Equine Death Toll Rises; Fire Victims Met With Outpouring of Support

The preliminary estimate of 25 equine fatalities is likely to rise in the aftermath of the Dec. 7 wildfire that ripped through the stabling area at San Luis Rey Downs so fast that caretakers had no choice but to turn Thoroughbreds loose from burning barns in frantic efforts to keep them from being consumed by wind-fed flames and a haze of choking smoke.

“It's a work in progress, and we don't want to give a number until we've thoroughly researched it. But I can tell you that it's going to be in excess of 25. We'll put out a number when it's final,” said California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) executive director Rick Baedeker, who spoke via phone Friday afternoon while en route from the site of the blaze to Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which is serving as an evacuation center not just for racehorses, but for all of San Diego County's displaced livestock.

“We know we have 260 [evacuated Thoroughbreds] at Del Mar,” Baedeker said after surveying the smoldering wreckage that claimed eight structures. “And we have 100 that went across the road to the Moody farm. There are a couple of dozen here or there at ranches and a local equine hospital near San Luis Rey that were able to take them.”

As of noon Pacific time on Friday, Baedeker added, “I don't think any horses are running loose outside of the property.”

Baedeker said he was aware of three human injuries directly related to Thursday's evacuation efforts.

The most serious, according to multiple news reports, is trainer Martine Bellocq, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 50% of her body. Her brother-in-law, Remi Bellocq, posted a social media update Friday that said, “She's in a medically induced coma right now while they work on her. One slight piece of good news is that Drs. didn't find any burns or smoke damage in her lungs or airways.”

Pierre Bellocq Jr., Martine's husband, was treated for smoke inhalation. Separately, The Blood-Horse reported that trainer Joe Herrick was hospitalized with third-degree burns on his arm and shoulder.

The Bellocqs were hurt trying to evacuate their six-horse stable, three of which reportedly perished.

Daily Racing Form has reported that 15 of 30 the horses in trainer Scott Hansen's barn died.

Trainer Cliff Sise, reached via phone Friday afternoon, said three, and possibly four, horses from his 28-horse string died in the fire, including one filly that he witnessed burn because she was afraid to leave her enclosure.

“The grooms and hotwalkers, they all lost everything in their rooms, so they need the most help,” Sise said. “I lost everything [in terms of tack and equipment]—all I've got is three shanks left.”

Baedeker, who cautioned that he was citing names while in transit without being able to work off a complete list, said trainers Edward Freeman, Walter Solis, and Peter Miller also had horses die in the blaze.

ORIGINS OF THE BLAZE

A 205-acre private facility with a one-mile oval surrounding a smaller training track, San Luis Rey Downs is located in the affluent bedroom community of Bonsall in northern San Diego County. It has stall space for 500 horses, although only about 450 Thoroughbreds were believed to be on the property when the fire engulfed the area.

According to multiple news reports, the so-called Lilac Fire was sparked in extremely dry and windy conditions just after 11 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Route 76 and I-15 in Bonsall, about three miles north of the training center.

The Los Angeles Times reported evacuations of horses started shortly thereafter as a precaution. But by 2 p.m., more urgent calls to quicken the process went out over the training center's public address system as the strong gusts began to carry burning embers to the roofs of barns that held horses and the highly combustible mix of straw, hay and shavings.

“It went from one minute being, 'Yeah, we're going to be OK,' to 'Oh, my God, what are we going to do?'” trainer Doug O'Neill told the Times.

At first, according to Sise, the call for evacuation seemed as if it would proceed in an orderly fashion. But then, “all of a sudden within five minutes, everything just went up in flames,” he said.

“Once we realized we couldn't get the horses out in a proper fashion, we just had to drop the webbings and go from there. They were all running around in every other direction,” Sise said.

The Times described some of the chaos:

“The wind picked up suddenly, causing embers to surge westward onto barn roofs, engulfing the whole area in thick smoke, whinnies escaping through the gloom interspersed with frantic calls of 'behind you' from trainers trying to keep their friends and colleagues from ending up underneath unpredictable hooves. Now and then, small herds of horses would gallop from the smoke-shrouded barn bloc, sometimes bolting up to the main track and comparative safety, sometimes opting to keep circling their fiery homes, a maelstrom of confused and panicked horseflesh with no clear compass.”

At some point during the blaze, the sheriff's department closed off all traffic in and out of the area until it was deemed safe for horse vans to re-enter. In the interim, some horses scattered, and the fact that some had no halters on (or wore halters bearing the names of other horses that were put on them in the rush to evacuate) made identification uncertain until lip tattoos or microchip readings could be taken to ascertain identities once the animals were found.

Some horses were found safe without apparent injury or just singed hair. Others reportedly were found dead clustered on the racetrack, presumably from smoke inhalation.

Even into Friday, social media accounts were instrumental in helping to reunite displaced horses with their trainers and owners.

A photo of Richard's Boy (Idiot Proof), the runner-up in last month's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, was posted on Twitter by Matt Nakatani, son of jockey Corey Nakatani, along with the note asking the horse's owner, Rockingham Ranch, “Is this Richard's Boy? He is a gray with his halter on. He is at Moody Ranch.”

As conditions allowed, the vanning of rescued horses some 35 miles south to Del Mar resumed.

Aron Wellman, the president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, described in his blog on Friday what he witnessed at Del Mar on Thursday night as volunteers streamed to the seaside oval to help with the rescue effort.

“The scene was daunting. Like-minded, caring, concerned and sensitive individuals from all walks of life congregated in the barn area to do anything and everything they could to lend a helping hand to all breeds of animals requiring shelter and attention,” Wellman wrote.

“For an emergency situation, the staff at the Fairgrounds was admirably organized,” Wellman continued. “When I got to the row of barns, there were just a few familiar faces, all of whom were already hard at work, drenched in sweat, sometimes mixed with tears, bedding down stalls, filling up water buckets, preparing hay and setting up meals and shelter for the workers who had fled the scene along with their beloved horses.”

AFTERMATH

“If you look at the scope of this thing, with [nearly] 500 horses at San Luis Rey, the vast majority of them, thanks to the courageous people that cared for them, were saved,” Baedeker said. “This could have been much, much worse than it was.”

“There were a number of vets that showed up on the backside at Del Mar this morning to volunteer, and they have been monitoring all of the horses there. Most of the injuries, we're told, are minor–cuts and bruises,” Baedeker said.

Back at San Luis Rey, Baedeker said, “It's still smoldering, but there's plenty of fire equipment there, and they're still monitoring it very closely.”

Describing the extent of the damage, Baedeker said “the barns that burned, they were all metal. One of the interesting things we saw, not related to the fire itself, but to the wind, was the number of asphalt tiles that were ripped off the tops of roofs from the other barns. We talked to the track superintendent, and he said he's never seen wind as strong as that in all the time that he's been there.

“There's eight shed rows that are totally burned and are completely lost. Those will just have to be replaced,” Baedeker continued. “The adobe barns are all still in good shape [and] were untouched by the fire. We're told that there are still about 200 stalls available for use at San Luis Rey, but that it would take two to three weeks to get the electricity and water hooked up again and to make them usable.”

Some 100 backstretch employees who lived on the grounds at San Luis Rey have been relocated to Del Mar, Baedeker said, where the Thoroughbred community is uniting make sure they have access to warm clothes, beds to sleep in, meals, and personal hygiene items.

“This is the heartwarming part of the story. I wish everybody could have seen what we saw this morning,” Baedeker said. “There were at least 150 to 200 volunteers queued up here, asking what they could do to help. There was actually a line of traffic as I approached the stable area, of people that wanted to help. Pickup truck after pickup truck loaded with feed and straw coming in, veterinarians that heard pleas for help overnight that drove down from Arcadia. Everybody's pitching in. You hear about [people uniting after tragedies] and now were seeing it in the midst of this tragedy. People are rallying and you can see their goodness.”

As for stabling and training logistics, Baedeker said Del Mar (which just concluded its meet Nov. 26) is preparing to make its main track usable for jogging on Saturday, and should be open for timed workouts on Sunday.

Baedeker said “with a little bit of work” an additional 150-200 stalls at Los Alamitos Race Course will soon be available to house displaced racehorses.

“A lot of times we focus on the shortcomings of the game, but this is one of those times when we realize how strong we are,” Baedeker said.

HOW TO HELP

Del Mar officials have established a list of needs for horses and individuals at www.dmtc.com/fire-evacuation

Del Mar and The Stronach Group, owners of San Luis Rey Downs, have jointly established a Go Fund Me account to aid those impacted by the fire. The address is www.gofundme.com/thoroughbredcare

The American Association of Equine Practitioners is accepting donations at https://foundation.aaep.org/disasterrelief

The California Thoroughbred Horsemen's Foundation, Inc., is accepting donations at www.cthfcares.org