The California Horse Racing Board conducted a public meeting at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by vice chair Oscar Gonzales and commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Brenda Washington Davis, Thomas Hudnut, and Wendy Mitchell.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under theWebcast link. In brief:
- The Board took an unyielding stand on the statutory requirement for race meets to have a signed agreement with horsemen. The Board approved a motion stating that license applications for new race meets will no longer be approved without such an agreement. Executives with Del Mar Racetrack, Santa Anita Park , and Golden Gate Fields have been negotiating with the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) for three years, and the CHRB has frequently stepped in to facilitate those negotiations, but despite those efforts the parties have not been able to agree on the protocol for trainer exclusion.Chairman Ferraro said the Board has lost its patience and has given the parties until the Oct. 20 Board meeting to finally resolve the matter.
License applications that were on this meeting agenda were put over to the October meeting. Commissioner Mitchell added one stipulation to the chairman's motion by invoking a CHRB rule that allows the commissioners to conduct a hearing and decide the issue for themselves. If the parties do not bring a signed agreement to the October meeting, the Board will be able to immediately conduct a hearing, which could then allow the commissioners to approve license applications under whatever terms the Board dictates.
- The Board allocated race dates for Southern California's Thoroughbred, fair, and Quarter Horse 2023 racing calendar. Allocations include simulcast days on which there is no live racing at the facility. Actual racing dates are decided when each license application is considered by the Board. As allocated, Santa Anita will open for simulcasting on Dec. 21, 2022, with dates running through June 20, followed by the Los Angeles County Fair (LACF) daytime meet at Los Alamitos (June 21 through July 11), Del Mar (July 12-Sept. 12), a second Los Alamitos daytime, Thoroughbred meet (Sept. 13-26), back to Santa Anita (Sept. 27-Nov. 7), back to Del Mar (Nov. 8-Dec. 5), and finally a third Los Alamitos daytime meet (Dec. 6-19). Furthermore, the Board allocated Quarter Horse dates for Los Alamitos from Dec. 21 through Dec. 19. Daytime horoughbred races at Los Alamitos are run concurrently with night quarter-horse racing.
The gap week between the close of the LACF meet and the actual start of racing at Del Mar's summer meet was hotly contested because of a projected $400,000 in revenue to the track that hosts simulcasting during that off week. The Board reached a compromise by allocating that simulcasting week to Del Mar in 2023 but indicated its willingness to consider awarding a simulcast week to Los Alamitos in 2024.
- The Board put over consideration of allocating 2023 Thoroughbred and fair dates for Northern California until the October meeting in order to give the parties extra time to negotiate over some contested weeks. The Board did allocate dates for harness racing at Cal Expo in Sacramento. The harness dates will begin Dec. 21 and run through May 9, then resume Nov. 1 through Dec. 19.
- The Board authorized the Los Alamitos Equine Sale Company to conduct a sale of Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos on two days, Oct. 1 and 2.
- The Board approved the distribution of certain ADW revenue to a co-op marketing program at the Big Fresno Fair.
- The Board authorized the distribution of $4,000 in race day charity proceeds by WatchandWager.com to four beneficiaries.
- The Board approved for public notice regulatory amendments to existing apprentice rules to align with current health and safety standards for jockeys.
- The Board approved for public notice proposed regulatory amendments establishing reporting requirements by owners and trainers of horses that die or are euthanized within 72 hours of leaving a facility under the jurisdiction of the CHRB.
- CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney reported that he and staff are continuing to work closely with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) on uniform medication and classification standards that HISA will introduce Jan. 1.
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