Alameda County Fair

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Thursday voted down a pair of dates allocation requests for spring and summer meets at Red Bluff (Tehama District Fair) and Ferndale (Humboldt County Fair), meaning that no Thoroughbred racing is likely to occur in 2026 on the state's once-vibrant Northern circuit that has been dark since December of 2024. "As much as I'd like to see them do well, they have no chance of success," the CHRB's chairman, Gregory Ferraro, DVM, said prior to the first of two separate votes that each...

The Tehama and Humboldt County Fairs have submitted summer race date applications to be considered at this Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting. Tehama's proposed fair racing meet would run from Apr. 29 to May 26. Humboldt's requested dates would go from Aug. 5 to Sept. 1. There remain, however, several outstanding financial, bureaucratic and logistical questions about the proposed race meets that need to be rectified and a tight timeline to rectify them (particularly for Tehama County), according to a racing board staff analysis. The race date applications...

A decision over a 2026 fair meet race-date proposal before the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was punted unanimously to a single-discussion meeting in February (the date yet to be decided) after last-minute reshuffling of the chairs behind the scenes led to an at-times contentious meeting Wednesday. The original proposal outlined 19 race weeks this summer between three different fair tracks: six racing weeks at Tehama District Fair, six racing weeks at Alameda County Fair, and seven racing weeks at Humboldt County Fair. The meeting agenda packet included either a...

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 (HBPA) 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...

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...

The California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) voted unanimously Tuesday morning not to apply for racing dates in 2025. The summer fair meets this decision could impact are at Alameda County Fair, The Big Fresno Fair, Cal Expo at California State Fair, and Ferndale at Humboldt County Fair. Sonoma County Fair runs a summer fair meet independent of CARF. In theory, individual tracks can still independently apply for a 2025 racing license similar to Sonoma's approach. "After making the difficult decision not to submit future race meet applications, the California...

Jerome Hoban has stepped down from both chairmanship of the California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) and the board itself, according to a short resignation letter to CARF executive director Larry Swartzlander, dated last Thursday. In response, the CARF board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to elect a new chairman, according to an email Swartzlander subsequently sent to CARF members. "With Jerome's resignation there will also be a board position open. This will not be addressed at the Tuesday meeting," the email states. "The Tuesday Meeting will also...