CHRB

A decision over a 2026 fair meet race-date proposal before the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was punted unanimously to a single-discussion meeting in February (the date yet to be decided) after last-minute reshuffling of the chairs behind the scenes led to an at-times contentious meeting Wednesday. The original proposal outlined 19 race weeks this summer between three different fair tracks: six racing weeks at Tehama District Fair, six racing weeks at Alameda County Fair, and seven racing weeks at Humboldt County Fair. The meeting agenda packet included either a...

As California horse racing enters one of its most consequential years yet, the California Horse Racing Board's (CHRB) first meeting of the year this Wednesday includes a proposal for 19 weeks of fair racing in the North of California this year. The National Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) has also weighed in, offering its support for a live racing circuit in NorCal at the behest of a group of Northen California owners and trainers, according to a letter the organization sent to the CHRB Jan. 7. "We recognize under...

Thomas Hudnut and Damascus Castellanos have been re-appointed to the California Horse Racing Board by California Governor Gavin Newsom, according to a CHRB report on Wednesday. Hudnut of Beverly Hills has served on the CHRB since 2021. Hudnut was President and Chief Executive Officer at Harvard-Westlake School from 1987 to 2013. He was Headmaster at The Branston School from 1982 to 1987. Hudnut earned a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Diplomatic History from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from Princeton University. Castellanos...

White Abarrio (Race Day), listed as the even-money favorite in Saturday's GIII Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream, will be scratched, reports co-owner Mark Cornett. Cornett said that the ownership team and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. have decided instead to train the veteran up to the Jan. 24 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. White Abarrio was an easy winner of the 2024 Pegasus. "We don't want to run in the Mr. Prospector anymore because we have come up with a plan for him," Cornett said. "The main goal has been the...

News last week about the loss of this year's GIII Bob Hope Stakes after receiving just three entrants--all from the Bob Baffert stable--wasn't exactly a shock. But is it a canary in the coal mine concerning the health of California's horse inventory? Not on its own. It is, however, one among a flock of important indicators. Growing attention has been spent on the implications from the consolidation of top bloodstock between fewer and fewer stables, with many observing how a greater distribution of horses among more stables would help the...

All this week, the TDN has been trying to nail down concrete details surrounding the studies performed for the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium's (RMTC) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) into the way metformin behaves in Thoroughbreds. It turns out that the first of the three papers stemming from this study was published Wednesday in the online journal, Drug Testing and Analysis. In short, the study finds a "prolonged detection time" for the drug. This first study involved 12 Thoroughbreds aged between two and seven years of age. It was broken...

With what feels like the culmination from years of mounting pressure, the volcano of opprobrium over Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) erupted this summer, spilling all over the industry. The debate around CAW players typically surrounds the edge they wield over regular gamblers thanks to their use of sophisticated technologies that allow them to precisely read the markets and to place massive wagers across many pools in the final seconds of betting-sometimes leading to extreme late odds changes-as well as the attractive rates and rebates offered to them which are unavailable...

DEL MAR, CA - Like clockwork, the call over the radio went out promptly at 2:45 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday afternoon. "Breeders' Cup Investigators this is the 48-hour warning for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, please be aware," said the voice. "Again, that is 48 hours until the Juvenile Turf Sprint." Repeated by the day shift control room manager Tyler Durand for each of the four subsequent races on the Friday card and the next afternoon for the nine races carded for Saturday's slate, the announcements are a way to...

A Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) internal adjudication panel has banned trainer Zvi Kriple for two years for breach of the racetrack safety rule that prohibits "the deprivation of necessary care, sustenance, shelter, or veterinary care" to a Covered Horse. The case concerns the former Kriple trainee, Royal Honey (Astern {Aus}). In April of this year, Royal Honey died a "very painful death" from colic when stabled at Belterra Park after Kriple failed to secure for the 5-year-old mare the necessary veterinary care, according to a written ruling dated...

The two-minute win pool cutoff for computer-assisted wagering (CAW) bets that was implemented at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club over the summer in an effort to stabilize late odds fluctuations won't be in effect when the Southern California track hosts the Breeders' Cup Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, a spokesperson for the championships confirmed to TDN on Thursday. Back on July 29, in response to growing clamor among non-CAW bettors about the outsized role that CAW players had in driving a spate of marked late odds changes at Del Mar during...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Thursday took initial steps to roll back parts of an in-race riding interference rule after both jockeys and stewards decided that several tweaks made to the regulation over the past decade aren't working in ways that stakeholders had anticipated. The CHRB voted 6-0 on Aug. 21 to send amendments to Rule 1699 out for a public commentary period, after which commissioners will vote again to finalize any new changes before they go into effect. A CHRB staff analysis of the changes that was...

California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Peter Stern to the California Horse Racing Board, the CHRB announced Wednesday. Stern, who will require Senate approval for the appointment, has been Chief Revenue Officer at Skedulo and an Advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck since 2025. Additionally, he held several roles at Authorium from 2024 to 2025, including Advisor and Executive Vice President and was the Co-Founder of VoiceBrain from 2021 to 2023.