ARCADIA, CA – The California Horse Racing Board conducted its regular meeting Thursday, May 24, at Santa Anita Park. Chairman Chuck Winner presided. Vice Chair Madeline Auerbach and Commissioners Fred Maas and Alex Solis also were in attendance.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:
· The same safety measures that helped protect horses during the highly successful 2017 summer and fall meets at Del Mar, including the hiring of additional veterinarians to track and examine horses, will be in place for this summer’s meet, Del Mar representatives advised the Board during discussion of their license application. The Board approved the application for a meet that will open Wednesday, July 18, and run through Monday, September 3 (Labor Day). Del Mar will be adding three wagers: an early Pick 4 beginning with the second race, a late Pick 5 involving the last five races, and Win, Place, Show Parlay wagering on every race.
· During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, several speakers criticized a decision by the stewards involving a May 6 race at Santa Anita Park and urged the Board to take steps to remedy what they feel is a continuing problem. Chairman Winner and Vice Chair Auerbach said they met with staff the previous day in an ongoing review, and they outlined measures under consideration, including the rotation of stewards and further changes to CHRB Rule 1699 to reduce the amount of subjectivity in decisions by the stewards.
· The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to prohibit any horse from racing within five days of receiving an intra-articular injection (cortisone or other intra-articular treatments). The amendment would further require trainers to maintain records of such injections and make them available to examining veterinarians for pre-race and other examinations required by the Board. The Board asked staff to continue working on a separate proposed amendment to Rule 1588 pertaining to the examination of horses returning from layoffs.
· Executive Director Baedeker reported that odds continue to change after the start of races, and while CHRB investigations of late odds changes have determined that all wagers were placed legally before the start, he said some people still suspect that past-posting is occurring. He proposed a rule change to spur the industry to speed up the processing of wagers, so that all bets are reflected in the odds no later than five seconds after the start. In a related matter, he urged the industry to provide to average bettors the same type of direct computer access to tote systems that elite robotic wagering bettors now have. Chairman Winner appointed himself and Commissioner Maas to a special committee to consider these proposals.
· The Board approved the license application for the Oak Tree Racing Association and Alameda County Fair to operate a race meet in Pleasanton with live racing from June 15 through July 8.
· The Board approved the license application for the Los Alamitos Horse Racing Association to operate a daytime thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos (concurrent with the night quarter-horse meet at Los Alamitos) with live racing from June 28 through July 15.
· The Board approved the license application for the California Exposition and State Fair to operate a fair meet in Sacramento with live racing from July 13 through July 29.
· The Board approved the renewal application for the Tilted Kilt to provide wagering at its mini-satellite location in Thousand Oaks for a period up to five years.
· The Board adopted a regulatory amendment allowing the California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation to enlarge its client base for medical and dental services at racetracks from primarily backstretch workers to all CHRB licensees, including employees of racing associations.
· Executive Director Baedeker reported the successful recruitment of new investigators that has brought the CHRB to near its full approved staffing levels. He also reported that about 100 horses at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita Park are receiving microchips each week and that horses stabled at other racetracks and training facilities all are scheduled to be microchipped prior to December 26, when microchips will be required for any horse entered to race in California unless the stewards grant a waiver.
· The Board approved for public notice a proposed rule to correct an administrative error in the penalty chart pertaining to overages of phenylbutazone levels.