From CHRB
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Mar. 12, 2026) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting Wednesday, March 11, at the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel Hearing Room 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 Peter Stern.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcastlink, accessed through the Media Room tab. In brief:
- Vice Chair Gonzales and Dr. Jeff Blea, the CHRB equine medical director, detailed ongoing efforts to promote cultural change in quarter-horse racing aimed at reducing injuries among horses. They reported on a zoom meeting with regulators in other racing jurisdictions during which they explained steps being taken at Los Alamitos Race Course in response to a high incidence of breakdowns in recent years. Chief among those steps is a requirement to prohibit intra-articular (IA) injections in quarter horses within 30 days of trial races. This prohibition goes further than CHRB rules, which only focus on corticosteroid injections.
Los Alamitos is prohibiting all injections within those timeframes and conditions, specifically: “The intra-articular injection of any product, into any intra-articular space, is prohibited within 30 days of a Trial race.” Additionally, other initiatives apply to Trial and Quarter Horse stakes races: “Other than for diagnostic anesthesia, the intraarticular administration of any substance into a high motion joint (fetlock/carpus) shall require documented diagnostic imaging be performed within the preceding seven (7) days of the procedure. The diagnostic procedure shall include a detailed imaging report with clinical findings that must be submitted by the attending veterinarian to the Official Vet within 48 hours of performing those diagnostics.”
The regulatory zoom meeting was arranged to promote safety throughout the entire quarter-horse industry, not just at Los Alamitos. And it is important to remember that some of the horses running in trials and quarter horse stakes races at Los Alamitos are coming from other jurisdictions, so uniformity of regulation is an important goal. The meeting concluded without any formal action by those participating.
- The Board voted to set a maximum age of 10 for horses (except Standardbreds whose breed registry sets a maximum age) for racing and working out in California. The Board also voted to set a maximum of 6 years old for maidens for racing and working out in California. These limits were established by a survey of other racing jurisdictions, breed registries, current track rules, a review of the research, and comments from the public. These regulatory amendments could become effective as early at July 1, 2026.
- The Board renewed the mini-satellite licenses for both the Saraha Dunes Casino in Lake Elsinore and the Glen Arden Club in Glendale, allowing both businesses to continue to provide wagering services for horse racing for a period of five years.
- The Board approved amendments to rules concerning drug classifications and penalties to better align with updated guidelines posted by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.
- The Board approved changes to rules governing CHRB licensing fees. Some money from license fees pays for additional state veterinarians, stewards, and infrastructure to related to the safety and welfare of racehorses and jockeys. To sustain the current level of safety enhancements, the Board approved a modest increase in license fees, which the CHRB had not adjusted since 1989.
- The Board authorized the Los Angeles Turf Club to distribute $14,837 in race day charity proceeds to 10 beneficiaries.