California Horse Racing Board

Whether or not horse racing should continue at the state's tracks was not an actionable agenda item on Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting, but the topic came up early and often as COVID-19 concerns dominated the discussion. The crux of the debate centered on Santa Anita Park and whether or not continuing to race without spectators present constituted an "essential business" exemption under the statewide stay-at-home mandate designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The CHRB has allowed racing to continue with health-related restrictions at the...

The California Horse Racing Board has filed 10 complaints against eight licensed individuals associated with equine fatalities at Santa Anita Park last winter. None of the complaints alleges the use of illegal medications. The individuals include five veterinarians charged with failing to turn in reports for medication administrations, as well as an owner training without a license and two trainers who delegated training duties. The complaints came to light during the CHRB's inquiry into the 23 equine fatalities at Santa Anita last winter. The complete Santa Anita Fatalities Report was...

With escalating fears over the spread of coronavirus, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort has decided to run all races this weekend without on-site spectators, it was announced late Thursday evening. Saturday's card is headed by the $1-million GII Rebel S. for 3-year-olds. Oaklawn President Louis Cella said, "We represent the sport of kings. As such, we will act in a similar fashion to other sports organizations throughout the country. The health and safety of our fans, horsemen, and team members have always been and will continue to be our top priorities."...

The latest bombshell to hit the racing industry was dropped Monday morning, when 27 individuals--including trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro--were named in four separate indictments alleging that they had engaged in a "widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants' control." The indictments list a number of illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) that the 27 individuals allegedly manufactured, distributed and used. They include erythropoietin (EPO)--a hormone...

Sixty regulatory and official racetrack veterinarians from jurisdictions around the world participated in the third annual Regulatory Veterinarian Continuing Education Conference at Santa Anita Park Mar. 2 and 3. Presented by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Safety & Integrity Alliance, the meeting provided training and presented best practices related to racehorse injury prevention, and track and veterinary preparedness. The California Horse Racing Board's Dr. Barrie Grant gave a demonstration and led a discussion on pre-race exams. Attendees participated in on-track emergency drills...

A conference call among a variety of California industry stakeholders Tuesday brought further clarity to a state-wide California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) rule change, which went into effect Mar. 1, concerning what can be administered to a horse after the time it has been entered to race. The rule changes--which the CHRB adopted on an emergency basis in January, then formally approved Feb. 20--had caused confusion and concern among certain trainers about how it would impact their training programs. Tuesday's conference call brought clarity to two of the main sticking...

This Sunday marks a year to the day Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) suffered catastrophic injuries during a morning workout at Santa Anita, unleashing a tempest of opprobrium the likes of which the industry has never before faced in terms of intensity and sustained impact. Of course, Battle of Midway's fatal injury wasn't alone the catalyst--the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Breeders' Cup winner was one of three fatalities at the track within two days. His death was also the 18th to mar the facility since racing had resumed towards the end of...

For the second straight month, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has postponed voting on a motion pertaining to the exact specifications of whips that jockeys and exercise riders would be allowed to use. After 35 minutes of input from jockeys and the public at Thursday's monthly meeting in Sacramento, the board made a unanimous 4-0 vote to table the measure. Several CHRB members cited a desire to seek broader input that they hoped would help fine-tune the proposed amendments to CHRB Rule 1685. That was the same reasoning given...

At the Orange County Superior Court this Monday, judge Gregory Lewis ruled that the Pacific Racing Association (PRA)--the arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) licensed to operate the meet at Golden Gate Fields--must continue to send its audiovisual signal to the network of satellite wagering facilities in Northern California, thereby throwing a lifeline to the county fairgrounds where these satellites are primarily found, along with the broader status quo of the industry in the northern half of the state. The crux of the issue surrounded PRA's legal obligation to contract...

When condition book three for the Santa Anita winter/spring meet came online Jan. 29, conspicuously absent were any races for Thursday, Feb. 6. Track officials confirmed Friday that racing has in fact been canceled for that afternoon, meaning there will be no live Thursday programs until Feb. 27. In January it was announced that the track would be dark Feb. 13 and 20. There is holiday racing scheduled for Monday, Feb. 17. The California horse population has been on the decline for some time and the local product has faced...

Whip rule changes that would have barred jockeys and exercise riders from choosing, carrying and using their own personal riding crops in races and workouts hit several snags on Wednesday, leading the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to postpone voting on the measure in an effort to seek more input and fine-tune the rule's language before potentially bringing it back for reconsideration in February. Although the broad intent of proposed amendments to CHRB Rule 1685 was to codify riding crop specifications to more humane and safety-centric standards, discussion of the...

Trainer Mick Ruis filed a petition against the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court for writ of mandate and damages. The petition concerns Justify (Scat Daddy)'s victory in the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, in which the Ruis-trained Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) finished runner-up to the Bob Baffert-trained runner. In a post-race urine sample, Justify tested positive for scopolamine--a prohibited substance--as revealed by The New York Times in a bombshell story September of last year. Scopolamine is found in jimsonweed, which is known to...