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.