The California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday will hear a proposal for 18 weekends of racing at three venues in Northern California in the spring and summer, the fourth time in the last year an official attempt has been made to revive racing in that part of the state. At three consecutive board meetings last April through June, the racing board rejected proposed meetings at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, or the Big Fresno Fair. There has been no racing in Northern California since December 2024 at Pleasanton. Golden Gate Fields, the anchor track for that circuit since the late 2000s, closed in June 2024. Bernal Park Racing Management Company, led by owner and breeder George Schmitt, is seeking racing dates at the Tehama County Fair in Red Bluff, north of Sacramento, and at Pleasanton and Ferndale from May 2 to Sept. 7 with minimal gaps between race meetings. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Red Bluff has been used in the past for unsanctioned races and is in the midst of significant renovation to be compliant with regulations, Schmitt said over the weekend. The half-mile track will use a rail recently acquired from Cal-Expo in Sacramento, which last ran a Thoroughbred race meeting in 2024 and will no longer conduct racing. Aside from a skeptical racing board, the proposal faces complex regulatory requirements and expected opposition from the Thoroughbred Owners of California and officials from some tracks in Southern California, who want revenue from simulcasting in Northern California to be devoted only to tracks down south. The TOC has opposed a resumption of racing in Northern California in testimony before the board in the last year. Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita have raised purses since last February after the collapse of racing in Northern California. Meanwhile, Schmitt said Bernal will operate the proposed Northern California meetings on behalf of five county fair associations in the region. “Bernal Park is not going to be the licensee,” Schmitt said. “The fairs will be licensees. We’ll be there to make sure we can do what we can for this to be successful. We’ll help in any way we need it.” In a memo accompanying Wednesday’s proposal, CHRB staff highlighted several legal issues for the board to address, including the legality of issuing licenses to fairs that have not held races prior to 2010. Three of the five fair associations listed in the Bernal Park proposal have not conducted racing in recent decades. The memo further expressed concern about racetrack inspections at the three venues, notably Red Bluff. Schmitt said the reintroduction of racing in Northern California is vital to the viability of the sport in the state. In the last year, stables that were previously based in Northern California have left for Southern California or neighboring states, such as Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Proponents of Southern California racing have countered that the state needs a single-circuit format to financially compete with tracks in states where purse levels are supported by alternative forms of gaming, such as casinos or slot machines. California tracks do not have ancillary forms of gaming to boost purses. Schmitt said he is optimistic the CHRB will give his organization a chance to race this year. “I don’t think we’re going to get all seven votes,” he said. “I think we have a pretty good shot at least two of the ones that voted against us last year. I’m expecting a fight on Wednesday. We’ll see what happens.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.