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California First to Sign Voluntary Agreement, Pay HISA 2023 Fees

The Golden State is the first jurisdiction in the country to sign a voluntary agreement with the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) to continue performing a host of vital roles when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug control program goes into effect Mar. 27, according to a statement Friday by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB).

In another first among the nation's racing jurisdictions, the CHRB also agrees to pay HISA's 2023 fee assessment. The total figure for the state is more than $6.7 million. However, after HISA's credits have been applied, the final amount that California owes HISA comes out to roughly $1.5 million, according to the voluntary agreement.

“The CHRB has been enforcing and complying with safety regulations that HISA introduced July 1, 2022. Under the new agreement, the CHRB will implement rules under the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which are scheduled to go into effect March 27, 2023,” the CHRB's Friday statement read.

Under the voluntary agreement–shared by CHRB executive director Scott Chaney with TDN–the CHRB agrees to continue performing certain tasks for the HISA Authority and for HIWU, including the collection of equine samples, and the testing of these samples at the University of California, Davis's Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Laboratory.

In turn, U.C. Davis's “Maddy Lab” also becomes the first laboratory to officially sign onto HIWU's drug testing program.

Because state racing commissions and their respective industries already pay for many of HIWU's anti-doping and medication control program components, HISA is offering credits as subsidies to its annual fees.

According to California's voluntary agreement, the commission's total “state testing credit” will be $4.7 million. This includes some $1.2 million for sample collection and $3.5 million for laboratory costs such as race-day testing, research, and the analysis of samples from other states.

California also receives an additional out-of-competition testing credit estimated to be around $450,000 annually.

“If the costs for out-of-competition testing outside of Race Day pursuant to this Paragraph exceed $450,000 at the end of 2023, the Commission will receive an additional credit for 2024 in the amount of the excess costs,” the voluntary agreement reads.

“The CHRB is proud of our work and record in safety and animal welfare, and therefore we want to have a role in shaping policy going forward,” said Chaney in the statement issued Friday. “We have partnered and supported the national effort from the beginning and appreciate the dedication of the Authority and HIWU.”

The CHRB's statement adds: “The CHRB and representatives of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, 1st Racing, the Thoroughbred Owners of California, and UC Davis have been advising HISA all along, promoting California's strict regulatory program, and partly for that reason the federal rules are similar to those in California, meaning participants in California horse racing will need to make fewer adjustments than some of their counterparts in other racing jurisdictions.”

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Study on the Impact of Training on Bone Robustness in Racehorses

University of California Davis released new research in the journal Scientific Reports exploring the relationship between training and bone health in racehorses in the US. The study reports that high-speed and intensity exercise may be associated with more damage and reduced robustness in injured lower leg bones in racehorses.

Among the findings, UC Davis's Sarah Shaffer and her colleagues explored the relationship between exercise and bone damage, while examining the proximal sesamoid bone (a bone in the lower leg) during the necropsy of 20 racehorses. The authors examined the fractured and intact proximal sesamoid bones from 10 horses who had suffered fatal fractures. They compared the bone mineral density, bone volume, and microdamage in this sample to intact proximal sesamoid bones of 10 control horses. Case horses had a bone lesion with high levels of microdamage and low bone volume. These observations were used to estimate the rate of remodeling occurring in the sesamoid bones.

The authors also modeled the relationship between bone damage and remodeling, and exercise intensity, time off from exercise (layups), and exercise levels between two and 10 months before the racehorse died. For injured horses, damage at the lesion site was associated with high-speed workouts in the four months prior to death, as well as greater time between races while the horse was in active training. Frequent high-speed exercise before death was also associated with lower bone density at the lesion site. However, at other locations, higher rates of remodeling were associated with more cumulative races in the 10 months prior to death.

To view the complete study, click here.

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Gregson Foundation Awards Five Scholarships at Annual Meeting

The Edwin J. Gregson Foundation awarded 25 students–including five for the current 2022/23 school year–academic scholarships during the organization's annual board meeting held Dec. 2. The five new students, who attend a variety of schools including the University of California at Davis, were awarded a total of $23,000.

The new scholarship recipients join the 20 students already in the program and who were given continuing grants for the current year. Those students, who are studying at such universities as Cornell, Iowa State, the University of Oklahoma, Stanford, Tulane, and UCLA, were given a total of $164,000.

During the meeting, the foundation also added longtime owner Bill Strauss to its board of directors. Strauss is probably best known for his ownership interests in Grade I winners Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Turbulent Descent (Congrats) and Mizdirection (Mizzen Mast). Professionally, Strauss has been involved with Shari's Berries and Pro Flowers, and he and his brother, Jeffrey, own the Pamplemousse Grille in Solana Beach, across the street from Del Mar racetrack.

The Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, named in memory of the late trainer Edwin J. Gregson, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established to develop programs to benefit and enhance the quality of life of California thoroughbred horse racing's backstretch workers and their family members.

For more information please visit: www.gregsonfoundation.com.

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Wednesday Hearing on Stay of Blea Suspension

California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director Jeff Blea, sidelined from that role since early January, is headed to Los Angeles County Superior Court Wednesday, seeking a stay on the California Veterinary Medical Board's interim suspension of his veterinary license.

If the court doesn't grant a stay on the interim suspension–pending a formal hearing on the merits of the veterinary board's accusations against him–Blea asks the court to determine whether in the interim he can resume his duties as equine medical director and as a member of the Anti-Doping and Medication Committee under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, according to an ex parte application filed Monday.

Late last month, Blea filed a writ of mandate with the LA County Superior Court seeking to formally lift the veterinary board's interim suspension. Blea's attorney, George Wallace, explained that another purpose of the legal action was to potentially delay a formal hearing on the merits of the veterinary board's accusations against Blea to allow the LA County Superior Court to weigh in first.

The February court filing also sought declarative and injunctive relief, arguing that the position of equine medical director does not require an active license, and that Blea, UC Davis and the CHRB will continue to suffer “irreparable harm” if California horse racing's head veterinarian remains unable to fulfil his duties. That LA County Superior Court hearing has yet to be scheduled.

UC Davis placed Blea on administrative leave from his role as equine medical director Jan 12. That position is first appointed by the dean of UC Davis, which then contracts with the CHRB for the appointee's services.

Since then, UC Davis has used various school personnel to fulfil the equine medical director's duties for the CHRB.

Early this year, the veterinary board successfully sought an interim suspension of Blea's veterinary license for a number of alleged offenses, including purportedly administering medications to racehorses without a prior examination, without forming a diagnosis and without medical necessity.

The veterinary board also claimed that Blea presents a “danger to public health, safety and welfare,” due to his oversight as equine medical director of the high-profile investigation into the death of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico), the Kentucky Derby winner who collapsed and died after a scheduled workout Dec. 6 at Santa Anita.

The necropsy and postmortem review of Medina Spirit's death is now complete, with the cause of death undetermined. The executive associate dean of UC Davis's School of Veterinary Medicine ultimately oversaw the necropsy examination.

According to various leading veterinary medical experts, the veterinary board's accusations leveled against Blea consist largely of lax record keeping.

They also suggest that the veterinary board's investigation potentially failed to account for the unusual nature of veterinary practice on the backstretch, where veterinarians–even those with multiple barns under their care–can build the sort of daily relationship with their animals absent from traditional small animal practice.

The formal hearing on the merits of the veterinary board's accusations has not yet been scheduled.

Monday's court filing emphasizes the highly unusual nature of the interim suspension against Blea, who hasn't practiced private veterinary medicine since assuming the equine medical director position in June of last year.

“Dr. Blea is the only veterinarian since at least 2019 that the Veterinary Medical Board has deemed to be such a threat to public safety and well-being that it has sought to suspend his license to practice without proceeding to a full hearing on the merits of its Accusation case,” the filing states.

The ex parte application also delves into the jurisdictional turf war that has emerged between the veterinary board and the CHRB. Both wield regulatory oversight of backstretch veterinarians. The question of each is: How much?

“The Veterinary Medical Board is seeking to discipline Dr. Blea for practices and procedures that all fall within the bounds of known, settled, and accepted practices within the zones that fall within the jurisdiction of the CHRB, and under which racetrack veterinarians have been operating for years with no notice from the Veterinary Medical Board that it has other, conflicting ideas about appropriate practice,” the filing states.

According to the filing, CHRB chair Greg Ferraro, who formerly served on the Veterinary Medical Board, has issued a joint declaration explaining that the veterinary board is basing the bulk of its accusation “on misconceptions of how veterinary medicine is practiced in the racetrack environment (which is more analogous to an agricultural or herd practice in many cases than it is to a general small animal practice) and misinterpretation of the governing statutes.”

Even if Blea is successful on Wednesday, however, it's unclear how UC Davis will act. The TDN asked the university if it would permit Blea to resume his equine medical director duties if a stay is issued.

A UC Davis spokesperson responded in an email that, “At this point, he remains on administrative leave. No decision beyond that can be made until we know more specifics.”

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