Disastrous Spill at Los Alamitos

The first race on Los Alamitos’ emergency matinee card turned into a sprawl of horses and jockeys Friday. In the wake of a five-horse spill about 200 yards from the finish line, one horse, Big Bold Express, was euthanized after breaking both front legs and one of the jockeys was hospitalized.

It took paramedics about an hour to collect the five riders who hit the ground. Only two of the seven quarter horses and Appaloosas finished the 870-yard race, which was declared no contest by the three stewards. All bets were refunded.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” steward Albert Christiansen said.

Los Alamitos usually runs at night, but because of the state-wide electricity shortage, the track switched Friday’s program to the afternoon. Today’s racing and the Sunday card have also been moved to the daytime, with a 12:35 first post.

Big Bold Express, the 3-5 favorite in the race for $2,000 claiming horses, led the field at the eighth pole, but the 7-year-old gelding broke down, spilling his jockey, Efrain Arechiga. That started a chain-reaction pileup, with Big Buster Bolt, Cabaway, Whos On Third and Sure Million also going down. Raise N Shine and Twirls N Swirls, clear of the fallen horses, were the only finishers.

Joy Scott, riding Big Buster Bolt, suffered a broken right leg and will undergo surgery today at the UCI Medical Center in Orange. The other jockeys--Arechiga, Guillermo Gutierrez aboard Cabaway, Dihigi Gladney on Whos On Third and Gary Boag, who was riding Sure Million--were treated at nearby hospitals and released.

Scott’s mount, Big Buster Bolt, tripped over Big Bold Express and sent his rider flying forward. Scott was then struck by a trailing horse.

Scott, 42, is 4-feet-10 and weighs 112 pounds. She rides at Los Alamitos as well as Southern California’s thoroughbred tracks. Her thoroughbred mounts have earned about $4.5 million.

The average age of Friday’s first-race field was 8. Sure Million, a 12-year-old Appaloosa, was running for the 80th time, and Cabaway is a 10-year-old that has run 88 times. Big Bold Express had seven wins, seven seconds and seven thirds in 45 races, although he had been winless last year and in one other start this year.

A Los Alamitos racing official said that there are no age restrictions on horses.

“The horses are all checked by a vet the day they run,” Christiansen said. “Then the jockeys have the right to say something during the warmup. The jockey [Alex Bautista] of the No. 1 horse [Kiptys Alibi] brought him back, the vet looked at him and we took him out. The track’s been very safe. We haven’t had any problems.”

Los Alamitos resurfaced its racing strip after the previous meet ended in December. Adding a mixture of fibers and organic stabilizers, the track reduced the clay and silt content in the surface by 14%. The surface now closely resembles the strips at Hollywood Park and Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

Increased electricity rates have made it impractical for Los Alamitos to race at night.

“It would cost us $100,000 a night,” said Ed Allred, the track owner. “A bill like that would put us out of business. In the daytime, we’ll only use 25% as much electricity.”

Santa Anita, which doesn’t have lights and races only in the daytime, has been on an alert for possible rolling blackouts since its meet opened Dec. 26. Track officials have been told they would receive a 10-minute warning in advance of a blackout. They have emergency generators and say that racing would continue, although escalators and elevators would not operate. Betting odds could not be posted, though the information would be stored in computers. Twenty-two tote machines would remain open.

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The day after Significant Speed was voted best 3-year-old filly quarter horse for 2000, she couldn’t overcome a bad start and ran eighth as Corona Kool went over the $1-million mark in purses with a neck victory in the $110,300 Charger Bar Handicap at Los Alamitos.

Corona Kool, who was also a candidate for filly honors last year, posted her ninth victory in 18 starts. The $55,150 winner’s share gives trainer Donna McArthur’s horse $1,021,710 in earnings.

Sam Thompson rode Corona Kool. Big On Charm, at 24-1, finished second, a neck in front of Flore For Toby. Time for 400 yards was 19.74 seconds.