A 4-year-old gelding fractured his right front ankle at Santa Anita Park Sunday and was euthanized, the fifth horse to die during the track’s winter/spring meeting.
Squeaky Cheeky was injured after crossing the wire last in the seven-horse field in the fifth race and triaged on the turf course by track veterinarians. A diagnostic examination determined that it was an unrecoverable injury, according to Santa Anita.
Squeaky Cheeky was third at the start of the 6 1/2-furlong maiden claiming race, fifth at the quarter-mile mark, fourth at the half-mile mark and seventh entering the stretch.
The race was the first for Squeaky Cheeky.
The fatality was the first at Santa Anita since Feb. 7, when the 4-year-old gelding Natural History was euthanized after fracturing his left front ankle during a workout.