California Horse Racing Board | Horse Racing Free Tips

Los Alamitos Allowed to Continue Racing

In a teleconference Monday morning to discuss whether or not to suspend Los Alamitos’ racing license, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) voted in favor of the racing association, deciding that enhanced safety plans the track unveiled over the prior week satisfied board concerns after a rash of equine fatalities at the Southern California facility.

“Are you committed to this plan over the long-term? Are you committed to trying to make a cultural change at Los Alamitos?” asked CHRB chairman Greg Ferraro, of Dr. Ed Allred, who owns and operates Los Alamitos.

“Obviously we are,” Allred, who later in the meeting admitted to experiencing humiliation at recent events, responded. “We still feel we have a track that’s equal to, or superior, to any in California as far as racing surface is concerned. I think there are other areas where we discern some improvement. We’re going to work on those things.”

At the initial meeting July 10, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney explained his decision to file a petition to hold the emergency meeting, arguing that there has been an increase in equine fatalities during the first six months of this year when compared to the same period the year prior, along with a spike in recent weeks.

On a 5-1 vote, the board gave Los Alamitos the green light to continue live racing during a 10-day probational period. According to the CHRB, there have been 11 fatalities at the track since the start of June, including two during the track’s probation period.

Last Tuesday, Los Alamitos released a seven-page draft “Equine & Rider Safety Enhancement Plan” outlining a suite of new safety protocols, including an additional veterinarian to scrutinize horses entering and exiting the track during morning training. This draft plan was subsequently modified at least twice, said officials at the meeting.

Part of the enhanced safety plan involves a panel–comparable to the one already instituted for Thoroughbred races in California–to review race entries. This panel was operational over the most recent weekend of racing at Los Alamitos.

According to Chaney, the panel scratched five horses on its first day.

The plan also includes a new rule restricting intra-articular cortisone fetlock injections to within 30 days prior to a race–restrictions already largely in place in Thoroughbred racing in California.

“Three of the last four racing fatalities at Los Alamitos would not have been eligible under those conditions,” said CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur. “In addition, we’ve added a new restriction for multiple intra-articular injections into the same joint.”

Arthur repeated his belief that the track surface at Los Alamitos isn’t a factor in the recent rash of equine fatalities. Rather, he sees it as primarily an issue surrounding veterinary practices and horse management, and a hitherto lack of scrutiny of backstretch activities at the track.

“One of the issues at Los Alamitos has been, we have very little stable surveillance, whether it’s CHRB or anyone else,” said Arthur.

As such, he touted a new plan at Los Alamitos to employ an individual to monitor activity around the stable area, and an increased CHRB safety steward presence at the backstretch beyond race days.

“In that sense, it’s a win-win,” said Arthur. “Having the [surveillance] cameras at Santa Anita is a fairly unique circumstance in racing in the U.S.–obviously we’d like to have that at all tracks, just not practical right now.”

Veterinarian Becky Fitzgerald, who conducts all pre-race examinations at Los Alamitos, said that the enhanced safety practices instituted at Los Alamitos have already paid dividends.

“I have already seen improvements based on the new system we’re implementing, more so than I expected to see,” said Fitzgerald, expressing surprise at the effectiveness of the entry review panel.

“I’ve implemented, [what] I don’t think is even in the proposal, I’ve been doing post-race exams the following day of horses that we feel might need extra scrutiny,” Fitzgerald added. “And we’ve already identified a couple of extra horses there.”

This case is first time the CHRB has exercised its authority afforded through a state bill passed last year allowing it to provide just 24-hours public notice for a meeting to discuss the possible suspension of a racing license. Prior to that, the CHRB had to provide 10 days’ public notice.

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CHRB Moves Forward On Lasix Phaseout, Walks Back Proposed Intra-Articular Injection Regulations

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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Los Al Quarter Horse Association Submits Equine And Rider Safety And Enhancement Plan To CHRB

In response to the suggestion of the California Horse Racing Board (the “Board”), the Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association has submitted to the Board an Equine and Rider Safety and Enhancement Plan.

The Plan provides for enhancement of practices in six specific areas:

Training
Pre-race Procedures
Entry Review Panel
Post-incident Assessments
Equine Illness and Recovery
Rules and Conditions.

Los Alamitos is soliciting comments from the Industry in general and particularly from the Board regarding content of the Plan.

Dr. Ed Allred, the owner and CEO of Los Alamitos Race Course, said that the plan is a further effort by Los Alamitos to provide for the enhanced improvement of the health and safety of each every horse and rider participating in racing and training at Los Alamitos.

Allred further stated that notwithstanding his hope that the Plan would be further improved through comments from the Industry and the Board, the changes contemplated by the Plan would be implemented immediately. For more information, please contact 714-820-2690.

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Los Alamitos Releases Draft Safety Plan

The Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association released Tuesday evening a seven-page draft “Equine & Rider Safety Enhancement Plan,” ahead of a follow-up meeting July 20 with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) concerning a recent uptick in equine fatalities at the track.

Among some of the new protocols outlined in the plan is an additional veterinarian to scrutinize horses entering and exiting the track during morning training, and the creation of a program whereby every equine fatality triggers a “Fatality Review” to be conducted by a panel including a member of track management, the track veterinarian, and the racing secretary.

Last Thursday, the CHRB gave Los Alamitos 24-hour notice of an emergency meeting to discuss the track’s equine welfare and safety protocols–the first time the board has exercised its authority afforded through a state bill passed last year allowing it to provide just a day’s public notice for a meeting to discuss the possible suspension of a racing license. Prior to that, the CHRB had to provide 10 days’ public notice.

At Friday’s meeting, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney explained his decision to file a petition to hold the emergency meeting, arguing that there has been an increase in equine fatalities during the first six months of this year when compared to the same period the year prior, along with a recent spike. According to the CHRB, there have been 13 fatalities at the track since May 26.

“I agree that there needs to be a serious review of policies and procedures at Los Alamitos,” said CHRB chairman Greg Ferraro last Friday. “Not necessarily as a fault of track’s management, but I think there is a culture there amongst the practicing veterinarians and trainers that is pushing the envelope when it comes to the safety of these horses.”

On a 5-1 vote, the board gave Los Alamitos the green light to continue live racing during a 10-day probational period, at the end of which the board would decide whether the revised safety plan adequately satisfied its concerns.

In a statement Tuesday, Los Alamitos wrote that the track is “soliciting comments from the industry in general and particularly from the Board” regarding the plan’s contents.

“Dr. Ed Allred, the owner and CEO of Los Alamitos Race Course, said that the plan is a further effort by Los Alamitos to provide for the enhanced improvement of the health and safety of each every horse and rider participating in racing and training at Los Alamitos,” the statement read.

The seven-page plan outlines enhanced safety procedures in the following six areas: training practices, pre-race procedures, entry review panel, post incident assessments, equine illness and recovery and rules and conditions.

The track has proposed a panel–comparable to the one already instituted for Thoroughbred races in California–to review race entries. “Based on information deemed of concern to the panel, in its discretion, may deny such entry or request the scratch of any horse the panel determines unsuitable for reasons of horse and/or rider safety,” the plan states.

A number of equine fatalities at Los Alamitos this year have been said to be due to “gastrointestinal” issues, rather than musculoskeletal injuries sustained through training or racing.

According to the plan, if within a year two Los Alamitos-based horses under the custody of a single trainer die for reasons other than racing or training, that trainer could be put under a form of probation whereby, if another horse in their care is fatally injured, that trainer could be barred from the grounds.

“Allred further stated that, notwithstanding his hope that the plan would be further improved through comments from the industry and the Board, the changes contemplated by the plan would be implemented immediately,” Tuesday’s statement read.

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