The California Horse Racing Board allocated 2021 race dates Oct. 22 for Thoroughbred racing and simulcasting in Southern California that favored Del Mar, leaving Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos Race Course officials disappointed with slight reductions from historical levels.
Under the terms of a motion that passed 5-2 among commissioners during the board's monthly meeting, Del Mar will host racing or simulcasting for 13 weeks, Santa Anita for 32 weeks, and Los Alamitos for seven weeks. Tracks do not have to race throughout their entire allotment, and Del Mar and Santa Anita officials suggested they would take breaks in racing prior to the start of at least some of their meets.
Los Alamitos and Santa Anita officials said they had at times been granted eight weeks and 33 weeks, respectively.
Commissioners Damascus Castellanos and Dennis Alfieri expressed concern that the allotted schedule was not equitable to Santa Anita Park, while other commissioners felt Del Mar was deserving of its dates due to having the best recent equine safety record in the state. The track had one racing fatality and two training deaths among racehorses this summer, according to CHRB website data, though its volume of racing and training is not as large as other major California tracks.
The 2021 slate of racing in California will largely follow the overall schedule of past years with racing conducted from the winter through June at Santa Anita before shifting to Los Alamitos and Del Mar in the summer. Racing then returns to Los Alamitos and Santa Anita in September before Del Mar picks up with racing in November. Los Alamitos and then Santa Anita wrap up the yearly allotment of race dates.
Later during the CHRB teleconference meeting, chair Dr. Greg Ferraro told Los Alamitos officials that the board expects the track to show continued reductions in equine fatalities. The Orange County track, which runs Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds almost year-round at night in addition to higher-level Thoroughbred racing during two short afternoon meets, leads the state with 25 racing or training fatalities this year. Another 11 racehorses there have died from other causes, mostly from gastrointestinal issues.
Los Alamitos and CHRB officials acknowledged that improvements had been made in reducing fatalities after the track submitted an action plan this summer as required by the CHRB. Four racehorse fatalities have occurred from racing or training since that time.
"They have made some improvements, but from the viewpoint of the board, you haven't gone far enough," said Ferraro. "There are still too many injuries occurring at Los Al. We'll be looking very closely at this meet coming up in December."
Jack Liebau, the vice president of Los Alamitos, said the track's expanded safety protocols that went into action for night racing this summer would be extended to its Thoroughbred meet.
Dr. Ed Allred, the owner of Los Alamitos, questioned why his track was getting a "bum rap" and defended the surface there, mentioning the backing of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)-winning trainers Bob Baffert and Art Sherman and praise of its veteran trackman, Dennis Moore.
"No one's blaming the surface at Los Alamitos racetrack," Ferraro responded. "That's not the problem. The problem is the conduct of your trainers and veterinarians."
Also during Thursday's meeting, the CHRB passed motions meant to reduce the practice of "program training," whereby one trainer is listed as the official trainer when not truly responsible for the care of a horse. The CHRB passed one motion meant to stop program training as a means to avoid the requirements of workers compensation insurance and another that mandates a horse be in the care of a CHRB-licensed trainer for seven consecutive days before starting in a race. The latter rule does not apply to horses shipping from another racing jurisdiction.
"What we're trying to do is eliminate the practice that we've seen so frequently at the fairs and some Quarter Horse racing," said CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur.
The CHRB also passed a motion for an amendment of a regulation that places the duties of the (track) racing veterinarian under the supervision of the official CHRB veterinarian. This would change supervision from the racing office, a perceived conflict of interest.
