From CHRB
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Mar. 22, 2024) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Brenda Washington Davis, Thomas Hudnut, and Wendy Mitchell.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link, accessed through the Media Room tab. In brief:
- The Board completed 2024 date allocations for Northern California by allocating dates from October 16 through December 25 to a new thoroughbred meet at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Commissioner Alfieri needed to step away shortly before, so the final vote was 6-0 in favor of the allocation. This followed three hours of discussion, including comments from more than 20 Northern California stakeholders in favor of the allocation.
The new meet is a result of the announced permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields after June 11. The Board previously allocated dates for the historic summer fair season from June 12 through October 15. The new meet will be a “combined fair meet” run by the California Authority of Racing Fairs.
Several commissioners pointed out that the northern plan lacks several important details. But in the interest of moving things forward, the commissioners agreed to wait for those details until the meet application is considered, likely in August.
Santa Anita representative Craig Fravel, executive vice chairman of 1/ST Racing & Gaming, reiterated points he made in a letter to the commissioners earlier this week indicating that Santa Anita’s future is largely dependent on obtaining increased revenue, and one source could be simulcast revenue from wagering in the north if the new meet was not approved. Several commissioners criticized 1/ST Racing for the letter, which they believe placed the south against the north.
Bill Nader, president and chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, challenged some of the optimistic projections for handle and purses made by the northern interests. He said a majority of the TOC directors require more specifics and evidence before they could support such a plan.
Despite the unanimous vote, the Board expressed a desire for more specific details leading up to the racing meet application. Principally, the Board asked for more details regarding environmental-related permitting, purse projections, and funding availability and mechanisms.
Chairman Ferraro indicated that CHRB staff will provide the northern interests with a full list of questions that need to be answered when the license application is considered, adding that “this is a serious fiduciary responsibility, which the Board has taken on here, and we do expect more information.”
The Board also recognized that its support for the northern date allocation did not solve underlying purse-generation issues and expressed a desire to work toward solving this larger structural problem.
- In other business, the Board approved the renewal applications for two minisatellites to continue offering wagering at their private businesses. Both the Commerce Casino and Firehouse Restaurant and Bar were granted five-year licenses.
- The Board approved three distributions of charity day proceeds: 1) $165,340 by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to 11 beneficiaries, which includes $71,107 added by DMTC on a voluntary basis; 2) $7,445 by the Pacific Racing Association to nine beneficiaries, and 3) $56,575 by the Los Angeles Turf Club to 10 beneficiaries.