CHRB Investigation Results on Breakdowns Expected Soon

The California Horse Racing Board has pushed back the release date of its investigation into the rash of breakdowns during the 2018-19 winter/spring meeting at Santa Anita Park.

The regulator initially expected to release those results this month, but at a Dec. 12 meeting at Los Alamitos Race Course, executive director Rick Baedeker announced the CHRB will miss the target date for the report and now expects to release the results Jan. 15.

CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur said a regulatory veterinarian has been reviewing information from the investigation since October and is preparing a report.

"The Santa Anita fatality investigations began with CHRB investigators and the Los Angeles County (district attorney), and that was, and is, a law enforcement investigation. They're looking for violations in laws and regulations," Arthur said. "That effort actually has hindered, in my mind, a more analytical review that I would have preferred. As law enforcement's investigation is wrapping up, the CHRB is starting to review all of the data that has been accumulated in those investigations from a systems failure approach: What went wrong, and how can we fix it?"

Arthur expects that report in January and noted the district attorney's report could come sooner. He said the CHRB has taken action ahead of the results of the investigation.

"Any review of the CHRB's agendas, transcripts, and actions the past 13 years will show horse safety and welfare has been a major focus of the board and certainly of mine," Arthur said. "We did not wait for the investigation to be completed to start taking action. The medication restrictions, we all know about. We've increased staffing, especially more veterinary assignments. We've increased out-of-competition testing. We're monitoring training. We have diagnostic imaging, which when you see the report, I think you'll see why it's so important. … We do more pre-race examinations and have improved record-keeping."

Arthur did note that improved integrity and equine safety will require money for testing and qualified regulatory vets.

In Arthur's report to the CHRB Thursday, he also noted there have been three positive tests for scopolamine in California since late August and another scopolamine positive in an out-of-competition sample. He said those incidents were likely environmental contamination from consumption of jimson weed. 

In 2018, eventual Triple Crown winner Justify  had a positive for scopolamine after his 2018 victory in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), but the CHRB, on the advice of Arthur and Baedeker, determined the positive was environmental contamination linked to jimson weed and opted not to call a positive.