Santa Rosa cancels Thursday card due to lack of entries

Racing will not be held at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Thursday because of insufficient entries.

Racing secretary Bob Moreno attemptrd to draw a program on Saturday, but said he did not have an adequate number of horses.

Racing remains scheduled for Aug. 12-14, the final weekend of the two-week meeting. Moreno said as many as eight races could be held on Aug. 12, with as many as nine on Aug. 13-14, if entries are strong.

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Moreno cited a Northern California horse population that is in the midst of being transferred from Pleasanton and Sacramento to Golden Gate Fields as a leading factor in the lack of entries at Santa Rosa.

The barn area at Golden Gate Fields, which conducts racing for most of the year in Northern California, has been closed for renovation since mid-June. Stables are in the process of moving back to Golden Gate Fields this weekend. Moreno said trainers have expressed reluctance to ship again from Golden Gate Fields to Santa Rosa about 55 miles away.

“It’s all in regards to shipping,” Moreno said.

The horse population in Northern California has been depleted slightly with some stables relocating runners to Del Mar for the summer.

The Santa Rosa meeting began on Thursday with a four-day racing week. Fields on Thursday and Friday averaged 5.2 runners per race. There were 50 horses entered in eight races on Saturday, but only 40 entered in eight races on Sunday.

Santa Rosa averaged 6.06 runners per race in 2019, the most recent year racing was held at Santa Rosa after pandemic-related relocations to Golden Gate Fields in 2020 and 2021.

The current fair circuit has had mixed results in attracting runners.

The Alameda County Fair at Pleasanton averaged 6.16 runners per races from June 17 to July 10, compared to 6.48 runners in 2019 and 5.77 in 2021. The Cal-Expo State Fair meeting in Sacramento that ended a two-week season on July 31 had an average of 5.45 runners in 59 races, compared to an average of 5.62 runners in 87 races in 2019, the last year racing was held at that venue.