Another horse dies at Santa Anita; 26 racehorse deaths since Dec. 26

Another racehorse was euthanized at Santa Anita Park on Sunday, the 26th horse death at Santa Anita since the track's racing season opened on Dec. 26.

Kochees, a 9-year-old gelding, was put down Sunday after suffering a leg injury during a race the previous day, the track confirmed.

He is the third horse to die at the Arcadia facility in the last nine days, after several seeks without a fatality.

Kochees was running in his 49th race, a $10,000 claiming race over 5 1/2 furlongs, when he was pulled up by jockey Mario Gutierrez while entering the top of the stretch, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper reported the horse was taken off the course in a van and left overnight in his stall with a splint on his injured leg in the hope of stabilizing his condition. Surgeons reportedly weighed an operation, but discovered the horse had lost blood flow to the leg the decision was made to euthanize.

Mike Willman, Santa Anita's director of publicity, confirmed the details of the account, and told City News Service that "every effort was made to save the animal."

CNS contributed to this report.