CHRB Clarifies New Regulations With California Horsemen

After the distribution of recent California Horse Racing Board regulations was met with frustration by some California trainers, representatives from the CHRB and state horsemen's groups held a teleconference March 3 to clarify rules and procedures for the pre-race treatment of entered racehorses.

The changes, which called for the elimination of the administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and other specific treatments after a horse has been entered, remain in effect, according to Rick Baedeker, the executive director of the CHRB. Vitamin shots and widely accepted feeding methods have been cleared, however, after their use was questioned following a late-February memo distributed by the CHRB stating that horses shall only be given "water, hay, and grain until post time."

"Horses can continue to be fed in the barn's normal manner, provided that no illicit substances are included in the feed," Baedeker wrote in an email. "No injections or other administrations are permitted from midnight after entries are made up until 24 hours before post time of the race in which the horse is entered, except vitamins and a tetanus shot if the horse has sustained a wound. There are no changes with approved anti-ulcer medications, which remains at 24 hours. The only permitted treatment within 24 hours of racing remains furosemide (Lasix) for horses on the Bleeders List."

The new rules state that a horse is considered "entered to race"—and ineligible for certain treatments—at midnight the day entries close, which can vary from track to track. Entries at Santa Anita Park are now being taken 72 hours in advance for all three of its race cards per week after the track adjusted its entry schedule for Friday racing following the CHRB regulation.

At the time of the CHRB memo, Eoin Harty, the president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, took issue with the regulations, calling them contradictory with other protocols, noting that horses had been able to race on phenylbutazone (Bute) in the state 48 hours after being treated. 

The new regulations are scheduled for discussion at the next CHRB meeting March 19 at the Clubhouse at Cal Expo in Sacramento, Calif. At that meeting, the new regulations, including those regarding Bute and the use of other NSAIDs, could be amended or the language further specified.

California operates under the strictest racing regulations of any state, either by CHRB directive, mandated protocols from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, or by "house rules" established by the racetrack.

Harty feels it is time to pause tacking on more regulations, saying horsemen are now comfortable with the sweeping medication changes and veterinary protocols in place in California that have been partially attributed to safer racing after a spike in fatal breakdowns at Santa Anita at this time last year.

"We're on an island out here in California. Times are difficult enough as it is, and you want to sustain business and drum up new business," he said. "I think anything radical like we're doing right now is shooting ourselves in the foot—making it easier and easier for people to say we don't want to race anymore in California when we should be making it easier (to race) instead of harder."