broke down during the seventh race on Monday, a non-winners-of-two allowance.
Flashing Forward was in front at the top of the turn when she shattered her knee and was pulled up, trainer Gary Sherlock said.
Other than the recent injuries, Charles has been pleased with Pro-Ride, which was installed for the fall Oak Tree meeting and hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Santa Anita’s previous synthetic surface--Cushion Track--did not drain properly.
“From a racing and handicapping standpoint, I think bettors and fans have liked what they saw from Pro-Ride,” Charles said. “I don’t think there have been any extreme biases. The object is to make it so the best horse wins. We don’t want them running on a conveyor belt, and we want horses to have an opportunity to win from everywhere, and I think that’s what we have now.
“You can hear a lot of good comments about the track but we have to address the fact we’ve had some injuries.”
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times