The concerning trend continues at Santa Anita Park in California, where another horse has died, marking the sixth death since late December at the location. On Saturday, Double Touch, a six-year-old gelding trained by John Sadler, died on the training track, according to the Associated Press.
Following any horse death, the California Horse Racing Board requires a necropsy. The results for Double Touch are currently still pending.
Double Touch took home $201,496 in earnings and finished with four wins in 22 career starts. In January, the gelding finished fourth at the $70,000 Clockers' Corner Stakes. That race turned out to be its last.
The track has a brutal history when it comes to the safety of the animals and was suspended last year for an investigation into the safety of the horses. Afterwards, changes were made at the track, including restrictions on medications, insuring trainers get permission before working out a horse and investing in diagnostic equipment to assist in finding pre-existing conditions in the animals.
Still, no change has been enough to stop the death toll from rising rapidly.
Since December of 2018, 43 deaths have been reported at Santa Anita and in January three deaths occurred in a matter of three days. The issues have become so frequent that politicians and animal rights activists have spoken out about making changes and raising awareness to the problems going on at the track.
