Santa Anita’s dirt racetrack will be undergoing renovation in the coming months to bring it back to the combination of sand, silt, and clay initially approved when the new dirt surface was installed late last year.

During an informal California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) hearing at Santa Anita May 17, representatives from the CHRB, Santa Anita, and the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) agreed that the silt and clay content in the dirt surface is now too high. The mixture should be 87.5% sand, 8% silt, and 4.5% clay. But after a month of racing and following bouts of heavy rain, tests last January showed that the combined silt and clay content rose to 18-19%.

The surface received rave reviews in the initial weeks following the Dec. 26 opening of the race meeting. In their report at the May 17 hearing, CTT officials said that after the first of the year horsemen began reporting equine injuries, material was compacting under horses’ hooves, and jockeys complained about hard clods. Forty horses were removed from the track by ambulance during the Dec. 26-April 17 race meeting, the CTT said.

Ted Malloy, track consultant for MI Developments, which owns Santa Anita, said at the hearing that Santa Anita proposes removing 2 1/2" of the surface. More sand will be added to bring the surface back to the original specifications