Barber: Senator Bill Dodd is going after horse racing deaths

On Feb. 21, California State Senator Bill Dodd introduced a bill that would sharpen public oversight on the state’s horse racing industry. Racing interests called it an overreaction. In retrospect, it looks modest.

When Dodd introduced Senate Bill 469, 23 horses had died on the iconic track at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, in the suburbs east of Los Angeles. By the time the racetrack finished its schedule Sunday, the death count had reached 30. Some good news for animal rights advocates: SB 469 unanimously passed both houses of the California Legislature on Monday, and now awaits the signature of Governor Gavin Newsom. He has already declared his support for the bill.

Dodd didn’t come into this an activist. He grew up on a ranch just outside of Napa. The family had horses, and he liked his trail rides. But his exposure to horse racing was more or less limited to the occasional night at the Sonoma County Fair.

“I don’t bet,” Dodd said by phone as he drove from Napa to Sacramento on Monday morning. “My wife likes that.”

No, Dodd, the California State Senator whose District 3 includes the cities of Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Sonoma (as well as all of Napa and Solano counties and most of Yolo), got to SB 469 through obligation. He is chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Governmental Organization, a bland-sounding body that oversees big things like the California National Guard, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and alcohol distribution in the state.

And gambling. From tribal casinos to card rooms, if it involves legal wagering in California, Dodd has to know about it. And that includes racetracks.

So when Santa Anita opened its season Dec. 26 and the casualties began to mount, sparking public outrage, it rang the bell on Dodd’s desk in Sacramento. And when his committee began looking into horse safety, especially at Santa Anita, the senator was taken aback.

“There were unfortunate situations where we’ve had to put down horses on our ranch,” Dodd said. “But a cluster like this, it was very surprising.”

SB 469 would give the California Horse Racing Board, which already oversees the state’s racing venues, the authority to immediately suspend a track’s license and conduct meetings if it deems that horses or jockeys are threatened. That is not currently the case. So when the board recommended on June 10 that Santa Anita suspend the remainder of its season, the facility simply ignored the suggestion.

It ran 29 races this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and drew a handle of nearly $30 million (including off-track betting).

Under Dodd’s bill, the CHRB could require compliance with additional safety standards before an offending track should reopen, and would allow the board to waive the typical 10-day public notification process and call an emergency meeting.

“If there’s a problem and you’re a regulatory body, you need to be able to act now,” Dodd said. “So I thought it was really important that they be able to hold a hearing as soon as possible, and be able to act once the hearing is complete.”

First reaction: This is good work being done.

Second reaction: What took everyone so long?

You want to know the crazy part about Santa Anita’s darkest hour? Compared to other years, the sky has been pretty sunny there. According to NBC News’ review of Racing Board records, there were a total of 32 horse deaths at Santa Anita in the July-through-June 2018-19 fiscal year. During the same period the previous year, 37 had been euthanized at the track. In 2016-17, it was 54. The year before that, 57. In fact, NBC determined that 2018-19 was the safest season at Santa Anita since it installed a mile-long dirt track to replace its synthetic version in 2010.

Everyone knows that horses sometimes have to be put down after suffering some catastrophic fate at the racetrack, but be honest. Did you think the numbers looked like that? And it isn’t just Santa Anita. The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database counts 6,134 horse fatalities on American tracks between 2009 and 2018.

As Dodd told me, there isn’t “one silver bullet” out there than can solve the problem.

A track made soggy from a very wet winter is getting most of the blame at Santa Anita. But a lot of people cite things like eye covers, “increased horse performance” (meaning pushing them harder) and chemical enhancers. In particular, the drug Lasix, ostensibly an anti-bleeding medication, is in the crosshairs. Most countries outside of North America ban race-day medications. Not here.

SB 469 does not address most of those issues. It’s a baby step. And it places a lot of faith in the California Horse Racing Board.

The CHRB currently has a six-person board of directors. Two of the current members have made money in breeding and racing horses. Three come from law or business. One is a jockey, which is important. Rick Baedeker, the executive director (not a board position), is the former president of Hollywood Park.

Dodd said he was met with Baedeker and several board members, and talked to them about their histories and roles.

“These are plum appointments, there’s no doubt about that,” Dodd said. “But they all have relevant experience in the industry. So I do have a degree of confidence that they’re looking out for the animals, they’re looking out for the jockeys - and the economic benefits. There could be some conflicts in those areas, but that’s what judgment’s about.”

Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to get a veterinarian or a biologist or two involved - or someone with a background in animal rescue?

We need to be able to do more than slap offenders on the wrists.

The Stronach Group made headlines Saturday when it banned trainer Jerry Hollendorf, a Hall of Famer based in the Bay Area, from two of its tracks, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley. Four of his horses died at Santa Anita this year. Hollendorfer’s response? He packed his stable to Los Alamitos Race Course, about a 34-mile drive.

Our relationship to animals is complicated, I know that. We hunt them and eat them and use them for clothing and entertainment and for hard labor - and, yes, we choose a few to cuddle. None of that is going to change anytime soon. But there is a rising tide in America demanding less cruelty in all of these interactions. That seems like the minimum requirement.

Should horse racing even exist? That’s a future debate. But if we’re going to sanction it as Californians, we need to do our best to remove the cruelty. And 30 deaths at one track in half a year is an unacceptable risk.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.