CHRB

Letter to the Editor: Alan French

First, the CHRB was put in a no-win situation. To paraphrase Board Chairman Dr. Gregory Ferraro, half of the state was going to be mad at the CHRB regardless of how they voted. And frankly, it is very sad that it even came to that, as I will explain in more detail momentarily. While it is clear that the recent letter sent by Craig Fravel did not sit well with them, it seems that the Board understood the ramifications of not having racing in the North. Meaning that it would...

[ Read More ]
CHRB Unanimously Approves Plan to Make Pleasanton New Center of NorCal Circuit

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) voted 6-0 on Thursday to approve a dates package for the back half of 2024 that will establish the current fairs-meet-only track at Pleasanton as the new crux of a Northern California circuit. The entire state has been trying to come to grips with the looming June 9 closure of Golden Gate Fields, the lone commercial track in the region, and the Mar. 21 vote by the CHRB was viewed as a NorCal racing lifeline by the estimated 250 supporters in attendance. Those very...

[ Read More ]
CARF Issues Statement After 1/ST Ultimatum on NorCal Racing Dates

Ahead of a critical California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting Thursday to decide essentially whether or not to give Northern California stakeholders a fighting chance to build a circuit in the void left by the imminent closure of Golden Gate Fields, 1/ST Racing and Gaming set out their stall Tuesday in a letter to the regulator urging them to decline race dates to the North. In a proposal to the state regulator, the California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) outlined a 10-week meeting this year that would run from Oct....

[ Read More ]
Computer Assisted Wagering: Anatomy Of A Deal

A deal that Del Mar has made with a titan of Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) provides a rare glimpse into the tremendous sway that individual players can wield over track and racing officials, the potentially lopsided economic ramifications of such deals, and the tremendous pressures that California executives are under with competing jurisdictions that enjoy purse subsidies not available in the Golden State. It also turns a spotlight onto a world largely hidden from the public eye-one that industry leaders are generally loathe to discuss publicly, and in which just...

[ Read More ]
CHRB Settles with Ruis in '18 Santa Anita Derby Dispute Involving Justify DQ

Three months after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to set aside a 2020 stewards' decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying winner Justify from the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, a separate settlement has been reached that calls for the CHRB to pay $300,000 to Mick Ruis, the owner of runner-up Bolt d'Oro, and to order a redistribution for the $1-million purse of that stakes. Dick Downey of the Blood-Horse was first to report the settlement on Thursday, citing details made...

[ Read More ]
Dr. Ronald Jensen, Former Equine Medical Director For CHRB Passes Away

Dr. Ronald Jensen, who served 10 years as equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board through 2005, passed away at his home Feb. 12, according to a Thursday release from the CHRB. Dr. Jensen received his DVM from Iowa State University in 1962 and MS in 1963. He worked as a racing regulatory veterinarian for 42 years, serving as a commission veterinarian for the Illinois Racing Board for 32 years, and for 10 years with the CHRB under an agreement with the University of California, Davis. He then...

[ Read More ]
Santa Anita's Friday Program Canceled

With training suspended since Sunday due to historic rainfall from a series of storms, Santa Anita Park, in consultation with its horsemen, postponed Friday's nine-race card to give time for horses to return to a normal routine before this weekend's races. The Friday races will be offered back next Thursday. Per CHRB rules, they will be re-drawn when entries are taken this Saturday. "With training suspended for the last four days, per the CHRB protocols only joggers will be allowed on Thursday and we return to regular training Friday morning,"...

[ Read More ]
Vocal Two-Circuit Supporters in Cali Come Out Firing in First of Many Expected North/South Skirmishes

The precarious, up-in-the-air future of California racing and whether or not the state can continue to support two geographic year-round circuits was made no clearer after Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting. The 3 1/2-hour session was dominated by discussion of competing North-versus-South plans that both tried to carve a sustainable path forward while underscoring the dire circumstances that face the industry with the June 9 closure of Golden Gate Fields looming like an unavoidable asteroid. Although the CHRB concluded the meeting--which featured testimony that was at times emotional,...

[ Read More ]
Harris, Green and Mathis to Join TOC Board

John C. Harris, Ty Green and Andy Mathis have been appointed to the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). Owner of Harris Farms, Harris was inducted into the California Racing Hall of Fame in 2008 and was honored last year by the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation for his industry service. Harris Farms has been connected to over 50 California divisional champions, including eight California Horses of the Year. He is a former California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Commissioner and currently serves on the board of the California Thoroughbred...

[ Read More ]
What Does Next Year Hold For California Racing?

Nearly seventy years ago, Sports Illustrated turf writer, Jim Murray, penned a love-letter to Santa Anita, and its opening day sonata of sun and sport unmatched by any East Coast oval stunned into icy retreat by the "fierce howlings of blue northers spun across finish lines." Santa Anita, Murray wrote, was an "extravagance of beauty." It was also a well-oiled money-spinner. Huge purses lured the best horses to Los Angeles, and the best horses lured the biggest crowds, their pockets brimming with the spoils of a post-war industrial boom transforming...

[ Read More ]
CHRB Vice-Chair: 1/ST Racing 'Doing Things That Are Detrimental to California Racing'

Although the recently reported purse cuts for the upcoming meets at Golden Gate Fields (25%) and Santa Anita Park (5%) were not on Thursday's official agenda for the monthly California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting, the commission's vice-chairman, Oscar Gonzales, made it clear that the owner of both tracks, 1/ST Racing and Gaming, was going to face some tough questioning on the topic when the CHRB next convenes in January. TDN's Dan Ross had reported Dec. 9 that Golden Gate is overpaid to the horsemen's account by some $3.1 million...

[ Read More ]
Court Orders Disqualification of Justify's Santa Anita Derby Win

A decision may have finally been reached in the long-standing legal skirmish over the results of the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, won by Justify (Scat Daddy), according to a release issued Friday afternoon by the connections of Ruis Racing, who campaigned runner-up Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro). Ruis Racing has sought a disqualification of Justify by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), as the winner tested positive for scopolamine following the race. After it was revealed in a report that Justify had tested positive for scopolamine, Ruis began that quest...

[ Read More ]
X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.