NorCal Fairs Season In Jeopardy, With Only Ferndale And Fresno Expressing Interest

[Wandering Eyes]

It now appears as if only two of the five tracks that ran summer fairs meets in Northern California in 2024 are willing to consider giving racing a go in 2025, exacerbating the racetrack fallout in that region that started when The Stronach Group ceased operations at Golden Gate Fields, the region's lone commercial track, last June.

“Ferndale has expressed interest,” Oscar Gonzales, the vice chair of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), said at Thursday's monthly board meeting. “They're trying to bring together the different components. Fresno, their fair board leadership, who I communicated with, is also considering. But I'd have to say preliminarily that the other three fairs–Cal Expo, Santa Rosa and Pleasanton–are probably going to opt out this year, if not indefinitely.”

In December, the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) board voted unanimously to rescind a proposed 2025 Golden State Racing meet at Pleasanton after a financially disastrous three-month autumn meeting at the tail end of 2024. That meet unsuccessfully attempted to fill NorCal's “anchor track ” void left by Golden Gate's closure, but the Pleasanton racing season didn't draw enough betting interest, and ended with a purse overpayment of approximately $800,000.

Although Pleasanton's management (the Alameda County Fair) initially stated back in December that it intended to keep the facility open as an 850-stall training center to help maintain a Thoroughbred population base in the region, the number of horses stabled there had fallen below 500 by late January, enough of a tail-off that both Pleasanton and CARF jointly announced that such an option was no longer feasible.

Around the same time, CARF itself said it would not apply for any 2025 race dates on behalf of any individual fairs, instead directing its staff to reorganize operations with a focus on addressing current obligations and supporting future efforts.

“Alameda County Fairgrounds, which had planned to stay open as a training center through the summer fair season, has indicated that it will close on Mar. 25, or 33 days from today, making the prospect of a traditional fair racing season less likely,” CHRB executive director Scott Chaney said at the Feb. 20 meeting.

Chaney explained that CHRB commissioners and staff have met with representatives from each fairs track, both individually and collectively, to get an idea of which entities are still considering operating race meets in 2025.

“To a fair, they all expressed their desire to race, but acknowledged the hurdles to racing, which included economic headwinds,” Chaney said.

“With the closure of Pleasanton, the prospect of no existing horse population in Northern California, and the logistics of operating a fair meet without the assistance of CARF,” Chaney said chances of a traditional five-track summer fairs circuit were difficult to envision.

Chaney added that a transition group that had initially been started to help horses and humans relocate from Golden Gate to Pleasanton has been rekindled to prepare for the cessation of training and movement out of Pleasanton.

Gonzales said the CHRB needs to prepare for a near-term assessment of how a vastly truncated fairs season will affect the state's racing workforce.

“I think there will come a time when we have to have a conversation about what this board's role is, or is not, as it relates to other areas of impact because of this significant setback,” Gonzales said. “I think there will be time to talk about that. But we welcome any public input [about] the things that this board should be looking at in terms of the kind of leadership and commitment of resources, just to lessen the blow. And it will be quite significant, in my opinion

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