A leading executive with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and other animal rights activists, urged the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday to take a proactive approach to end illegal racing in the state. Citing concerns about horse safety, PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo gave a 12-minute overview to the board detailing how illegal racing, almost exclusively involving Quarter Horses, is a concern throughout the country. Guillermo said that eight such venues operate in California, or one less than the number of sanctioned tracks for Thoroughbreds or Quarter Horses in the state. Racing board members and executives said immediately after Guillermo’s presentation that the issue would be discussed in the near future with the intent to penalize people licensed by the racing board who participate in both illegal races and sanctioned races. Racing board chairman Greg Ferraro said the racing board could develop tougher rules while also utilizing staff to explore the activities of some licensees. “We will get to work on this as a board and an organization,” he said. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Racing board vice chairman Oscar Gonzales spoke in general about tough penalties. “We will spare no resource to penalize participants,” he said. “We’ll getcha. We don’t want those bad actors anywhere close to what we’re doing.” In her presentation, Guillermo said injection of street drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine in the moments before illegal races was commonplace as was use of electrical devices to stimulate horses during races. She cited horse fatalities in illegal races and said the events generate “hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal gambling.” Guillermo called for the racing board to penalize licensees, notably jockeys, who participate in such races and also ride at tracks such as Los Alamitos. “It appears the CHRB is handcuffed without jurisdiction, but the CHRB does have jurisdiction of jockeys, owners, and trainers that race at regulated and non-regulated tracks,” she said. Guillermo also cited existing racing board rules regarding animal welfare, conduct detrimental to racing, and grounds for suspension as avenues for regulators to use to pursue penalties. “Unregulated racetracks are a cocktail of illegal activity,” she told the racing board at its meeting in Sacramento. “I know how a lot of people in this room think about me and our organization, but I don’t care. These are horses that are being abused and being killed and it needs to stop.” Match racing has caused a decline in the Quarter Horse population at Los Alamitos for years. It is not uncommon for an owner or trainer to be approached by match racing participants with large cash offers for leading Quarter Horses. Later at Thursday’s meeting, the racing board tabled a measure to devote a portion of revenue from account wagering sources to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s 2023 budget, pending legal issues faced by the national regulatory board. Racing organizations that operate at the state’s nine venues have an assessment of approximately $1,069,139 for 2023, according to racing board documents. HISA was scheduled to administer drug testing at several major jurisdictions in the state, including California, as of Jan. 1, but the Federal Trade Commission earlier this week declined to approve necessary rules. Ferraro said the California Horse Racing Board may “pull out of HISA temporarily.” “We should go back to operating under California rules until this is sorted out,” he said. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Without HISA regulations, California would operate under a set of medication rules that are similar to what HISA has proposed nationally, according to Del Mar president Josh Rubinstein. “Rules that we’ve put in place are the blueprint for HISA,” Rubinstein said at Thursday’s meeting. “We hope the rest of the country puts in place the rules we have put in place. “Hopefully, we will have some clarity from HISA in the next few weeks. California has made great strides with this reform.” California equine medical director Jeff Blea said in his monthly presentation at Thursday’s meeting that “there will be no substantive change starting Jan. 1” regarding medication policies. “To all horsemen, we will continue [with] CHRB rules, and guidelines and enforcement,” he said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.