For the third time in as many months, supporters of Northern California fair racing will request dates from the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday for brief meetings in Fresno and Ferndale in September and October. In April, the racing board voted 3-2 against a proposal for late summer dates at Ferndale, but it needed four votes for an official action. With the full seven-person board in place for the May meeting, the board rejected Ferndale’s request by a vote of 4-3. The proposal before the board at Thursday’s meeting differs from the previous plans in that it requests racing dates later in the year. Officials with the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale are seeking to run a limited number of racing days from Oct. 8-28. The Humboldt County Fair will be held Aug. 16-27 and Aug. 20-24. Fresno is requesting to race from Friday through Sunday from Sept. 19-21 and 26-28 and on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Only the Oct. 1 program would be held when the full fair is underway. The Big Fresno Fair runs from Oct. 1-12. This is the first time Fresno has requested racing dates for 2025. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Both proposed race meetings have the financial backing of prominent Thoroughbred owners and breeders John Harris and George Schmitt through their entity, Bernal Racing. Schmitt said over the weekend that he is optimistic that the racing board will support the Fresno and Ferndale proposals to provide support for at least some racing in Northern California this year and the associated employment. “I don’t think they’ll turn Fresno down,” Schmitt said of the racing board. “I don’t think they’re going to vote against union jobs.” There has been no racing in Northern California since December, when the Golden State Racing group conducted an autumn meeting at Pleasanton designed to replace racing dates previously held at Golden Gate Fields. Last June, Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., near Oakland, closed permanently. Last year, fair meetings were held through the summer and fall at Pleasanton, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Ferndale, and Fresno. A proposed winter-spring meeting at Pleasanton this year was abandoned because of poor business results at Pleasanton last fall. Stables based in that part of the state have since scattered throughout the West Coast. Schmitt said he expects opposition on Thursday from the Thoroughbred Owners of California, who have stated in the past that they want to consolidate racing at Southern California tracks such as Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita in an effort to boost prize-money levels. 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. Should live racing resume in Northern California, Fresno and Ferndale would receive the revenue to help finance purses. “I don’t know what to do about the TOC,” Schmitt said. “They don’t represent California. They represent Del Mar and Santa Anita. They just want all the money to go south.” Thoroughbred Owners of California chairman Gary Fenton recently wrote a letter to racing board chairman Greg Ferraro opposing the Fresno and Ferndale proposals. Bill Nader, the president of the TOC, said over the weekend that the organization hoped to learn more about Fresno’s plans when that fair’s board of directors meet on Tuesday this week. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.