Marrs takes role in rallies to support horse racing

Rallies to support horse racing are taking place every Saturday during the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club summer meet and San Luis Rey Training Center trainer Kimberly Marrs is among those taking a role in the pro-racing rallies.

"We're doing these every Saturday until the meet ends," Marrs said.

That will include Aug. 17, when the Pacific Classic will be among the day's races at Del Mar. Approximately 50 trainers and backstretch workers were present for the first Del Mar rally July 20, although not all of those were there for the full two hours of the rally from noon to the 2 p.m. post time.

The July 27 rally had approximately 60 participants. "We had a lot of people out this week. It's building," Marrs said.

More horses than normal died during this year's Santa Anita Park meet, which drew attention to the horse racing deaths. "It's just an anomaly," Marrs said of this year's fatalities at Santa Anita.

Marrs noted that track conditions caused by more rainfall than normal were a contributing factor. "To put that much water on a racing track is really tough," Marrs said.

The horse racing industry itself desires safety improvements and steps have been taken regarding pre-race screening of horses and an examination of the Santa Anita track surface.

Some animal-rights groups used the deaths to call for an end to horse racing. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals held protests at Santa Anita as well as during Opening Day at Del Mar. "We're a target now," Marrs said.

The pro-racing rallies were initiated in response to the protests. "It's never been challenged before, and now we're challenging them," Marrs said.

Trainer Doug O'Neill, who has horses at San Luis Rey, and backstretch worker Oscar De La Torre initiated the pro-racing rallies. "It just kind of took on a life of its own," Marrs said.

The activities included a June 20 press conference at Santa Anita at which Marrs spoke.

Horse racing opponents claim horses are victims of the greed of owners and trainers. "That's not the case," Marrs said. "These people don't understand how much these animals mean to us."

More horses died in the December 2017 Lilac fire than during this year's Santa Anita meet. Approximately 200 stalls at San Luis Rey were destroyed in the fire and 46 horses, including one trained by Marrs, lost their lives. "My barn was the first one to burn. My client's horse was the first one to perish," Marrs said.

Two San Luis Rey trainers were burned trying to save horses and other trainers and backstretch workers placed the horses' safety above their own. "We were fighting the fire before it even hit the property," Marrs said.

The actions of the trainers and backstretch workers included releasing the horses from their stalls and preparing to evacuate the animals to a safer site. "I was actually there the whole day. I went through the barn and counted the bodies," Marrs said.

Marrs had two horses at San Luis Rey on Dec. 7, 2017. The horse which survived was found late that night. "I think I left about ten o'clock that evening," she said.

The personal risk the trainers and backstretch workers took during the evacuation effort wasn't limited to being burned. "I could have died three separate times that day from being trampled," Marrs said. "We all put our lives at risk that day."

The more severely burned trainer, Martine Bellocq, had second-degree and third-degree burns over more than half of her body and lost a leg. Joe Herrick had second-degree burns on between 20 and 25 percent of his body including his arms, his face, and the back of his head and spent 12 days in the Burn Center at UCSD Hospital in San Diego.

The injuries to the two trainers wouldn't deter Marrs from putting herself at risk again if necessary. "It's probably something we would do again if we had to," she said.

Marrs noted that the actions during the Lilac fire showed the true difference between equestrian personnel and animal-rights activists in terms of supporting animals. "During the Lilac fire nobody saw a PETA person. They were nowhere to be found," she said. "If they were concerned about animals they should have been out there helping."

Bellocq and Herrick were the only trainers who had physical injuries from the Lilac fire, but during the June 20 press conference Marrs noted that seeing the bodies of the dead horses caused emotional trauma. "The only thing that kept me going was wanting to get back to my horses," Marrs said during the press conference. "They were the only thing I knew that would heal me. And over time they have. They are as much my therapy today as I am theirs."

Marrs has also worked as a physiotherapy technician and has been involved in horse racing for 38 years. She is originally from northeastern Ohio and moved to San Diego County in 1994. She moved to Bonsall in 1999 due to the proximity to San Luis Rey. "I knew I was going to train horses there," she said.

The California Horse Racing Board issued Marrs a trainer's license in 2004.

Other than the 46 horses that died in the Lilac fire, the only San Luis Rey horse who died as a result of racing was Jentzen, who was trained by Fabio Nor and was involved in a five-horse collision at Del Mar on Aug. 11, 2003.

"We have a really safe track out here," Marrs said. "It's one of the best tracks."