Horse dies after falling at Santa Anita’s Derby Day

A 3-year-old filly has died after suffering a fall during a race at Saturday’s prestigious Santa Anita Derby — the eighth horse to die from a racing or training injury at the Arcadia track this year, state horse racing officials confirmed Sunday.

Cosmic Heat fell as she jumped onto the downhill track’s dirt crossing during Saturday’s first race. According to the official race chart, she “dropped well off the pace in the early, saved ground around the turn, jumped then fell crossing onto the dirt and was transported off the track via equine ambulance.”

She was euthanized, California Horse Racing Board spokesman Mike Marten told City News Service on Sunday.

Cosmic Heat had six races and one first-place finish in her career.

Considered the premier West Coast prep race for the Kentucky Derby, the annual Santa Anita Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbreds, and serves as a major qualifier for the Triple Crown. It offers a $500,000 purse and is typically run at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.

Santa Anita had 12 racing and training deaths in 2025, 14 in 2024, 17 in 2023, 12 in 2022, 19 in 2021 and 16 in 2020.

Those numbers are a substantial improvement over 2019, when 42 such deaths at Santa Anita Park sparked widespread debate about safety issues in the sport and even drew the attention of state lawmakers. Several changes arose from that controversy include drug reforms, increased veterinary oversight and improvements to racing surfaces.

“No legitimate sport would tolerate these deaths of its athletes in just one state, California, not to mention in a sole venue: Santa Anita Park,” said Martha Sullivan of Kill Racing Not Horses.

However, Amy Zimmerman, Santa Anita’s senior vice president and executive producer, has touted the track’s 99.985% safety rate, which she called “unrivaled among tracks with similar racing and training dates.”

“Last year’s national fatality rate average as reported by Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is 1.0 out of 1,000 starters, whereas Santa Anita Park’s was 0.148 out of 1,000,” Zimmerman said earlier this year.