BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2790| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ CONSENT Bill No: AB 2790 Author: Assembly Governmental Organization Committee Amended: As introduced Vote: 21 SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/29/10 AYES: Wright, Harman, Calderon, Florez, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Price, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham, Oropeza, Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/13/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Horse racing: out-of-state thoroughbred races: the Arlington Million SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill adds the Arlington Million to the group of specific stake races which are exempt from the 32-race per day limit on imported races. ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes thoroughbred racing associations or fairs to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state and international thoroughbred races during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting live racing, including days on which there is no live racing being conducted by the association or fair. CONTINUED AB 2790 Page 2 Existing law provides that wagering on these races may occur without the consent of the horsemen/women participating in the meet, and without regard to the amount of purses involved with the races. Existing law limits the number of races that may be imported by associations and fairs to no more than 32 races per day on days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being conducted in this state, with specified exceptions. Existing law exempts from that 32-race per day limit races imported that are part of the race card of certain prominent races, including the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Travers Stakes, the Breeders' Cup, the Dubai Cup, or the Haskell Invitational. This bill provides that all races imported by a Thoroughbred association or fair that are part of the race card of the overall Arlington Million day would be exempted from the 32-race per day limit as defined in current law. Over the years, this law has been amended to allow specific notable races to be imported outside of this cap for promotional and financial reasons. The author notes this bill will help to increase the wagering handle on this specific day which will lead to increased purses, racetrack revenue, and breeders' awards in California. Purses are important to California's racing industry because they provide revenue to horse owners for their racing operations and to breeders through an increase in the value of their breeding stock. California's racing industry has found that it's much easier to make a big day bigger relating to their marketing efforts rather than trying to increase attendance on a typical Wednesday or Thursday. The bill will also give the racing industry a marketing tool to increase on-track and off-track attendance on this designated day because racing fans will want to wager on all the races from the host track of the prestigious Arlington Million horse race. The Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a prestigious Grade 1 horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three CONTINUED AB 2790 Page 3 years and upward. It is raced over a distance of 1 miles on the turf at Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) in August each year. The Arlington Million, as its name implies was the first thoroughbred race to offer a purse of $1,000,000 in August 1981. It is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the Arlington Million automatically qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Turf. The "Million" is considered by many in American racing circles to be the most prestigious turf race in the country behind only the Breeders' Cup. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, John A. Perez NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Eng, Hagman, Norby, Skinner, Yamada TSM:nl 7/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END **** CONTINUED