CHRB

According to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), two bills--SB 800 and AB 1974--have been passed and signed into law in the state of California. Both bills are instrumental in strengthening California's commitment to both equine and jockey welfare and safety. Senator Bill Dodd's SB 800 provides greater access to veterinary records for racehorses, requires the reporting and publication of equine fatalities that occur at facilities regulated by the CHRB, and requires the publication of positive post-race test findings within five business days of their confirmation. In anticipation of this...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) president Josh Rubinstein told the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Sept. 24 that he expects the track will no longer have to rely on hand-timing turf races at its upcoming fall meet because its inaccurate Equibase Gmax GPS timing system has since been tweaked to fix problems that produced numerous wrong clockings throughout the summer season. TDN reported back on Aug. 18 that some dirt and turf final times at Del Mar were mis-clocked anywhere between .07 seconds and 1.19 seconds by the industry's official...

The win by scopolamine-positive Justify in the 2018 running of the GI Santa Anita Derby is now going to come under official administrative scrutiny by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). But Bob Baffert, the trainer of the eventual undefeated Triple Crown winner, will not have a CHRB complaint lodged against him "due to substantial evidence that the scopolamine resulted from environmental contamination from jimson weed," the CHRB stated in a Wednesday press release. As part of a negotiated settlement stemming from a lawsuit filed against the CHRB by the...

Brenda Davis, 65 has been appointed to the California Horse Racing Board and Wendy Mitchell, 49, has been reappointed. Davis has been principal at the Brenda Davis Law Group since 2007. She was managing counsel at the California Farm Bureau Federation from 1999 to 2007. Mitchell has served the CHRB since 2019. Mitchell has been principal of WM Consulting Inc. since 2006. She served on the California Coastal Commission from 2011 to 2016 and the Los Angeles South Valley Area Planning Commission from 2009 to 2011. Both positions requires Senate...

Santa Anita Park has broken ground on a new turf chute adjacent to the main dirt track's seven-furlong chute that will allow sprints up to 6 1/2 furlongs to be conducted on the grass oval. The new configuration won't be ready in time for the upcoming meet that commences Sept. 19. But once the extension is completed, track management is going to consider reopening the currently closed 6 1/2-furlong downhill turf course for select usage. Aidan Butler, the chief strategy officer and executive director of California racing operations for The...

Mick Ruis has announced that he has reached an agreement in principle with the California Horse Racing Board regarding a settlement of pending litigation in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The preliminary agreement is intended to resolve claims against the CHRB for failure to hold a purse disqualification hearing related to the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, in which the first-place finisher and subsequent Triple Crown winner, Justify, tested positive for the prohibited substance scopolamine. Bolt d'Oro, owned and trained by Ruis, finished second. Members of the CHRB, the state...

The Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Racing Association released Tuesday evening a seven-page draft "Equine & Rider Safety Enhancement Plan," ahead of a follow-up meeting July 20 with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) concerning a recent uptick in equine fatalities at the track. Among some of the new protocols outlined in the plan is an additional veterinarian to scrutinize horses entering and exiting the track during morning training, and the creation of a program whereby every equine fatality triggers a "Fatality Review" to be conducted by a panel including a...

In an emergency California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) teleconference Friday in the wake of a series of equine fatalities at Los Alamitos, the board voted to put the track on a 10-day probation, while live racing continues, to devise a plan to address various horse welfare issues raised during the meeting. At the end of those 10 days, the board will reconvene to review the plan. At that point, if the proposed plan doesn't pass muster, the board has the option of suspending the track's racing license. "I agree that...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) is scheduled to conduct an emergency meeting early Friday morning to discuss whether to suspend or impose certain operational conditions to Los Alamitos's racing license. The emergency meeting comes in the wake of a series of equine fatalities at the track—nine since May 26 alone. The Long Beach-located facility is primarily associated with Quarter Horse racing. A seven-day thoroughbred meet recently concluded. This story will be updated with news from the meeting.

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has filed a petition for writ of mandate and damages in San Diego County Superior Court against the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) arguing the agency has failed to exercise its regulatory authority and intercede in disputes where several California racing associations have barred the trainer from their grounds. The petition also raises bias and conflict of interest concerns within the CHRB, contending that these issues have compromised the board's ability to exercise its oversight authority in an impartial manner. In June of last...

In a settlement agreement and mutual release with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), leading California trainer John Sadler has been fined $15,000 and handed a 60-day suspension--45 days of which are stayed--for three medication violations dating from 2019. The suspension runs June 29 through June 13. As part of the agreement, Sadler has been placed on probation for one year, ending June 28, 2021. If he incurs any medication violations during that period, the 45 days of stayed suspension will be imposed following a noticed hearing. As first reported...

Jockeys' Guild co-chairmen John Velazquez and Mike Smith and CEO Terence Meyocks issued the following statement Friday in response to the California Horse Racing Board passing more restrictive whip rules Thursday: The Jockeys' Guild is extremely disappointed by the actions taken by the California Horse Racing Board with regards to the riding crop. Specifically restricting the use of the riding crop to six times in the underhanded fashion throughout the entire race, as well as restricting the type of riding crop that can be used. The industry has a long...