Golden Gate Fields, Ferndale fail to reach agreement on August racing dates
Racing dates and venues for the final week of August in Northern California remain unassigned after officials with the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale and Golden Gate Fields failed to reach an agreement on whether Humboldt will race unopposed, and the California Horse Racing Board was unable to broker a compromise at its meeting in Sacramento on Thursday.
The issue may not be resolved until the racing board’s next meeting on March 16 at the earliest. Humboldt and Golden Gate Fields officials, along with executives of the California Authority of Racing Fairs, which manages racing on that circuit, do not appear close to a resolution.
Humboldt is seeking to operate for two weeks from Aug. 16-27 without competition from Golden Gate Fields. Golden Gate Fields hopes to begin its late summer meeting Aug. 25-27.
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Under that proposal, racing would be held concurrently at Humboldt and Golden Gate Fields, which has been the case in recent years. Such a move would deprive Humboldt of much-needed revenue from simulcasting to fund purses and operate the county fair, Humboldt officials told the racing board.
Humboldt and Golden Gate Fields officials failed to reach a resolution in late 2022 on the August 2023 racing dates, leading to a lengthy hearing on Thursday.
Racing board vice-chairman Oscar Gonzales presented a motion for Humboldt to race unopposed and for meetings to be held in the next two months to work out financial arrangements to offset the loss of revenue from one fewer week of racing at Golden Gate. The proposal was defeated by a vote of 3-2, with four yes votes needed for approval. The racing board has seven members, but two members were absent on Thursday.
Chairman Greg Ferraro voted against the proposal. Earlier at the meeting, Ferraro suggested the discussion be postponed until all commissioners were in attendance.
Officials with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and California Thoroughbred Trainers spoke in favor of allowing Golden Gate Fields to race Aug. 25-27. They cited a higher purse structure at Golden Gate Fields than at Ferndale and that there is a turf course at Golden Gate but not at Ferndale.
David Duggan, the general manager of Golden Gate Fields, said the absence of a week of racing would cost the track “north of $400,000” in revenue for purses and commissions for the track.
“It would have a negative affect across the business,” he said.
In testimony before Gonzales’s motion was introduced, Duggan also pushed for racing at Golden Gate Fields on the final week of August, citing the track’s turf course.
“It would be a shame to deprive our owners and trainers with the ability to run on grass,” Duggan said.
“Our position remains unchanged,” he said. “We wish to race even overlapped. I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel finding a suitable arrangement.”
Humboldt officials argued that its short, two-week meet justifies a racing schedule without competition from other venues in the region.
“One week to Golden Gate doesn’t mean as much as one week to Humboldt, particularly with access to commissions,” said James Morgan, an attorney representing the county fair.
After his proposal was defeated, a frustrated Gonzales said, “Horsemen will get a vacation if we don’t allocate those dates.”
Gonzales later offered to hold a meeting between the parties “to try and figure this out.”
Fatalities continue to decrease
Equine fatalities at California’s racetracks and training centers declined by nearly 10 percent in 2022, from 71 in 2021 to 64, according to a report presented Thursday by Scott Chaney, the executive director of the California Horse Racing Board.
Chaney told the racing board that 30 of the fatalities were musculoskeletal injuries during racing or training, with 34 were caused by illnesses, accidents or sudden deaths (which often involved cardiovascular issues).
The report included only fatalities at facilities regulated by the racing board and not veterinary clinics that are not under racing board jurisdiction.
While acknowledging the decline, Chaney said, “There is still work to be done and more regulations will go into effect this year.”
In recent years, there have been widespread changes in medication rules and greater veterinary oversight of horses in training or entered to race in California.
The number of fatalities has declined sharply in recent years. There were 144 fatalities in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, when the issue was the subject of widespread scrutiny after a series of injuries in races and during training at Santa Anita in early 2019. The number of fatalities was as high as 265 in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Through Wednesday, there have been five fatalities this year, according to the racing board’s website – three from musculoskeletal injuries and two from illness.
Chaney said horses made approximately 30,000 starts in California in 2022 and that approximately 70,000 workouts were conducted.
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