From CHRB
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (July 13, 2018) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted its regular meeting Thursday, July 12, at Los Alamitos Race Course. Chair Chuck Winner presided. Vice Chair Madeline Auerbach and Commissioners Fred Maas and Araceli Ruano 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:
· CHRB Executive Director Rick Baedeker reported on some of the safety measures that have contributed to a 36-percent reduction in equine fatalities leading into the Del Mar meet, where those measures will be augmented in a significant effort to protect horses and riders. Among the steps being taken with support from management and the cooperation of horsemen, there will be at least one CHRB official veterinarian and safety steward at Del Mar seven days a week; there will be as many as three examining veterinarians on duty; horses deemed at risk for injury due to extended layoffs or prior history will be examined, perhaps multiple times, by an official veterinarian well before being approved for entry; training will be more closely monitored than is typically done; a horse could receive a veterinarian inspection based on training observations.
· Baedeker also reported that handle in California was up 19 percent in the month of June and increased more than 10 percent during the first six months of the year.
· The Board approved the license for Pacific Racing Association (PRA) to conduct a thoroughbred meet at Golden Gate Fields this summer after representatives of the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF), Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), Sonoma County Fair and PRA reached agreement on maintaining their satellite wagering network. The license approval is conditioned on the CARF board approving the agreement by July 18. The license covers August 22 through October 2, with the race meet scheduled to open August 23 and run through September 30.
· The Board approved the license for a race meeting of the Los Angeles County Fair at Los Alamitos scheduled. The license covers September 5 through September 25, with the race meet scheduled September 6 through September 23. The meet will offer the now standard reduced-takeout Pick 5 (14 percent) on the first five races and rolling daily doubles at 20 percent.
· The Board approved for public notice a regulatory amendment to increase the amount paid to jockeys in losing races in order to meet California’s minimum-wage requirement.