California Association of Racing Fairs

Ahead of a critical California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting Thursday to decide essentially whether or not to give Northern California stakeholders a fighting chance to build a circuit in the void left by the imminent closure of Golden Gate Fields, 1/ST Racing and Gaming set out their stall Tuesday in a letter to the regulator urging them to decline race dates to the North.

In a proposal to the state regulator, the California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) outlined a 10-week meeting this year that would run from Oct. 19 to Dec. 15 at Pleasanton.

If the CHRB affords those dates to the north, 1/ST Racing and Gaming executive vice-chairman, Craig Fravel, warned of several consequences, including purse cuts at Santa Anita, reevaluation of planned investment projects at Santa Anita, and the “analysis of alternate uses” for Santa Anita and San Luis Rey.

“While this is understandably disconcerting to owners, trainers, and workers in the North the ultimate survival of the full ecosystem is at risk,” wrote Fravel.

On Wednesday, CARF issued a statement saying that while they did not have a great deal of time to put a plan together, “we did have an incredible depth of experience.”

“We brought together the best and the brightest of our sport. Our commitment was to develop a horse racing plan that is modern, enhances the economic and social health of the community, is safe for the horses and jockeys, fun for our fans and generates excitement in Northern California,” wrote Larry Swartzlander, CARF executive director, justifying the North's plan in several bullet points, including how “Alameda provides a financially sound location.”

“We anticipate more dynamic racing fields–higher purses and betting opportunities that enhance the fun,” wrote Swartzlander. “At the same time, we have adhered closely to ideas offered by experts as we continue focusing on the health of our horses and jockeys.”

In Tuesday's letter to the CHRB, Fravel questioned one of the potential logistical hurdles standing in the way of CARF's proposal: A golf course that operates on the Pleasanton infield.

“There is clearly a contractual issue with the golf operator that is not disclosed in the materials and extremely vague language regarding protocols that will be implemented,” wrote Fravel.

In a prior letter to CHRB chair, Greg Ferraro, members of the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) and the Jockey's Guild urged the board to support year-round racing in the North, arguing that issues with the infield golf course had already been addressed.

“Active play and access to the golf course will continue to be strictly prohibited during racing hours as has been done in the past,” the letter states.

“Horse racing and the golf course are both important to the community. It does no good to permanently close the golf course only to anger the community. Horse, rider, and personnel safety remains the single greatest priority; however, we firmly believe both can coexist–as has been successfully done for over 40 years,” the letter adds.

“Nets surrounding the golf course provide cover, and since they have been put in place, there have been no accidents. In addition, Alameda County Fair will actively manage and limit play and course activities during training to areas of the course that pose little risk to balls being hit on to the track. For example, these managed activities will include supervised youth programs like the First Tee,” the letter states.

In a brief call Wednesday with owner-breeder Justin Oldfield–part of a working group geared around cultivating the plan–he said that CARF has put forward a proposal that meets all the CHRB's required conditions.

“Tomorrow, it's absolutely imperative that the CHRB weigh in and award us dates based on the merits of that plan,” he said.

“We have a lawful and tested racing association that's going to manage the meet. We have financing that's been put up as seed money that shows the strength of the 13 member fairs within CARF,” said Oldfield.

“People want to stay here,” Oldfield added. “There are families. Businesses. There's an agricultural component to this. Three-quarters of the horses in the North are Cal-Bred. Look, those horses aren't going to go south.”

Outspoken owner-breeder Tom Bachman said Wednesday that 1/ST's letter to the CHRB comes after too many cuts to the industry by the company and too little investment.

“They should be trying to make the pie bigger rather than trying to take a bigger piece of a shrinking pie,” said Bachman. “They do the opposite of what they should be doing.”

As for potential purse cuts at Santa Anita, earlier this week the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA) announced how purse bonuses paid to California-breds that win maiden races would be sliced when Santa Anita's spring meet begins on Apr. 19, as first reported by the DRF.

The bonuses–which are being cut from $17,500 to $15,000–are paid to maiden winners in open company or state-bred races at races at 4 1/2 furlongs or more.

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Three directors of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) have resigned from their positions in protest of the board's co-signature on a proposal to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) that would concretize racing operations in South California at the expense, they say, of a potential viable racing circuit in the North.

The former directors also claim the proposal was submitted without their prior knowledge.

“On January 5th a letter from the TOC and the Southern California racetrack operators was sent to the CHRB requesting the allocation of race dates for late 2024 and 2025. Of course, these race date allocations would pre-empt the opportunity for a racing circuit in the North. The key point here is that this letter was written without our knowledge and despite the fact that the entire board met two days prior,” write Lindsay LaRoche, Johnny Taboada and Ed Moger in a letter to the TOC dated Jan. 12.

“By no means are these the only times the interests of Northern California members have been ignored or subjugated by TOC leadership,” the letter adds. “It is clear to us that the current leadership is not being transparent and not working to represent the entire state of California.”

The resignations come at a fraught time for the California racing industry as it attempts to piece together a revised racing framework in the wake of Golden Gate's impending closure in June and amid declining economic benchmarks.

With the clock ticking, complicating matters is how the California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) has yet to publicly submit a proposal as to a potential Northern racing circuit beyond its annual fair dates. This year's fair schedule is currently set to close out with a fall fair meet at Fresno from Oct. 2 through the 13.

According to TOC president and CEO, Bill Nader, the board members were indeed informed during its meeting earlier this month that the organization would be submitting a letter to the CHRB ahead of its Thursday board meeting, outlining plans for consolidated racing operations in the South as a contingency “in the event the North does not put forward a viable plan that gains CHRB approval.”

“As far as the details in the packet, I wanted that included for transparency so that everyone had a chance to look at it before the meeting commenced–it's a lot to take in on the spot,” said Nader.

In a joint submission to the CHRB, the TOC, Los Alamitos chairman and CEO Ed Allred, I/ST Racing and Gaming CEO Aidan Butler, and Del Mar president and COO Josh Rubinstein ask the regulator to allocate race dates for the last 14 weeks of 2024 and for 2025 with operations concentrated in the South–beyond the Northern fair meets–citing the tough economics of currently maintaining twin North-South racing circuits.

The submission outlines a set of proposals, including a possible legislative change to permit Los Alamitos to card night Thoroughbred races beyond 4 1/2 furlongs for $5,000 claimers and below, and $8,000 maiden claimers.

Los Alamitos vice president Jack Liebau recently told the TDN that a legislative fix to go into immediate effect–as opposed to the start of January 2025, like most bills passed this year–needs an “urgency clause” requiring a two-thirds vote by the legislature.

Nader said that no decision will be made during this Thursday's CHRB meeting about race-date allocations.

“I personally do not see this discussion on the 18th being contentious,” said Nader, about the upcoming CHRB meeting. “I think it's just stating the facts and opening eyes to where we've been in the last 20 years, where we are now, and where we're going. No decisions will be made–it's only background.”

Nader also said that at the behest of the TOC, track management at Del Mar, Santa Anita and Los Alamitos had pushed back the deadline for the allocation of race-dates–from what would have required an “emergency” CHRB meeting in February to the regular CHRB meeting in March.

“At our board meeting [earlier in January], all three tracks had the opportunity to be present and speak at the beginning of the meeting. We did speak to them and we did get them to relax their position, to say that they were willing to wait until the 21st of March, at the March CHRB meeting,” said Nader, who added that CARF executive director, Larry Swartzlander, declined an offer to attend the TOC meeting.

“So, we were being responsive and respectful to the North,” Nader said. “It's been six months, we still haven't seen a plan [from CARF]. There are people all through the state getting very anxious.”

In their resignation letter, the three former TOC directors also claim TOC leadership “does not represent the interests of Northern California owners,” highlighting the recently announced 25% cut in purses at Golden Gate Fields–a result of a $3-million deficit in the track's purse account.

“Recently, the Northern California Racing Committee unanimously voted to oppose the purse agreement proposal from 1/ST Racing for the final Golden Gate Fields race meets,” the letter states.

“The result of this vote was not deemed important enough by TOC leadership to effect the TOC's approval of the cuts or even to be presented to the TOC Board as a whole for a vote,” the letter adds.

“There are emails and board minutes that would suggest otherwise,” said Nader, when asked about these claims. He added in a follow-up text that the TOC “did discuss the GGF purse cuts” at the January Board Meeting.

“It's a struggle, North and South. It's just a difficult time,” Nader added. “I'm not being critical of anyone. It's just the environment we're in right now. Everybody's just a little teed up–it's unfortunate.”

Efforts to consolidate racing operations in the South were given a major fillip in September of last year, when California lawmakers passed legislation that means if Golden Gate Fields is not licensed to operate beyond July 1 this year, proceeds from simulcast wagering in the north are funnelled south when there is no live racing in the northern half of the state after that date.

Moger did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

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