From CHRB
DEL MAR, Calif. (Aug. 18, 2023) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting on Thursday, August 17, 2023, at the Del Mar Hilton in Sacramento. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Thomas Hudnut, and Wendy Mitchell. The audio of the Board meeting as well as the audio for the Race Dates Committee meeting the previous day both are available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:
• The Board allocated 2024 dates for Southern California racing and simulcasting. The Board agreed to defer consideration of 2024 Northern California date allocations until the September 21 meeting at Cal Expo due to the uncertainty created by The Stronach Group (TSG) announcement last month that it would permanently close Golden Gate Fields (GGF) at the end of this year.
Vice Chair Gonzales, who chairs the Race Dates Committee, reported on that committee’s meeting held Wednesday at the Hilton. His lengthy report as well as the audio for the committee meeting are available on the CHRB website for those seeking precise details. In a nutshell, stakeholders in Southern California were in pretty much agreement to a 2024 calendar that closely mirrors the 2023 calendar. No complete, firm, detailed proposals were received for the north. Northern stakeholders will be meeting regularly among themselves and with TSG to determine their future course.
A potentially significant development at the committee meeting was a statement by Aiden Butler of TSG that consideration is being given to a proposal by The Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) that GGF should continue operating for the first six months of 2024. Butler made it clear that GGF would only continue operating in 2024 if “everything pencils out” in negotiations with those involved. He gave no specifics on what incentives TSG would need to extend GGF racing into 2024.
With the northern calendar on hold, the Board voted for Southern California date allocations that will begin December 20 at Santa Anita. The initial week will be for simulcasting only, as allocated dates include simulcasting dates without racing. The precise live racing days for Santa Anita’s race meet and all other race meets will be determined as each license application is considered in the months ahead. It is popularly known that Santa Anita will begin its actual race meet on December 26, the traditional opening of its winter meet. The Santa Anita date allocation runs through June 18, followed by the Los Angeles County Fair daytime meet at Los Alamitos (June 19 through July 9), then Del Mar’s summer meet (July 10 through September 10), back to Los Alamitos for another daytime thoroughbred meet (September 11 through September 24), back for the fall meet at Santa Anita (September 25 through October 29), then Del Mar again, which will be hosting the Breeders’ Cup (October 30 through December 3), with the racing season concluding at Los Alamitos with another daytime thoroughbred meet (December 4 through December 17).
Simulcasting will continue with Santa Anita hosting the week of December 18-24. Los Alamitos also will operate its usual night quarter-horse meet with allocated dates of December 20 (beginning with a simulcasting week) through December 24. The three daytime meets at Los Alamitos are run back-to-back with its night programs.
• Next focusing on 2023, the Board approved the license for the Los Angeles Turf Club to conduct a thoroughbred meet at Santa Anita with racing commencing September 29 and racing through November 5, culminating with the Breeders’ Cup that final weekend.
• The Board approved the license for the Los Alamitos Racing Association to conduct a
thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos with daytime racing September 15-24.
• In his report to the Board, Executive Director Scott Chaney advised that CHRB and supporters are making some headway in convincing federal oversight authorities to toughen their rule governing intra-articular injections.
• The Board agreed to slight revisions to proposed rules that had previously been through their public notice periods. The revisions require all three proposals to go back out for public notice. Those three separate proposals deal with Federal Drug Administration approved medications, postmortem examination reviews, and apprentice jockeys.
• The Board authorized Fasig Tipton Company to conduct a horse sale at Fairplex Park
in Pomona on September 26.
• The Board approved Angie Carmona and Eric Sindler as elected members of the board for the California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation.
• Representatives of the California Horse Power Coalition provide updates on their efforts to bring together equine industry leaders, workers, families, and fans to preserve and protect California’s equestrian culture.