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Santa Anita’s slot-style “Racing On Demand” terminals lasted 48 hours before California DOJ hauled them away.
The Arcadia racetrack quietly put 26 “Racing On Demand” machines on the ground floor of its grandstand on Thursday, Jan. 15, offering wagers tied to previously run horse races. By Saturday evening, state law enforcement officers had returned and removed the terminals, along with the cash inside them, after racing ended.
Eyewitnesses told the Los Angeles Times that roughly 15 officers entered the area, unplugged the machines, and wheeled them out on handcarts. Santa Anita officials confirmed the removals were carried out by representatives of the California Department of Justice.
What “Racing On Demand” was offering
Racing On Demand looked and felt like historical horse racing products that have spread in other US states, a fast, screen-based game that pays out based on real races from the past. At Santa Anita, bettors could stake $1 on a “three-by-three” style wager built around trifecta picks across three races. The races were not from California, and the displays did not openly identify the specific events while players made their selections.
The Santa Anita’s track did not promote the machines publicly, and a state horse racing board spokesperson said the California Horse Racing Board did not have advance notice of the installation.
A familiar fault line in California gambling: pari-mutuel vs casino-style gaming
This dispute is the same old California sensitive question, yet without a clear answer: is this pari-mutuel wagering under racing regulators, or is it casino-style gambling that falls under tribal exclusivity?
If it’s a pari-mutuel game of skill, it sits under the state’s horse racing regulator; if it’s a game of chance like slots, tribes argue it falls under their exclusive lane under compacts.
Victor Rocha, conference chair of the Indian Gaming Association, said the move put Santa Anita “on a collision course” with tribes, and he described the terminals as “clearly gambling.” He also warned that the response would be “full-throated.”
After the machines were seized, Rocha said the ending was predictable: “There was always only one outcome out of this.” He also pointed to the wider mood around gray-area gambling products, referencing “sweepstakes” and “prediction markets” as other examples where regulators and lawmakers are tightening up.
Santa Anita says it was operating on “solid legal ground”
Santa Anita and its parent company, the Stronach Group, insist the terminals were built to fit within existing California horse betting rules.
Scott Daruty, a senior vice president at Stronach, told the Orange County Register earlier that the track needed new revenue sources because “California racing is struggling,” and said Racing On Demand was designed “to be compliant with California law.”
After the seizure, Daruty doubled down, saying the company “stand[s] firmly behind” its legal analysis and that Racing On Demand operates under “long-standing pari-mutuel wagering laws” using a wager that regulators had already approved. He also said the company had sent its analysis to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office nearly a year earlier and was “fully prepared to defend” its position.
That legal argument leans heavily on the “three-by-three” wager, which the California Horse Racing Board approved in April 2024 as a new pari-mutuel bet type. Santa Anita’s version applied that concept to concluded races shown through terminals rather than to live races on the card.
Source: Los Angeles Times
