CHRB to discuss 2023 racing dates
With the exception of an additional week of racing in July, the proposed racing calendar for 2023 in Southern California is similar to the schedule in 2021 and this year.
The California Horse Racing Board’s dates committee is scheduled to meet in Sacramento on Wednesday to discuss racing dates for all venues throughout the state. After what is likely to be considerable discussion, the committee is expected to adopt a proposal to present to the full racing board on Thursday.
Part of Wednesday’s discussion will focus on whether to give Los Alamitos a three-week meeting in late June and early July instead of a two-week meeting similar to what was place in 2021 and this year. During those seasons, there was a week without racing before the start of the Del Mar summer meeting.
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The gap in the schedule allowed Del Mar to build purse money for its meeting through simulcasting revenue, and provided a summertime break for participants, both human and equine.
From 2014 through 2020, there was no weeklong gap between the end of the Los Alamitos summer meeting and the start of the Del Mar meeting.
Under the proposed calendar for 2023, Del Mar would have a summer season that would cover nine weekends of racing from July 14 to Sept. 10, running a weekend past Labor Day. A similar calendar is in place this year.
Santa Anita would have a six-week autumn meeting in 2023, from Sept. 29 to Nov. 5, which would include the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 3-4.
The proposed schedule for Northern California is dominated by racing at Golden Gate Fields for three meetings spread over 40 weeks. The schedule calls for 15 weeks of fair racing from mid-June to late August at Pleasanton, Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Ferndale and a two-week meeting at Fresno in August.
Officials with the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa recently submitted a proposal to the racing board to expand its season from two weeks to three at the expense of a week of racing at Sacramento.
Sacramento had a nine-day season spread over three weekends in July this year, followed by two weeks of racing at Santa Rosa in early August. Both venues struggled to attract horses.