Horse Owner Steve Beneto Appointed to CHRB

Horse owner Steve Beneto is the newest member to be added to the California Horse Racing Board by Gov. Jerry Brown.

His appointment, announced May 17, brings the seven-person commission to full strength. Beneto, 74, of Carmichael, near Sacramento, replaces Jerry Moss, who did not seek reappointment to the CHRB after his term expired in February. Brown appointed another horse owner, Charles Winner, to the board last month to replace John Harris, who left last September.

Beneto is the owner of stakes winning Longview Drive, who was on the Triple Crown trail this year until a ninth-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

He has been president of Beneto Inc. since 1979. Beneto was a member of the California State Fair and Exposition Board from 2000 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2011. He served as chair of the fair board from 2001 to 2002.

He has been a member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame board of directors since 2009. He was a founding member and has served as chair of the University of California-Davis MIND Institute since 1998 and was a member of the Shriner’s Hospital board of directors from 2008 to 2010.

Beneto, a Republican, was inducted into the California State Fair Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2011 and was awarded the California State Fair Golden Bear Award in 2004. His CHRB appointment requires Senate confirmation.