Racehorse suffers fatal training injury at Santa Anita Park
Outriders ride along the track during horse racing at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia on Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
A 4-year-old chestnut colt who had yet to appear in a race has died after suffering a training injury at Santa Anita Park, state horse racing officials reported.
Truest of True died Thursday, according to the California Horse Racing Board. His injury was listed as "musculoskeletal," but no further details were immediately available.
He is the second horse to die from a training injury at Santa Anita this year. Derby Prospect, a 6-year-old gelding with just one career race, died Jan. 1.
Santa Anita officials have touted safety improvements that have brought down the annual number of fatalities since 2019, when at least 42 horses died at the track, sparking widespread debate about safety issues at Santa Anita and about horse racing in general.
The Arcadia track saw 12 racing and training deaths in 2022, but that number rose to 17 in 2023, according to CHRB data.