Fresno starts expanded five-week meet

In a year of widespread change in Northern California racing, five weeks of racing begins at Fresno on Friday, a departure from the two-week seasons held for decades in conjunction with the county fair in early October.

With the permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields in June, additional racing at Fresno was added to the Northern California calendar to fill a void. In past years, Golden Gate Fields held a race meeting from late August through September.

As part of the revamped calendar, the Humboldt County Fair meeting in Ferndale was extended from two weeks to three, ending last Sunday. The first weekend at Fresno is technically run as the final week of the Humboldt county license, as part of an agreement with the Thoroughbred Owners of California to offer enhanced racing opportunities in the region in September.

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Overall, there are 14 days of racing at Fresno in coming weeks.

Racing will be held on Friday through Sunday this weekend and on Saturdays and Sundays on Sept. 21-22 and 27-28. The fair itself will be held from Oct. 2-14. Racing will be held in conjunction with the fair from Oct. 4-6 and 11-14, ending on a holiday Monday.

Friday’s seven-race program begins at 1:45 p.m. Pacific.

As of Wednesday, there were 100 horses based at Fresno, a number expected to swell to as many as 400, according to racing secretary Tom Doutrich.

A majority of the horses on the circuit will be based 130 miles away at the Alameda county fair in Pleasanton which will serve as a year-round base for racing in the region beginning in October. Training has been held at Pleasanton since early June.

Doutrich said on Wednesday that in addition to drawing runners based at Pleasanton, there will be some support from trainers based at Emerald Downs in Washington state during the summer. Some of those stables will remain at Pleasanton this fall and winter, while others are stopping in California briefly before moving to Turf Paradise in Phoenix, which is scheduled to open in early November.

There are two stakes for Thoroughbreds at Fresno in coming weeks – the $75,000 Harris Farms Stakes for California-bred sprinters at six furlongs on Sept. 29, and the $50,00 Bull Dog Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 13.

Friday’s program is led by an allowance race for sprinters.

Regal Patriot, a winner of 3 of 6 starts, may prove tough to catch in a six-furlong allowance race in the day’s fourth race. He will be closely followed by Smuggler’s Run, who was fourth in an allowance race at Santa Rosa on Aug. 11 after stumbling at the start.

The program has drawn 47 entrants. Last fall, Fresno averaged 5.73 runners per race, a decline from 6.29 in 2022.

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