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California Horse Racing Board To Expand Posting Of Alleged Medication Violations

The California Horse Racing Board has expanded the posting of complaints on its website for alleged medication violations to include Class 4 and Class 5 violations.

The CHRB has been posting complaints for the more serious Class 1, 2, and 3 violations, which require disqualifications and forfeiture of purses. However, with the increased emphasis on all medication violations in horse racing, the CHRB has elected to add Class 4 and Class 5 complaints as well. The complaints stem from all drug testing, including alleged violations during racing, training, and from out-of-competition testing.

To view complaints filed by the CHRB, go to the website (www.chrb.ca.gov) and click on the tab for Administrative Actions, then select Complaints from the drop-down menu.

Be aware that complaints are filed for alleged violations prior to hearing. The cases have not been adjudicated at the time they are posted.

Pursuant to a new statute, potential medication violations will be posted on the CHRB website beginning January 1, 2021, with the identification of all drug positives once the split sample is confirmed or even earlier if the licensee declines to request split-sample testing. Those positives will be posted before any complaints are issued.

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‘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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Santa Anita Wraps Autumn Meet With Zero Racing Or Training Fatalities

Santa Anita Park concluded the Autumn meet as the safest racetrack in the nation, without a single racing or training fatality since the horses returned from Del Mar on Sept. 5. During that time period, which includes the 16-day Autumn racing meet which was delayed because of the Bobcat Fire in the neighboring San Gabriel Mountains, 1,106 horses raced over the dirt track and turf course. Additionally, horses recorded over 51,200 training sessions, including 3,771 timed workouts over the main track and 487 over the training track.

The main dirt track has not had a racing fatality in 2020, including the 2019-20 Winter/Spring meet which began in December.

In 2020 there have been five racing fatalities from 5,069 starts, or 0.98 fatalities per 1,000 starters, well below the national average.

In addition to hosting some of the most prestigious races in the nation, Santa Anita is home to the largest training facilities in the country, operating nearly year-round with over 400,000 annual training sessions.

“These results are the efforts of the racing community to put the safety of the horse first at every turn, including additional veterinary regulations and observations, training approvals and analysis of entries,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer of 1/ST Racing. “Last year, we set a course to reform the sport of horse racing for the next generation. This year, we are seeing the results of the hard work everyone has put into this effort.

“We especially appreciate the dedication of the owners, trainers, veterinarians and hardworking men and women who care for the horses, of the jockeys who have adapted their riding styles, the California Horse Racing Board which regulates the sport, and veteran trackman Dennis Moore and the entire Santa Anita track crew, who tirelessly work the surface day and night with safety top of mind.

We acknowledged last year that this modernization would likely lead to a short-term impact on Santa Anita's field size, but as these reforms become the national standards, California is ahead of the implementation curve which strengthens the sport in our state. We sincerely thank the bettors who have continued to support our racing product during this transition.

“On behalf of everyone at Santa Anita, we'd also like to let our fans know how much we've missed their passionate voices cheering these horses at The Great Race Place and we look forward to welcoming everyone back just as soon as we are able to do so.”

Live racing will return to the Arcadia oval at Santa Anita Park as tradition dictates on Dec. 26.

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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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