California racing executive Rick Baedeker to retire

Rick Baedeker, a former president of Hollywood Park and executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, announced his retirement from the sport at the racing board’s monthly meeting in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday.

Baedeker said that later this month he will leave his current position as executive director of the Southern California Off-Track Wagering Network, which coordinates simulcast locations through the region.

“It’s been 50 years,” Baedeker said of his career. “I’ve had a lot of different roles in that time.”

Baedeker served as the racing board’s executive director from January 2014 to March 2020. He announced his retirement while presenting a license application to the racing board on behalf of a bowling alley in Santa Clarita that also operates as an off-track wagering location.

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“The most gratifying and meaningful was sitting up there,” he said, in reference to being on the racing board.

“We are so fortunate to be in this great sport as epitomized on Derby Day.”

Baedeker was president of Hollywood Park from 1999 to 2005 and had a background in marketing at that venue as well as with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Baedeker’s father, the late handicapper Bud Baedeker, had a family public handicapping business based in Southern California.

Before becoming president of Hollywood Park, Baedeker held leadership positions at The Woodlands racetrack in Kansas City, Kan., and with TVG, now FanDuel TV, during its early development.

After leaving Hollywood, Baedeker worked as a consultant for the Breeders’ Cup in California.

Ben Kenny will take Baedeker’s role at the Southern California Off-Track Wagering Network.

Earlier on Wednesday, Los Alamitos and Del Mar received regulatory approval from the racing board for their forthcoming meetings.

Los Alamitos will conduct a three-week meeting on behalf of the Los Angeles County Fair on a Friday-through-Sunday basis from June 19 to July 5.

The popular 32-day Del Mar meeting runs from July 17 to Sept. 7. The season is one day longer than last year, with racing on seven Thursdays from late July to early September. Last year, racing was held on six Thursdays.

Los Alamitos officials said the track plans to enhance its in-house television programming for the final week of the meeting to compensate for a decline in coverage on FanDuel TV, which announced earlier this year that it is winding down original programming on its national network in the second half of the year.

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Later at Wednesday’s meeting, vice chairman Oscar Gonzales asked racing board officials to contact FanDuel TV about possibly extending their current coverage plans and delaying layoffs expected to eventually affect approximately 170 employees.

FanDuel TV is based in Southern California. While the network has a national format, it has strongly supported Southern California racing since its inception in the late 1990s.

Racing board executive director Scott Chaney said that other entities, notably the New York Racing Association and Jockey Club are “talking about a replacement” for FanDuel TV.

“This is a national problem and not just a California one,” Chaney said.

The racing board approved a two-year license application for DK Horse LLC as an advance deposit wagering provider. DK Horse LLC is owned by Draft Kings, the nationally prominent sports betting company.

California residents cannot legally wager on sports. DK Horse will offer only racing in the state.

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