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Dr. Jeff Blea Takes Over As California Horse Racing Board’s Equine Medical Director

Dr. Jeff Blea will assume the responsibilities of Equine Medical Director for the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on July 1, replacing Dr. Rick Arthur, who retires June 30 after serving 15 years as EMD.

In addition to advising the Board on matters pertaining to equine health and welfare, Dr. Blea will help oversee the CHRB's drug testing program, work with investigators on medication violations, liaise with those peers directing programs at the University of California, Davis, including the Postmortem Program, and work with Official Veterinarians in their oversight of practicing veterinarians.

Dr. Blea is perfectly positioned to assume this vital role. He was a practicing veterinarian on the Southern California thoroughbred circuit for 28 years, and during that time he demonstrated an interest in improving horse racing, focusing primarily on equine health and welfare, as evidenced by his leadership nationally with the American Association of Equine Practitioners and regionally with the Southern California Equine Foundation. He served as a director of the Dolly Green Research Foundation from 1999 to 2015. The list of the organizations and programs he has served is long and admirable.

Originally Dr. Blea hoped to be a jockey, but an accident cut short that career, which led him into veterinary medicine.

“As it turned out, I consider myself a better vet than I would have been a rider,” he said pragmatically. “I studied at Colorado State University. While there, I met people who were interested in organized veterinary medicine. I was mentored by some incredible people who were progressive, not only in what veterinary medicine should, be but also in what horse racing should be.

“When I came to California, I met Dr. Arthur and it really opened my eyes relative to the horse racing industry and the role of veterinary medicine. This led to a greater understanding of what the racing industry was and what it should be…where it needed to be. I realized I could take my practical background and blend it with my scientific knowledge to make a greater impact on improving care of the horse in particular and improving horse racing in general.

“When Rick announced his pending retirement a few years ago, he urged me to apply,” Dr. Blea continued. “Others did as well. Initially I resisted. I was quite happy practicing veterinary medicine. Mostly out of curiosity I applied. During the long interview process, I began to realize that the role of EMD was much more than I had appreciated. This led to a greater understanding of the significance of the EMD, and so by the end of the process I realized this job was something I wanted to do if offered the opportunity.”

Dr. Blea was chosen from a strong field of well-qualified applicants. The EMD position they all sought is significantly different than the one Dr. Arthur found when he accepted the job 15 years ago. Dr. Arthur directed more centralized oversight in a number of areas under the general responsibility of the EMD.

CHRB Chairman Greg Ferraro said during the June meeting, ““During the last 15 years, Dr. Arthur has brought our medical program and our health and safety program light-years ahead of where it was when he started. We truly appreciate what you've done.”

Dr. Arthur expressed full confidence in his replacement. “I know Dr. Blea very well,” said Dr. Arthur. “He understands the challenges going forward and has the background, knowledge, and tenacity to do the job.”

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Dr. Jeff Blea Named California’s New Equine Medical Director

Dr. Jeff Blea has been a trusted voice in the California horse racing industry for decades, and in July he will become the veterinary voice of the California Horse Racing Board upon the long-planned retirement of Dr. Rick Arthur from the critically important position of Equine Medical Director (EMD).

While Dr. Blea has been committed to his thriving veterinary practice on the Southern California thoroughbred circuit, he recently decided he could be a more valuable resource to the equine veterinary profession and provide greater assistance in the advancement of the racing industry.

Dr. Gregory Ferraro, chairman of CHRB and a former equine veterinarian himself on the southern circuit, described Dr. Blea as: “a nationally known and widely respected equine veterinarian. He is recognized for his clear thinking and fairness in his decision making.”

Under contract arrangements between the CHRB and the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) at the University of California, Davis, the EMD serves as a member of its faculty. CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney said the CHRB worked closely with UC Davis during the process, which was prolonged by the pandemic. A joint panel from UC Davis and the CHRB interviewed candidates and selected Dr. Blea.

“We value this partnership,” added Chaney. “We were fortunate to consider several well-qualified candidates. I am very pleased with the process and the choice. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Blea to make racing safer at this critical time.”

Dr. John Pascoe, SVM executive associate dean, commented: 'We very much look forward to Dr. Blea serving as the next Equine Medical Director and continuing the vision of late Senator Ken Maddy for a robust partnership between the University of California-Davis, the CHRB, and the racing industry to improve the health and welfare of racing horses. Jeff brings a wealth of expertise to the EMD position. His extensive knowledge of racing, equine and racetrack practice, his national leadership in equine and racing organizations, and his commitment to research that improves horse racing assure that California will continue to lead the nation in our collective efforts to ensure safe racing.'

Dr. Blea brings 28 years of veterinary experience with him, and before that he rode briefly as a jockey. He always has been interested in improving horse racing, focusing primarily on equine health and welfare, as evidenced by his leadership nationally with the American Association of Equine Practitioners and regionally with the Southern California Equine Foundation. He served as a director of the Dolly Green Research Foundation from 1999 to 2015. The list of the organizations and programs he has served is long and admirable.

Dr. Blea always has been forthcoming, expressing common sense and fairness, regardless of which side he favored on any given issue.

“As Equine Medical Director,” he said, “I look forward to working with industry stakeholders in further advancing the progressive transformation of horse racing in California with the emphasis on horse safety, welfare, and integrity.”

Dr. Arthur added, “Dr. Blea is an excellent choice to become EMD. He has a broad background in horse racing and is well respected by his colleagues here in California and nationally.”

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View From The Eighth Pole: It’s Silly Season At The California Horse Racing Board

At Thursday's regularly scheduled telephonic meeting of the California Horse Racing Board – where things got a little chippy from time to time – commissioner Oscar Gonzales led a silly, counterproductive fight to delay approval of an agenda item that any right-thinking horse racing regulatory board would have rubber-stamped in a matter of minutes.

The item was simple enough, really nothing more than a housekeeping detail. The board was asked to consider whether to approve an amendment to the CHRB's drug classifications to update the “alphabetical substances list” to align with the Association of Racing Commissioners International Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances. It's a necessary move when ARCI makes modifications to a list that virtually all racing states use. It's done upon the recommendation of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

Gonzales, the board's vice chairman, meandered down a word salad path, saying California should not try to “ramrod” new rules through at a time when the state needs to “tread lightly” because the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national regulatory oversight board created through recently passed federal legislation, is on the horizon.

In so doing, Gonzales went against the recommendation of Scott Chaney, the CHRB's executive director, equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur, and the board's chairman, Dr. Gregory Ferraro, who voted against the delay.

Unfortunately, Gonzales enlisted enough support on what is increasingly becoming a splintered board to get his delay measure passed on a 4-3 vote.

After Gonzales responded to a request from Chaney for guidance on what additional information the board needs to approve the measure next month, Arthur could be heard on the call saying Gonzales' explanation was “crap.”

Gonzales apparently couldn't handle the truth.

“And there you go,” Gonzales said. “There was a profanity, and this is not the first time that Dr. Arthur has chosen very choice words and used vulgarities in a very professional setting. And Dr. Arthur I'd ask you to stand down and please never do that again. Whenever you've not gotten your way, you've attacked this board, you've questioned us, and in many cases you've undermined what we've tried to do on behalf of the horse racing industry. So please put your phone on mute and we'll never hear that from you again.”

Arthur then threw a zinger back at Gonzales.

“Well, my apologies,” he said. “I thought my phone was on mute. But it doesn't change my thoughts. This is silliness.”

The board then took a short break, apparently never having heard such profanity before. My goodness. Crap?

Incidentally, Gonzales is the same CHRB commissioner who led another silly fight last month to not approve a full year's license for the 2021 Los Alamitos Quarter Horse meeting, saying it would be better to only approve the first six months of the year because of concerns he has over safety issues. He won that vote in December but lost on Thursday when the board revisited the issue and approved a full year's license.

What made that exercise so foolish is the fact the CHRB has the authority to shut down any track in the state if they feel racing is unsafe.

Gonzales was appointed to the CHRB in September 2019 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing the very real threat of a recall election, something that happened in 2003 when a petition drive called for a special election in which incumbent Gov. Gray Davis was ousted in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I think it's crap that there's no way to recall a CHRB commissioner.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

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View From The Eighth Pole: Veering Off Into La-La Land

I seriously doubt if trainer Bob Baffert or anyone in his stable knowingly gave scopolamine to Justify prior to his victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 7, 2018. But the drug showed up above the threshold limit in post-race testing for both the eventual Triple Crown winner and for Hoppertunity, another Baffert runner, who won the G3 Tokyo City Cup the following day at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

Scopolamine has found its way into California hay supplies via jimson weed, so it's not unreasonable to conclude the positive test was a result of environmental contamination. It's also unlikely that the drug's presence at a low yet impermissible level had any impact on performance.

But rules are rules.

According to California Horse Racing Board rule 1859.5 (Disqualification Upon Positive Test Finding), a positive test of drugs in classes 1, 2 or 3 (as defined by the CHRB) “shall require disqualification of the horse from the race in which it participated and forfeiture of any purse … regardless of culpability for the condition of the horse.”

In April 2018, scopolamine was a Class 3 drug under CHRB rules.

CHRB members, meeting in executive session on Aug. 23, 2018, circumvented those rules by voting to not pursue the matter, acceding to the recommendations of the CHRB's equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur, and the board's then-executive director, Rick Baedeker.

There is an old expression that “we don't know what we don't know.” In this case, we don't know how many previous times the board took such actions, stopping an alleged medication violation before it reached the stewards for a hearing. We do know the CHRB has prosecuted numerous cases of positive drug tests that any rational person would assume resulted from environmental contamination.

So what was different about this case?

For starters, by the time this came before the CHRB in August 2018, Justify had a) won the Triple Crown, b) had his breeding rights sold for a record $75 million, and c) been retired from racing. He was also trained by a Hall of Famer who had become the “face” of the sport.

Additionally, there was a can of worms labeled “Derby Points” that some might try to open if Justify was disqualified from the Santa Anita Derby, a race that gave the son of Scat Daddy the points needed to qualify for the Kentucky Derby field.

So the CHRB voted behind closed doors to end the investigation and successfully tamped down what could have been an embarrassing situation – until a September 2019 report by Joe Drape in the New York Times exposed what had happened.

There's another old expression that “it's not the crime, it's the coverup.” Scopolamine positives have been called before in California. Trainers were not sanctioned but their horses disqualified. No one likes when that happens, but it's a matter of following the rules. Maybe the rules need to be changed to accommodate environmental contaminations, but until that happens it isn't right for regulators to circumvent the rules they don't like.

The New York Times article hit as California racing was trying to recover from the high-profile equine fatality spike at Santa Anita earlier in the year that thrust the sport in the national spotlight in a most unflattering way. The handling of the Justify case only poured gasoline onto the regulatory fire.

The controversies riled the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom and dominoes started falling at the CHRB. Chuck Winner had already stepped down as board chairman when the Justify story broke. Vice chair Madeline Auerbach resigned from the board when she was passed over to chair the organization. Executive director Baedeker announced that he was retiring and other staff positions changed. New appointees came from outside the industry and without direct investment in racing or conflicts of interest.

Mick Ruis, who owned Santa Anita Derby runner-up Bolt d'Oro, sued the CHRB in January 2020, claiming he was entitled to the $600,000 first-place money from the race. In July, Ruis reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit when the CHRB said it would file a complaint to conduct a purse disqualification hearing on Justify. That hearing, which also included a complaint filed on Hoppertunity's positive test, was conducted on Oct. 29.

Here's where things start veering off into La-La Land.

The three stewards, John Herbuveaux, Kim Sawyer and Ron Church, did their due diligence sifting through the evidence and testimony. They put together a lengthy findings of fact and timeline, including making note that scopolamine changed from a Class 3 drug to Class 4 months after the Santa Anita Derby and Tokyo City Cup were run. The stewards did all the things you would expect them to do when conducting a hearing of this type and then making a determination.

Then they took the ultimate copout. No matter what the evidence was, no matter what the rules stated, they dismissed the complaint “because the CHRB has already ruled on this matter, in executive session, at the Aug. 23, 2018, meeting.”

Are you kidding me?

Unless this was some kind of carefully orchestrated kabuki theater involving CHRB members, staff and stewards to go through the motions of a hearing in order to satisfy the terms of the settlement agreement with Ruis – which seems highly unlikely – the final order by the stewards is mind-boggling.

If the stewards felt as though the matter was dismissed in August 2018, why did they go to the trouble of conducting a hearing? Couldn't they have sought clarification from legal counsel at the CHRB as to whether or not the matter was settled?

The order by the stewards may not be the final word. Attorney Darrell Vienna, representing Ruis, pointed out that California's Business and Professions Code, section 19517, states the CHRB “may overrule any steward's decision other than a decision to disqualify a horse due to a foul or a riding or driving infraction in a race, if a preponderance of the evidence indicates any of the following:

“1) The steward mistakenly interpreted the law.

“2) New evidence of a convincing nature is produced

“3) The best interests of racing and the state may be better served.

“…Furthermore, any decision pertaining to the distribution of purses may be changed only if a claim is made in writing to the board by one of the involved owners or trainers, and a preponderance of the evidence clearly indicates to the board that one or more of the grounds for protest, as outlined in regulations adopted by the board, has been substantiated.”

Within hours of the decision by the stewards to dismiss the complaint, Vienna filed a claim with the board on behalf of Ruis, asking for the CHRB to overrule the stewards.

The ball is back in the CHRB's court, but these are not the same CHRB members who opted to bury this matter in August 2018.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

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