Another Horse’s Death Overshadows Vino Rosso’s Win at Breeders’ Cup Classic

But Craig Fravel, the Breeders’ Cup president and chief executive officer, said that the board had decided to stay with Santa Anita after its owners, the Stronach Group, enacted some of the most aggressive and stringent drug and safety rules.

In the coming days, Fravel will leave his post at the Breeders’ Cup to become head of racing operations at the Stronach Group.

The deaths of Mongolian Groom and the 36 other horses this year highlight both the dangerous and haphazard nature of horse racing and, in some cases, the recklessness and callousness of some of the humans who own, train and make a living off the horses. On Oct. 27, a 2-year-old filly named Bye Bye Beautiful became the 36th horse to die at Santa Anita after breaking her leg.

It has been a nightmare for one of America’s oldest sports that has grown into a multibillion-dollar agribusiness. Veterinary care has been improving, but it remains difficult to rehabilitate horses from fractures because they cannot be immobilized. The wave of horse deaths has prompted a national discussion, often angry, between animal rights activists and horse people of what exactly is cruelty and abuse and what is, frankly, the breaks of the game.

Santa Anita’s precarious place in both the sport and the orbit of California politics has been stated in no certain terms by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senator Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats of California.

“I believe this weekend presents a critical test for the future of horse racing in California and in the United States,” Feinstein wrote on the eve of the two-day event. “If horse racing cannot be conducted in a safe and humane manner that protects the life and safety of horses and jockeys, it may be time to re-examine the future of this sport in our state and in our country.”

Newsom was even more direct.

“I’ll tell you — talk about a sport whose time is up unless they reform,” he said recently at a meeting with New York Times reporters. “That’s horse racing. Incredible abuses to these precious animals and the willingness to just to spit these animals out and literally take their lives is a disgrace.”

Mike Tierney reported from Arcadia, and Joe Drape from New York.