Addressing concerns raised by Ellen Jackson, a California owner, breeder, and trainer, that Northern California equine interests would be protected as racing consolidates in Southern California at Santa Anita Park, California Horse Racing Board commissioners pledged their support Dec. 19 during a CHRB meeting.

Under the terms of a stakeholder agreement announced earlier this week by 1/ST Racing, the owners of Santa Anita and the group that closed  Golden Gate Fields in Northern California this year, the state will transition to a single circuit for most of 2025. Thoroughbred racing in California will occur exclusively at Santa Anita through June 15, and simulcast money will be redirected to the south. Year-round stabling and training are to be available at Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

Summer fair racing will still take place in the northern part of the state.

Other agreement elements include weekly races with preferences and restrictions for Northern California-based horses and travel stipends.

Speaking during the public comment portion of a Thursday meeting of the CHRB, Jackson prompted commissioners by commenting, “The flaw in this whole system is that once (1/ST Racing) gets the Northern California simulcast money, what’s to keep them from just withdrawing the training at Pleasanton or the subsidizing of the transportation or the purse structure? I don’t see any guarantee for us.”

“I think your guarantee is the board,” chairman Dr. Greg Ferraro replied.

“You’re gonna have our back?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he responded.

“Absolutely,” added commissioner Dennis Alfieri.

Some logistics of how California racing will shift to one circuit in the coming weeks was laid out earlier in the CHRB meeting with amendments to Santa Anita’s race meet application to allow for claiming races for as low as $5,000 and maiden claiming races at the $8,000 level.

Santa Anita also plans to race more often, expanding from three to four days on nonholiday weeks and with more races daily.

“We’re ready to provide racing opportunities and do everything we can,” Santa Anita Park general manager Nate Newby said.

Races meant to accommodate Northern California horses will be listed as “extras” on the track overnight for potential use by the racing office beginning Dec. 27, the second day of the upcoming meet, Newby said, and the track’s second condition book would reflect the consolidation of racing.

The changes come during a threatening period for the California industry, which is not bolstered by gaming and has seen declining betting and purses in recent years. Total handle in the state this year, counting all breeds, is off 6% through the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period in 2023, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney said. Short fields are also common.

Also during the meeting, CHRB continued its backing for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. Commissioners agreed to voluntarily enter into an agreement with HISA.

Asked by vice chairman Oscar Gonzalez about Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association’s ongoing lawsuit against HISA over their allotment of HISA fees, Chaney replied, “Obviously, everybody is looking to pay as little as possible.”

He said HISA’s planned shift in 2026 from a starts/purse fee model to one based on starts “is sort of inconsequential” for California.

“We have less starts than last year, and frankly, as everybody is well aware, our purses aren’t keeping up with the rest of the country,” he continued. “So this is a rare instance where smaller purses is actually benefiting California. It’s part of the reason our overall assessment is actually less than last year, as compared to other states.”