CHRB Ups Max Age Limit For Maidens From Five to Six

[Wandering Eyes]

Last year the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) approved the establishment of maximum statewide ages at which horses can race–10 years old for winners and five years old for maidens. On Wednesday, the CHRB voted unanimously to tweak that rule, raising the max age for maidens to six, with the stipulation that such horses would be receiving “increased scrutiny” from the state's regulatory veterinarians.

Prior to the codification of a maximum age for maidens at the state level, California's three currently active tracks had been operating under “house rules” that set the upper limits at either six (Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Los Alamitos Race Course) or five (Santa Anita Park).

This max-age agenda item was originally up for a vote back in January, but the issue was tabled when commissioners at that time asked for more data before making their decisions.

Based on feedback from the public and the CHRB's informal polling of trainers, the board's staff came back at the Mar. 11 meeting with a revised recommendation of six years old as the upper limit for maidens.

Scott Chaney, the CHRB's executive director, said Wednesday that, “The public comments centered on the fact that, mostly, the maiden restriction was limiting opportunities for owners and breeders in California.”

But quantifying a precise number of affected horses was difficult.

“Inventory and participants are likely to be very insignificant due to increased costs of training a 6-year-old maiden,” Jeff Blea, the CHRB's equine medical director, told board members prior to the 7-0 vote.

“However, there will be some who will be afforded this opportunity if you pass this rule change,” Blea said.

Blea told the CHRB that, “I did an informal poll of about 10 Thoroughbred trainers, primarily. And all but one was in unanimous support of allowing 6-year-old maidens to race.

“The one who was opposed was opposed because he felt it diluted the racing product at Santa Anita,” Blea said.

“Moving it from five to six allows and encourages more rest periods without pressure on owners and trainers to keep these horses in training [and] allows this population to continue safely competing in California rather than leaving the state,” Blea said.

Yet Blea acknowledged there's very little age-specific safety data that relates to California's maiden horse population.

“There's a lack of scientific data looking at age of maidens and how it corresponds to catastrophic musculoskeletal injury,” Blea said. “There's a lot of data based on race, class, dirt, turf. But not very much scientific data to indicate [trends with maidens] where it's five versus six versus seven. In the literature that I provided in your staff report, it indicates that 6-year-old maidens would be safe to race from a musculoskeletal standpoint.”

Back when the CHRB last called upon Blea to address this topic, he described the situation like this at the January meeting:

“What's the magic number? Is it five, is it six, is it seven for maidens? Is it nine, is it 10, is it 11 for winners? I've had people tell me we should limit older horses to eight years old. I've had people suggest we limit maidens to four years old. It's a number. When you reach a certain age, you can't drive a car. When you reach a certain age, mandatory retirement. Age is not a disease, but at some point in time, we have to set boundaries and parameters,” Blea said.

The post CHRB Ups Max Age Limit For Maidens From Five to Six appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article