by Pete Denk

The California Horse Racing Board has agreed to pay California horse owner Jerry Jamgotchian $19,440 in attorney’s fees and costs, and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered the CHRB to turn over necropsy submission forms for horses that died on California tracks in 2006 and part of  '07.

Although much of the information on the reports will be redacted, the judge ruled that the date and time of a horse’s death, track and location where it occurred, and the names of the attending veterinarians were subject to the public records act.

“I didn’t believe the fatality statistics that were put out by the CHRB website or the new facts [CHRB Equine Medical Director] Rick Arthur [D.V.M.] was stating to be true at recent CHRB board meetings,” Jamgotchian said on Tuesday. “Little did I know the CHRB would fight so hard to keep these reports secret, especially when the CHRB under [Chairman Richard Shapiro] was supposed to be transparent and open. Well, they lost in court and have now been ordered to produce them.”

The CHRB declined Jamgotchian’s open records request, initially made on June 18, 2007, citing a California Deputy Attorney General’s opinion.

Jennifer Henderson, deputy attorney general for the state of California, said her office recommended not turning over the information because of a statute that says information related to veterinary care is confidential.

“The court acknowledged there was an obligation to keep much of the information confidential, but it decided some of the information was public,” Henderson said. “Because of the way our public records act is set up, if any documents are ordered to be produced for the petitioner, it counts as winning, and the prevailing party is entitled to fees.”

Arthur defended the data released by the CHRB in its annual report as accurate and consistent. Arthur said necropsy reports should not be made public because in some cases they contain information from private veterinarians.

“[Jamgotchian] should not be getting confidential information that practicing vets have supplied to us. It could give a very chilling effect on our ability to get proper information if people can go out and say, ‘Look what I found,’ ” Arthur said. “These forms may have some implications for breeding decisions, in addition to personal information about how a veterinarian treated a horse.

“Here is a guy who has filed over 100 public records requests against the board and he’s won a couple of cases. He looks for things to find controversy in. It’s really harassment. The fact of the matter is that he has distracted the board, and it’s just a game for him.”

CHRB Vice Chairman John Harris said after the ruling that he believes necropsy reports should be made available.

“It may be there are conflicting statutes on disclosure, but I feel we need to work to be sure these necropsy reports are not precluded from full disclosure, even if it requires a law change,” Harris said. “The board clearly never had an up or down vote on providing the necropsy reports. We relied on the California Attorney General’s office to handle the matter of what to provide.”

Pete Denk is sales editor for Thoroughbred Times