Another horse dies at Los Alamitos on third day of probation for spike in fatalities
Los Alamitos Race Course, currently under a 10-day probation for a spike in horse deaths, had its 21st fatality this meeting Sunday night, and ninth since May 26.
Tacy, a 5-year-old mare, was leading on the backstretch of a 1,000-yard claiming race when she was pulled up by jockey Christian Aragon. She was taken by van off the course. Her injuries were too severe and she was euthanized. The exact nature of the injury was not known.
The death came two days after the California Horse Racing Board called an emergency meeting Friday with the possibility of closing the track in light of the deaths this year. Instead, it put Los Alamitos on probation with the directive to come up with a plan to substantially reduce the number of deaths. The next meeting concerning this is on July 20.
Flavien Prat, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, is one of five jockeys who raced at Los Alamitos recently to test positive for the coronavirus.
Tacy, a California homebred for Ridgeley Farm, started her career running on the daytime thoroughbred circuit, racing at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Golden Gate. She was winless in seven starts. She moved exclusively to mixed racing this year. Mixed races are shorter races, usually 870 or 1,000 yards, in which thoroughbreds and quarter horses compete against each other. They are generally for less accomplished horses. The race Sunday was classified as mixed, although all six starters were thoroughbreds.
She won her previous race, as a $10,000 claimer, the same price as the Sunday race. Tacy had won three of her six lifetime mixed races. Her total earnings, in both thoroughbred and mixed, was $23,920. Angela Aquino was her trainer.
Los Alamitos is working on its plans to present to the CHRB, and likely will contain more veterinary oversight in the morning and a pre-race review panel, similar to what is done with the daytime thoroughbreds.
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