The California Horse Racing Board conducted its regular meeting Thursday (Nov. 29), (rescheduled from Nov. 15) at Del Mar Surfside Race Place. Chair Chuck Winner presided. Vice Chair Madeline Auerbach and Commissioners Araceli Ruano and Alex Solis also were in attendance.
The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:
• The Board approved the license application for the Los Angeles Turf Club to conduct a race meet at Santa Anita Park from Dec. 26 through June 23 and to begin hosting simulcast wagering on Dec. 19. TwinSpires will not be permitted to accept Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) wagers on Santa Anita races and Santa Anita will not be authorized to provide its signal to TwinSpires unless the Board receives an agreement between them by December 21. Both parties expressed confidence that an agreement will be reached before the deadline.
• The Board approved the license application for the Pacific Racing Association to conduct a race meet at Golden Gate Fields from Dec. 26 through June 9 and to begin hosting simulcast wagering on Dec. 19. TwinSpires and Golden Gate face the same Dec. 21 deadline for submitting their account wagering agreement. Additionally, the Board conditioned the license approval on Golden Gate submitting agreements with all satellite wagering facilities in Northern California by Dec. 3.
• The Board approved the license application for Watch and Wager LLC to conduct a harness meet at Cal Expo from Dec. 26 through May 7, though the application lists planned race dates beginning Dec. 28 through April 27.
• The Board approved three-month ADW licenses for TwinSpires, Xpressbet, Watch and Wager, TVG, NYRAbets, and Game Play Network. The Board will consider approving longer-term licenses early next year, following review of financial data submitted by each applicant relative to its ADW operations in California.
• Chairman Winner and Executive Director Rick Baedeker provided a brief summary of the Nov. 13 meeting of the Stewards’ Committee and indicated that CHRB staff is drafting revision language for the riding rule in order to make criteria for disqualifications easier to understand and implement.
(CHRB)