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Santa Anita track suffers 23rd horse fatality since Dec. 26

A horse died at Santa Anita Race Track on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 23 since Dec. 26.

ARCADIA, Calif. — Santa Anita Race Track suffered its 23rd horse fatality since Dec. 26, when an animal fell on the dirt crossover part of the turf course Sunday and had to be euthanized, KTLA reported.

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Arms Runner, a 5-year-old gelding, fell during the California track's feature race, the Grade 3 $100,000 San Simeon Stakes, a 6½-furlong race on the hillside course, the Los Angeles Times reported. The horse appeared to suffer an injury to his right front leg, the newspaper reported.

La Sardane, who was trailing Arms Runner, tripped over Arms Runner was was unhurt, the Times reported.

Jockeys Martin Pedroza, aboard Arms Runner, and Ruben Fuentes, sustained minor injuries, KTLA reported.

“While this incident happened during competition on a track that has been deemed by independent experts to be safe, we are working closely with the (California Horse Racing Board) to understand if there was anything additional that we could have done to prevent (Sunday’s) tragedy,” Santa Anita officials said in a statement.

Santa Anita had reopened Friday after closing from its four-day-a-week racing schedule as track operators tried to determine what was causing the deaths, the Times reported.

The race track canceled programs in early March after a 4-year-old filly fell during training and had to be euthanized, ESPN reported.

Ten of the fatalities occurred during training on the main dirt track, and seven occurred while horses raced on the dirt track, the newspaper reported.

Santa Anita's turf course starts at the top of a hill, includes a slight right turn and has an 80-foot crossing on dirt before the track returns to grass, the Times reported. Arms Runner was a few strides from returning to the grass when he fell, according to the newspaper.