CHRB commissioner Alfieri relinquishes owner's license

ARCADIA, Calif. – California Horse Racing Board commissioner Dennis Alfieri relinquished his owner’s license earlier this week to focus on regulatory matters facing racing in the state, he said in an interview on Thursday evening.

The decision was in reaction to a recent statement by Gov. Gavin Newsom asking members of the racing board to avoid conflicts of interest, such as having a direct involvement in the sport they regulate.

“I heard the concern of the governor that there could be a potential conflict of interest and being a commissioner on the board,” Alfieri said. “In the interest of full transparency, I’ve decided to give it up. I’ve had it since 1997. I’d rather work hard and make the necessary reforms to protect horse racing for future generations.”

Alfieri said he was a co-owner of one active horse, Saddle Bar, the winner of a claiming race for maidens at Del Mar on Aug. 24.

“I don’t have a conflict of interest and I don’t want the appearance of any,” he said. “I’ve always had a runner or two. I’m one of the smaller owners. I enjoy the sport.”

Alfieri, 60, was appointed to the board last December by former Gov. Jerry Brown, whose term ended in January. Since the start of the year, Southern California Thoroughbred racing has been plunged into crisis after a series of equine fatalities in training and racing at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that ended in June.

The rate of fatalities in racing and training has been reduced considerably in recent months after the racetracks and the racing board enacted a series of policies designed to increase safety, such as increased restrictions on medications, and greater oversight of which horses are allowed to train and race.

In June, at the insistence of Newsom, a five-person panel of stewards and veterinarians was formed to review the medication, racing and training records of all horses entered to race, with the panel empowered to reject entries.

Through Thursday, there had been one fatal injury during races at the Santa Anita autumn meeting, which began on Sept. 27.

Alfieri, who lives in Pasadena and is involved in commercial real estate, said the changes enacted in California can be a model for other jurisdictions in the United States.

“I think what we’re doing is the gold standard for the rest of the nation,” he said. “It’s a troubling time and it’s not business as usual. It’s going in the right direction even though there was a catastrophic injury at Santa Anita the other day. Luck is not going in Santa Anita’s way.”