California Fair Circuit

The precarious, up-in-the-air future of California racing and whether or not the state can continue to support two geographic year-round circuits was made no clearer after Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting. The 3 1/2-hour session was dominated by discussion of competing North-versus-South plans that both tried to carve a sustainable path forward while underscoring the dire circumstances that face the industry with the June 9 closure of Golden Gate Fields looming like an unavoidable asteroid. Although the CHRB concluded the meeting--which featured testimony that was at times emotional,...

The operators of the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, California, are scrambling for a solution after just finding out this week that an earthquake from six months ago so badly damaged the grandstand at the half-mile racetrack that county officials now won't permit the structure to be occupied for the six-day race meet Aug. 18-20 and 25-27. Larry Swartzlander, who serves as both the executive director California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) and the director of racing for Ferndale, told the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) during Thursday's meeting that...

At the Orange County Superior Court this Monday, judge Gregory Lewis ruled that the Pacific Racing Association (PRA)--the arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) licensed to operate the meet at Golden Gate Fields--must continue to send its audiovisual signal to the network of satellite wagering facilities in Northern California, thereby throwing a lifeline to the county fairgrounds where these satellites are primarily found, along with the broader status quo of the industry in the northern half of the state. The crux of the issue surrounded PRA's legal obligation to contract...