From CHRB
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 20, 2021) — The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Wednesday, May 19. 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 the license application for the Alameda County Fair to operate a fair meet in Pleasanton commencing June 18 through July 11 with 13 racing programs, including Monday, July 5. The race meet will not run concurrently with the Alameda County Fair, which has been moved to the fall. Through an agreement with Golden Gate Fields (GGF), the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF), and the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), a majority of the horses racing in Pleasanton will be stabled at Golden Gate, which will remain open for stabling throughout the fair season.
· The Board approved the license application for the Los Alamitos Racing Association (LARA) to operate a thoroughbred race meet at Los Alamitos commencing June 25 through July 5 with seven racing programs. The thoroughbred meet will run in the afternoons. The year-long quarter-horse meet will be run concurrently in the evenings.
· The Board also approved agreements between the operators of the Pleasanton and Los Alamitos thoroughbred meets and the TOC authorizing their racing secretaries to establish conditions on races limiting the administrations of certain medications. Specifically, no horse shall be permitted to race in a stakes race with any race-day medication, which includes the use of furosemide; every horse within the inclosure and any auxiliary training facility is subject to out-of-competition testing; all parties agree to strict limitations on the use of any analgesic and anti-inflammatory medications during racing and training; there are restrictions on intra-articular injections that include a prohibition of a horse racing within 30 days following an intra-articular injection with a corticosteroid into the metacarpophalangeal or metatarsophalangeal joints; and finally, no horse that has been administered nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication within the previous 48 hours shall participate in a race or recorded work.
· Both the Pleasanton and Los Alamitos license approvals were conditioned on those tracks adopting the CHRB Inclement Weather Policy, which is designed to protect racehorses by establishing conditions for the delay or cancelation of racing programs. Going forward, all license applications will need to meet this condition.
· The Board began the regulatory process to codify current practices at racetracks whereby horses scheduled to work or run must be examined by private veterinarians, and those examinations must be recorded electronically. The Board authorized the proposed amendment for 45-day public notice.
· Executive Director Scott Chaney reported that an entry review panel has been functioning at Golden Gate for three weeks, meaning such panels now are in place at all thoroughbred and quarter-horse tracks in California. The entry panels review health records, racing and training records, and other pertinent data to determine whether each entered horse meets eligibility criteria and is suitable to race.
· Dr. Rick Arthur, the CHRB’s equine medical director, reported that California is expected to see a 30-percent reduction in equine fatalities during the current fiscal year compared with the last. He also anticipates a reduction in medication violations.
· Following those reports from the executive director and equine medical director, Vice Chair Gonzales asked questions pertaining to the recently issued complaint against trainer Ron McAnally alleging that a horse in his care tested positive for CBD. Vice Chair Gonzales expressed concern over the way this complaint has been handled by CHRB management and legal staff, especially as it relates to the regulatory process for classifying CBD.
· The Board authorized the Fasig-Tipton Co. to conduct a horse sale at Santa Anita on June 23.
· The Board approved the renewal license for Santa Clarita Lanes to operate as a mini-satellite by offering wagering on horse races.
· The Board approved an industry agreement pertaining to a co-op marketing program whereby some revenue from ADW wagering provides incentives for owners to run their horses in California.
· Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website.