Bing Crosby built the Del Mar racetrack in the 1930s, when horse racing’s popularity in the American sporting landscape was second only to baseball. His pals W.C. Fields, Ava Gardner, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball roamed its clubhouse. Crosby insisted on a late first post time — 2 p.m. — so they could golf (wink, wink) beforehand or recover from the night before.
Some of Hollywood’s golden era will be recaptured on Friday and Saturday as celebrities and horse enthusiasts come to this racetrack to watch 200 thoroughbreds compete for $34 million in purses in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
It is what happens after the horses return to New York State, Europe, Japan, South Africa and all points in between, though, that has California breeders and owners worried. Despite being home to this equine oasis on the Pacific Ocean and an equally stunning venue — Santa Anita Park — in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, horse racing in California is going broke.
The state that has given one of America’s oldest sports iconic horses like Seabiscuit, Swaps and American Pharoah is rapidly falling behind Kentucky, New York and even Arkansas in purse money, which is vital to attract owners and trainers to race in California.
Last year, the state offered $165 million in purse money, for an average of more than $418,000 per racing day, according to Equibase, which keeps information and statistics for American racing. The available daily purse is more than $972,000 in Kentucky and $648,000 in New York, but those states’ purses are supplemented by money that each collects from legalized gaming. California has nothing comparable.
“We are not new kids on the block,” said Bill Nader, president and chief executive of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “Our racetracks are among the best in the world, as is our safety record. Without some kind of game-changer to supplement purses, it’s going to be a struggle.”
In California, Native American tribes have the exclusive rights to Las Vegas-style gambling by virtue of a federal law passed in the 1980s. They have protected their casino revenue fiercely, helping to defeat the legalization of sports betting in the state. In September, after a multimillion-dollar lobbying battle, California enacted a law allowing the tribes to dispute the legality of certain games played inside small, privately owned card rooms.
Dr. Greg Ferraro, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, said that he expected a proposal to install Historical Horse Racing machines at racetracks soon and that the board was likely to approve it. Originally known as “instant racing,” the machines look like slots, but instead of randomizing outcomes, they determine winners through the results of previously run races.
The machines have been approved in several states, including Kentucky, where last year they helped account for $48 million in supplemental purses, or nearly one-quarter of the $197 million available to the state’s thoroughbred racetracks, according to Equibase.
“Our problem is purses — ours aren’t big enough,” Ferraro said. “If we don’t find a solution very quickly, we’re going to lose owners and training stables.”
Contraction is already underway. In 2002, for example, 404 stallions in California produced 3,823 foals, according to the Jockey Club, which keeps the sport’s breed registry. In 2022, 102 stallions produced 1,315 foals. In June, after 83 years, Golden Gate Fields closed in Berkeley, Calif., further limiting opportunities to breed and race at a profit.
The state has encountered other struggles within the sport in recent years. In 2019, 30 horses died at the Santa Anita racetrack in a span of six months, creating national headlines and drawing the scrutiny of state lawmakers and animal rights activists. In response, state regulators and racing officials strengthened rules regarding the use of riding crops, medications for horses, education for trainers and jockeys, track safety and recuperation policies for injured horses.
The reforms appear to have been effective. California’s equine fatality rate has been reduced by more than half since 2019, according to the Jockey Club, and Del Mar has the best safety record in the country with .29 fatality rate per 1,000 starts.
At an industrywide round table this summer in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the horse owner Gary Fenton reminded his peers of California’s significant contributions to the industry and asked them to send more horses west year round, and not just for the Breeders’ Cup. The state has hosted the Cup for 12 of the last 18 years.
Over 25 percent — $3.2 billion — of the more than $11 billion bet on American horse racing came from California horseplayers or was bet on California races, Fenton said, and owners from the state were responsible for a significant chunk of the $1.2 billion spent at horse sales.
“Obviously keeping California healthy is incredibly important for the entire ecosystem,” said Fenton, who is the chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “We need to get to the root of the systemic issues and create our own growth. And this starts with the mentality that we are connected, not just individual circuits or states. California buys horses from Kentucky farms and breaks them at Florida farms, and then ships them back to California racetracks.”
In the meantime, hard work and optimism is keeping California horsemen afloat.
Terry Lovingier owns Lovacres, a 650-acre horse breeding farm in Warner Springs, Calif., an hour east of Del Mar. He has three stallions — including Stay Thirsty, who won the 2011 Travers Stakes — and breeds 80 mares of his own. Despite business being down 30 percent this past breeding season, Lovingier kept his 35 employees working on the farm. Between getting horses he owns to the racetrack and racing itself, he said another 100 or more employees depended on him.
“This is an agricultural business with a lot of jobs at stake,” Lovingier said.
Indeed, horse racing in the state is a $4 billion industry that supports more than 61,000 jobs, according to the American Horse Council.
“I remain optimistic because we recognized we need to make some changes and are working together to make that happen,” Lovingier said. “There’s a sense of urgency to let people know what we offer in terms of jobs and the economy, and to the state’s history.”
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