More pressure on Santa Anita as senator demands temporary halt after fatality

Santa Anita racecourse is under fire again after a California senator renewed her call for a temporary halt to racing at the track following the death of a 26th horse since Boxing Day.

"Another horse has died at Santa Anita racetrack, the 26th in five months and the third in just nine days," Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. "How many more horses must die before concrete steps are taken to address what is clearly an acute problem?

"I once again call for an immediate moratorium on racing at Santa Anita. We need a thorough investigation of practices and conditions at the track before any more races are held."

Kochees was euthanized on Sunday after breaking down in the sixth race at the Southern California track on Saturday.

Feinstein issued the statement despite a reduced rate of breakdowns since new house rules were put in place at Santa Anita in March that has resulted in the track's breakdown rate falling below both the track's 2018 rate and the national 2018 rate.

There have been three fatal breakdowns during racing and one during training since the new rules were put in place.

Feinstein added more study was needed on issues that may be impacting horse health and leaving them susceptible to breakdown.

"I believe we need to carefully review what medications horses are given and under what circumstances, as well as take a close look at the issue of overrunning horses, which may be contributing to deaths," she said.

"Tracks in the United States have significantly higher rates of death than tracks overseas. We need to determine what we're doing wrong in this country and fix it. If we can't, we need to consider whether horse racing has a future here."

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