From CHRB
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Dec. 19, 2020) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Thursday, December 17. The public participated by dialing into the teleconference and/or listening through the audio webcast link on the CHRB website. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Brenda Washington Davis, and Wendy Mitchell.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:
- The Board initially split evenly in 3-3 votes to approve any form of license for Los Alamitos to conduct a quarter-horse meet in 2021. This meant the meet would not have been permitted to begin as scheduled on December 26. Upon reconsideration, the Board voted 5-1 to approve the license application for six months through June 30, 2021. Chairman Ferraro remained the lone dissenting vote, preferring to grant the license for the requested full year. At the June 17 meeting, the Board will determine whether Los Alamitos achieved the goal of reducing the number of equine fatalities at the racetrack. The Board will then decide whether a license approval for the remainder of the year would be appropriate.
- One of the conditions imposed by the Board on all of the license applications approved Thursday for 2021 race meets is the new Inclement Weather Policy that the CHRB developed over the past several months. This policy provides guidance and direction to stakeholders when faced with such conditions as extreme temperatures, high winds, lightning, precipitation, air quality, and fog/visibility.
- The Board conditionally approved the license application for the Pacific Racing Association to conduct a thoroughbred meet at Golden Gate Fields. However, that racetrack is currently closed by order of health authorities due to a COVID-19 outbreak and could only begin the 2021 meet as scheduled December 26 with the approvals of civic and health authorities. CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney briefly addressed this issue in his opening remarks: “The resumption of racing is not a consideration at this point, as the main focus is human and equine health.” In a separate action, the Board authorized Golden Gate to pay out – on the first day racing resumes – the Pick 6 fund that has been carried over from its interrupted fall meet.
- Chaney also addressed a recurring complaint about illegal match racing that is taking place at remote, unauthorized locations in California: “The CHRB does not regulate this type of racing. In fact, that is the issue. However, its unregulated nature is not the real problem. The central issue is one of animal welfare. In that vein, it is my belief that every stakeholder, the CHRB, and even our critics all agree that match racing is unacceptably bad for horses. The most important first step in combatting this issue would be to change the penalty (for conducting match racing) from a misdemeanor to a felony.” Such a change would require legislation.
- The Board authorized Watch and Wager LLC to alter its harness-racing schedule at Cal Expo, so that most programs will be run Saturday and Sunday nights.
- The Board conditionally approved the license application for the Los Angeles Turf Club to conduct a race meet at Santa Anita Park, which will open December 26 and run through June 20.
- In tandem with the license approvals for Los Alamitos, Golden Gate, and Santa Anita, the Board approved agreements between the horsemen’s organizations and those racetracks allowing them to establish restrictions on medications for horses entered in their races. Those agreements set limits on intra-articular injections. Santa Anita and Golden Gate further prohibit Lasix in graded and listed stakes, except for certain stakes restricted to California-bred horses.
- The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment allowing Official Veterinarians to require diagnostic imaging prior to removing horses from the Veterinarian’s List (in order for those horses to engage in normal training and racing).
- The Board approved modifications to the proposed rule requiring continuing education for trainers and assistant trainers.
- In separate actions involving racetracks owned by The Stronach Group (1/ST), the Board authorized Golden Gate to distribute $8,900 in race day charity proceeds to eight beneficiaries and also authorized Santa Anita to distribute $45,453 in race day charity proceeds to 10 beneficiaries. Because charity proceeds are a product of on-track handle, and because all California racetracks are expected to operate during the pandemic without fans in attendance, so there will not be any on-track handle, representative Aiden Butler advised that 1/ST itself will match these distributions in 2021.
- The Board authorized a modification to the distribution of certain funds generated from Advance Deposit Wagering.
- The Board approved a one-week suspension of a rule concerning the administration of Lasix at Los Alamitos.
- Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website.