This is the fair's first racehorse death in nearly 20 years.
Officials say the horse named 'Cry Me a Runner' went tumbling down in a stretch to the finish line during one of the horse races Sunday at the Big Fresno Fair.
The rider is okay, but the horse had to be euthanized due to the injury it suffered when it fell.
"It should never be okay for a horse to die at a racetrack," said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Senior Vice President, Kathy Guillermo.
Guillermo says five is an average age for an equine athlete, but its difficult to recover from wounds.
"Often with injuries that means that the horse can never be ridden again, and that is because of medication that's given to them to deal with these injuries, instead of allowing the horses to have sufficient time off to recuperate from the stress and the strain of a race and training," said Guillermo.
Larry Swartzlander, the executive director of the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) and racing director at The Big Fresno Fair, sent Action News a statement, writing:
"In the second race on Sunday, the number four horse - Cry Me a Runner - stumbled in the stretch run to the finish line, unseating her jockey. The jockey was evaluated by medical professionals and was deemed unharmed. The horse was transported via equine ambulance and unfortunately due to the injury sustained during the race, had to be euthanized. It is unfortunate and sad anytime you lose an equine athlete. The track here at The Big Fresno Fair has one of the best safety records due to the extensive work put into the race surface and expert medical veterinary teams. This was certainly a rare occurrence in Fresno."
According to the California horse racing board, 16 horses have died during races across the state this year.
"California, Fortunately, since 2019, when there were so many dozens of deaths of horses, has been a leader in making changes that will protect horses. They have a lower death rate than many other States, but they're not at 0 yet, and they really need to get down to 0," said Guillermo.
This is the first time the Big Fresno fair has had 14 days of live horse racing, doubling the amount of races from last year.
Races continue this Friday, October 4th.
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