By Bloodhorse.com
BONSALL, Calif. (Dec. 9, 2017) –The equine death toll from the devastating brushfire that ripped through San Luis Rey Downs Training Center Dec. 7 is at 46 as of the morning of Dec. 9, according to officials at the California Horse Racing Board.
CHRB spokesman Mike Marten said Saturday morning that state officials “are confident” in the figure, but made sure to note that a small number of horses broke through a “knockdown fence” at the facility during the fire and are still unaccounted for.
Those horses are believed to be still loose in the hills surrounding San Luis Rey in Bonsall, Calif., but Marten could not confirm the number of horses that are unaccounted for.
As of 7:15 a.m. PT, between 350-370 Thoroughbred race horses from San Luis Rey (which had about 450 horses at the time of the fire) are on the grounds at Del Mar, according to Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens. Another 60 horses or so are still at Trifecta Equine Athletic Center, a equine rehabilitation center across the street from San Luis Rey, according to Trifecta barn manager Annabelle Weller-Poley.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, about 100 evacuated horses were moved to Trifecta, but horsemen have been picking horses up consistently over the past two days.