As of this weekend, Berkeley’s Golden Gate Fields had the same number of horse fatalities for 2023 as Churchill Downs, which recently made headlines for a string of racing deaths leading up to the Kentucky Derby.
Animal rights activists are calling for action after the death of a 6-year-old mare following a race on Sunday at the Berkeley track.
The thoroughbred, Carolina Mia, was the eighth horse fatality this year at the track, according to statistics from the California Horse Racing Board.
Carolina Mia died after being injured at the eighth pole in Race 2 and had to be vanned off, according to the track’s race chart. The mare’s death is listed as musculoskeletal, and activists said that the horse’s left hind leg was dangling before she was pulled up.
Eight horses have died since late April at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, prompting an investigation into the deaths.
The thoroughbred’s death at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday is the 28th so far this year at California horse racing tracks, according to the state horse racing board.
“No legitimate sport would tolerate the deaths of 28 of its athletes in 20 weeks in just one state,” said Martha Sullivan of the organization Kill Racing Not Horses.
Animal rights activists maintain that domesticated horses live into their 30s, but the average age of active racehorses is three to five years old.
“Even the best tracks in the world kill horses,” says Almira Tanner, Lead Organizer with Direct Action Everywhere. “It’s not just a random thing. Deaths like these are inherently part of the industry.”
Carolina Mia was foaled in April 2017 and earned $219,980 over the past six years for her owner, Margarito Arechiga, according to an Equibase profile on the horse.
Golden Gate Fields didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on the horse’s death.
I remember a vet when I was a kid in Novato who had a horse that broke its leg. He put the horse in a sling and fixed the broken bone. You would think they would come up with a good idea to fix horses legs. Maybe the cost is too high. So if you have a horse that has made you a couple hundred thousand you just put him or her to sleep. Too bad.
They should have retired her at 5