FILE Horses coming out of the gate at the Del Mar Racing track in 2019.
A 6-year-old gelding has died after suffering a training injury at Del Mar, track officials confirmed Sunday.
Elector suffered an "inoperable right front ankle injury" and was euthanized Saturday morning. A Del Mar spokesman confirmed that account to City News Service on Sunday.
Elector had 17 career races and three first-place finishes, including a win at Del Mar on Aug. 18.
He is the fifth horse to die from a racing or training injury at Del Mar this year, the most seen at the track in the last six years, according to data voluntarily reported by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database; although, there were hundreds more race starts in 2017 than in subsequent years. It is not clear how many race starts the racetrack has had this year.
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There were six race-related deaths reported in 2017 and a significant drop followed in the years after. Three or fewer deaths were reported each year since -- well below the national average among tracks that report to the database. In 2023, the last year data was published, Del Mar Racing saw zero fatalities.
Del Mar Racing contends a number of changes made to their horse safety policies has lowered the injury rate at their racetrack, including more veterinary inspections, more testing and the hiring of a racetrack surface consultant. In 2014, an unusual amount of race-related horse injuries led to changes to its turf track.
