Sacramento, Santa Rosa get three-week meets for 2015

After months of discussion, the California Horse Racing Board finalized the racing schedule for the Northern California fair circuit in July and August of 2015 at its monthly meeting on Friday, giving Cal-Expo in Sacramento and the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa consecutive three-week meetings.

Cal-Expo was awarded dates from the week of July 9 through July 26, followed by Santa Rosa from the week of July 29 through Aug. 16. In addition, the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale will race from Aug. 19-30, while Golden Gate Fields will begin its late summer meeting on Aug. 21.

The Cal-Expo and Santa Rosa dates for 2015 are different than this year’s schedule when Cal-Expo has a two-week meeting in July, and Santa Rosa has a three-week meeting ending on Aug. 10.

The 2015 dates for Cal-Expo and Santa Rosa were the subject of a two-hour debate on Friday, with officials from Santa Rosa unable to confirm to the racing board that it would be able to operate its county fair exhibits in conjunction with racing on the week of Aug. 12-16. Santa Rosa officials said on Friday it was unclear whether local school districts will be in session that week, which would greatly affect fair attendance.