CHRB Eyes Scratching of Unreported Geldings

The California Horse Racing Board is considering a rule change that would result in the scratch of a horse that has been gelded since his last race if that information is not disclosed to track officials well in advance of the race.



After a brief discussion of the issue at the CHRB's monthly meeting Dec. 18 at Los Alamitos Race Course, the matter was referred to the board's Medication and Track Safety Committee for consideration. That is expected to result in draft language for a potential rule change for the full board to examine.



In recent years, stewards have fined trainers $1,000 if they failed to provide the true sex of a horse to the racing office for inclusion in the official program. While the fine has greatly reduced the number of such violations, it has not eliminated the problem, the board was told.



"There's a big difference in not knowing that, perhaps, blinkers have not been listed in the program, as opposed to not knowing a horse that has been gelded since his last start," said Rick Baedeker, the CHRB's executive director. "What makes this a complicated issue is that now our world revolves around multi-race wagers.



"If you want to take a most extreme example, you could make a very significant investment in a big carry-over Pick 6 and come down to the last race, after you've placed your wager, and find out that one of the horses in the race has been gelded since his last start and you didn't know that before you made your wager," Baedeker added. "I think this goes right to the protection of the bettors."



In many cases, the oversight is not realized until a horse reaches the receiving barn 45 minutes before race time. By then it is too late for bettors who have made a multi-race wager.



Commissioner Madeline Auerbach acknowledged that the failure to report the recent gelding of a horse is often only a simple mistake. But she urged the board to require scratching the horse regardless of how the oversight occurred.



"I originally thought $1,000 was an awfully big fine," she said. "But the truth is…it is a huge disadvantage for the handicappers to not be aware of the ultimate equipment change. It's not fair for them to put in their bets, have action going, and base everything on information that certain people have and they don't have. I think the only fair way to do this is not allow the horse to run.



"I know sometimes that it is just a mistake," Auerbach added. "My intent is that if you gelded your horse and you forgot to say so, then you are just going to have to wait until the next race, so that everyone has the same information."



According to the CHRB staff, in 2007 stewards issued 44 rulings against trainers who did not report the gelding of a horse by entry time for the first race after the procedure. After the fine for such an incident was increased to $1,000, there were 18 such rulings from April 2010 to November 2011. In the first few months of 2012, there were two violations, and over the past year, eight such infractions.



Language for any proposed change to the current rule must come back to the board for approval, then await a 45-day public comment period before a final decision can be made.



Elsewhere, the board's Legislative, Legal and Regulations Committee, which met Dec. 17, reported it is continuing to review the language of the rule that governs disqualifications for interference in races. The committee is seeking further public input on suggested improvements to the rule, which attracted attention after a controversial non-call for interference by eventual winner Bayern at the start of the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.



The committee said it will discuss the rule change at another public meeting before bringing any draft language to the full board for consideration.