Details emerge about latest horse death at fair meet

A 3-year-old horse died after it raced Sunday at the Alameda County Fairgrounds race track in Pleasanton, according to an animal rights group.

The Kill Racing Not Horses organization originally said that the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) confirmed that a racehorse, a gelding named Toppers Wager, died on the track “without euthanization” after a collision with another horse. On Monday, CARF clarified that the name of the horse that died was Goodbye Kai, not Toppers Wager.

“No. 2 Toppers Wager came up on #1 Goodbye Kai and clipped heels,” said Larry Swartzlander, executive director of the California Authority of Racing Fairs. “No. 1 Goodbye Kai then flipped and in the process apparently fractured its neck and was pronounced dead on the track — no euthanization drug was administered. No. 1 Toppers Wager walked off on his own and was then taken to the test barn where he was examined and is fine.”

Jockey Catalina Martinez is currently in the hospital and being treated for a possible neck injury, said Swartzlander, who added that Jockey Assal Espinoza, who was on Toppers Wager, “is fine”.

Kill Racing Not Horses said Goodbye Kai’s death is the 44th horse fatality reported on California horse racing tracks in 2024. The group also said it was the fourth horse death during this year’s Alameda County Fair, which came to an end on Sunday.

“No legitimate sport would tolerate the deaths of 44 of its athletes in 26 weeks of competition in just one state (California), much less four deaths of its athletes in four weeks of competition in just 1 venue,” the group said.

Alameda County Fair representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment, as of press time Wednesday.

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