The California Horse Racing Board on Thursday voted against proposals for race meetings later this year at county fairs in Fresno and Ferndale, the third time in as many months the board has opposed attempts to restart racing in that part of the state. After a contentious discussion regarding a six-day season on weekends at Ferndale from Oct. 11-26, the board rejected the proposal by a vote of 4-3. Less than an hour later, the Fresno proposal, for seven days of racing from Sept. 19 to Oct. 1, was defeated, 4-3. In both proposals, chairman Greg Ferraro and commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, and Thomas Hudnut voted against awarding racing dates, while vice chairman Oscar Gonzales and commissioners Brenda Washington-Davis and Peter Stern voted in favor. The ballots mirrored precisely the way racing board members voted in May for a proposed three-week meeting at Ferndale from mid-August to Sept. 1. In April, the board voted 4-1 against a proposal for racing dates at the Alameda county fair in Pleasanton in June and early July, and voted 3-2 against a proposal for a summer meeting in Ferndale. The vote on the Ferndale meeting in April was not considered an official action at the time since the board needs four votes to approve or reject a proposal. Castellanos did not attend that meeting, while Stern had yet to be appointed to the board. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The proposal for racing at Ferndale that was rejected on Thursday differed from the April and May proposals in that racing would have been held weeks after the conclusion of the actual Humboldt County Fair. Thursday’s meeting was the first time Fresno had requested dates this year. Racing would have primarily been held before the Fresno County Fair, with only one day of racing, closing day Oct. 1, coinciding with the opening of the fair. Both the Ferndale and Fresno meetings had the financial backing of prominent Thoroughbred owners and breeders George Schmitt and John Harris, operating as Bernal Racing. The race meetings would have been operated by executives who formerly ran race meetings at those venues through the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF). There has been no racing in Northern California since December when a fall meeting was conducted at the Alameda County fairgrounds in Pleasanton to replace dates previously run at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, near Oakland. Golden Gate Fields closed permanently in June 2024. The Pleasanton fall meeting failed to draw sufficient business, leading to the cancellation of a proposed winter-spring meeting. CARF announced earlier this year that it would not request racing dates on behalf of its member fairs – at Pleasanton, Sacramento, Ferndale, or Fresno. Officials with the Somona County Fair in Santa Rosa, which is not affiliated with CARF, also stated the venue would not conduct racing. Currently, racing in California is conducted entirely in the south at Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita. Some stables from the north have relocated to Southern California, while others have left the state for venues such as Emerald Downs in Washington State. Without live racing in Northern California, revenue generated from simulcasting and account-wagering sources in that part of the state has been redirected to southern tracks with part of the money helping to increase purses. If race meetings had been approved for Ferndale or Fresno, those tracks would have received monies from simulcasting and account-wagering sources derived in the north, with less money going to southern tracks. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Such financial concerns dominated Thursday’s discussions. Bill Nader, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said the consolidation of California racing into one circuit has led to a boost for southern tracks. “This consolidation to a single circuit was desperately needed,” Nader said during discussions regarding the Ferndale proposal. Nader said the absence of alternative forms of revenue for racing, such as Historical Horse Racing machines or casinos, limits the ability of California tracks to offer competitive purses compared to tracks in other states that have other forms of revenue. “We have to make the best use of our limited resources,” Nader said. “We’re showing renewed life. We’re coming back. We’re not going to make everyone happy. I get that. “We’re doing everything we can to bring the state together and restore racing.” Nader’s comments were widely rejected by proponents of Northern California racing who stated that the leadership of the TOC, the official representative of owners in the state, reflects the position of Southern California owners. “We don’t feel they represent the north anymore,” Schmitt said. During discussions prior to the rejection of the Ferndale and Fresno proposals, Ferraro and Nader expressed concern about the availability of horses for those meetings. Schmitt said Fresno and Ferndale would benefit from an influx of horses from Emerald Downs, and some from Southern California. Nader questioned how many horses could be lured to Fresno, stating there were more than 900 horses in training in Northern California last year, and that this year there is not an active training center to serve as a hub for stables. “We tried to see eye to eye with this application and we just couldn’t get there,” he said. “The one noticeable difference between last September is that the horse population is not here. It’s a high-risk application no matter how you measure it. “It will be literally impossible to run seven days of racing at Fresno.” Hudnut, speaking before the Fresno vote was taken, said financial issues affecting racing in California outweighs the desire to resume racing in the north, and that the issue could be best solved through legislation. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “We have a problem with viability of horse racing in this state,” he said. “It is frustrating that we can’t bring HHR to California. The remedies for many of these problems are with the California legislation. "At the moment, we don’t have the option for two viable tracks, one in the north and one in the south, and it’s too bad. We’d like that. In the final analysis, it’s about money.” The board’s decisions on Thursday to reject proposed dates at Ferndale and Fresno may discourage other entities from seeking racing dates in Northern California in the future. The loss of racing in Northern California this year could be an irreversible trend, according to Larry Swartzlander, a former executive director of CARF who is now the director of racing of Bernal Racing. “If we don’t race in 2025, I think the door is closed,” Swartzlander said. “We can come back in 2026 and give you another calendar. It will be the same criticisms. “Once you close, it’s difficult to reopen.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.