In a sign of how the tightening economy has affected tracks in the state, the California Horse Racing Board acquiesced to a request from Hollywood Park to eliminate the final five Wednesdays of the current spring/summer meet, which runs through July 19.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Hollywood Park will move to a four-day race schedule per week due to a lack of horses available to race.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Advance deposit wagering provider TVG did not accept bets on Hollywood Park races April 22 as the Inglewood track opened its 65-day spring/summer meet.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hoping to avert what one racing secretary called "open season" on the horse population in the state, the California Horse Racing Board took the unusual step of contacting a litigant who has put the board in a tenuous situation over a claiming rule.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The California Horse Racing Board got a bit of good news March 19 when the president of Hollywood Park assured commissioners that it would run its 2009 fall/winter meet as planned. The board also received an update on bankruptcy developments from Magna Entertainment Corp.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Rebates to wagering customers have become so widespread that the California Horse Racing Board is preparing to rescind its rule against the practice.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Jan. 26 that Mike Ziegler has been named the executive director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.
Monday, January 26, 2009
In a high-stakes "game of chicken," the California Horse Racing Board pushed account wagering a little closer to the edge Nov. 18 when it declined to renew the licenses of the state's four Internet and telephone bet companies.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
One old betting axiom -- "shut out at the window" -- has taken on a whole new meaning when paired with a relatively new one in the racing industry lexicon: "signal wars."
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
A stalemate between California horsemen and advance deposit wagering companies kept Hollywood Park's out-of-state signal unavailable on opening day of the track's fall season Oct. 29.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Industry stakeholders received a tongue-lashing from Richard Shapiro, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, as the agency took its first swipe at a race dates calendar for 2009.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
California horsemen and Hollywood Park reached a tentative agreement Oct. 10 that allows the track to operate its 40-day autumn race meet, but a stalemate over host fees to be paid by account wagering companies for interstate bets remains unresolved.
Friday, October 10, 2008
With horsemen and Hollywood Park unable to come to agreement on revenue splits from account wagering sources for the upcoming autumn meet at the Inglewood track, the California Horse Racing Board agreed to conduct a special hearing to settle the impasse.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Hoping to revitalize its Cushion Track racing surface following the 60-day spring/summer meet that concludes July 13, Hollywood Park plans to close its main track to training in the next few weeks for a short maintenance break.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Hollywood Park plans to race for at least one more year, the California Horse Racing Board was told June 27, while the racing industry in Southern California has "coalesced" around Fairplex Park as the region's eventual replacement for the Inglewood track.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
California's advance deposit wagering truce may be coming to an end.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Youbet.com announced May 21 it had regained compliance with NASDAQ trading requirements after its stock price traded above $1 for 10 consecutive business days.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
With the hour glass emptying on Bay Meadows and perhaps Hollywood Park as well, the California Horse Racing Board heard from industry representatives working on contingency plans for the future of Thoroughbred racing in the state without two of its major tracks.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
At a time when California is facing a state budget deficit approaching $15 billion, horse racing industry officials pleaded their case for special consideration before a legislative committee convened at the State Capitol in Sacramento March 5.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Now that voters in California have decisively approved a massive increase in Indian gaming for four large Southern California tribes, the chairman of the state's horse racing board says it is time for the tribal casinos to help out his ailing industry with financial mitigation.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Bay Meadows Race Course begins its final regular season meet next month, but questions remain about whether this is really the farewell stand for the 74-year-old track.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Overall wagering and on-track attendance at Hollywood Park increased during the 32-day fall meet that ended Dec. 22.
Friday, December 28, 2007
As California continues to wrestle with improving advance deposit wagering, the state welcomed a new provider. TwinSpires.com was awarded an ADW license Oct. 18, making it the fourth company to offer home computer betting on horse racing in the state.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Given reasonable assurance that Bay Meadows would remain open throughout 2008 for training and stabling, the California Horse Racing Board approved a statewide dates plan for the coming year during its Sept. 27 meeting in Arcadia.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The California Horse Racing Board has approved a one-year conditional waiver from the state mandate for synthetic surfaces for Bay Meadows.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Marsha Naify, Jack Liebau, and Alan Marzelli are new members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association board of directors. Naify is the first woman to serve on the board.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
With State Sen. Leland Yee in attendance at its May 22 meeting in Sacramento, the California Horse Racing Board threw open the possibility that Bay Meadows could resume racing in 2008.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
TVG announced April 24 that it will broadcast from Hollywood Park's 68th spring/summer meet, which began April 25 at the Inglewood, Calif. track. Throughout the meet, TVG will present a $150,000 Guaranteed Pick Four each weekday and a $300,000 Guaranteed Pick Four on Saturdays and Sundays.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
By Ray Paulick - The CHRB's mandate is not only the right thing to do for the safety of horses, it is a benefit to owners, too, and ultimately for the tracks. Fewer injuries ensures there will be more horses in training, which will lead to larger field sizes, which usually translates to increased pari-mutuel handle. Owners are always happier to have horses racing and training rather than convalescing or recovering.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Faced with eventual closure of Bay Meadows, the California Horse Racing Board doomed the 73-year-old race course rather than grant a two-year waiver of its edict mandating that all major Thoroughbred tracks in the state install synthetic surfaces by the end of the year.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Bay Meadows, hampered by wet weather that has made filling races difficult, announced Friday that it is canceling the live programs scheduled for March 7 and 14.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Bay Meadows Race Course, long rumored to be facing demolition in favor of redevelopment plans approved by the city of San Mateo, may seek an exemption from a California Horse Racing Board mandate to replace its existing dirt track with an artificial one by the end of 2007.
Friday, December 29, 2006
After two fatal breakdowns, jockeys at Bay Meadows refused to ride following the second race Thursday, citing unsafe conditions caused by steady rainfall at the Bay Area track the past week.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Hollywood Park picked up an additional six days in the 2007 racing calendar approved by the California Horse Racing Board Oct. 26 at Arcadia City Hall.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Reducing the number of racing events without the loss of a significant number of actual racing days in the North was the goal of the California Horse Racing Board's Strategic Alliance Planning Committee, which met for the final time Oct. 12 before making a final 2007 dates recommendation to the full board.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Cementing the 2007 racing schedule in the state remained the focus of the California Horse Racing Board Strategic Alliance Planning Committee, which met Sept. 19 for the third time.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
On-track attendance and pari-mutuel handle at Hollywood Park were down during the 61-day spring-summer meeting that ended July 16, although overall wagering increased slightly, according to preliminary figures released by the Southern California track.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Hollywood Park expects to be the first California racetrack to run on a synthetic-racing surface. The Inglewood facility announced June 21 that it will begin work with Equestrian Surfaces of the United Kingdom to replace the existing main track at the conclusion of the spring/summer meet on July 16.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The California Horse Racing Board is expected to waive its rules regarding the coupling of horses with common ownership during the current Hollywood Park meeting and upcoming Bay Meadows stand.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
California racing associations that operate meets of at least four continuous weeks would be required to install a synthetic racing surface by the end of 2007 or face a loss of dates, the state's horseracing board decided Feb. 16.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Stakes winner Indian Country will enter stud at Tom Capehart and F. Jack Liebau's Valley Creek Farm near Valley Center, Calif.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Bay Meadows opens its new 31-day "Holiday Meet" on Monday. The short stand, which resulted as part of a dates swap in 2006 with Golden Gate Fields, runs through Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 5.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Track operators pledged their support to improving the conditions of racing surfaces in the state after about 25 trainers descended on the California Horse Racing Board meeting Dec. 1 at Hollywood Park to seek the commission's assistance.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Hollywood Park, in an agreement hammered out with horse owners, will restructure its overnight purses for the upcoming Autumn meeting and will also cut back the total number of racing days after losing its turf course, the California Horse Racing Board was told Nov. 3. The track has cut 11 stakes races worth $2.3 million as a result of the turf problem.
Friday, November 04, 2005
F. Jack Liebau has been named president of the Hollywood Park Racing Association, replacing Rick Baedeker, who has joined Stockbridge Capital Group, the company that now oversees the Inglewood, Calif., track.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The California Horse Racing Board put an important stamp of approval on the sale of Hollywood Park at its commission meeting Thursday at Del Mar by unanimously okaying the deal with the Bay Meadows' Land Company in accordance with state racing law.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Churchill Downs Inc. is eliminating 18 positions at Hollywood Park, including four department heads, in anticipation of completing the Inglewood, Calif., racetrack's sale to Bay Meadows Land Co. The sale is scheduled to close Sept. 23.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Calling Churchill Downs' recent sale of Hollywood Park a "shot across the bow," California state Senator Dean Florez heard industry leaders plea for help in racing's struggle for survival in the Golden State.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Saying that California "has forsaken racing and its needs," the president of Churchill Downs Inc. announced July 6 that the company has sold historic Hollywood Park to Bay Meadows Land Company for $260 million.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
The Bay Meadows racing signal will be available to all three legal account deposit wagering companies in California when the Bay Area track opens for business under new management Feb. 2.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
