The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Thursday, July 16. The public participated by dialing into the teleconference and/or listening through the audio webcast link on the CHRB website. Dr. Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, 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 two agenda items pertaining to funding the CHRB budget for the fiscal year 2020-21. The budget of $16,820,500 is $2.2 million higher than the previous fiscal year, largely due to $1.4 million in increases for drug testing and safety measures.
- The Board approved the license application for a meeting of the Sonoma County Fair (SCF) to be run at Golden Gate Fields, commencing July 31 through August 9, on condition that certain required documents must be submitted to the CHRB at least one week before the start of the meet.
- The Board approved the license application for a meeting of the Pacific Racing Association (PRA) at Golden Gate Fields from August 13 through October 4, on condition that certain required documents must be submitted to the CHRB at least one week before the start of the meet.
- The Board authorized the racing secretary for both the SCF and PRA meets to establish conditions for races, which will include limiting Lasix administrations to 250 mg, prohibiting any intra-articular medication within 14 days of a race, and extending that prohibition to 30 days for fetlock injections, both metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints.
- The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to allow for increased penalties when there are multiple medication violations. This is essentially the same language as the model rule approved by the Association of Racing Commissioners.
- The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to prohibit horses from racing within 14 days of being administered an intra-articular medication and from racing within 30 days of fetlock injections. The rule also prohibits a horse from training within 10 days of fetlock injections.
- The Board approved a rule requiring at least 12 hours of continuing education for renewal of licenses for trainer and assistant trainer. This rule is scheduled to go into effect on June 1, 2021. The CHRB already has numerous educational modules on its website pertaining to equine safety that will help meet this requirement, and more will be added.
- The Board approved regulatory amendments limiting Lasix administrations to 250 mg. (the same restriction that racing secretaries have been imposing as race conditions) and prohibiting Lasix administrations to horses that are 2 years old.
- The Board authorized Watch and Wager (harness racing at Cal Expo) to distribute $4,000 in race day charity proceeds to five beneficiaries.
- The Board authorized TVG to offer a handicapping contest that normally would be conducted onsite at Del Mar, but there are no spectators at the current meet.
- Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website
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