Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey Tuesday announced the creation of a task force to investigate the deaths of nearly two-dozen horses at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia since late December.

“I have formed a task force of experienced deputy district attorneys and sworn peace officers with varied expertise within my office who will thoroughly investigate and evaluate the evidence to determine whether unlawful conduct or conditions affected the welfare and safety of horses at Santa Anita Park,” the county’s top prosecutor said in a written statement.

Demonstrators from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested outside the district attorney’s downtown Los Angeles office just over a month ago to urge a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the horses’ deaths, with a D.A.’s spokesman saying soon afterward that investigators had been assigned to work with the California Horse Racing Board.

Racing was suspended at the track for much of March while authorities studied the racing surface for possible causes. Races resumed after the state horse racing board approved a series of safety measures, including limits on certain types of medications administered to horses.

Twenty-three horses have died at Santa Anita since Dec. 26 — most recently Arms Runner. The 5-year-old gelding suffered a severe and ultimately fatal injury to his right front leg during the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes as he was about to re-enter the turf portion of the course that starts at the top of a hillside and has a crossover point on dirt.

In a letter to the California Horse Racing Board, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called April 2 for racing to be suspended at the track “until the cause or causes of these deaths can be fully investigated.”

The CHRB had been set to meet last week to discuss the possibility of relocating races away from Santa Anita, but the meeting was scrubbed and the discussion of Santa Anita racing is instead set for the board’s meeting Thursday at Santa Anita.

Moving races away from Santa Anita would require approval from the track’s owners, The Stronach Group. Tim Ritvo, The Stronach Group’s chief operating officer, told the Daily Racing Form that Santa Anita fully intends to maintain its schedule of racing through the end of the current meet, June 23.

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