CHRB Meeting Wednesday To Raise 19-Week NorCal Fair Date Proposal, National HPBA Offering Support

[Wandering Eyes]

As California horse racing enters one of its most consequential years yet, the California Horse Racing Board's (CHRB) first meeting of the year this Wednesday includes a proposal for 19 weeks of fair racing in the North of California this year.

The National Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association (HPBA) has also weighed in, offering its support for a live racing circuit in NorCal at the behest of a group of Northen California owners and trainers, according to a letter the organization sent to the CHRB Jan. 7.

“We recognize under current state law that a California HBPA will not serve as the formal entity negotiating purses or other statutory duties, however we can be a strong and formal advocate for owners in Northern California. The national HBPA and our surrounding affiliates offer a suite of a services to our members that can assist the track operator in performing necessary regulatory, HISA and other backside related functions that are key to operating a successful race meet,” the letter states.

“HPBA is at its core horsemen helping horsemen,” Eric Hamelback told the TDN Tuesday about the thrust of the organization's overtures.

Proponents of a renewed racing program in the North argue it's needed to better support a NorCal breeding industry, as well as to provide better opportunities to keep and lure back horses to the state.

A recent TDN analysis of the fate of former NorCal horsemen and women since the closure of Pleasanton for Thoroughbred stabling in March found that a significant number of barns had either left the state or called it quits altogether. The overall impression among barns that maintained a footprint in the state was one of an average 50% decline in both earnings and starts.

On the flip side, proponents of the current consolidated program argue this existing system is needed to shore up the fragile California racing industry as a whole.

Any overlapping calendar in the North, they say, would siphon off and dilute valuable resources (both equine and financial) needed to maintain recent upticks in things like purses and field size in the South.

The proposal to be discussed Wednesday outlines 19 race weeks this summer between three different fair tracks:

• Tehama District Fair–Apr. 29, 2026, through June 9, 2026 (6 racing weeks);
• Alameda County Fair – June 10, 2026, through July 21, 2026 (6 racing weeks);
• Humboldt County Fair – July 22, 2026, through Sept. 8, 2026 (7 racing weeks)

The proposal is described as a joint mission between the Bernal Park Racing Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and the John C. Harris County Fair Racing Legacy. Harris was a mainstay of California's breeding industry who passed away last year.

The meeting agenda packet includes either a signed live race agreement or a memorandum of understanding between the three fair associations and Bernal Park Racing Management Company (BPRMC), headed by long-time owner-breeder George Schmitt.

Several important legal question marks appear to hang over the proposal, according to a CHRB analysis. This includes whether the CHRB is legally permitted to issue racing dates to BPRMC, as it is a newly established entity.

According to Schmitt, Bernal Park would provide services and the financial backing for these meets, while the individual fair associations are the entities requesting the race dates, similar in effect to how the Sonoma County Fair operated and carried out its race meet.

Among the conditions written into its proposal, BPRMC states that live racing will be for a minimum two days per week, three if field sizes allow. The base purse structure would be $130,000 a day. Post times would be set within a 15-minute window of any race in Southern California to avoid overlap.

Racing at Ferndale | Vassar Photography

While Humboldt and Alameda County Fairs routinely operated race-meets up until 2025, Tehama County hasn't hosted an official race-meet since 1980.

As such, the facility will need upgrades to bring it up to par with state and federal safety requirements. According to the proposal, BPRMC has already invested $104,217 in track improvements that include 1,600 tons of new sandy loam to the half-mile track.

The road to this moment has been in the works for months. It's unclear how the CHRB will side. It was in June of last year the board last voted down two separate proposals to allocate 2025 race dates to entities at Ferndale and Fresno.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), Del Mar and Santa Anita have been among those this past year to similarly oppose a competing circuit in the north.

In internal email communications between CHRB staff and board members–obtained by the TDN–officials have raised other questions about the proposal, including whether the necessary financial commitments are in place to avoid a repeat of the Golden State Racing venture, which failed to meet its revenue expectations.

Held at Pleasanton, Golden State Racing concluded its meet at the end of 2024 with a roughly $800,000 purse account overpayment. The final Thoroughbreds were removed from the premises the following March.

Another key question officials have raised concerns the available horse inventory. Is it adequate enough to sustain two competing circuits in California?

Pleasanton during the Golden State Race meet stabled around 800 horses at its height.

According to the TOCs own numbers, there were around 269 more horses stabled in Southern California this October compared to a year prior-this, after a major one time infusion of horses from the North.

A sizeable number of formerly California-based horses are currently competing at Turf Paradise. Tom Ludt, the track's general manager, said there are about 345 ex-Californian horses stabled there.

According to the BPRMC proposal, it will collaborate with Turf Paradise to “enhance participation through shipping incentives, rewards/bonus programs.” The current Turf Paradise meet is scheduled to run through May 2.

The Bernal Park proposal states it has commitments from trainers formerly based in the north representing over 500 horses, and is expected to garner additional support from trainers in Southern California and from Oregon.

This year's 51-day live race meet at Emerald Downs is scheduled to run between May 2 and Sept. 7. Last year, the Washington track enjoyed significant participation from horses formerly stabled in Northern California.

Eric Hamelback | Jennie Rees

The HPBA's letter to the CHRB supporting the proposal mentions the possibility of an affiliate organization being established in Northen California, at the behest of Northern California owners and trainers.

There are two current horsemen's groups in California, the TOC and the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT). The TOC wields by far the greatest clout of the two, having final approval over individual race-meet agreements with the tracks among its other responsibilities.

According to Hamelback, he was originally asked by stakeholders in Washington and Oregon to discuss the idea of a Pacific Coast circuit–to shore up the racing and horse inventory on those states–before he was subsequently approached by individuals in Northern California about their situation.

Hamelback highlighted two key procedural hurdles before any HBPA affiliate could be established in Northern California. One would be approval by his board. The other would be legally determining whether in California there could be another horsemen's group that possesses the same authority as the current designated horsemen's groups.

“We are willing to expand and establish the NorCal HBPA, and while they may not be the legal horsemen's representative group in the state, they may be the legal horsemen's representative group at the track,” said Hamelback, pointing to Florida as a bit of a blueprint for how that might work.

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