CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 19530-19540
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 19530-19540
19530. The board shall have the authority to allocate racing weeks
to an applicant or applicants pursuant to the provisions of this
article and Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 19540) and to
specify such racing days, dates, and hours for horse racing meetings
as will be in the public interest, and will subserve the purposes of
this chapter. The decision of the board as to such racing days,
dates, and hours shall be subject to change, limitation or
restriction only by the board. No municipality or county shall adopt
or enforce any ordinance or regulation which has or may have the
effect of directly or indirectly regulating, limiting or restricting
the racing days and dates of horse racing meetings.
19530.5. For the purposes of this article there shall be three
geographical zones which shall be designated (a) the "southern zone,"
which shall consist of the Counties of Imperial, Orange, Riverside,
and San Diego; (b) the "central zone," which shall consist of the
Counties of Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Barbara, and Ventura; and (c) the "northern zone," which shall
consist of the remaining counties in the state.
19531. The board shall make allocations of racing weeks, including
simultaneous racing between zones, as it deems appropriate. The
maximum number of racing weeks that may be allocated for horse racing
other than at fairs, shall be as follows:
(a) For thoroughbred racing: 44 weeks per year in the northern
zone; 42 weeks per year in the central zone; and seven weeks per year
in the southern zone.
(b) For harness racing: 25 weeks per year in the northern zone.
(c) For quarter horse racing: 25 weeks per year in the northern
zone.
(d) For harness racing and quarter horse racing: a total of 77
weeks per year in the combined central and southern zones.
(e) In its written application for a license, an applicant shall
state the time of day, consistent with this chapter, during which it
will conduct its racing meeting, and particularly the first race
starting time for the various racing days. After receiving a license,
a licensee shall not change the first race starting time without
securing prior approval of the board.
(f) Notwithstanding this section or any other provision in this
chapter, the board shall not allocate dates to a thoroughbred
association in the central zone for the purpose of conducting racing
during daytime hours if a thoroughbred racing association is
conducting racing in the southern zone on the same date during
daytime hours.
19531.1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board
shall not allocate racing dates to a private thoroughbred racing
association in the central or southern zone for the purpose of
conducting thoroughbred racing during daytime or nighttime hours if a
fair racing association is conducting racing in the central zone on
the same dates and if that fair is obligated to make payments on a
capital expense loan incurred for the purpose of improving its
facilities for horse racing.
19532. (a) Any association licensed to conduct thoroughbred racing
in the northern zone may receive no more than 35 weeks of that
racing.
(b) Any association licensed to conduct thoroughbred racing in the
central zone may receive no more than 17 weeks of that racing,
except that any association which conducts a split meeting may
receive up to 20 weeks of that racing. No more than one such split
meeting may be licensed in any one year.
(c) This section and Section 19531 shall not operate to deprive
any association of any weeks of racing granted during 1980.
(d) This section and Section 19531 shall not operate to deprive
the California State Fair and Exposition of any weeks of racing
granted during the previous calendar year, and the board may continue
to allocate those weeks of racing to the California Exposition and
State Fair or any lessee thereof.
(e) Nothing in subdivision (d) is a limitation on the board
allocating racing weeks to any private racing association as a lessee
of the California Exposition and State Fair racetrack facility
pursuant to Sections 19531 and 19532.
19532.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, excluding
venues under construction for the purpose of expanded year-round
stabling and training for thoroughbred race horses, if a venue used
for thoroughbred racing by an association or racing fair licensed to
conduct thoroughbred racing in the central zone in 2008 is not
available for racing in 2009 or thereafter, the dates formerly
allocated to that venue shall be available for allocation by the
board to licensed associations or racing fairs in the southern or
central zone.
(b) Upon allocation of dates pursuant to this section, no
association or racing fair licensed to conduct thoroughbred racing in
the southern or central zones may receive more than 25 weeks of
thoroughbred racing when aggregated among the combined southern and
central zones.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), the aggregate
allocation of racing weeks conducted in the southern and central
zones shall not exceed the total aggregate racing weeks permitted to
be run in the southern and central zones by Section 19531.
19532.2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, commencing
July 1, 2010, if a racetrack located in the central zone is not
available for use by a thoroughbred association that was licensed by
the board to conduct a live race meet at that racetrack in 2009, the
board shall be authorized to allocate racing dates to that
association to be operated at a racetrack in the central zone or
southern zone for racing in 2010, or thereafter, in accordance with
the rules and regulations of the California Horse Racing Board,
provided however, that the number of racing dates allocated pursuant
to this section does not exceed the number of racing dates that
became unavailable at the central zone racetrack.
19533. (a) Any license granted to an association other than a fair
shall be only for one type of racing, thoroughbred, harness, or
quarter horse racing as the case may be, except that the board may
authorize the entering of thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses in
quarter horse races at a distance not exceeding five furlongs at
quarter horse meetings, mixed breed meetings, and fair meetings. If
the board authorizes the entering of thoroughbred or Appaloosa horses
in quarter horse races, the following conditions shall be met:
(1) Any race written for participation by quarter horses,
Appaloosas, and thoroughbreds shall be written as quarter horse
preferred.
(2) The number of races written as quarter horse preferred at a
distance exceeding 870 yards shall not exceed more than three races
per program without the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's
organization contracting with the association.
(3) More than one-half of the races on any program shall be for
quarter horses at a distance not to exceed 550 yards, unless the
consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization is received.
(4) Mixed races with Appaloosa and quarter horses may only be
written with the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization
contracting with the association.
(5) Thoroughbreds shall constitute less than half the number of
horses in these races although an exception may be granted on a
race-to-race basis with the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's
organization contracting with the association.
(b) The association that conducts the meeting shall pay to a
thoroughbred trainers' organization an amount for a pension plan for
backstretch personnel to be administered by that trainers'
organization equivalent to 1 percent of the amount available to
thoroughbred horses for purses. The remainder of the portion shall be
distributed as purses. Any redistributable money paid to the board
pursuant to Section 19641, which is paid to a welfare fund
established by a horsemen's organization from races with both
thoroughbred and quarter horses, shall be divided pro rata between
the two welfare funds based on the number of thoroughbreds and
quarter horses in the race.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
association licensed to conduct quarter horse racing may apply to the
board for, and the board shall grant, authority to conduct
thoroughbred racing as part of its racing program if all of the
following conditions are met:
(A) The thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more
than five thousand dollars ($5,000), and at a distance of four and
one-half furlongs or less. The races may not be stakes, allowance
races, or maiden allowance races.
(B) More than one-half of the races on any program shall be for
quarter horses at a distance not to exceed 550 yards, unless the
consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization is received.
(C) The consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization
contracting with the association is obtained with respect to the
inclusion of thoroughbred racing.
(2) The quarter horse racing association conducting thoroughbred
racing pursuant to this subdivision shall pay to a quarter horse
horsemen's organization the amount specified in subdivision (e) of
Section 19613, and an amount for a pension plan for backstretch
personnel to be administered by a thoroughbred trainers' organization
equivalent to 1 percent of the amount available to thoroughbred
horses for purses. The remainder of the portion shall be distributed
as purses. The quarter horse racing association shall also deduct the
appropriate amount to comply with subdivision (a) of Section 19617.2
for distribution to the thoroughbred official registering agency.
19533.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 19533, the board may authorize
the following mixed breed racing:
(1) An association licensed to conduct a quarter horse meeting to
include Appaloosa races and Arabian races with the consent of the
quarter horse horsemen's organization contracting with the
association with respect to the conduct of the racing meeting.
(2) A race between a quarter horse and a thoroughbred horse at a
thoroughbred meeting with the consent of the thoroughbred horsemen's
organization contracting with the association with respect to the
conduct of the racing meeting.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 19533, an association licensed to
conduct quarter horse racing or a fair may conduct races that include
paint horses racing with quarter horses or Appaloosa horses in the
same race. When paint horses race with quarter horses, the consent of
the organization that represents quarter horse horsemen and
horsewomen shall first be obtained. A quarter horse association may
write a race for paint horses only to replace an Appaloosa or Arabian
race without increasing the average number of races run per race day
with the consent of the organization representing the quarter horse
men and women.
(c) A quarter horse race with seven or more entries shall not be
replaced by a race that includes paint horses, without the consent of
the organization that represents quarter horse horsemen and
horsewomen.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any quarter horse
racing association or fair conducting barrel racing, paint horse
racing, show jump racing, or steeplechase racing shall pay to the
quarter horsemen's organization the amount specified in Section 19613
for purposes of representing the horsemen and horsewomen conducting
these races.
19533.6. Notwithstanding Section 19533, the board may authorize any
racing association licensed to conduct a live quarter horse racing
meeting to also conduct mule racing at that racing meeting, subject
to the following conditions:
(a) Mule races may only be conducted when a fair is not licensed
to conduct live races with parimutuel wagering.
(b) The consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization
contracting with the association shall be obtained with respect to
the inclusion of mule racing.
(c) The majority of the races conducted on any given racing day
shall be quarter horse races.
(d) A quarter horse association may conduct mule races provided
that the total number of Arabian and mule races run in a year do not
exceed the total number of Arabian races run in the state in 2001.
(e) An Arabian race with seven or more entries shall not be
replaced by mule race, without the consent of the organization that
represents Arabian horsemen and horsewomen.
19535. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, at the time
the board allocates racing weeks, it shall determine the number of
useable stalls that each association or fair shall make available and
maintain in order to conduct the racing meeting. The minimum number
of stalls may be at the site of the racing meeting or at
board-approved offsite locations.
(b) With respect to racing meetings conducted in the northern
zone, the association or fair conducting the meeting shall provide
all stabling required by the board pursuant to subdivision (a)
without cost to participating horsemen. Offsite stabling shall be at
a board approved facility or facilities selected by the association
or fair, with the agreement of the organization representing horsemen
participating at the meeting. If there is a disagreement between the
association or fair and the organization representing the majority
of horsemen participating at the meeting with respect to the
selection of offsite stabling facilities, the board, at the request
of the association or fair or the organization representing the
majority of horsemen participating at the meeting, shall promptly
determine the board-approved facility or facilities at which offsite
stabling shall be made available. The organization representing
horsemen participating at the meeting and the association or fair
shall mutually agree on the criteria and selection of horses that may
use stalls required pursuant to this section. With respect to
northern zone thoroughbred meetings only, the association shall also
provide, at the option of the horse owner, vanning of participating
racehorses from any board-approved offsite stabling facility in the
northern zone. Fairs may provide, subject to the availability of
funds pursuant to Sections 19607, 19607.1, 19607.2, and 19607.3, at
the option of the horse owner, vanning of participating racehorses
from any board-approved offsite stabling facility.
(c) With respect to racing meetings conducted in the central or
southern zones, all costs associated with the maintenance of the
useable stalls for the racing meeting shall be borne by the
association or fair conducting the meeting, and, with respect to
useable stalls at an offsite location, the association or fair may be
required, by order of the board, to bear the costs of vanning from
the offsite location to the racing meeting. However, with respect to
any racing association in the central or southern zone that conducted
a racing meeting in 1986, if the number of useable stalls made
available onsite by a racing association during a racing meeting is
less than 95 percent of the number of useable stalls made available
onsite by that racing association during its 1986 racing meeting, the
racing association shall reimburse the facility providing offsite
stabling for the difference in cost between the actual number of
useable stalls made available and 95 percent of the useable stalls
made available in 1986.
The racing association shall, in addition, reimburse the owner for
vanning to the onsite location with respect to those horses stabled
at an offsite location necessitated by the failure of a racing
association to maintain 95 percent of the useable stalls made
available by that racing association during its 1986 racing meeting.
19540. In order to encourage and develop the racing of all horses
in California, regardless of breed, whenever a fair conducts a
program of horse races on which there is parimutuel wagering, the
fair, so far as practicable, shall provide a program of racing that
includes thoroughbred racing, quarter horse racing, Arabian racing,
and Appaloosa racing, if a sufficient number of horses is available
to provide competition in one or more races.