Humboldt county fair officials to request racing dates at Ferndale

The Humboldt county fair board of directors voted on Monday to proceed with a license application for a late summer race meeting at its venue in Ferndale, Calif.

Humboldt may be the lone fair meeting to operate in California this year.

On Wednesday, the Big Fresno fair announced that it would not pursue a 2025 race meeting, according to a press release. The statement cited concern over the lack of available horses, and financing issues as two primary reasons.

Earlier this year, officials with the California Authority of Racing Fairs, said it would not seek racing dates on behalf of fairs in Ferndale, Fresno, Pleasanton, or Sacramento. Officials with the Sonoma county fair in Santa Rosa said they were unlikely to seek a summertime race meeting.

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Fresno officials stated that the lack of a “racing management collective” such as the California Authority of Racing Fairs, was another factor in the decision not to pursue 2025 racing dates.

Officials with the Humboldt county fair, located in the far north of California, will request racing dates from the California Horse Racing Board at the regulatory agency’s next meeting, in Sacramento on March 20. If approved, Humboldt officials would request a license for a race meeting from the racing board later this year, probably in June.

The Humboldt fair in Ferndale has proposed a three-weekend meeting from Aug. 16 to Sept. 1, Labor Day.

“We’re taking it as a step-by-step process,” said Greg Gomes, the first vice-president of the fair and the chairman of the fair’s racing committee.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations and we’re taking things cautiously and doing our due diligence to make sure this will work,” Gomes said on Wednesday.

“We think we have financial backing for the meet. We would like to get the dates approved by the CHRB and take the next step forward and apply for a license. It’s a huge financial commitment for the Humboldt county fair association.”

The Northern California racing circuit has been in turmoil in the last year following the permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields last June and a disappointing autumn meeting in Pleasanton. A proposed winter-spring meeting in Pleasanton was abandoned. Instead, Santa Anita in Southern California began offering a small number of races weekly for Northern California-based stables.

Humboldt officials will manage the proposed summer meeting.

Gomes said earlier this month that Ferndale hopes to draw runners based at tracks in Oregon and perhaps from Emerald Downs. The proposed racing dates fit between the conclusion of the Tillamook county fair and the start of a late summer and fall meeting in Grants Pass on the Oregon circuit.

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