California governor Newsom appoints veterinarian to CHRB

In a move to improve horse safety and bring a greater level of transparency and accountability to race tracks, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law Senate Bill 469 and announced the appointment of veterinarian Gregory Ferraro to the California Horse Racing Board.

SB 469 would allow the CHRB to suspend horse racing licenses when necessary to protect the health and safety of horses and riders, with legislation following a spate of equine fatalities last season at Santa Anita Park.

The bill signing comes weeks after Newsom directed the CHRB to apply new safety measures and create a review group at Santa Anita, providing additional examination to determine if an individual horse is at elevated risk of injury before racing. A total of 38 horses were scratched or denied entry at Santa Anita since this new review process was established earlier this month.

Santa Anita finished its winter/spring season, which began Dec. 26, on Sunday.

“Business as usual has resulted in too many horse deaths,” Newsom said. “I applaud the legislature for taking action to expand the authority of the CHRB to cancel or move race meets when animal and human safety are at risk. This problem demands deeper partnership between the CHRB and track officials.

"I call on race tracks around the state to hold themselves to the higher screening standards recently adopted at Santa Anita. This model can save horses’ lives.”

Currently, short of an allegation of an actual rule violation, the CHRB is limited in its ability to take action against a licensee to limit, place conditions on or suspend a racing license. SB 469 will update the law to allow the CHRB to take immediate action on race meet licenses if horse or rider safety is determined to be at risk.

“Putting the safety of horses first is paramount,” said Sen. Bill Dodd, the author of SB 469. “I appreciate Gov. Newsom’s partnership and swift action in supporting this commonsense measure to allow the Horse Racing Board to halt racing when dangerous conditions exist.”

The Governor’s new appointee to the CHRB, Ferraro, is a 73-year-old San Francisco resident who served as director of the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Center for Equine Health from 1997 to 2014. Ferraro was also owner and chief executive officer of Gregory L. Ferraro DVM, LLC from 1972 to 1997.

He earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and is a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Ferraro is registered without a party preference.

Other CHRB members include Chuck Winner, Madeline Auerbach, Fred Maas, Araceli Ruano, Alex Solis and Dennis Alfieri. Rick Baedeker serves as executive director.