A Carryover for CHRB-Racebook Squabble

When is a contract not a contract?

Apparently when the California Horse Racing Board says it isn’t.

Santa Anita is starting the second year of a four-year contract with the Nevada racebooks, but because of recent racing board action, the season starts today without a simulcast television signal going into Las Vegas.

The racing board this month voted in a licensing requirement that obligates Southern California tracks to receive at least a 4.2% commission from bets on their races in Nevada. In Santa Anita’s existing contract, the commission is 3.5%.

Even before the racing board’s action, Hollywood Park was without a contract with Nevada because the track and the racebooks couldn’t agree on a commission. The books were without a TV signal for the entire Hollywood Park season.

“We plan to honor our contract,” said Cliff Goodrich, president of Santa Anita, “but right now there’s a difference between what’s in the contract and what the racing board will allow. . . . No settlement is imminent right now, but we’re hoping to work this out in a week or two.”

Goodrich said that the track and the horsemen’s purse fund are losing approximately $9,000 apiece per day during the blackout.

“We’ll continue our dialogue, but we feel the current contract with Santa Anita should be honored,” said Tony Cabot, an attorney representing the racebooks. “Clearly, we have a valid contract. But we’re not taking anybody to court now. If this continues, we’ll concentrate our efforts on promoting betting on other tracks from around the country.”

Roy Wood, executive director of the racing board, doesn’t feel that Santa Anita should be bound by the contract.

“In my opinion, that contract isn’t enforceable,” Wood said. “Under the Federal Horse Racing Act, any simulcast must be approved by a racing commission, and our position in California is that we approve contracts on a meet-to-meet basis.”