CHRB

September was a busy month for buzzers. On Sept. 15, the Monmouth Park board of stewards suspended jockey Tomas Mejia for 10 years and fined him $5,000 for possessing an electrical device--commonly referred to as a "buzzer"--during a race run there Sept. 3. That same day at Indiana Grand, leading Quarter Horse jockey, Sammy Mendez, was "summarily suspended for actions not in the best interest of racing," and is awaiting a full hearing before the track's board of stewards. According to the Paulick Report, the suspension is connected to use...

A complaint against trainer Jeff Metz regarding a positive bisphosphonate test from last year was dismissed during a closed session vote of the California Horse Racing Board commissioners Sept. 15. According to a release from the CHRB, the board believed it would be unfair to punish Metz for the positive test of his trainee, Camino de Estrella, because testing and a subsequent investigation revealed that the substance had been administered in 2018--well before the horse was in Metz's care. The Maddy Laboratory at UC Davis detected the presence of Tiludronic...

Dennis Alfieri has been reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board of Directors, where he has served since 2018, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Monday evening. The 62-year-old Alfieri has been Managing Member of Mission Real Estate Group since 2005. He was Chief Executive Officer of the Sheriff's Youth Foundation from 2017 to 2020. He was Principal and a Founding Partner at Bantry Property Services LLC from 2005 to 2010 and General Partner and Founder of Twin Palms Restaurants from 1991 to 2005. Alfieri is a 40-year member of the...

As the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) begins the planning process for crafting 2022 race dates on both the Southern and Northern circuits, it appears as if there is some consensus for including a one-week break with no racing, although no exact time frame for any proposed hiatus has been publicly identified. At Wednesday's monthly meeting, CHRB vice chair Oscar Gonzales updated the full board on the two-hour dates subcommittee teleconference that took place Tuesday and included representatives from tracks and horsemen's groups. "We obviously didn't take a vote on...

Edited Press Release The state of California has seen a 50% decline in equine fatalities over the last two fiscal years, owing to steps taken by the industry to increase safety at the state's racetracks. In fiscal year 2018-2019, a total of 144 horses died from racing or training injuries or other causes while stabled at CHRB facilities. The number dropped to 72 in fiscal year 2020-2021. According to information provided by the California Horse Racing Board, equine fatalities have been trending downward since 2005, but the last fiscal year...

After 15 years as California's equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur has stepped away from the post. A vocal proponent of tightened welfare practices in the sport, Arthur has spearheaded during his tenure a slew of equine safety reforms that have made California arguably the most stringent regulatory environment in the States. Arthur's forthrightness, however, has led to him staking out positions that have at times proven polarizing. The day after Arthur officially stepped down, he conducted a Q&A with the TDN, the first part of which can be seen...

After 15 years as California's equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur has stepped away from the post. A long-time vocal champion, both in his home state and at the international level, of tightened welfare practices in the sport, Arthur has spearheaded a slew of precedent-setting medication and equine safety reforms in California. During those 15 years, Arthur has been at the helm of the industry's veterinary ship while California has navigated a series of tumultuous storms, including a benighted venture to switch from dirt to synthetic racetrack surfaces during the...

The California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT), Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) have teamed up to provide a Continuing Education platform for Thoroughbred trainers and assistant trainers called Horsemen U, which offers approved online CE webinars and issues CE certificates after a course and a short quiz have been completed. Trainers and assistant trainers can register, free of charge, and maintain their CE records in their account at www.HorsemenU.com. Continuing education has been adopted as one of the core Best Practices developed by the stakeholders...

The John Sadler-trained Flagstaff (Speightstown) has been disqualified from a second-place finish in last September's GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. after testing positive for clodronic acid, a bisphosphonate otherwise known as Osphos, according to a steward's ruling from Saturday. According to the ruling, the $40,000 in prize money earnings awarded to owners Lane's End Racing and Hronis Racing, jockey Victor Espinoza and Sadler will be redistributed. Currently unclassified, clodronic acid is by default deemed a class 1, penalty A drug, and it's currently in the process of being classified...

The June California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting put to bed a problem that has been brewing for a few months in the North of California. Due to the fallout from COVID-19, and the ongoing issues surrounding stabling and staff accommodation in the north of California, commissioners voted to switch the three-week State Fair--scheduled to run July 14 to Aug. 3 at Cal Expo--to Pleasanton to be run over a shortened window: July 14 through July 20. Golden Gate Fields has also been allocated an additional two weeks of racing,...

Trainer Richard Mandella has been fined $500 by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) for a Class 4 and Penalty Category C methocarbamol positive that turned up in the post-race test of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) after the MGSW mare ran third in the GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita Mar. 13. The stewards' ruling was issued May 29. According to the original May 7 complaint, split-sample blood testing had confirmed the presence of the skeletal muscle relaxant. Methocarbamol's 4C categorization is on the least-severe side of the scale...

Oscar Gonzales, the vice chair of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), wants to know why commissioners weren't informed earlier this year about a pending cannabidiol (CBD) positive complaint against Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally, a case that was in the midst of a six-month investigation by CHRB staff even as commissioners were being asked to approve a seemingly routine annual reclassification of drugs that included CBD. "On that list of drugs that were to be reclassified was CBD, the drug that was detected in [the McAnally-trained Roses and...