Foote Resigns as CHRB Secretary

After ducking verbal brickbats from horsemen, state legislators and racing-board members, Len Foote has resigned as secretary of the California Horse Racing Board, about a year before his scheduled retirement.

Foote’s resignation, which takes effect at the end of March, was announced Friday at a meeting of the racing board in Monrovia. A board member, requesting anonymity, said that Foote decided to resign after a meeting with Henry Chavez, who recently became board chairman.

Neither Foote nor Chavez could be reached for comment.

Rosemary Ferraro, another board member, said that the body hopes to name a replacement for Foote in the next 60 days. Dennis Hutcheson, the assistant secretary, will be a candidate, but board sources indicated that he would not get the job.

A general shake-up in Foote’s Sacramento office is expected. Among those who are vulnerable is Bob Chilimidos, the board’s chief investigator.

In the summer of 1987, Foote became one of the most powerful figures in California racing when the board approved a resolution that gave him broad authority and enabled him to sidestep the board in making many decisions.

At Friday’s meeting, the board rescinded that authority, meaning Foote’s successor will not be able to operate in such a free-wheeling style.

Foote, who lives in Fair Oaks, served as the racing board’s chief investigator from 1966 until 1976, when he was appointed board secretary.

His office supervised California racing during an era when the state challenged New York for national supremacy. Last year, however, the sport in California drew the wrong kind of headlines, when Foote accused several trainers, including nationally prominent Wayne Lukas and Laz Barrera, with running horses that had cocaine in their systems.

The charges were dropped except for those against Roger Stein.

Stein, who has filed a $25-million lawsuit against Truesdail Laboratories, the state testing facility which detected the cocaine, said Saturday that Foote was added as a defendant in the suit.