Two additional racing deaths were reported at Southland horse-racing tracks Tuesday, bringing the total to three fatalities since Saturday. These incidents occurred at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress and Santa Anita Park.
Two of the deaths took place at Los Alamitos Race Course. One involved Ebok’s Dream Girl, a 5-year-old mare with 12 career races and three first-place finishes. She died Sunday night after completing the fifth race. The official race chart indicated she “weakened” and was transported off the track via ambulance. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) categorized this as a “non-musculoskeletal” death. Mike Marten, the CHRB’s public information officer, told City News Service, “This was a sudden death that occurred while being unsaddled.” Sudden deaths in horses are most commonly linked to cardio-pulmonary or cardiac failure, rather than physical trauma or musculoskeletal injuries.
Also at Los Alamitos, Empressum, an 8-year-old gelding, died Sunday after sustaining a racing injury. Empressum had a notable career with 43 races and 37 first- or second-place finishes. Marten informed City News Service that Empressum “was vanned off but died (not euthanized) in the horse ambulance.” Los Alamitos Race Course has recorded 12 racing or training deaths this year. In 2025, according to CHRB data, the track experienced 19 racing and training fatalities.
At Santa Anita, Mici’s Express, a 5-year-old gelding with 28 career races and three first-place finishes, died Monday after an injury in the first race. The race chart stated that the horse “followed along the rail, sustained in injury early on the first turn and was pulled up, then transported off the track via equine ambulance.” Santa Anita has now had 15 horses die from racing or training injuries in 2026.
The group Kill Racing Not Horses issued a statement Tuesday, raising concerns about the number of equine deaths. The organization highlighted that California has seen 36 deaths of its athletes in 38 weeks of competition statewide, with 17 occurring at Santa Anita Park, encompassing musculoskeletal, training, racing, and other non-musculoskeletal categories.
Santa Anita did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding these latest incidents. However, officials have previously touted the track’s 99.985% safety rate, which they have described as “unrivaled among tracks with similar racing and training dates.” Los Alamitos also did not respond to a request for comment.