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 death crisis in 2019.
The suit, filed by former longtime 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 Nov. 27 after the 19-year employee was fired in March 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, said it does not comment on pending litigation.
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 so many horses were dying.
There was a spike in horse fatalities during races at the track, more than 20 dead in about three and a half months.
At first all kinds of potential factors were cited by the track, from the racing surface and too much rain to a litany of other possible reasons. Not considered 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 New York state study at the time pointed to the Aqueduct 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 also was on the Aqueduct investigatory panel looking at those deaths, told The Times in 2019.
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Members of the California Thoroughbred Trainers issued similar complaints. An investigation by the L.A. County district attorney cleared the track and trainers of any wrongdoing. A Times investigation also concluded there were many factors in the deaths but no single cause.
The suit claims 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 the suit, Willman alleges that a plan to blame trainers for the deaths was carried out by Stronach officials after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 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 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 claims: “This marked a dramatic pivot in the ‘blame game’ moving away from surface issues, soils, extreme weather and management of same, to blaming horsemen.”
Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was banned from Santa Anita on June 22, 2019. According to the suit, he had not broken any protocols or rules put in place by the track or the California Horse Racing Board.
“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 sued the Stronach Group and Santa Anita. The suit was settled and 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 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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