From CHRB
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Jan. 22, 2021) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Thursday, January 21. 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, Wendy Mitchell, and Alex Solis.
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 approved by a 4-3 vote a one-year license for the quarter-horse meet at Los Alamitos Race Course that began December 26, 2020, and will continue through December 19, 2021. Chairman Ferraro and Commissioners Alfieri, Castellanos, and Solis voted in favor of the motion to approve, while Vice Chair Gonzales and Commissioners Davis and Mitchell opposed the motion in favor of a six-month license. Because the primary focus of CHRB concerns has been safety at Los Alamitos, management made a lengthy and detailed presentation summarizing steps taken to protect horses and riders. Those safety initiatives include the hiring of several highly experienced security personnel to work with the regular staff in the enforcement of rules and policies. Additionally, Los Alamitos has begun the limited use of video surveillance in the stable area. Vice Chair Gonzales stressed that the CHRB retains full authority to take swift action if there is evidence of unsafe conditions at Los Alamitos or at any racetrack in California.
- The Board took two separate actions pertaining to the administration of Lasix to horses in California. Last month the Board approved agreements between the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Golden Gate Fields, and Santa Anita Park allowing racing secretaries to establish restrictions on medications for horses entered in races. Those agreements prohibit Lasix in stakes races, except for certain California-bred restricted stakes races. The current Lasix regulations contain defined procedures and restrictions as to how and when horses can be taken off and placed back onto the Lasix list. They are cumbersome and never anticipated that Lasix would be prohibited in stakes but permitted in other races. Accordingly, the Board agreed Thursday to waive a portion of its rule governing the process. In the second action, the Board began the regulatory process to make the waiver permanent and added a provision simplifying the process.
- Reporting on racehorse fatalities in California, Executive Director Scott Chaney said, “As the calendar year ends, it is worth examining metrics to decide whether our avalanche of regulatory and other reforms are having an impact. I can report that the total number of fatalities decreased from 128 in 2019 to 96 in 2020—a 25-percent decrease. Even better, training and racing related fatalities decreased from 93 to 67—a 28-percent decrease. Yes, it is true that the number of races decreased as well, but only by 16 percent, and training traffic was largely unchanged. While this is clear and indisputable progress, there is undoubtedly more work to do.”
- The Board authorized the executive director to take appropriate, immediate administrative action without consultation with the Board on somewhat routine matters involving post times, the cancelation of show pools, and limited racing dates changes caused by canceled racing programs.
- The Board approved an ownership change to the license for 58 Flat Sports Bar and Casino in Bonita to offer pari-mutuel wagering as a minisatellite.
- Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website.