CHRB adjusts stabling and vanning subsidy

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The San Luis Rey Training Center along with the Los Alamitos barns rely on subsidies from the Southern California Stabling and Vanning Fund to help cover the expenses which allow the horses stabled at those facilities to be ready for racing. A decline in on-track wagering following the coronavirus outbreak has reduced funding from that source, so on Dec. 15 the California Horse Racing Board approved adjustments to cover the shortfall.

The agreement had been approved by the Southern California tracks which conduct meets as well as by Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association but needed state approval from the California Horse Racing Board. A 7-0 CHRB vote Dec. 15 provided the necessary governmental acceptance.

Los Alamitos Race Course currently hosts the Los Angeles County Fair meet which had previously taken place during the county fair itself in Pomona, although the Los Angeles County Fair is still the formal meet association. The Los Angeles Turf Club is the association for the meets at Santa Anita Park; the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club handles the meets at the Del Mar track, and the Los Alamitos Racing Association is the organizing entity for Los Alamitos meets other than the fair meet.

Santa Anita Park stables horses when racing is not in session there, as did Hollywood Park before that facility closed in early 2014. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club stables horses on-site during the Del Mar summer and fall meets. Los Alamitos is the only quarter horse racing track in Southern California and added thoroughbred racing after Hollywood Park closed. San Luis Rey is a CHRB-approved auxiliary training facility, although no racing has ever occurred there.

Southern California Off-Track Wagering, Inc. oversees off-track wagering and simulcast transmissions for the off-track facilities. SCOTWINC provides a stabling and vanning subsidy derived from off-track wagering which reduces the rent paid to the facilities by trainers. Initially the Stabling and Vanning Committee money was obtained only from satellite wagering facilities and not from on-line advance deposit wagering, and the increase in advance deposit wagering decreased the satellite wagering amount available for the subsidies.

In 2009, the Stabling and Vanning Committee voted to cease funding for San Luis Rey (at the time called the San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center) and Fairplex Park as of Jan. 1, 2010. Fairplex closed its stable area to off-site stabling. San Luis Rey Downs faced closure before a group of local trainers obtained a lease on the facility.

San Luis Rey was closed for renovations between June 2013 and January 2014. In September 2013, the CHRB approved the allocation of race dates for the next racing year, and the approval of the Southern California racing calendar also included approval of associated agreements including the Southern California auxiliary off-track stabling issue which returned SCOTWINC funding to San Luis Rey.

The new agreement utilizes money which would otherwise be part of the purse for race finishes or the track commission. An additional deduction based on 1.20% of the handle in the Central and Southern zones will be provided to the Stabling and Vanning Fund.

A separate CHRB action approved an agreement between the tracks, Thoroughbred Owners of California, and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association which will provide SCOTWINC with 2.4% of the advance deposit wagering handle on Del Mar and Los Alamitos Racing Association races, 2.0% of the ADW handle for the Santa Anita fall meet, and 1.7% of the ADW handle for the Santa Anita winter/spring meet.