Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said Monday that horse racing is dangerously close to being out of business in his state and suggested he would curb horse owners and breeders with direct financial interests in the sport from serving on its regulatory board.

With Santa Anita Park returning for its fall season on Friday after 30 horses had to be euthanized on its premises over six months, and on the heels of the revelation that 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify had failed a drug test before the Kentucky Derby that regulators made disappear, Newsom said he was going to appoint a new leader to the regulatory board and hold the group accountable on matters of drugs, safety and integrity.

“What happened last year was unacceptable, and all of the excuses be damned. We own that going into the next season, and we’re going to have to do something about it,” Newsom said at a meeting with reporters for The New York Times. “I’ll tell you, talk about a sport whose time is up unless they reform. That’s horse racing. Incredible abuses to these precious animals and the willingness to just to spit these animals out and literally take their lives is a disgrace.”