San Luis Rey Downs on Schedule for April Reopening

Reconstruction efforts are on schedule at San Luis Rey Downs (SLRD). The facility's owner, The Stronach Group (TSG), is now estimating that horses will be able to resume training there in early April, about four months after a devastating Dec. 7 blaze sparked by a wildfire killed 46 horses, hospitalized several trainers, and destroyed eight barns.

Tim Ritvo, the TSG's Chief Operating Officer, gave the following succinct report at the Feb. 22 monthly meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB):

“Things are progressing really well. The cleanup is finished. We've already put in for the [building] permits. The structures are being made. The stalls are being readied. And I think by April 1 we'll have a really good look of the layout and what everything is going to [look like] there,” Ritvo said.

“We've been successful in other jurisdictions moving very quick with [stabling construction], so I don't see any setbacks at all,” Ritvo said. “In our agreements with vendors, they have mandates that they have to be finished by April 1, so we think that moving horses in right after the April 1 date will be possible, and we're excited to see it back open and moving forward with the training at San Luis Rey.”

In a related bit of fire aftermath news, CHRB commissioner Madeline Auerbach relayed a story about Sam Nichols, a SLRD-based conditioner who won his first career race as a licensed trainer “after being wiped out” in the fire.

Having lost all of his tack in the inferno, on Feb. 17 Nichols decked out 20-1 long-shot maiden Miss Napper Tandy (Mr Napper Tandy {GB}) “in all equipment paid for by the GoFundMe account,” according to Auerbach.

The CHRB had reported last month that $906,000 in SLRD fire relief donations had been raised through a GoFundMe drive and other charitable efforts.

“I think we all need to hear that because it's relevant,” Auerbach said. “It means that we did what we did–we identified the problem and [raised] the money. But it's very exciting for [Nichols] as well as exciting for me because it means that we really did do the right thing.”

In other CHRB news, the board unanimously voted in favor of amending Rule 1699 to establish a minimum penalty of a two-day suspension that stewards can impose on jockeys for careless riding.

That rule previously did not stipulate a minimum penalty, but three days had become the accepted norm in practice. Despite the fact that the CHRB received no public comments during the mandated 45-day public commentary period, the issue sparked 20 minutes of debate from jockeys' and trainers' representatives (and other stakeholders) at Thursday's meeting. That unexpected discussion, in turn, led the CHRB to pass the measure with a motion that contained the caveat that the new rule could still “be subject to further consideration.”

Additionally, CHRB executive director Rick Baedeker updated the board Thursday on two positive statistical trends relating to 1) an increase in field size, and 2) a decline in equine fatalities.

Comparing January 2018 to the same period in 2017 at Santa Anita Park, Baedeker reported that average field size has increased this year from to 8.3 from 7.3.

“I think we've heard Santa Anita talk about the significance and the importance of increasing field size to improve the business, and that's certainly evident in the numbers from the first month,” Baedeker said.

Separately, Baedeker reported that the just-concluded calendar year 2017 saw a 25% reduction (152 to 114) in equine fatalities in the state based on Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse statistics related to racing and training.

Baedeker attributed that improvement to “many changes that were made, really beginning with the Del Mar meet, in cooperation [with] the associations, the horsemen, and our ability to add more official veterinarians. [These joint efforts have] clearly made a difference [and] we need to see those same kind of results continue.”