Del Mar executives speaking about the meet at Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting did not initially mention the purse cuts when making their standard presentation for licensure, which the CHRB unanimously granted.

But Del Mar's president, Josh Rubinstein, detailed the reductions when directly queried about the state of purses by CHRB vice chair Oscar Gonzales.

“We have reduced purses slightly for this fall meet,” Rubinstein said. “[We're] coming off two years of record wagering at Del Mar in 2021 and '22, and what we've seen nationally this year across the board in the industry, handle has been down eight of nine months.

“We think there are multiple reasons for that,” Rubinstein continued. “My own personal view is we're in a fairly soft economy right now–higher interest rates, inflation concerns–and there's just less discretionary income that people have. So we are matching purse levels to what we believe will be the handle generation for the meet.”

Rubinstein termed the cuts as “a market correction from where we were the last two years. So depending on the race, anywhere from 3% to 11%, but still some of the highest purses in the country during this time.”

Tom Robbins, Del Mar's executive vice president for racing and industry relations, told the CHRB that the 15-stakes schedule “remains intact” compared to last fall's meet.

Rubinstein noted that the fall season at Del Mar is traditionally a scaled-back version of racing compared to the track's nationally prominent summertime flagship meet that extends over two months. Instead of some 2,000 horses being stabled on the grounds, there are more like 350-400, with the remainder of runners shipping in from Santa Anita Park or Los Alamitos Race Course.

To help defray the costs of travel, Del Mar will be paying trainers a $250 stipend on each racing day they participate in the fall meet.

“We realize it's expensive for trainers to come down to Del Mar,” Rubinstein said.

Del Mar will race Fridays (8 races), plus Saturdays and Sundays (nine races). A Thanksgiving Thursday holiday program will also be carded.

Horses will be allowed to ship in for stabling Sunday, Nov. 5, the day after the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. Del Mar opens for morning training Nov. 6.

Del Mar has scheduled November/December fall meets regularly since 2014, when the track filled a void in the Southern California racing schedule after Hollywood Park's 2013 closure. Prior to 2014, Del Mar's only other attempt at autumn racing was a 20-date October meet in 1967.

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The topics and speakers at the clinic include:
• Overview of the California Thoroughbred Industry, presented by Bill Nader (Thoroughbred Owners of California, President & CEO)
• Horse Owner or Horse of the Year Owner: Understanding Racing Office Policy & Procedures, presented by Tom Robbins (Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Director of Racing), Kosta & Stephanie Hronis (Hronis Racing) and John Sadler (trainer)
• Thoroughbred Partnerships, presented by Billy Koch (Little Red Feather Racing, Founder and Managing Partner)
• Barn Tour of Multiple Kentucky Derby Winning Trainer Doug O'Neill, hosted by Doug O'Neill
• Legal Considerations of Thoroughbred Ownership, presented by Bing I. Bush, Jr. APC (The Law Offices of Bing I. Bush, Jr., Founder)
• Role of the Racetrack Veterinarian, presented by Ryan Carpenter, DVM, MS, DAVCS (Equine Medical Center, Cypress, California: Specialist in Large Animal Veterinary Surgery)

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The move adds 25% in purse earnings to runners who fit the simple specifications of the program, is available to all dirt competitors in maiden allowance races, all California-bred maiden allowance races or any maiden-claiming race at the $62,500 level or above. The maiden must come from the barn of a trainer who has no more than 60 horses stabled in Southern California.

“It is simply a monetary incentive for owners and trainers to run in essential races that help solidify our racing cards throughout the meet,” said Tom Robbins, Del Mar's executive vice president for racing.

The track has also raised its maiden allowance purses for '23 to a California record $82,000. Its 25% maiden bonus elevates that purse to $102,500. The other races that qualify for the maiden bonus program are maiden-claiming $150,000 ($57,000 purse, that rises to $71,250 with the bonus), maiden-claiming $80,000 ($50,000 purse, that climbs to $62,500) and maiden-claiming $62,500 ($46,000 purse, that goes up to $57,500). The bonuses apply to horses that earn purse money for finishes from first through fifth.

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Del Mar Thoroughbred Club projected its most lucrative racing season ever last summer, then backed it up with a record-breaking meet that saw purse levels total above $25 million for the session resulting in an unprecedented average purse payout of more than $800,000 per day. Those numbers, the highest in California racing history, are in the track's sites once again with the aim to go even bigger for this year's 31-day stand, which will be the iconic track's 84th season.

As it did in 2022, the seaside oval will present 39 major stakes, six of which are designated as Breeders' Cup Challenges races, offering a total of $8,275,000 during its eight-week summer run. It also will continue its “Ship & Win” program to attract more horses to come and take part in the summer festivities and continue with its well-received Maiden Dirt Bonus plan, which was fully implemented last summer.

Del Mar's summer meet set records in 2022 with more than $18.7 million in daily average handle and a robust 9.1 average field size, ranking it high up among the nation's elite racing programs.

“We were absolutely thrilled by the huge response last year from our horsemen and horsewomen and our fans,” said Del Mar's executive vice president and director of racing Tom Robbins. “The racing throughout the summer was extremely safe and first-rate. Obviously, 2022 set a very high bar on all levels; we're excited for the challenge of continuing these very strong trends.”

“Del Mar is the pinnacle of racing in the United States,” said Thoroughbred Owners of California chairman Gary Fenton. “And the success is enjoyed by and trickles down to all of California. Every summer gets bigger and better and it's all due to the tremendous work put in by DMTC and our horsemen and horsewomen.”

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Fueled by record California purses of over $800,000 per day, field size has averaged 9.90 for turf races and 8.83 for main track events. Together, they combine for a nation leading 9.30 horses per contest, well above last year's average of 8.45. Through the first 15 days of the summer season, total wagering is $297,044,168 for a daily average of $19,802,945, an increase of 6.7% from 2021. On-track handle of $25,580,826 represents growth of 12.7% from last year's figures. Out-of-state numbers registered at $152,542,303, up 8.2% from 2021.

Total on-track attendance of 155,917 through 15 days is a substantial increase of 24% from last year over the same time period.

“After four weeks we couldn't be more pleased with our results,” said Tom Robbins, Del Mar's Executive Vice President of Racing. “Horsemen and women's participation has been outstanding as we continue to strive to present safe and competitive racing at the highest level. We hope all our stakeholders' efforts have led to greater customer satisfaction and appreciation.”

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The 82nd summer season at the seaside oval welcomed back racing fans who participated enthusiastically to help set a Del Mar record for daily average wagering of $18.38 million, the highest in the track's long history. Top-of-the-line racing flowed daily with a highly competitive jockey colony and a deeply experienced training corps putting on a show each afternoon that was enhanced by some of the sweetest weather Del Mar has experienced in many seasons.

“Terrific, simply terrific,” said Del Mar CEO Joe Harper. “We had our fans come back this year and we put on a show of shows for them. The racing was first-rate, the wagering was over the moon and Del Mar was Del Mar again in all its glory. Special, very special.”

The handle numbers raced past an impressive 2020 racing season when “stuck at home” horse players went all out and set a record for daily average handle at $17.32 million. The total handle for the 2021 meet was $569.98 million for 31 days of racing. The 2020 total handle – for 27 days of racing – was $467.60 million.

Field size, often a key driver of wagering, improved as well.  In 2020, the track had an exceptional 8.36 horses per race, one of the best marks in the country. In 2021 – running four more days this year than last (31 vs. 27) – that number rose to 8.45.

“Our horsemen and horsewomen were excellent in responding to the goals we set out to bolster our Southern California horse population,” said Del Mar executive vice president of racing Tom Robbins. “We substantially increased purses and incentive bonuses and they replied in fine fashion. When you realize that other meets across the country are struggling with horse population, we feel we're fortunate to receive the strong participation form owners and trainers coming. Our core racing product was excellent.”

The track's popular “Ship & Win” program in its 11th season offered its highest engagement bonus at $4,000 in addition to 50% and 40% purse supplements. It attracted 181 horses from across the country – as opposed to 104 in 2020 – with the majority of them owned and trained by Southern Californians.

Racing fans got to see some stellar performances by potential champions across the summer. Old pro United took down the Eddie Read Stakes; Shedaresthedevil sparkled in the Clement L. Hirsch; Princess Grace took the Yellow Ribbon handily; Astronaut, Mo Forza and Going Global bested their competition on the turf course. Tripoli rose to the top in the TVG Pacific Classic. Medina Spirit made his return to racing memorable. Flightline wowed the crowd on closing weekend. Grace Adler and Pinehurst proved to be juvenile stars.

“Another amazing summer in the books”, said Thoroughbred Owners of California, Gary Fenton. “A big thank you to DMTC. After months of planning and hard work they hit a grand slam for us and continue to provide our membership with an incredible racing experience.”

Del Mar will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 3 for the start of its 15-day Bing Crosby Season which this year will feature the 38th running of the Breeders' Cup Championships on Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6.

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The Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic, the shore track's centerpiece since it was introduced in 1991, has been raised back to its original level of $1,000,000 for its Aug. 21 renewal. Additionally, the track's conclusion to its 3-year-old grass series – the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby slated for September 4 – has had its purse increased to $250,000 for its 77th edition.

The TVG Pacific Classic was scheduled to be presented this year for the 31st time with a purse of $750,000, which was an increase from its COVID-affected 2020 running when the mile and one quarter was dropped to $500,000. The Del Mar Derby ran with a $200,000 purse in 2020 and was designated to do so again this year prior to this current boost for the nine-furlong turf test.

Both raises put the races on equal footing with their 2019 levels. Prior to the meet, Del Mar had increased the values of virtually all of its other stakes from 2020 to equivalent – or in some cases higher – purse standards than the ones that existed in 2019.

“We had fairly aggressive projections going into the meet and I'm pleased to say our business has exceeded those numbers,” said Tom Robbins, a Del Mar executive vice president and its director of racing and industry relations. “We are thrilled to restore our signature race back to its $1 million level, where it had been and certainly belongs.”

Since 2010, Del Mar has joined with its broadcast partner TVG to augment the TVG Pacific Classic and keep it at the forefront of major races nationally.

“We have a spectacular partnership with Del Mar and the TOC and our team at TVG is very excited that our sponsorship of the Pacific Classic is one of the reasons for this purse increase,” said Kevin Grigsby, SVP and executive producer of TVG & FanDuel. “Over the last decade TVG has become one of the largest sponsors of horse racing in the U.S. Along with our investments in distribution and technology, it is part of our commitment to reinvest in the sport.”

The track always works in accord with the Thoroughbred Owners of California in setting and maintaining both its stakes schedule and its overall purse structure. Their chairman of the board, Gary Fenton, addressed the stakes purse increases:

“Thanks to our members, horsemen and horsewomen and the hard work from DMTC we're off to a tremendous start. With added purse account funds we felt returning all stakes, such as Del Mar's signature race, back to their pre-COVID purse levels was appropriate. The momentum of continued purse increases in 2021 with hopefully more to come in 2022 is a great sign of the health of Southern California racing.”

The TVG Pacific Classic is a “Win and You're In” race entitling its champion a guaranteed spot in this year's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, a race that will be run at a mile and a quarter at Del Mar on Saturday, Nov. 6.

The Del Mar Derby follows the Oceanside Stakes and the Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes to make up the longstanding trio of turf test for soph runners at the seaside oval. The La Jolla will be run on Sunday, August 8.

Del Mar's 82nd season will continue to race on a Thursday-to-Sunday schedule through to its closing day, Labor Day Monday, Sept. 6.

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Average daily overnight purses for the 2021 season will be increased by over 30% as compared to 2019 levels during which the track operated an uninterrupted racing schedule. With the increases announced today, Del Mar expects to average more than $700,000 a day in purses this summer.

The “Ship and Win” program for horses entering from outside California is doubling both its participation fee for owners (from $2,000 to $4,000) and its purse bonus from 20% to 40% for all eligible races. The purse bonus will be upped to 50% for dirt races in the “Ship and Win” program.

“We've got some real momentum in California as we prepare for the 2021 season and, based on the inquiries we're receiving, owners and trainers are taking notice,” said Del Mar's executive vice president for racing, Tom Robbins. “Our partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners of California, TVG and The Stronach Group has us on track for one of the most lucrative seasons in Del Mar history, which will be a boost for California racing and help set the stage for us to host the Breeders' Cup here again in November.”

The 2021 purse enhancements are due in part to a partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners of California, FanDuel Group's TVG horse racing television network and advance-deposit wagering platform and The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing. The multi-party agreement, announced earlier this year, is expected to inject up to $15 million into California Thoroughbred purses and programs over the next two years.

In addition, Del Mar's total handle for its 2020 racing seasons was well above initial projections – despite fans not being allowed onsite – adding funding to the purse increases for the upcoming live racing season.

Among the increases for overnights, maiden special weight races will jump from $55,000 during the 2020 summer meet to $70,000 this summer, maiden-claiming $20,000 races rise from $19,000 last year to $25,000 and open $40,000 claiming races purses will increase from $37,000 to $47,000.

As an example of how these increases affect the “Ship and Win” program, a maiden special weight race on the main track this summer will carry a purse of $105,000 ($70,000 plus a 50% bonus) plus a $4,000 starter bonus for out of state horses that qualify for the program.

“Anticipation for Del Mar's race meetings is always high among horsemen but it will be even more so this year with the increased purse structure announced today,” said Gary Fenton, chairman of the TOC. “We look forward to continuing our work with the state's key racing stakeholders to further strengthen California's year-round racing program.”

Track officials also noted that Del Mar's 2021 stakes schedule will be released in the coming weeks and that purse levels will be raised for several of its summer stakes races.

Del Mar will offer a 31-day summer racing season this year after racing 27 days in 2020. It will open with Saturday and Sunday cards (July 17-18), then switch to a Thursday through Sunday schedule for the balance of the meet. The summer season will close, as usual, on Labor Day, Monday, September 6.

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“A terrific meet on all levels,” said Del Mar's CEO, Joe Harper.  “First and foremost, the horses and people who care for them were safe.  Wagering, which fuels the industry's economic engine, exceeded expectations and the racing product was once again topnotch.”

Average field size was 8.1 runners per race, a healthy increase of 9.5% from 2019's number of 7.4. A total of 131 races were run, compared to 114 last year.  Grass racing, including the seven graded stakes that make up the “fall turf festival,” once again highlighted the Bing Crosby Season.  In total, races on the grass produced an impressive average filed size of 8.7.

“Outstanding support from our horsemen and horsewomen,” said executive vice president of racing, Tom Robbins. “The racing was extremely competitive and, judging by our handle numbers, horseplayers responded.  We raised purse levels prior to the meet and it's gratifying to see that pay dividends.”

Racing during the seventh Bing Crosby Season was first-rate and no more so than the track's “turf festival” emphasis on its closing Thanksgiving weekend when seven graded stakes were run on the green and drew 20 runners from the east to participate. Champion trainer Chad Brown was especially successful with his horses, winning four of the stakes including the track's two Grade I races – the Hollywood Derby with Domestic Spending and the Matriarch Stakes with Viadera.

The meet's riding and training champions looked familiar: they were the same pair that led the session last year. Jockey Abel Cedillo easily outdistanced his rivals with 19 wins during the 15-day meet. Conditioner Richard Baltas sent out 11 winners after having won last year's crown with the same 11 firsts.

Juddmonte Farms was the leading owner for money won at the session with $256,000, while owners Perry and Ramona Bass won the most races – five all told.

“To follow up our highly successful summer meet with these excellent fall season results, on both the safety and business side, is a credit to the Del Mar team and the partnership we have with industry stakeholders,” said DMTC president and COO, Josh Rubinstein.  “It has obviously been a very unusual year and we have dearly missed our fans. But we have hopes that 2021 will bring us all back toward normal and let racing shine again in its usual fashion at Del Mar.”

Del Mar now will look forward to hosting the Breeders' Cup on November 5 and 6, 2021. It will be the 38th running of the championship celebration that features 14 races worth $31 million. The seaside track previously hosted a record-breaking edition of the event in 2017.

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In a nutshell, the release shared this not insignificant titbit: The track had wrapped a 16-day race meet, and a one month and 20-day training period, with zero fatalities. Since the beginning of the winter/spring meet last December, there have been five racing fatalities–zero on the main dirt track–from 5,069 individual starts.

The resulting ratio for the year of an average of 0.98 fatalities per 1,000 starters made Santa Anita “currently the safest racetrack in the nation,” according to the release. The national fatality rate is 1.53 per 1000 starts.

This is quite the reversal from 18 months prior, when Santa Anita was dubbed a “death trap.” Last year at the facility, the fatality rate was 3.01 per 1000 starts.

As it was, the news disappeared somewhat into the ether–but not by those at the front line.

“It is great to see what we’re doing, and what’s being done, that there are positive results,” said racetrack veterinarian Jeff Blea, past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

The news also followed on the heels of another successful Del Mar summer meet where the facility saw only one racing fatality for a ratio of 0.42 per 1000 starts, and two training fatalities.

Stepping back to look at the year thus far through Oct. 28, California as a whole is operating at a rate of 1.64 fatalities per 1000 starts (including Quarter Horse starts). Over the 2019-2020 fiscal year–the basis of the California Horse Racing Board’s (CHRB) annual reports–the state-wide fatality rate was 1.4 fatalities per 1000 starts (including QH starts). It should be noted that Quarter Horse deaths constitute a disproportionate percentage of overall fatalities in the state.

Zeroing in on Los Alamitos–the subject of an emergency CHRB meeting in July due to a spike in catastrophic injuries–the facility concluded its two-week day-time summer meet with zero Thoroughbred racing and training fatalities.

“It would be an understatement for me to say that Los Alamitos has doubled its efforts because it’s done more than that,” said Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association, of the safety reforms the track has instituted since July. Indeed, since that emergency meeting, there has been one Thoroughbred and five Quarter Horse racing fatalities, and zero training fatalities, according to the CHRB.

Of course, none of this is playing out in a vacuum, with trainers, breeders and owners in California operating under what California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) medical director Rick Arthur says is the most stringent regulatory environment in the country–in some regards, globally. Economic constraints are an obvious tradeoff.

Earlier in the year, the TDN reported how reduced horse inventory at Santa Anita had a knock-on effect over field size and handle, while some backstretch workers had even turned to Uber-driving to supplement their income–and all this before the pandemic hit.

“Everybody is glad that the heat is off us,” said Eoin Harty, president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT). “Whatever protocols have been implemented are obviously working.”

But the COVID crisis has only heightened economic pressures on trainers, he added.

“The biggest concern going forward is the purse funds, how we generate them, how we elevate them.” Harty said. “It’s hard enough to win a race in California as it is,” he added. “And when you can potentially go somewhere a little easier for a lot more money, it becomes very inviting.”

Nor should the industry rest on its laurels when it comes to the downward trend in fatalities, cautioned Blea.

“They’re racehorses and they’re athletes, and because they’re athletes, they’re always at risk of getting hurt,” he said, emphasizing the element of unpredictability that working with horses brings. “Anything can happen. It can happen out in the field, in a stall. It can happen out on the racetrack.”

“Fractures Just Don’t Happen Overnight”

   The arc of regulatory change in California these past 18 months has been broadly encompassing: tougher scrutiny during both training and race-day, more rigorous pre-race examinations, stricter medication policies, whip use reform, and greater public transparency of even low-level medication violations.

Consequently, many struggle to identify solitary reasons behind the decline in fatalities–a multifactorial issue as it is. Rather, they look at the gestalt of a wholesale cultural shift.

“You can have the greatest procedures and protocols, but if you don’t get stakeholder buy-in, it’s not worth a whole lot,” said Josh Rubinstein, president at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, where the track’s high fatality rate during the summer of 2016 precipitated a comprehensive set of successful safety reforms.

“There’s been a change in culture, in a good way,” Rubinstein added. “For us, it’s been four years of continued improvement in safety.”

That said, some noted individual factors peculiar to the California experiment. Tom Robbins, Del Mar’s executive vice president of racing and industry relations, is quick to sing the praises of track superintendent Dennis Moore, whose expertise is shared among various Southern California tracks.

“Dennis came on board early 2017,” said Robbins, “and was given the green light to do anything that he felt was important to do.”

Santa Anita management emphasize a fairly new position: That of the “vet monitor” working alongside the “secondary vet” who scrutinizes the horses–typically from the finish line–on raceday.

The secondary veterinarian’s view of the horses on raceday is fairly limited, explained Amy Zimmerman, senior vice president and executive producer at Santa Anita. “As the horse goes around the backside, they lose sight of them. The only place they’re able to watch them is on the big screen monitor which is just showing one horse at a time.”

The new vet monitor, however, has access to feeds from the various cameras around the track, all of which are hooked up to a series of monitors in one room.

“What we did is mirror what they have in a TV truck,” Zimmerman said.

If the vet monitor spots a potential problem, they can request an isolated–and non-public–camera feed on a specific horse, and then if necessary, ask the on-track veterinarian to conduct an evaluation of that horse, Zimmerman added.

“Every person has only two sets of eyes, and they can only look at one thing at a time,” said Zimmerman, the brainchild of the additional monitor. “This allows more eyes on safety from people who are qualified to do that.”

Indeed, the vet monitor has a basis of comparison for many of the horses having also been involved in the pre-race examination program.

“It also is giving them the ability to watch the horses on the gallop out,” Zimmerman added. “If they don’t like the way a horse finishes, they can go back and look at [the horse] the next day or two days later and see how it really came back.”

According to G.D. Hieronymus, Keeneland’s director of broadcast services, the track will have a similar position in place “hopefully” by the spring. “This is something that all tracks need,” he said.

Many experts will say, however, that a problem has gone too far if a state vet scratches a horse the day of a race. Which is where Santa Anita’s two new imaging technologies–the Longmile Positron Emission Tomography (MILE-PET) Scan machine and standing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit–appear to have played no small part.

“Disease is a process–fractures just don’t happen overnight,” said SoCal-based private veterinarian Ryan Carpenter, who earlier this year said that these modalities have “100% saved lives.”

“When you can understand bone remodeling and you can understand the disease taking place over time, then you have the ability to intervene before the fracture occurs. That’s where our ultimate goal is as veterinarians,” Carpenter said. “And that’s what the PET scan and MRI has helped us to do.”

Carpenter explained that prior to the arrival at Santa Anita of these two units, he and the other researchers expected to conduct only one or two scans a week.

“I know they’ve got four MRIs to do today and tomorrow,” he said, earlier last week. In all, they have conducted 164 PET and 89 MRI scans thus far.

“We’re doing more of them than we ever imagined,” he said.

Challenging Year

What isn’t imagined for many trainers and owners in California–especially those operating at the lower end of the economic ladder–is the weight of the additional constraints, financial and otherwise, that the past 18 months have introduced to operating a barn in California.

“This has been a very challenging year for everybody,” said Arthur, admitting that some of the measures–such as the medication restrictions during training–constitute a “paradigm” shift across the backstretch community.

“I don’t know any other state that’s currently regulating medications during training,” said Arthur. As such, “There is a transition period from the way they used to do things to the way they have to do things today,” he added.

During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, 0.2% of work bloods–required for removal from the vet’s list–resulted in a Class 1, 2 or 3 medication positive, and 2.6% resulted in a lesser Class 4 or 5 finding. During Out-of-Competition testing, 1.4% of the samples had a Class 4 or 5 positive.

“A large number of our findings would not be a violation in other states,” Arthur explained. “And those finds are not a reflection of drug or medication abuse, but really how tightly California regulates drugs and medications.”

Have some of the reforms gone too far?

“I think it is potentially unfair,” he said, of a statutory change to come into effect Jan. 1 whereby drug positives confirmed through split sampling–or even earlier if the licensee declines to request split-sample testing–will be posted on the CHRB website before complaints are issued. “Horseracing is a very competitive business for trainers and owners. I think a lot of people jump to conclusions.”

While the reforms had already loosened the soils around the state industry’s economic roots, the pandemic has taken a hacksaw to the trunks, with a marked shift towards ADW platforms that, when compared to wagering at brick and mortar facilities, funnels fewer funds into the state’s purse account.

As the TDN reported earlier in October, compared to a comparable eight-month period in 2018, the number of races this year has declined 30%, and while the overall handle has declined 18.8%, purse revenues have dropped more than 26%.

“The cost of doing business is going up and the purses available to make sense of the economic model are not commensurate with the rate of inflation of horse ownership,” said Eclipse Thoroughbred Partnerships president Aron Wellman.

And while Wellman said that he “applauds the powers that be for putting out the fires,” given the harsh economics of running a solvent operation in California at the moment, some of the measures, he added, are a “little too extreme.”

Between the reforms and the cost of doing business, “It’s a balancing act,” said Wellman.

For a number of other stakeholders interviewed for this story, the fix is simple: Uniform standards across all states so that trainers and their owners are operating on a level playing field.

In that regard, “what you’re seeing with federal legislation, and other states such as New York and Kentucky–they’re going to be implementing the same things as we have here,” said Rubinstein, pointing towards the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, and the proposed whip reforms in New York.

“As challenging as it has been in California,” Rubinstein added, “we feel like, as a group we’re doing the heavy lifting early on here, and we’re ecstatic that others are attempting to catch up.”

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