Former Santa Anita employee’s lawsuit alleges lying amid horse deaths
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A lawsuit against Santa Anita executives argues officials at the legendary track conspired to blame trainers for the horse fatality crisis in 2019.
The suit, filed by longtime former publicity director Mike Willman, alleges that Santa Anita “directly and indirectly instructed [Willman] to mislead government investigators, regulators and the public about what was really going on and at a minimum confuse and obfuscate so that the public would never find out the reasons why so many horses were dying.”
Attorneys for Willman filed the suit on Nov. 27 after the 19-year employee was fired in March 2024 for allegedly directing a slur at one of his employees. The suit contends it was a joke, and alleges retaliation, wrongful termination, age discrimination and defamation.
A representative of The Stronach Group, owner of Santa Anita and a named defendant, declined comment saying it does not comment on pending litigation.
There was a spike in horse fatalities during races at the track, more than 20 dead in about three and a half months.
The suit goes on to say that Santa Anita “began a strategy to undermine and discredit [Willman’s] credibility when they realized that he would not fraudulently mislead the regulators and the public about the numerous horse fatalities that kept occurring.”
In 2019, 37 horses died either racing or training at Santa Anita. It became a national story filled with outrage from animal rights advocates and general questioning from the public about why all the horses were dying.
At first, all kinds of factors were cited, from the racing surface and too much rain to a litany of reasons that were deemed “multi-factorial.” Not considered at the time was the hiring of P.J. Campo as vice president of racing for Stronach tracks. Campo was running the Aqueduct racing office when a similar spike in fatalities occurred in 2011 and 2012. A study pointed to the racing office encouraging trainers to run their horses more to increase field sizes.
“There was pressure from the racing office for trainers to run,” Jerry Bailey, a hall of fame jockey who was also on the Aqueduct investigatory panel looking at the deaths, told The Times in 2019.
Declining purses, field sizes and foal crops puts California racing in trouble. But if racing in California dies, can the rest of the country succeed?
Members of the California Thoroughbred Trainers issued similar complaints in 2019.
An investigation by the L.A. County district attorney cleared the track and trainers of any criminal wrongdoing. A Times investigation also concluded there were many factors in the death but no single cause.
In the suit, Willman alleges that the plan to blame trainers for the deaths happened after animal rights advocates staged a protest at Santa Anita with faux tombstones for every horse that died. At that point, the death toll was 20.
In an email to Santa Anita officials, Eric Sindler, one of the track’s attorneys, wrote: “PETA’s [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] statement puts the onus on the trainers, but not the track itself. PETA has been relatively consistent with that theme that it is the trainers, not the track.”
Willman responded by email: “WE are ALL being cast in an incredibly negative light here. Those 20 tombstones out at Gate 5 on Sunday did not have any trainer’s name on them. Santa Anita was cast as a killing ground.”
L.A. County district attorney’s investigation of horse deaths at Santa Anita results in many safety recommendations but finds no criminal wrongdoing.
The suit goes on to allege:
“This marked a dramatic pivot in the ‘blame game’ moving away from surface issues, soils, extreme weather and management of same, to blaming horsemen.”
The suit goes on to say that Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who was banned from Santa Anita on June 22, 2019, had not broken any protocols or rules put in place by the California Horse Racing Board or Santa Anita.
“This dramatic pivot was orchestrated by Mercury Crisis Management,” the suit alleges. “When [Willman] disagreed with this pivot because it was misleading, substantially false and likely illegal, [Willman] was told to go along with Mercury’s wishes.”
Hollendorfer went on to sue the Stronach Group and Santa Anita. The suit was settled but terms were sealed.
“Mr. Willman was a loyal and dedicated employee of Santa Anita Park for nearly two decades,” Charles T. Mathews, Willman’s attorney, said in a news release on Wednesday. “He was abruptly terminated and his reputation tarnished, all because he refused to lie to the public and regulatory authorities about the disturbing number of horse deaths at the racetrack. We intend to hold Santa Anita Park accountable for its unlawful actions and seek justice for Mr. Willman.”
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