Purses at fair meet down from 2023 but higher than Golden Gate

Purses at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton this summer will be lower than the corresponding meeting in 2023 by a range of 3.8 to 8.6 percent, but higher than the current meeting at Golden Gate Fields.

Overnight purses have been cut by $1,000 per race, affecting some categories more significantly than others. A first-condition allowance race will be worth $26,000, down from $27,000 last summer, a decline of 3.8 percent. The same race at Golden Gate Fields has a purse of $23,500.

A maiden race will be worth $25,000 compared to $26,000 last year, a decline of 4 percent. A maiden race at Golden Gate Fields currently has a purse of $22,500.

The cuts are more severe for lower-class races. An $8,000 claimer for maidens at Pleasanton will have a purse of $11,500, or 8.6 percent lower than the 2023 level of $12,500. At Golden Gate Fields, such a race has a purse of $10,500.

Pleasanton will conduct a 13-day meeting from June 14 to July 7, racing primarily on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule. Racing will also be held on Thursday, July 4.

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The track has scheduled five stakes worth a combined $400,000, highlighted by the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile on July 7. Stakes purses were severely slashed at the Golden Gate Fields meeting this year. The track offered two stakes worth a combined $275,000.

Pleasanton will have a greater role on the Northern California circuit later this year after the closure of Golden Gate Fields at the end of the current meeting on June 9.

After fair meetings are held at Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Ferndale, and Fresno through the summer and early fall, Pleasanton will run a fall meeting from late October through mid-December designed to replace the Golden Gate Fields fall meeting on the annual calendar.

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