Report: Pleasanton could be new hub for NorCal racing

Hoping
to fill the void after the closing of Golden Gate Fields, Northern California
horsemen reportedly have proposed a fall meet that would be based at Pleasanton,
the home of traditional county-fair races every summer.

Daily
Racing Form’s
Steve Andersen reported the plan would be submitted for the approval of the California
Horse Racing Board at a March 21 meeting in Sacramento. The agenda includes a “discussion
and action by the board regarding the allocation of Northern California racing dates
for racing year 2024.”

Flashback: CHRB hears debate about NorCal racing.

A group
of owners has been working on a plan with the California Authority of Racing
Fairs to take over the dates that Golden Gate Fields would have been hosting if
it were not being closed by The Stronach Group on June 9. Justin Oldfield, who
leads those owners, told DRF the new meet would begin in September after
four of five county fairs have run their races.

“The
intent is to make sure that purses are sustainable, both for the racing
association and the horsemen,” Oldfield told DRF without revealing
specific details.

Sacramento had been proposed as a new hub for Northern California racing, but its commitment to run harness races at the Cal Expo track did not leave a clear year-long path for Thoroughbreds.

Alameda County is home to both the fairgrounds where the 166-year-old Pleasanton track is located as well as Golden Gate Fields, which straddles the Albany-Berkeley city line.