CHRB Hears Public Comment, Considers Complex Regulation

The two halves of the April 18 California Horse Racing Board meeting at Santa Anita Park couldn't have been more different. 

During the first half of the meeting, strident animal welfare activists loudly called for the end of all horse racing—in California and worldwide—while television cameras recorded the speeches. After a 15-minute break, the meeting resumed—minus most of the activists and cameras—and the CHRB commissioners considered complex issues of regulation, the duty they were appointed to perform.

Those issues included more restrictive medication policies at all California tracks, more complete medication treatment records of horses, the banning of bisphosphonates, and compulsory reviews with trainers of equine postmortem examinations. 

The meeting did not include any action on reallocating dates granted to the Los Angeles Turf Club to conduct racing at Santa Anita. The item on racing at Santa Anita had been put on the agenda because of the rash of fatalities at the track during the early part of the year. That also was what triggered the comments by the animal welfare activists at the meeting. 

With new protocols in place, Santa Anita hasn't had a fatality since Arms Runner in the March 31 San Simeon Stakes (G3T). In discussion on the item about possibly moving Santa Anita's dates, CHRB chairman Chuck Winner said, "Personally, I see no reason to move the race dates. We wish you to continue a good and safe meet."

The CHRB expanded the suspension of several medications authorized in CHRB Rule 1844. At the March meeting, the board suspended those medications at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields—the two tracks owned and operated by The Stronach Group—as outlined by the new safety protocols implemented at those tracks. Under the motion passed at the April 18 meeting, those medication suspensions will, as of May 3, extend to all licensed horse race meetings in the state for 12 months.

Dr. Rick Arthur, CHRB equine medical director, reported there had been no medication violations under the new regulations since they had gone into effect.

"I realize there has been a lot of discussion about drugging horses here," Arthur said. "But I would like to point out we test for more drugs at lower levels than any other professional sport, and I would doubt that very many people in this room could pass a post-race drug test."

The CHRB approved several items, sending them out for the required 45-day comment period. One was an addition to CHRB Rule 1842.5, calling for trainers to maintain records "of all treatments given to a horse, including veterinary procedures performed and all medications administered." Arthur said this was modeled after the international rule.

Also sent out for 45-day review was a requirement that any time an equine fatality occurs, the trainer of the horse and/or other licensees who cared for the animal would participate in a postmortem examination review. All fatalities are necropsied under CHRB regulations, but previously the review was voluntary. 

"Requiring trainers to review postmortem reports with the official veterinarian is an educational opportunity and will help them understand how injuries develop and occur," said Madeline Auerbach. She was quoting Arthur's report to the CHRB medication, safety, and welfare committee, which Auerbach chairs.

Another item sent out for 45-day review was an addition to CHRB Rule 1868, Authorized Medication During Workouts. That would establish threshold limits for many medications in horses undergoing timed workouts. Arthur said it effectively would establish a 48-hour rule for non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.

Auerbach, in her report, said that at that committee meeting, representatives of the Jockeys' Guild, including Triple Crown-winning rider Mike Smith, discussed proposed rule changes regarding crops.

"It is now reported to me that the Jockeys' Guild is working with The Stronach Group and, I believe, with all the interested parties to come up with language and activity that will satisfy all parts of the industry," Auerbach said.

The issue of restricting bisphosphonates was put over to the May meeting. Upon discussion at the committee level, Arthur said that "the decision was to make it a prohibited practice," which requires new language and notification.

"The truth is, there is no reason for (bisphosphonates) to be at the racetrack," Auerbach said.

While the second half of the meeting put into motion several rule changes designed to make racing safer, it was the first half of the meeting that interested the mainstream media. During the public comment portion of the meeting, about 20 people spoke passionately about safety issues at Santa Anita. 

More than half designated themselves as animal rights activists, most specifying they were acting as individuals. They called for everything from the complete elimination of racing to turning Santa Anita into a casino or building needed housing on the property.

When Amanda Lundberg offered that, "You can love horses, you can love horse racing, but you cannot love both," Cliff Goodrich, executive director of the California Thoroughbred Horsemen's Foundation and a former president of Santa Anita, took issue.

"I'm sorry—wrong. I, for one, do, and that is possible," said Goodrich of his love of horses and racing.

Goodrich praised the racing industry for making progress toward improved safety for horses and jockeys.

"Yes, we need to reduce or even eliminate, if possible, injuries," Goodrich said. "But we need to do it in an open forum that's a fair process. Their solution for change is to shut down the industry. It's not to work with us to make things better."

Goodrich argued that people on the backstretch love the horses, even at the expense of their own health. He said backstretch workers don't come to the foundation early enough for proper health care.

"You know why? Because they care more about the horses than they care about themselves," he said. "And so they come in too late, and often we can't treat them."

Pavla Nygaard—breeder of Battle of Midway, one of the equine fatalities at Santa Anita—believes better solutions would come from listening to all sides. 

"I had the privilege two weeks ago to go back to Battle of Midway's mom (Rigoletta) and spend about an hour hanging out with her, trying to explain to her what had happened," Nygaard said. "In fact, it was me who walked away better from the experience because it was her who was healing me.

"To those of you who say that horses don't have a choice and that they don't enjoy this, I can tell you that mare, long after retirement, when she was given opportunity to gallop, her ears would go up, she would look back and say, 'Really? I can?' And she would take off. I can tell you of watching Battle of Midway look out through the window at the races with his ears up and listening to the action. When you are willing to listen to these horses and look at these horses, they will tell you when they are happy. They will tell you when they are sound."