On the third day of racing, two horses died after sustaining injuries at Del Mar Racetrack, and a third was hospitalized with an injury.
"We are sad to confirm that in today's third race on the turf course Ghost Street suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front sesamoid and was humanely euthanized," the track tweeted at 2:17 p.m. Sunday. "We are deeply sorry for owner Aaron Sones, trainer Patrick Gallagher, his staff and everyone who cared for him."
Ghost Street was a 3-year-old gelding making his fourth career start.
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A short time later, Prayer Warrior, a 3-year-old colt, was fatally injured in the sixth race.
"With heavy hearts, we can confirm that Prayer Warrior was humanely euthanized following an injury in today's sixth race on the main track." the tack tweeted. "Our deepest sympathies to the Metz family and their team.
Another horse was injured in an earlier race Sunday and was taken to an equine hospital in Bonsall.
"Princess Dorian suffered an injury to her left front leg in today's second race on the main track. She is being transported to San Luis Rey Equine hospital for further care," Del Mar tweeted.
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Her trainer, Andrew Lerner, took to Twitter to thank everyone for "thoughts and prayers." He said the 5-year-old mare will undergo surgery Monday. He also tweeted his gratitude to the team of vets and the racing crew for their efforts, as well as the horse's owner, Erik Johnson, "who told me immediately `to spare no expense to get her better."'
The race was Princess Dorian's 23rd career start.
Horse racing has been under heavy scrutiny since a rash of deaths at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia this year started garnering more media attention than such deaths have traditionally received.
Officials with the California Horse Racing Board and The Stronach Group — which owns Santa Anita and other racetracks nationwide — enacted a series of new rules during a racing year in which 37 horses died at Santa Anita.
Four horses died while training at Del Mar this summer.
