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Horses Have Continued To Die As New Season Begins At Santa Anita Park

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The Santa Anita race track near Los Angeles is preparing for the high profile Breeders’ Cup next month. But horse deaths have continued this season, despite government investigations.



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It’s a new season at the Santa Anita Racetrack outside Los Angeles, but one troubling aspect has not changed. Horses keep dying. One died over the weekend, bringing the total to 34 since December. That’s despite warnings from California Governor Gavin Newsom that he will shut down horse racing in the state if the industry doesn’t clean up its act, and it’s despite a criminal investigation from the L.A. district attorney’s office. Ben Bergman has more.

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BEN BERGMAN, BYLINE: Looking out across the track to the palm trees and the mountains in the distance, it’s hard to imagine a more picturesque setting for horse racing.

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BERGMAN: On a recent 87 degree fall day, 2-year-old fillies – those are young females – competed for a $50,000 purse.

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BERGMAN: There were less than 5,000 fans in the stands. Attendance is down this season. On Saturday a 3-year-old gelding broke his front left ankle and was euthanized. Last month a colt broke both front ankles and had to be put down a month after testing positive for an illegally high dose of painkillers.

KATHY GUILLERMO: I’m angry.

BERGMAN: Kathy Guillermo is senior vice president of PETA.

GUILLERMO: I’m angry because we asked the Los Angeles district attorney to launch an investigation seven months ago, but we still have no results from those investigations.

BERGMAN: The DA’s office wouldn’t comment. Guillermo says it’s unacceptable that racing continues.

GUILLERMO: I think we need to suspend racing until we have solid answers. I just don’t think a sport is worth the lives of these animals.

BERGMAN: So why not halt competition?

ALEXIS PODESTA: I mean, I think that’s a good question.

BERGMAN: Alexis Podesta oversees the California Horse Racing Board, which regulates the industry.

PODESTA: I would respond to it by saying that this is a big industry. There are a lot of jobs and livelihoods involved in it. I would want us to be very cautious about ending an industry and killing a number of jobs without all of the facts.

BERGMAN: Podesta says racing has become much safer in California because of new rules like increased drug testing and exams. Thanks to a new state law, the board now also has the power to suspend races. Last season it tried to do that at Santa Anita but didn’t have the authority to do so. Podesta says there’s also this.

PODESTA: Over the last decade we’ve seen a fairly dramatic decline in the number of horse fatalities during racing.

BERGMAN: This will surprise a lot of people. Despite all the attention, according to the racing board, during the last fiscal year, there were actually slightly fewer deaths than normal at Santa Anita, and statewide, there were 144 fatalities. That’s by far the lowest in the past decade. The board’s chief veterinarian Dr. Rick Arthur says most people haven’t thought about how dangerous the sport is until recently.

RICK ARTHUR: I think historically, horse racing has kind of lived in a bubble, and I think the anger of the public about these fatalities has made people wake up.

BERGMAN: Earlier this year the embattled Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, appointed Dr. Dionne Benson at its first chief veterinary officer. She says any number of deaths is unacceptable.

DIONNE BENSON: Our goal and our true finish line is to have zero fatalities. Whether we ever reach that is a different story, but we have to keep moving in that direction.

BERGMAN: Next month one of horse racing’s biggest events, the Breeders’ Cup, will be held at Santa Anita. Organizers had considered moving the race, but they decided not to because they said the track enacted effective and meaningful changes.

For NPR News, I’m Ben Bergman in Los Angeles.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Opinion: For Washington’s Nats, A Long And Winding Road To The World Series

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The Washington Nationals are headed to the World Series for the first time since the franchise moved to Washington, D.C.

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The World Series begins next week, the Washington Nationals against the Houston Astros or New York Yankees.

When was the last World Series with a team from Washington, D.C.? Like most everything in the town these days, it’s a matter of debate.

1933 is one answer. The Washington Senators, one of the charter franchises of the American League, lost the World Series that year. The team had some fine players over the decades but mostly led the league in players with entertaining names like Goose Goslin, Muddy Ruel and Heinie Manush.

Those Senators finished so far down so often, sportswriters said, “Washington: first in war, first in peace and last in the American League.”

The Homestead Grays of the old Negro Leagues were probably the best baseball team to ever call Washington, D.C., home, with lineups that included Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson. They won the Negro League World Series in 1948. But Major League Baseball had begun to integrate; the Grays, and the Negro Leagues, soon disbanded.

The Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins. After leaving the nation’s capital for America’s Lutefisk Capital, the team that used to be Washington’s won the World Series in 1987 and 1991.

A new edition of Washington Senators was created in 1961 — aptly, to avoid an antitrust lawsuit. They never reached the World Series. But after those Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972 and became the Texas Rangers, they reached the World Series in 2010 and 2011.

Baseball returned to D.C. in 2005, when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals. But for years, Washington fans had a reputation for small, quiet crowds in button-down shirts who missed home runs because they were always looking down at their BlackBerrys. An executive with another team once told me they called a fan who stood up to leave in the seventh inning because they wanted to hear NPR the next day a “D.C. Standing O.”

But today’s Washington Nationals now seem to have fans as devoted, loud and loutish as any other winning team.

I believe the last time a World Series came to Washington was 1955. A musical opened on Broadway, where an agent of the devil appears to a despondent middle-aged Senators fan to offer him a chance to become Joe Hardy, a strapping young home run hitter who can help Washington finally beat those Damn Yankees.

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Heading Out On The Ice With Adam Rippon

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Last year, Adam Rippon accomplished one of his biggest goals: heading to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

He medaled, even though he was a decade older than his teammates.

And while he was there, he became a star. He started by calling himself “America’s sweetheart.” And soon enough, he was.

His viral moments and charm offensive didn’t stop with the Olympics. He turned heads and made headlines when he wore a leather harness to the 2018 Oscars. And he brought his dynamic grace to “Dancing with the Stars.”

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He officially stopped skating earlier this year. Now, he’s out with a new memoir called Beautiful On The Outside, and has a brand new show cooking about celebrity throwback moments.

Rippon joins us to talk about his road to the Olympics and beyond.

Produced by Chris Castano and Gabrielle Healy.

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Controversial Referee Call Helped Green Bay Win Monday Night Football

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The NFL admits a disputed call during Monday night’s game between Detroit and Green Bay was a mistake by the officials. The league has been criticized all season for referee blunders.



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The NFL admits that officials made a mistake. It happened during Monday night’s game between Detroit and Green Bay. Referees made a call that helped Green Bay win. It’s the latest officiating kerfuffle this season that has frustrated players and fans. But what can be done? Here’s NPR’s Tom Goldman.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Monday night, Detroit Lions defensive lineman Trey Flowers was penalized twice for illegal hands to the face. Replays showed his hands were locked on his opponent’s shoulder pads, not the face. ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst Booger McFarland reacted strongly, especially after the second penalty was called late in the game.

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ANTHONY MCFARLAND: And he shouldn’t have been called tonight. Let’s make sure we let America know that That’s twice. The first time it cost them a sack; this time it cost them the game.

GOLDMAN: America got the message, tweeting lots of angry stuff about the NFL and officials. That’s been a thing, really, since last season’s NFC championship game, when the New Orleans Saints were the aggrieved party after an obviously blown no-call by the refs. What to do? There have been discussions about placing a so-called sky judge in each stadium, an official high above the field watching on TV like the rest of us.

JUDY BATTISTA: Coaches like the idea of sky judges. You have somebody in the stadium who has final authority.

GOLDMAN: But NFL.com’s Judy Battista says there’s also concern that sky judges would weaken officiating on the field and not be consistent from stadium to stadium. Calling NFL games is hard. The action is high-speed, and officials don’t have the luxury of watching on high-def TVs with endless replays and multiple camera angles. But Battista says recent retirements by experienced officials have had an impact.

BATTISTA: There’s no question that inexperience plays a role in some of this.

GOLDMAN: The NFL is aware of the officiating issues. But there’s also a strong belief, repeated often, that mistakes will happen in a game officiated by human beings – true, but little solace to sad and angry Detroit Lions fans.

Tom Goldman, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDO.G’S “SITUATIONS”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Back From China, LeBron James Speaks Out On NBA Controversy

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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, shown here during a game on Monday, has weighed in on comments made by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey.

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has criticized a tweet sent by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey in support of Hong Kong protesters, saying of Morey, “I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand.”

James has just returned from the NBA’s tense trip to China, where teams played exhibition games but many player appearances were canceled owing to the controversy over Morey’s statement, which was deleted shortly after it was posted.

“Yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself,” James told reporters in Los Angeles.

“I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl, with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke,” James said. He added, “And so many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

James’ comments quickly met with criticism in the U.S. and beyond. For example, Michael David Smith from Pro Football Talk tweeted, “Morey literally was thinking about others. He was thinking about the people of Hong Kong, who want the same freedoms Americans take for granted.”

James has previously spoken out about social issues in the U.S., including police shootings of black men and the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va. But his latest comments have drawn criticism in the U.S. and outrage from protesters in Hong Kong. On Tuesday, a protester brandished a sign at a demonstration that showed James embracing a Chinese banknote.

A demonstrator holds a sign showing Lebron James embracing a Chinese 100-yuan banknote during a rally in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP


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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

In his remarks, James did not engage with the specific message of Morey’s tweet, which said, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” He appeared to be speaking primarily about the Chinese backlash that targeted the broader NBA — including James’ team. The Lakers played a preseason game in Shenzhen on Saturday, but Chinese networks refused to broadcast it, and the NBA canceled news conferences related to the game.

Morey’s remarks supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong caused major backlash from China ahead of an exhibition series there between the Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets. The NBA has been seeking to expand its fan base in the country. But as NPR reported, the NBA’s media partner in China, Tencent, said it wouldn’t air any Rockets games, in addition to dropping the two preseason games played in China.

My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019

James said players on the overseas trip had feared games would be canceled.

“You know, so many different events have been canceled throughout our time there, and all we kept saying is … we flew all these miles to come over to China — we would love to play the game of basketball in front of the fans,” James said.

When the NBA canceled news conferences for the teams last week, the league said the players “have been placed into a complicated and unprecedented situation while abroad and we believe it would be unfair to ask them to address these matters in real time.”

After Morey’s initial comments caused a stir in China, Morey tweeted that he “did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event.”

The NBA has been hit with a backlash of its own, particularly after it released different statements about Morey’s remarks in English and Mandarin. As NPR’s Brakkton Booker reported, the mixed messages “exposed the NBA to criticism that it was attempting to appease China at the cost of traditional U.S. values — such as free speech.” The league later clarified in a news conference that it supports freedom of expression from the NBA’s community members.

The protests in Hong Kong, which have continued for months now, are calling for greater freedoms in the territory. In recent weeks, they have grown more violent, with clashes between demonstrators and police. Earlier this month, a protester was shot by police.

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