Santa Anita sees its first horse death on second day of season

Santa Anita had its first horse fatality on the second day of the new racing season when a 2-year-old colt suffered a life-ending break of his left front cannon bone during the running of Sunday’s Eddie Logan Stakes.

Ebeko was in last rounding the far turn into the top of the stretch on the grass course when his leg broke and he went crashing to the turf. Jockey Joel Rosario also went to the ground but walked to the ambulance. He was taken off his mount in the next race but resumed riding with no apparent injuries. The injury to Ebeko was ruled too serious to repair and he was euthanized.

Ebeko, an Irish bred, had run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf race at Keeneland on Nov. 6, finishing ninth. He came back Nov. 29 and ran fourth in the Grade 3 Cecille B. DeMille at Del Mar. This was his eighth lifetime race, including two wins and two seconds. He had earned $122,430.

He was a $26,527 purchase at the Tattersalls yearling sale in Britain. He started his career with three races in Ireland before moving to the barn of Peter Miller. He finished second in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf before winning the Zuma Beach at Santa Anita.

The Eddie Logan is a $75,000 minor stakes race for 2-year-olds going a mile on the turf.

Southern California daytime thoroughbred racing had gone more than three months without a racing or training fatality until Dec. 16 when Penelope Rose, a 2-year-old filly, suffered a fracture of her right front humerus in training at Santa Anita.

The death of Ebeko was the 16th racing or training death of this calendar year at Santa Anita but the first of the racing year, which started Saturday. Last year, Santa Anita had 37 fatalities.