California Horse Racing Board allows Golden Gate and Ferndale to race concurrently for a weekend
The California Horse Racing Board voted 5-1 on Thursday to allow the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale and Golden Gate Fields in Albany to run concurrently on the final weekend of August this year.
The weekend was the subject of a lengthy dispute, largely over financial issues related to simulcast revenue, despite a series of meetings in recent months among racing officials.
Racing board vice-chairman Oscar Gonzalez was the only person to vote in favor of allowing Humboldt to race without competition from Golden Gate Fields.
The board’s action completes the fair schedule for Northern California tracks this summer. Humboldt will have a six-day season on Aug. 18-20 and Aug. 25-27. Golden Gate Fields will conduct a late summer-autumn meeting on Aug. 25 through Oct. 1.
Humboldt officials has asked the board to prevent Golden Gate Fields from racing on the weekend of Aug. 25-27, allowing greater revenue for the county fair. Officials with Golden Gate, with support from the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers, asked for a schedule comparable to what was in place in recent years.
Racing dates for the rest of the state’s racetracks and county fairs for 2023 were announced at the end of 2022.
Later at the CHRB meeting, the racing board discussed a potential change to a policy that dictates what training can occur following significant rain.
Currently, no “high speed workouts” are allowed in the 24 hours after the track is reopened, or harrowed, following a rain storm.
California equine medical director Jeff Blea recommended to the racing board on Thursday that the language of the policy may be amended to restrict training to “jogging only” in the 24 hours after a track is harrowed, and that a decision be left with a track superintendent as to what level of exercise will be permitted on the second day. Under the amended language, horses could be galloped or undergo workouts on the second day after a track is harrowed.
California has received above-average rainfall in recent months, which has led to the cancellation of six days of racing at Santa Anita since the first of the year. The track has added two make-up days and is adding races to ongoing programs to compensate for lost racing days.
The racing board enacted an inclement weather policy in late 2020 that discourages tracks from racing or conducting training in the event of severe weather. The policy was put in place after a series of equine fatalities at Santa Anita in early 2019, a winter with higher-than-normal rainfall.
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