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Toorak for Second Slip
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Perfect conditions at Hawke’s Bay
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Family road trip to pay dividends
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Politicians and key industry figures are pushing for Pleasanton racetrack to extend stabling and training at the facility beyond the current March 25 deadline and to potentially hold a race-meet there this summer, a vote on which could be held during Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association board meeting Tuesday. While in some quarters, hopes are high that a vote will go ahead and the extension granted, such an effort is far from a slam dunk. Alameda County Fairgrounds management argues that any extension would be made difficult because of long-standing regulatory wastewater and stormwater discharge problems at the facility. There also exist open-ended questions of where funding for extended stabling and training would come from. There are currently around 340 to 350 horses stabled at the track, say officials. In a letter last week to Alameda County Fair CEO Jerome Hoban, David Haubert, the Alameda County Supervisor for the Pleasanton area, asked for an extension to the stabling agreement to the end of September, primarily to give the families living there time to reorganize. “I am reaching out regarding the families currently residing at the Alameda County Fairgrounds who are at risk of displacement. These families moved to Pleasanton last Fall with the promise to remain much longer than just a few months,” Haubert wrote. “Forcing them to leave prematurely would create undue stress and crisis, needlessly exacerbating homelessness and unemployment for an already vulnerable population. Additionally, pulling their children out of school mid-year could disrupt their education, potentially preventing them from completing the school year,” Haubert added. According to Haubert, his request has the support of other major politicians in the area, including state senator Jerry McNerney. Last month, U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell, who represents eastern Alameda County, told CBS news that he has long supported efforts to maintain and expand racing at the track. “It's also, economically, a driver that allows everything else that happens at the fair to happen, and so it is disappointing that we could lose this. I actually had worked to support to expand horse racing in Alameda County to year-round,” Swalwell told CBS. Reached Monday, Haubert said that he would be holding an ad hoc committee meeting before Tuesday's scheduled fair board meeting to discuss the matter. “We're trying to get to the bottom of how this could work. I'm confident that if there is a way, we have the will to do it,” Haubert told the TDN. “It gets complicated. I don't need to know all the details, other than to ask the question: 'Can we, if at all possible, keep people and their jobs in place?'” If an extension is indeed granted, one key question would be who pays for it. Currently, 50% of the stabling and training expenses at Pleasanton come from purses, while Santa Anita and Del Mar pay the other half. According to Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) president and CEO, Bill Nader, it will have cost some $2 million to stable and train the horses at Pleasanton since Dec. 26 through the end of March, along with shipping costs. When asked if Southern California racing interests would continue to pay for Pleasanton to remain open after March 25, Nader said that he couldn't comment as he hadn't yet seen a formal request for such a plan. Long-time California owner George Schmitt believes that several members of the Alameda County Fair board have changed their minds since they last voted to end stabling and training at the facility in March—enough to swing the vote the other way. “Unless somebody gets to some of the board members that have changed their minds since last month, they will vote [to extend stabling beyond March]. But I know there are people who are putting a lot of pressure on them to not have it,” said Schmitt. Alongside extended stabling and training at the facility, Schmitt would like to see Pleasanton host a fair meet there this summer, between June 13 and July 6. In January, The California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) voted unanimously not to apply for racing dates in 2025. One of the reasons CARF gave for not applying were operational deficits left from the prior year's Golden State Racing meet at Pleasanton. Indeed, the purse overpayment at the end of the meet was around $800,000. Schmitt outlined a business plan he has devised with owner-breeder John Harris to essentially bankroll the proposed summer meet at Pleasanton (and potentially for other fair meets this summer as well). He also downplayed the argument that fair meets just aren't profitable. “To be honest with you, the only reason people show that horse racing is losing money is because of the way they do their cost accounting,” said Schmitt. Hoban, however, warned that permitting for ongoing stabling might be extremely difficult due to the facility's long-standing wastewater management and stormwater discharge problems. Last week, the Alameda County General Services Agency wrote a damning letter to the Alameda County Fairground Association criticizing their handling of an inspection last July by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) leading to the issuance of a notice of violation (NOV) related to “waste management, stormwater discharge, and unpermitted horse racing operations.” The NOV required a swift corrective action response by the fairground. “While documents were submitted by the dates, they were and continue to be found inadequate by the RWQCB and numerous meetings and communications with the agency took place to rectify the situation. Nearly eight months later, the corrective actions to comply are still not complete,” the letter states. The fairground's wastewater problems aren't anything new. All the way back to 2014, congressman Swalwell wrote a critical letter to the fair association after untreated animal waste was discharged into the municipal storm drain, and Alameda Creek by extension. “I am deeply concerned by the detrimental effects this could have on ground water quality, the ecosystem, and to human health,” Swalwell wrote. Are the facility's ongoing wastewater problems prohibitive to continued stabling and training at the facility after March 25? The door appears left open. The manager of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board reportedly told NBC Bay Area last week that the agency is willing to come up with a water plan to keep the race track open and have not set any strict deadlines. Hoban—who said he hadn't seen Haubert's letter prior to Monday—pushed back against some other claims in the letter, including that families would be displaced and children removed from schools mid-semester. “There could families that do leave because they follow their dad or the horses or so on,” said Hoban. “But there's been no evictions. We're not even contemplating evictions at our RV campgrounds where the families are. So I don 't know what he's talking about.” The post NorCal Political Figures Push to Extend Pleasanton Stabling Beyond March Deadline appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
During the March 17 BloodHorse Monday podcast, Flying Dutchmen president Hunter Rankin confirmed that Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Owen Almighty will continue on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail rather than wait for the Pat Day Mile (G2).View the full article -
By TAB For Ever · Posted
Correct Doomed......after a long day several typos crept into my otherwise flawless post...Prince Majestic [Ray Verner] I trying to get your mind off crowd numbers, betting figures and lack of maiden races and opportunities for South Island horses ! -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By Michael Guerin Star pacer Don’t Stop Dreaming has changed stables just two weeks out from the $1million Race by Betcha at Cambridge on Friday, April 4. The last-start Menangle winner has left trainers Mark and Nathan Purdon and joined Hayden and Amanda Cullen and will debut for them in Friday’s $60,000 Auckland Co-Op Taxis City of Auckland Free-For-All at Alexandra Park. Don’t Stop Dreaming faces a second line draw for the Cullens starting alongside stablemate We Walk By Faith in the 2200m mobile which is stacked with the majority of New Zealand’s best pacers. Sooner The Bettor returns from a luckless Miracle Mile sixth and also starts alongside Mo’unga on the second line while Republican Party again faces the outside of the front line draw. While not being drawn on the change of stables for Don’t Stop Dreaming co-trainer Nathan Purdon says he is looking forward to the Free-For-All with Chase A Dream, who gets barrier 1 this Friday. “He really needed last week’s run and while he will be better for this week too we think he can go close,” says Purdon. The night’s two other main features are the Harness Million for the three-year-old pacers and Marketplace will start red hot after drawing inside Rubira in the $200,000 NZB Standardbred final for the Colts and Geldings (7.59pm). “We all know how good Marketplace is but Rubira beat him by going forward last week and I see no reason for us not to do that again,” says Purdon. Add in Got The Chocolates and Greased Lightnin and the race has good numbers and decent depth. The $150,000 fillies pace (7.34pm) is shorn of last Friday’s stunning winner Beside Me as she is ineligible but includes the other impressive filly from last Friday in Stella Rouge, who will start favourite from barrier 5. The Cullens have a strong hand in that Listed race too with Winelight (1) and Arafura (2) over the 2200m mobile. The meeting also hosts two $35,000 Metro Finals for the Trotters and Pacers while Race 4, the RSM Mobile Pace, sees the return of last season’s northern juvenile star Captain Sampson after two recent workouts. To see Auckland’s fields for Friday night click here View the full article
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