Two Geldings Die at Del Mar As Racing Opens for Bing Crosby Season

Two racehorses collapsed and died at the Del Mar race track on opening weekend of the fall season.

“The 5-year-old gelding Kazuhiko collapsed and died while walking back to the barn after the 5th race at Del Mar … a sudden death,” Mike Marten, spokesman for the California Horse Racing Board, told City News Service.

The death took place Friday, as the track kicked off its fall season..

Kazuhiko had 13 career races and one first-place finish, a win in a claiming race at Santa Anita on Sept. 30. He was owned by David A. Bernsen, LLC and William Dan Hudock. His trainer was Peter Eurton and his jockey was Edwin Maldonado.

A second horse collapsed at the track Sunday and later died. Coast of Roan, a 6-year-old gelding, “tired” in the stretch run of Sunday’s third race and was “eased to the wire” before finishing last and collapsing, according to the official race chart.

Del Mar spokesman Mac McBride told CNS it was “sudden death. Possible cardiac incident.”

Coast of Roan had 16 starts and five first-place finishes in his career.

Del Mar’s fall racing season runs until Dec. 4. The track is open Friday through Sunday, plus Thanksgiving Day.

The track did not have a race-related fatality during its 31-day summer season, though three horses connected to the operation died, two from training injuries.

– City News Service

Updated 4:05 p.m. Nov. 13, 2022