LOS ANGELES -- California prosecutors found no evidence of animal cruelty or other crimes during an investigation into a spike in horse deaths at Santa Anita Park racetrack over the past year, according to a report issued Thursday.

A task force formed by the Los Angeles district attorney found the 49 deaths at the track during a 12-month period ending in June occurred at a rate higher than the national average but lower than previous years in the past decade and lower than Churchill Downs in Kentucky.

District attorney Jackie Lacey made two dozen recommendations for improving safety at racetracks and said she would sponsor legislation to make veterinary records more transparent for horses racing in California.

"Horse racing has inherent risks but is a legally sanctioned sport in California," Lacey said in a statement. "Greater precautions are needed to enhance safety and protect both horses and their riders.''

PETA reacted strongly to the report.

"It's beyond credible that the district attorney doesn't see that trainers who medicate horses obviously know that they are injured and sore, so they should be criminally culpable if they then force them to race to their deaths," PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo said in a statement. "Fortunately, the D.A. agrees with what PETA has said for the last decade: The racing industry has not done enough to protect horses on race tracks and the industry is dead itself unless it does far more. Legislation to increase transparency in this secret and deadly industry is essential, and PETA will continue to work to ban drugging, whipping and all abuse in California and every racing state. No sane person can find it acceptable for horses to suffer and die in a sport.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.