CHRB considers claiming rule

DEL MAR, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board will consider implementing a rule this year prohibiting horses claimed at California tracks from leaving the state for a period of time, and a regulation to scratch a horse who is racing as a gelding for the first time if the information is not presented to the public before the start of betting.

The proposed rules were introduced at Thursday’s CHRB meeting but are months from being implemented.

A rule regarding when a claimed horse can leave California to race in a non-stakes in another state has been referred to a legal, legislative, and regulation committee. The rule regarding the late announcement of a horse racing as a gelding for the first time was approved for a 45-day public-comment period, one of the first stages for a potential new regulation.

Currently, Del Mar and Santa Anita have house rules in place that restrict a claimed horse from racing out of state until the completion of a race meeting or for 45 days, whichever is longer, unless the transfer to another state is approved by the track’s racing secretary. Trainers who fail to comply risk losing access to stabling, according to a notice in the tracks’ conditions books.

The rule is designed to prevent trainers from plundering California’s claiming ranks and shipping runners to other states. Track officials in California are sensitive to horses being exported to other states, frequently expressing concern about field sizes.

The proposed rule would restrict a horse from racing in a state other than California for 60 days after the conclusion of the race meeting at which the horse was claimed. Horses would be allowed to ship out of state for stakes.

Commissioners and representatives of racetracks and horsemen’s organizations discussed potential drawbacks of the rule. In one scenario, a horse claimed on Dec. 26, the opening day of the Santa Anita meeting, would not be able to race outside the state until late August or early September, well after the conclusion of the track’s meeting in late June or early July.

John McDonough, general counsel for the racing board, requested that the board seek the opinion of the state’s attorney general’s office concerning interstate commerce laws.

The racing board may not act on the proposal, and track rules could be toughened to keep claimed horses in the state, according to racing board executive Rick Baedeker.

“The associations have the authority to do that,” Baedeker said.

The potential rule change to scratch unannounced first-time geldings comes about five weeks after a horse who had not been announced as a first-time gelding before the card began won a race.

On June 10 at Santa Anita, Fly to Mars won his first start in nearly a year when racing as a gelding for the first time and paid $10 to win. The information was presented to the public approximately 20 minutes before the race, long after all multirace wagers, such as the pick six and late pick four, had been placed.

Fly to Mars won the final leg of a winning single-ticket payoff in the pick six worth $891,568. Trainer Peter Miller was fined $1,250 for the late declaration.

Currently, trainers face a minimum fine of $1,000 if they fail to notify a track’s racing department at the time of entry that a horse is racing as a gelding for the first time.

Racing board officials said there are few incidents of trainers failing to note that a horse has been gelded since his last start.

Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director, suggested stronger fines as a deterrent against trainers who fail to note that a horse has been gelded.

“It’s a complicated issue,” said racing board chairman Chuck Winner. “I think one reason for the 45-day [comment period] is that all these issues can be considered.”