Mike Marten

Jockey Antonio Fresu, currently second in the jockey's standings at Del Mar with 31 wins, has been suspended a total of 32 days by the California stewards for overuse of the whip. Fresu's suspension runs from Sept. 8 through Oct. 9. He was also fined $1,242. The suspensions came in the form of six separate rulings from the California Horse Racing Board, including two issued Sept. 4. According to CHRB spokesman Mike Marten, while the CHRB issued the rulings, it was only enforcing rules set forth by the Horse Racing...

Thoroughbred owner Jerry Jamgotchian, who has a decades-long history as both a plaintiff and defendant in lawsuits involving horse racing entities, went after the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) in federal court on Monday, claiming that his constitutional and civil rights were violated when the stewards at Los Alamitos Race Course denied entry to one of his horses this past summer over its purportedly controversial name. Although the Oct. 17 United States District Court (Central District, Southern Division) civil complaint puts forth a legal argument based on whether the horse...

Last month, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) issued a complaint against trainer Richard Baltas alleging that between Apr. 15 and May 8 this year, 23 horses in his care had been administered on race-day a substance containing the plant extracts higenamine and paenol in violation of the board's rules. A hearing on the complaint, originally scheduled for early and then possibly late July, is now set for Aug. 3 with the Del Mar stewards beginning at 9 a.m., according to CHRB spokesperson, Mike Marten, in an email Friday afternoon....

A mare trained by 89-year-old Hall-of-Fame trainer Ron McAnally has been disqualified after winning a race at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club last November and subsequently testing positive for a metabolite of cannabidiol (CBD). A separate hearing to determine if McAnally will be further sanctioned will go before a hearing officer, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) spokesperson Mike Marten told TDN. [Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated McAnally had avoided being fined or suspended after the issuance of the CHRB's Nov. 12 ruling mandating the DQ.] Roses and...

September was a busy month for buzzers. On Sept. 15, the Monmouth Park board of stewards suspended jockey Tomas Mejia for 10 years and fined him $5,000 for possessing an electrical device--commonly referred to as a "buzzer"--during a race run there Sept. 3. That same day at Indiana Grand, leading Quarter Horse jockey, Sammy Mendez, was "summarily suspended for actions not in the best interest of racing," and is awaiting a full hearing before the track's board of stewards. According to the Paulick Report, the suspension is connected to use...

Oscar Gonzales, the vice chair of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), wants to know why commissioners weren't informed earlier this year about a pending cannabidiol (CBD) positive complaint against Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally, a case that was in the midst of a six-month investigation by CHRB staff even as commissioners were being asked to approve a seemingly routine annual reclassification of drugs that included CBD. "On that list of drugs that were to be reclassified was CBD, the drug that was detected in [the McAnally-trained Roses and...

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...