A 6-year-old mare has died after suffering a racing injury at Santa Anita Park, the 11th horse to die from a racing or training injury at the Arcadia track this year.
Shangrilama was injured in Friday’s ninth race. According to the official race chart, she “pressed the pace from outside, could not keep up with LONG MAYSHE REIGN and chased two wide around the bend, finished willingly down the stretch, sustained an injury at the wire and was transported off the track via equine ambulance.”
She was euthanized Saturday.
Shangrilama had 19 races and six first-place finishes in her career, according to the industry website Equibase.
Santa Anita had 12 racing and training deaths in 2025, 14 in 2024, 17 in 2023, 12 in 2022, 19 in 2021 and 16 in 2020.
Those numbers were a substantial improvement over 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. The deaths prompted several changes, including drug reforms, increased veterinary oversight and improvements to racing surfaces.
Amy Zimmerman, Santa Anita’s senior vice president and executive producer, has touted the track’s 99.985% safety rate, which she called “unrivaled among tracks with similar racing and training dates.”