Crime & Safety
2 Horses Die At Los Alamitos Race Course
Two horses died after suffering racing injuries at Los Alamitos Race Course over the weekend, officials said Tuesday.
LOS ALAMITOS, CA — Two horses died after suffering racing injuries at Los Alamitos Race Course over the weekend, state horse racing officials reported Tuesday.
Johnny Lightning, a 2-year-old gelding participating in his first race, was injured in Sunday's fifth race and taken away by ambulance after finishing sixth out of eight horses, according to the official race chart.
Just Deal, a 3-year-old gelding with nine career races and two first- place finishes, was injured in Saturday's fourth race and did not finish.
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According to the official race chart, he was "bumped leaving the gate, followed in range then dropped off the pace, went four then five wide on the turn, sustained an injury in the stretch and was transported off the track via equine ambulance."
Los Alamitos has now had seven horses suffer racing or training deaths in 2026, after experiencing 19 such deaths in 2025, according to California Horse Racing Board data.
