Santa Anita bans trainer after another fatal horse injury

June 22 (UPI) -- June 22 (UPI) -- Santa Anita has banned Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer from training or racing horses at the Southern California track as a horse under his care suffered a fatal injury on the track Saturday.

The latest death was the 30th of the Santa Anita meeting that began Dec. 26 and winds up this weekend. Four of the fatalities were Hollendorfer-trained horses.

Hollendorfer "is no longer welcome" at Santa Anita or its affiliated tracks, "effective immediately," according to a statement from the Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields in California and other tracks around the United States.

"Individuals who do not embrace the new rules and safety measures that put horse and rider safety above all else, will have no place at any Stronach Group racetrack. We regret that Mr. Hollendorfer's record in recent months at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields has become increasingly challenging and does not match the level of safety and accountability we demand," the statement said in part.

Horses entered by Hollendorfer for the final two days of the meeting were scratched.

The California Horse Racing Board has been investigating the rash of breakdowns and potential culpability by trainers but has not reached conclusions. The board asked Santa Anita to forego the final week of its meeting while the investigation was under way but Stronach officials declined.

The track has implemented stringent new safety and horse-welfare rules in the face of the unusual run of fatal incidents, including limits on race-day medication and strict veterinary monitoring of horses entered to run. Santa Anita also brought in specialists to examine its racing surfaces to determine if California's extremely wet winter had produced irregularities in the track.

Hollendorfer has been training horses since 1979, saddling 33,519 starters in that time, according to industry statistical source Equibase. His horses have earned more than $199 million. He was induced into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2011.