An animal rights group is calling for state officials to suspend the racing licenses of Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos Race Course after three horses died from racing or training injuries at the two tracks last weekend.
At Los Alamitos, the 3-year-old filly Imm Relentless fell during Friday night’s fifth race, suffering a fatal injury and also unseating jockey Cruz Mendez, who reportedly suffered a serious spinal cord injury.
The Daily Racing Form reported that Mendez, 40, was taken to Long Beach Memorial hospital and underwent surgery on Sunday. The publication said his friends were concerned that Mendez’ legs might be paralyzed.
Angelic Appeal, a 6-year-old mare with nine career starts and one first-place finish, was fatally injured in Saturday’s seventh race at Santa Anita, while Cornhuskerchris, a 4-year-old colt with eight races, suffered a fatal training injury at the Arcadia track Sunday, according to the California Horse Racing Board.
Santa Anita has had four horses die from racing or training injuries this month, while Imm Relentless was Los Alamitos’ first racing or training death of the new year.
Santa Anita had 12 racing and training deaths in 2025, while Los Alamitos had 19, according to CHRB data.
“(Angelic Appeal) was immediately attended to by an expert team of on-site veterinarians but sadly, given the nature of her injury, surgical repair was not an option, and the veterinary team recommended humane euthanasia after a thorough evaluation on the course. Her jockey was uninjured,” Santa Anita spokeswoman Amy Zimmerman told City News Service.
“Cornhuskerchris sustained an injury on Sunday morning at Santa Anita Park on the training track. The horse was immediately attended to and transported via equine ambulance to the on-site equine hospital for further examination and advanced diagnostics. Sadly, given the nature of the injury, after a thorough evaluation, surgical repair was not an option, and the veterinary team recommended humane euthanasia,” Zimmerman continued.
“While both incidents had somber outcomes, it is important to note that Santa Anita Park maintains a 99.985% safety rate, unrivaled for tracks with similar racing and training dates in the United States. The last severe injury on the Santa Anita turf course occurred 15 months ago, on Oct. 27, 2024,” she added.
Los Alamitos officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both tracks have been under heightened scrutiny since 2019, when 42 such deaths at Santa Anita Park sparked widespread debate about safety issues in the sport and even drew the attention of state lawmakers. Several changes arose from that controversy include drug reforms, increased veterinary oversight and improvements to racing surfaces.
On Tuesday, the group Kill Racing Not Horses called for the CHRB to take action after the latest fatalities.
“No legitimate sport would tolerate the musculoskeletal deaths of six of its athletes in four weeks of competition in just one state, California … We call upon the California Horse Racing Board to suspend the race license of Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos Race Course under CHRB Rule 1435, per state law passed in 2019.
“In 2019, Governor Newsom signed SB 469 into law which provided the California Horse Racing Board with the authority to suspend a race meet license when necessary to protect the health and safety of horses or riders,” the group’s statement continued.
The CHRB did not immediately reply to a request for comment.