CHRB: California wagering held up well despite pandemic

With schedules disrupted multiple times by the pandemic, California tracks raced 19 percent fewer days in 2020 compared to 2019, but sustained only an 8 percent loss in allsources handle for the year, according to figures released earlier this month by the California Horse Racing Board.

The racing board’s annual report indicated that the number of fatalities at racetracks and training centers under the regulatory agency’s jurisdiction fell from 144 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to 122 for the year ending June 30, 2020. The number of fatalities has shown a steady decline in recent years.

From Dec. 18, 2019 through Dec. 22, 2020, California tracks conducted 468 racing programs compared to 578 from Dec. 19, 2018 to Dec. 17, 2019. There were 4,141 races in that period in 2020 compared to 5,035 in 2019. California racing measures some statistical categories from midDecember to mid-December before the sport takes a brief hiatus before Christmas.

All-sources handle at Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and harness racing venues, including wagers placed on tracks outside of California, reached $2.73 billion in 2020 compared to $2.96 billion in 2019.

With the pandemic preventing racegoers from attending the races since mid-March of 2020, account-wagering services saw significant growth in handle, from $700.8 million in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2020, figures that include wagers placed on racetracks outside of California.

Both the 2019 and 2020 seasons were disrupted. Santa Anita did not race for three weeks in March 2019 while the main track underwent inspection and renovation following a series of high-profile equine fatalities during racing and training.

In 2020, Santa Anita was ordered shut by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health from March 27 to May 15 because of the pandemic. The track also lost a weekend of racing in September because of air quality issues related to a wildfire on mountains near the racetrack.

Golden Gate Fields in Northern California did not race from April 2 to May 14 in 2020 and from Nov. 13 to Jan. 15 of this year on orders of county health officials because of the pandemic.

Del Mar lost a week of its summer meeting because of a coronavirus outbreak in the jockeys’ room in July. The track reduced the number of racing days at its summer season because of the coronavirus. The harness meeting at Cal-Expo in Sacramento ended prematurely in the spring because of the pandemic.

The Northern California fair circuit was largely consolidated at Golden Gate Fields last summer. Racing was not held at county fairs in Ferndale, Fresno, Sacramento, and Santa Rosa, with some of those tracks’ racing dates held at Golden Gate Fields.

The Los Alamitos evening meeting of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds continued year round without disruption, but the track came under scrutiny from racing board officials for an increase in fatalities last June and July.

During the 2019-20 fiscal year, there were 53 fatalities at Los Alamitos compared to 42 in the 2018-19 fiscal year. Last year, Santa Anita had a significant decline in fatalities, from 49 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to 24 in 2019-20. Golden Gate Fields and Del Mar also had declines in fatalities in 2019-20 compared to the preceding year.

After Santa Anita ceased racing briefly in March 2019, the racing board enacted several policies to enhance safety issues for horses, including more additional pre-race inspections, greater scrutiny of horses undergoing workouts, and significant changes in permitted medications.

Los Alamitos enacted similar policies last summer after several fatalities.