CHRB grants Golden Gate six-month license but will keep close eye on equine safety

The California Horse Racing Board approved a six-month racing license for Golden Gate Fields starting later this month after a lengthy discussion at its monthly meeting on Wednesday concerning recent equine fatalities in racing and training at the Northern California track.

By a vote of 4-3, the board approved the meeting from Dec. 26 to June 14, 2022. A motion to grant a three-month license to allow a review of the track’s safety record was rejected by a vote of 4-3.

The failed measure was introduced by vice chairman Oscar Gonzales and supported by commissioners Wendy Mitchell and Brenda Washington-Davis, all of whom have been appointed to the board since mid-2019 when California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the racing board to improve the safety record at state racetracks. State government took a more public role in racing board activities in 2019 following a series of horse deaths as a result of injuries in racing or training at Santa Anita.

Last month, four horses were euthanized in an eight-day period as a result of injuries racing or training at Golden Gate Fields. A pony was lost to colic earlier in November, according to the racing board’s website.

In approving a six-month license, the racing board said it will closely monitor the track’s safety record. Chairman Greg Ferraro said he recently traveled to Golden Gate Fields with racing board executive director Scott Chaney and equine medical director Jeff Blea to discuss the injuries.

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“We can’t ignore these injury rates,” Ferraro said. “We’re willing to work with them and try to improve the situation.”

Gonzales, Mitchell, and Washington-Davis voted against the six-month license. Ferraro voted last, ending a 3-3 deadlock.

“We’re not doing anything to address the deaths we’re seeing,” Mitchell said during a discussion. “I’m concerned we’re moving past it.”

In June 2019, Newsom signed legislation allowing the racing board to suspend a track’s license out of concern for the welfare of horses and riders. Ferraro referenced the legislation during discussion on Wednesday.

“Personally, whether it’s three months or six months, we have the ability to stop it,” Ferraro said of the Golden Gate meeting. “We can come back and make a motion to stop racing.”

Commissioner Dennis Alfieri said the safety record at Golden Gate Fields would be scrutinized in coming months.

“Let’s give them the six-month license and monitor it every 30 days,” he said. “If there is a major problem and they can’t figure it out, we have a serious problem.

“The reforms we’ve made and the pressures we’ve put on facilities throughout the state have their full attention.”

The racing board has not suspended a track’s license because of welfare issues. In the summer of 2020, a series of fatalities in racing and training during the evening meeting of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos led to an emergency meeting of the racing board. The track enacted a series of protocols to improve safety that was approved by the racing board.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the racing board approved Santa Anita’s license for a meeting from Dec. 26 through June 19, 2022 after the track announced some alterations to the racing schedule.

The track plans to race Dec. 27 and Dec. 30, which was announced earlier this month. Santa Anita has changed its April schedule from its initial plans announced earlier this year. The upcoming meeting will continue through April 17 before a break until April 30 to give the horse population a rest and for turf course maintenance.

Initially, the track did not plan to race on the weekend of April 15-17.