San Joaquin Fair: Fans, horses will have to combat heat opening weekend

A scheduling quirk and a blast of hot weather will present challenges as the San Joaquin Fair in Stockton begins a six-day meeting on Friday.

The heat was only the latest impediment racing officials faced. Only 31 Thoroughbreds signed up for five races on Friday as temperatures were predicted to hit 107 degrees during the first two days of the fair.

The scheduling quirk surrounds a special six-year cycle that pushes the start of racing at the Big Fresno Fair back a week. By the time the situation was resolved in May, San Joaquin Fair officials had to go to a third starting date for the meet and a third plan to attract patrons.

The schedule calls for two weekends of racing at Stockton, a return to Golden Gate Fields for two weeks, and then the two-week Fresno meet. The schedule makes it easy for trainers to skip entering at the two fair sites without missing out on possible races at Golden Gate Fields.

Heat is not a friend of horses and riders, not to mention fans. Racing secretary Tom Doutrich said several trainers declined to enter because of the heat wave, but he was hopeful that entries would pick up with cooler weather during the second week. He also was happy to have more than 100 horses stabled on the grounds, double the total there last year.

Larry Swartzlander, chief operating officer for the California Authority of Racing Fairs, has put together a plan that will have watering stations with ice buckets for horses at the six-furlong pole, three-eighths pole, winner’s circle, and test barn in addition to misters.

For fans, there will be a craft beer festival on both Saturdays and Sundays of racing. Fair chief executive Kelly Olds said the fair has used Groupon to reach out to fans and seems to have been successful in attracting fans from outside the area.

In addition, the fair will be hosting a boxing card Friday and a low-rider car show and oldies concert the second weekend. It also has made a concerted effort to promote the meeting on Hispanic and the local ESPN radio stations.

To encourage trainers to enter, the CARF is offering trainer participation incentives. Trainers entering five horses receive a $500 bonus, and those entering 10 receive a $1,000 bonus at both Stockton and Fresno. Trainers entering five runners at both Stockton and Fresno will receive an additional $1,000 bonus.

“Trainers who enter 10 horses at both Stockton and Fresno will earn $3,000, plus the shipping fees to Fresno,” said Swartzlander. “And Fresno has a trainers’ competition with $10,000 to the winner.”