A horse has been 'humanely euthanized' after suffering a training injury at Santa Anita, state horse racing officials confirmed.
According to the California Horse Racing Board, Nermansa, a 2-year-old filly with two career races in Ireland, died Sunday. Her death is listed as "musculoskeletal" and was pending further investigation.
"Nermansa sustained an injury during training Sunday morning at Santa Anita Park and was immediately attended to by an expert team of on-site veterinarians," Amy Zimmerman, Santa Anita's senior vice president and executive producer, said in a statement.
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"Given the nature of the injury, surgical repair was not an option, and the veterinary team recommended humane euthanasia after a thorough evaluation. ... As is protocol, the horse will undergo a necropsy overseen by the University of California (Davis) School of Veterinary Medicine and the findings reported to the California Horse Racing Board. Santa Anita Park is one of the largest racing and training facilities in the country, averaging 375,000 training sessions per year," the statement continued.
Dr. David Ramey, a veterinarian who has worked with horses for 40 years, tells KNX News' Nataly Tavidian, "It's awful; to a certain extent, It's unavoidable."
Though he does not work on racetracks, Dr. Ramey said, "It certainly occurs with an alarming frequency. Alarming enough that laws are being passed to try to regulate this. Much research is going on to try to help stop it or at least slow it down, but it's a big problem in the racing industry."
The California Horse Racing Board, which has been documenting these fatalities for decades, says the race culture has shifted, and the number of deaths has dropped approximately 200% over the last 30 years and 50% in the last five years.
Nermansa is the 11th horse to die from a racing or training injury at Santa Anita in 2024.
City News Service contributed to this article.
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