More Lenient Whip Rule Fails; CHRB Dates Clash Unresolved

CHRB Member Alex Solis | Benoit Photo

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Two major regulatory items that have each consumed a half-year's worth of California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) resources in terms of commissioners' debate, subcommittee hearings, behind-the-scenes staff research, and an abundance of public and stakeholder commentary finally appeared poised to be settled by voting at the organization's Oct. 20 monthly meeting.

One of those measures–a controversial change that would have allowed for more whipping of horses in the final half a furlong before the finish–was unceremoniously quashed without any verbal discourse in less than one minute of CHRB action.

The other–the establishment of 2017 race dates for the Northern California circuit–took up nearly 2 1/2 hours of sometimes-heated testimony. Yet for the second month in a row, approval of the NoCal slate of race dates again ended up being put off to the next CHRB meeting, even as the start of the 2017 racing calendar looms only 68 days away.

Both issues were affected, at least in part, by the low number of commissioners who were voting at the meeting. Commissioners Madeline Auerbach and Jesse Choper were absent. Commissioner Richard Rosenberg's term recently expired and his replacement has yet to be appointed. California law stipulates that passage of any public measure requires a majority of members that are supposed to be seated on that full regulatory board, so that meant any resolution voted upon at Thursday's CHRB meeting needed 4-0 support to pass.

The voting situation grew even more tenuous when the agenda item about the whipping rule came up. Because he is an active jockey who competes in the state, commissioner Alex Solis recused himself from the issue. This was something Solis had not done back at the May 26 CHRB meeting, when he both advocated for and then cast the deciding 4-3 vote to loosen part of Rule 1688 by allowing jockeys to strike a horse four times in succession (the new proposal) instead of three (the existing rule) in the final sixteenth of a mile before the finish wire.

When the whipping measure first came up for vote May 26, CHRB chairman Chuck Winner and commissioners Auerbach, Rosenberg, and Solis voted in favor of going from three to four strikes. That preliminary passage sent the proposed rule change out for a mandatory public commentary period, which expired on Sept. 26. During that time frame, the CHRB received five written comments on the issue (including one from The Jockey Club), all opposed to the measure.

But on Oct. 20, the CHRB voting landscape was markedly different because the absences, the term expiration, and the recusal left the CHRB without the required four voters to formally pass or defeat the whipping measure.

When Winner brought the agenda item before the board, he received no motion to approve it. He then took a non-binding voice poll to determine where the other two members stood on the issue, and when neither George Krikorian nor Steve Beneto indicated they were in favor of voting for a rule change, Winner said, “commissioner Solis recuses himself and the other board members oppose, so this item fails.”

Thus, Rule 1688–considered one of the most comprehensive whipping rules in the nation when the CHRB passed it in July 2015–will remain unchanged. It's still, in layman's parlance, “three strikes and you're out.”

Later in the meeting, when the 2017 NoCal race dates vote also resulted in no change to the status quo, the level of frustration was palpably higher within the meeting room.

If you want a summation of what held up a vote on the 2017 NoCal race dates, you need not look for anything new in the meeting dialogue. The sticking points have remained the same for months in this complex, multi-sided issue. Long-term concerns about stabling, overlapping meets, the need to dovetail racing at fair venues with existing agricultural expositions and their vendor contracts, whether schoolchildren might get better exposure to the sport if certain fairs dates are switched, the fate of Arabian and mule racing, whether Golden Gate Fields should have a crack at some summer dates, and whether The Alameda County Fairgrounds (Pleasanton) might be incentivized to add a turf course were all vociferously argued without resolution.

For months, the CHRB's stated position has been for stakeholders to present a unified solution so the board doesn't have to impose one. But the proposed compromise calendar that emerged from a recent race dates subcommittee failed because it did not attain the required four commission votes to pass after Solis voted against it.

“What we will have to do is put this over one more month, and we will now hear it at the meeting in November,” Winner said. “And maybe, maybe, just maybe, during that period, the stakeholders can once again give it a shot. We'll probably schedule one more race dates committee meeting between now and then. But in the meantime, I'm begging you, I'm imploring you as stakeholders, to get together. I think everybody agrees this is an impossible situation for this board.… We keep trying to put this puzzle together, and we can't do it.”

One other significant measure did attain 4-0 passage on Thursday.

According to CHRB documentation, over the past several years California brick-and-mortar wagering facilities have witnessed a growing number of their patrons placing wagers through advance deposit wagering (ADW) accounts using mobile devices instead of betting through the wagering terminals at the facilities. Due to alternative statutory takeout distributions and existing contractual arrangements with ADW providers, these ADW wagers result in less money to purses than if the wagers were placed at a terminal or with a pari-mutuel clerk.

Accordingly, stakeholders have requested that the CHRB adopt a regulation requiring ADW providers to identify wagers that are placed by an account holder while they are at a licensed California racetrack or satellite wagering facility. The stakeholders intend to use this information to negotiate for higher commissions and purses.

In support of this idea, the CHRB voted to adopt a rule change requiring ADW entities to implement technology to geo-locate California residents who place mobile wagers at brick-and-mortar facilities. The unanimous passage puts the rule out for a 45-day public comment period. –@thorntontd

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