California Horse Racing Board | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Clearly Another Case Of Contamination’: CHRB Complaint Reveals Dextorphan Positive In Baffert Trainee

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has filed a complaint against Baffert after his trainee Merneith tested positive for dextorphan this summer. Merneith, who earlier this year was third in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks, received the positive test post-race after she finished second in the fourth race on Del Mar's July 25 card. Baffert trains the daughter of American Pharoah for HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud.

A split sample confirmed the original violation, according to the Sept. 17 CHRB complaint.

Baffert said the finding was a result of environmental contamination.

“A number of my staff were sick with COVID this summer, including Merneith's groom,” Baffert said via email. “I learned he had been taking over-the-counter cough syrups that contained Dextrorphan. This has been an issue in other states where contamination has lead to positive tests. That's what happened here. This is clearly another case of contamination. Ultimately, this is my responsibility. It's really embarrassing for the barn, but that's what happened. #2020 sucks.”

Dextorphan is a metabolite of dextromethorphan, which is a Class 4 drug according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International's classification system. Class 4 drugs are primarily therapeutic drugs which “may influence performance but generally have a more limited ability to do so” as compared to those in other classes. Dextromethorphan is a common ingredient in human cough syrups, though it can also be a drug of abuse, given its capacity to act as an anesthetic in high doses. It has no Food and Drug Administration-approved use in the horse, but regulators have been told it has been used experimentally to quiet nervous behaviors like cribbing.

The metabolism of dextorphan and dextromethorphan were the subject of a study several years ago in Kentucky. The research found that dextromethorphan breaks down quickly in a horse's body, turning it into dextorphan. But unlike some other substances, dextorphan briefly increases in the horse's system as the dextromethorphan breaks down, and then it tapers off more gradually than testing experts had previously realized. The research in Kentucky led to three dextorphan positives being dismissed — not because the commission agreed they were the result of environmental contamination, but rather because it was unclear when the horses had been exposed to dextromethorphan, given the study results about the drug metabolism.

Dextorphan carries a penalty category of B, which has variable suspension lengths depending upon the number of previous violations within a 365-day period.

News of the dextorphan positive comes hard on the heels of an acknowledgement by Baffert that Gamine tested positive for betamethasone following her third-place effort in the G1 Kentucky Oaks this year. Split sample testing in that case has not yet been completed, but Baffert's attorney maintains the drug was administered in the recommended timeframe outlined by Kentucky's rules. Gamine and Charlatan also tested positive for lidocaine following races at Oaklawn this spring, which Baffert attributed to environmental contamination from an employee's over-the-counter pain patch. He told media he planned to appeal those rulings by Arkansas stewards.

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CHRB Allocates 2021 Race Dates For Southern California, First Six Months Of Northern California Season

The California Horse Racing Board conducted a meeting by teleconference on Thursday, October 22. The public participated by dialing into the teleconference and/or listening through the audio webcast link on the CHRB website. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chairman Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Brenda Washington Davis, 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 allocated 2021 racing dates for Southern California thoroughbreds (and one fair meet), harness racing, and quarter horse racing, The Board also allocated dates for Northern California thoroughbred racing for the first six months of the year. Due to uncertainties created by COVID-19, the Board delayed consideration of dates for the latter half of 2021 for Northern California thoroughbred meets and fairs. At this time, all meets are expected to run without the public in attendance, but that also could change depending on circumstances. Allocated dates include dates for simulcasting without racing. The actual dates a meet will offer racing will be approved when the meet's license application is considered. As allocated:
The Southern California thoroughbred racing circuit will begin December 23, 2020, at Santa Anita, through June 22, 2021, then proceed to Los Alamitos (day racing, June 23 through July 6), and then to Del Mar (July 7 through September 7). The Los Angeles County Fair meet will run daytime at Los Alamitos from September 8 through September 28. The thoroughbred circuit will continue at Santa Anita (September 29 through November 2), Del Mar (November 3 through November 30), Los Alamitos (day racing, December 1 through December 14), and then back to Santa Anita for simulcasting only from December 15 through December 21.
Golden Gate Fields received allocated dates for thoroughbred racing from December 23, 2020, through June 15, 2021.
Los Alamitos received allocated dates for quarter horse racing from December 23, 2020, through December 21, 2021. Commissioner Mitchell made a point to advise Los Alamitos management that the CHRB will be looking for further improvement in quarter horse safety relative to the racing dates. This message was echoed by others during discussions of daytime thoroughbred and fair allocations given to Los Alamitos.
Watch & Wager received allocated harness racing dates at Cal Expo from December 23, 2020, through May 11, followed by a second meet from October 27 through December 21.
The Board approved the license application for the Los Angeles County Fair to run a race meet at Los Alamitos operating from December 4 through December 20. This day meet will run concurrently with night quarter horse racing at Los Alamitos. In conjunction with this license, the Board approved an agreement between the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the racing secretary at Los Alamitos regarding entry conditions limiting specific drug substances for entered horses.
The Board approved two regulatory amendments to limit the practice of some owners and trainers conditioning their horses at non-CHRB locations and then shipping them to operating meets shortly before their races into the care of trainers who have not been involved in the care of those horses, a practice known as program training. In addition to expressly forbidding program training, the Board voted to require all horses to be within a CHRB-licensed facility and in the care of a licensed trainer for at least seven days before a race.
Executive Director Scott Chaney reported that the CHRB's concerns about the proposed federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) have been communicated to legislators. A principal concern is that national standards, as called for in HISA, may actually be less strict than California's safety rules and protocols, which are the strictest in the nation.
Chairman Ferraro reported on the previous day's meeting of the Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee. Dr. Francisco Uzal presented the annual CHRB/University of California, Davis, Postmortem Report, which is available on the CHRB website. Chairman Ferraro pointed out that 90 percent of the horses that have been examined in the Postmortem Program had pre-existing lesions. When he then reported on the next agenda item discussed by the committee – a proposal to clarify that official veterinarians may require diagnostic imaging before removing some horses from the Veterinarian's List – he said this should help identify those pre-existing lesions that contribute to equine fatalities. He said the committee also discussed the need to eliminate the use of thyroxine in horse racing, given that thyroid problems in young horses “are practically nil.” He reported that the committee supports a proposed elimination of a requirement for each track to receive a fire clearance just prior to each meet, as local fire authorities seldom visit racetracks that often. He said a one-year clearance from fire authorities should be sufficient. Dr. Arthur, the CHRB's equine medical director, reported at the committee meeting that California horse racing experienced 20 Class 1, 2, and 3 violations last year from more than 30,000 samples.
In a separate report, Dr. Arthur described the Postmortem Program and methods of tracking and reporting equine fatalities at facilities under the jurisdiction of the CHRB as consistent, complete, and transparent for over 30 years.
The Board approved for 45-day public notice a proposed regulatory amendment to eliminate the requirement for retention of syringes used to administer furosemide, or Lasix, to racehorses. Chairman Ferraro stated that because Lasix must be administered by regulatory personnel, never by private veterinarians, there is no chance of the syringes containing anything but the authorized bleeder medication.
The Board approved a regulatory amendment stipulating that the racing veterinarian is under the supervision of the official veterinarian.
Because the pandemic forced the cancelation of the Big Fresno Fair meet this year, the mandatory payout of carryover money in Pick 5 and Pick 6 pools at the fairs did not take place as scheduled. The Board authorized the fairs to distribute those carryovers on the final day of the 2021 Big Fresno Fair meet if there are no winning tickets beforehand.
Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website

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’21 SoCal Dates Set; September Los Al Meet Returns After Year Absence

As in past years, the concept of “compromise” was accentuated in the assignment of 2021 race dates by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) at its Oct. 22 meeting.

But this year, crafting a statewide racing calendar based on cooperation took on even more importance. That’s because both the Southern and Northern California circuits have been significantly altered by closures and cancellations over the past 18 months due to several spates of equine fatalities, unseasonably wet weather, wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

With all of those factors in mind, the CHRB approved a 2021 calendar on Thursday by a 5-2 vote that for SoCal assigns 32 weeks to Santa Anita Park, 13 to Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) and seven to Los Alamitos Race Course.

The CHRB also assigned a Dec. 23, 2020-June 16, 2021 block of dates to Golden Gate Fields, leaving the second half of 2021 dates in the NorCal region to be determined at a later date based on how the pandemic affects the ability of tracks at various fairs locations to open or not.

The chief SoCal change will be the return of September racing at Los Alamitos following the Del Mar meet after a one-year absence. That license technically belongs to the Los Angeles County Fair, which previously ran the now-defunct Fairplex Park meet in that time slot.

So who were the winners and losers in the 2021 dates allotment? That depends upon how much history is applied to the equation.

Another factor is an odd quirk of the calendar whereby the CHRB usually awards dates for the next year that also include the final few days of the current year (because Santa Anita traditionally opens its long winter/spring meet Dec. 26). So the true number of racing weeks for 2021 includes a smidgeon of 2020, which adds a confusing wrinkle.

Representatives from Santa Anita, which is owned by The Stronach Group (TSG), told the CHRB they believe they are being slighted in 2021 race dates from a historical perspective.

They cited data that said from 2017-20, Santa Anita annually was granted 33 weeks of racing. Del Mar, they said, was awarded 11 weeks between 2017-19 and got boosted to 14 weeks in 2020. Los Alamitos, according to TSG, ran eight weeks between 2017-19 but had its allotment cut to five weeks in 2020.

Aidan Butler, who has dual titles of chief operating officer, 1/ST Racing, and president, 1/ST Content, for TSG, said, “I’m a little perturbed that we are losing a week at Santa Anita. I don’t know what more, from a racing association [standpoint], we could have done [after] genuinely trying to do things for the greater good of the industry as a whole.”

CHRB chairman Gregory Ferraro, DVM, responded by saying that “I actually think that historical dates are irrelevant in this discussion. We need to assign dates that are in the best interest of racing and the best interest of horse safety.”

Commissioner Wendy Mitchell pointed out that a year ago, when Los Alamitos had its dates allotment cut for 2020, the CHRB gave notice that it would thereafter intend to try a two-year approach for future dates allotments that would alternate which tracks got fewer dates each year.

“This year, obviously, I am personally not happy with the outcomes at Los Al [with respect to] the horse fatalities that happened there,” Mitchell said. “So I am certainly not trying to reward them through this calendar. And I do appreciate the work that was put in by Santa Anita over the last year-plus since the horse deaths there.

“[But] having said that, I think that the compromise that we’ve put together…makes everyone unhappy a little bit,” Mitchell continued. “[And] that probably means it’s a good compromise.”

Plus, Mitchell noted “Del Mar has had less fatalities,” underscoring that the CRHB is starting to give more weight to equine safety when assigning dates.

Commissioner Dennis Alfieri didn’t agree with how the schedule got worked out. He, along with commissioner Damascus Castellanos, cast the “no” votes on the race dates, which were voted on as a block, with Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and Standardbred dates all batched together.

“I don’t understand why we’ve penalized Santa Anita, to be honest with you,” Alfieri said. “Santa Anita has been above and beyond the call of duty” in terms of reopening under COVID-19 conditions and improving equine safety, “while they continue to hemorrhage there from a financial standpoint,” he added

Prior to the vote, Alfieri advocated for the CHRB to slice a week of racing off of either the Del Mar or Los Alamitos schedule to boost Santa Anita’s number of race weeks back to 33.

Representatives from the two key horsemen’s organizations in California said they had no beef with the compromise schedule put forth by the CHRB.

“We’ve got all sorts of challenges right now. We have to look at what’s in front of us a lot more than we look at where we’ve been,” said Greg Avioli, president and chief executive officer the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC).

“We support the calendar [proposed by the CHRB] as the best compromise. It is not exactly what the TOC recommended, but it’s close. Mainly, you’re talking about one or two weeks either way for a couple of tracks,” Avioli continued.

“As to the point from both Los Al and Santa Anita about Del Mar getting an extra week compared to the past, the reality is, I think by any standard, Del Mar’s earned an extra week,” Avioli said. “They have been the safest facility in the state for two years. They have the largest fields…. They have such large fields because they take really good care of the owners.”

Alan Balch, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, said the way the 2020-21 calendar falls makes it difficult to make historical year-to-year comparisons. Otherwise, he added, the schedule seems “very logical.”

As in past years, the 2021 calendar was awarded in blocks that denote simulcast hosting status. The actual live race dates get finalized when each track’s license comes up for CHRB voting during the year.

The CHRB and several track representatives noted that the 2021 format allows for the inclusion of some breaks between race meets, which theoretically should translate to safer racing and larger fields.

“As someone that’s been in the trenches of trying to fill races for over 40 years, and given what we see in [horse] population of Southern California, I can’t impress upon [stakeholders] enough that…breaks are totally important to 2021,” said Tom Robbins, DMTC’s executive vice president for racing and industry relations. “Not just for the safety value, but for the product that we deliver.”

The 2021 SoCal dates are as follows:

Santa Anita: Dec. 23, 2020-June 22, 2021

Los Alamitos: June 23-July 6

Del Mar: July 7-Sept. 7

Los Alamitos: Sept. 8-28

Santa Anita: Sept. 29-Nov. 2

Del Mar: Nov. 3-30

Los Alamitos Dec. 1-14

Santa Anita (for simulcast status only, no live racing) Dec. 15-21

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The Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: Riding Crop Talk With Mike Smith

Mike Smith calls it his “last-ditch effort” to protect his fellow riders and the horses on which the sport depends. As a Hall of Famer, the all-time leading Breeders' Cup jockey and co-chair of the Jockeys' Guild, Smith, 55, is speaking out about restrictions on the use of the riding crop he believes are putting jockeys and horses at increased risk.

Smith has written to the California Horse Racing Board urging its members to reconsider changes recently put in place. And this week he joins publisher Ray Paulick and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss on the Friday Show to elaborate on those concerns.

“I'm all for change, and I'm all for helping,” Smith said of the need for some riding crop reforms. “I want to make sure the horse is as safe as possible, because the only time I'm safe is if the horse is safe. If I put that horse in any danger, guess who's next? I hit the ground right after he does. That's my life that's out there, not the spectators and not anyone else that's not on that horse's back.”

And that's the dilemma horse racing faces. Can the sport successfully tackle public perception issues related to the riding crop while still giving riders the tool they say they need to remain safe and to give horse owners and gamblers a fair and honest run for their money?

“As long as we can show that we're doing the best that we can, that we're keeping (the horses) safe, that we're not harming them, that it's protection for us as well, that's all we can do,” Smith said.

Watch this week's Friday Show below and let us know what you think on this subject.

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