california racing

Edited CHRB Press Release William 'Will' Meyers, a California steward for nearly 40 years, passed away Saturday at the age of 69. Will came from a racing family. His father was a steward and racing secretary. "Naturally, I started working with horses myself," he once said. "When I was a boy we lived in Arcadia, then Coronado, and on weekends I would go down to Caliente to groom and pony horses. Later, I worked as a stewards' aide in Stockton, Sacramento, and Ferndale." Meyers rose through the ranks of racing...

For every Off-the-Track Thoroughbred enthusiast, having a sound and healthy former racehorse to partner with for a second career is all they hope for. And while these same people will tell you their horse's racing history doesn't matter much, many of these same OTTB devotees will also admit their immense pride in explaining their companion's racing career, recreating as much of it as possible to anyone who will listen. Just about everyone in the Thoroughbred industry understands that most OTTBs are runners who served as the backbone of racing, filling...

Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) has named Robert Katayama of Clovis and Lisa Rodrigues of San Diego as Rookie of the Year award winners for 2022. The award honors enthusiastic new owners who are committed to racing in California. Nominations are considered annually. "The TOC Owner Relations Committee looks forward to the Rookie of the Year nominations and awards each year," said Owner Relations Chairwoman Stephanie Hronis. "We celebrate new owners and their commitment and appreciation of the equine athlete. This year we are thrilled to recognize a Rookie of...

Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) are hosting an "Open Barn" event May 12 from noon to 2 p.m. to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the PVSP Second Chances Program. This vocational training program provides incarcerated participants with life-changing job skills through its accredited equine care and stable management courses. TRF program providers work closely with participants to train horses that live on institution grounds. This valuable training can lead to employment opportunities upon release. Attendees will have the opportunity to interview and photograph program...

On the day before racing at Santa Anita is scheduled to resume Friday with five turf races following an 11-day break that had been planned before recent grass-course drainage issues arose, staffers with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) deemed the turf to be ready to handle horses. The last two dates that Santa Anita had raced, Apr. 8 and 9, a total of five turf races had to be swapped from the "firm" grass course to the "fast" main dirt track because of slippage problems on the far turn....

Last month, a lengthy Financial Times feature detailed the growing share of overall handle generated through Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW)--both in California and nationwide. CAW players are a small group of high-volume and largely anonymous gamblers with an outsized impact on the betting markets due in no small part to the sophisticated wagering tools at their disposal. Because of their high stakes play, they're offered inducements in the form of rebates and reduced takeout rates largely not available to the average punter. CAW proponents argue that these deep-pocketed players provide...

As weather woes continue to dog Southern California, officials at Santa Anita proactively cancelled Friday's eight-race program and have scheduled a make-up day of racing for Monday, Mar. 27. Heavy rain resulting in more than three inches of precipitation through Wednesday is expected to fall. Track officials consulted with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), the Jockeys' Guild, and the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) in the decision. Entries will be taken on Thursday morning for Monday. "By running on Monday instead of Friday, we're...

Months of contentious jockeying over whether Ferndale (Humboldt County Fair) should run its second of two weeks of racing at the end of August un-overlapped with its Northern California compatriot, Golden Gate Fields (GGF), ended in defeat for the small rural track. In a 5-1 vote during Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting, the board decided that during the week running Aug. 23 to Aug. 29, Humboldt and GGF would field simultaneous race meets. Ferndale will run the first of two scheduled weeks of racing this year, from Aug....

Ballet Dancing earned her first stakes victory in style, skipping clear to an authoritative victory in the GIII Santa Ana S. at Santa Anita Sunday. Stretching out to a 1 1/4 miles for the first time, the bay filly was away well and was in hand while stalking pacesetting longshot Annaghlasa (Ire) (Estidhkaar {Ire}) through fractions of :24.01, :47.22 and 1:12.07. Finally let loose into the far turn, she ricocheted to the lead off the turn and was quickly beyond the reach of all pursuers. Favored Australia Mia (Street Sense),...

Due to forecasted high winds and heavy rain in the Bay Area on Friday, Golden Gate Fields will  move the Friday, March 10 live race card to Thursday, March 9. Eight races are on the program for the now-Thursday card with first post time remaining at 12:45 PM.

The Golden State is the first jurisdiction in the country to sign a voluntary agreement with the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) to continue performing a host of vital roles when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug control program goes into effect Mar. 27, according to a statement Friday by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). In another first among the nation's racing jurisdictions, the CHRB also agrees to pay HISA's 2023 fee assessment. The total figure for the state is more than $6.7 million. However, after...

Santa Anita has canceled Friday's card due to heavy rain forecast for the area beginning Thursday. Most of the races scheduled for Friday will be brought back as "extras" on Saturday, according to a notice from the racing office. "We're looking at a low end of probably two inches of rain between late Thursday and Friday with a high end closer to five inches," said Jason Egan, Santa Anita director of racing and racing secretary. Friday was originally scheduled to be a dark day at Santa Anita following Monday's special...