Report: Pleasanton official steps down from Calif. fair board

Jerome Hoban, the chief executive officer of the Alameda County Fair at Pleasanton, has stepped down from the California Authority of Racing Fairs.

Hoban had served as the at-large board chair for the organization. He stepped down via a letter sent to CARF executive director Larry Swartzlander last Thursday, according to a report from Dan Ross of Thoroughbred Daily News.

CARF has announced a special meeting on Tuesday to happen at 4 p.m. EST over Zoom. The agenda item states that the meeting will involve the "election of board officers." According to Ross's report, an email was sent to CARF members that explained the chair and vice-chair positions on the board would be discussed, but the open board position due to Hoban's resignation would not be part of Tuesday's meeting.

Hoban's resignation comes at a precarious time for northern California racing. Golden Gate was shuttered in June 2024. Horsemen attempted to keep racing going after the summer fairs with a fall meet at Pleasanton, but handle was lower than expected. In December, CARF voted 6-0 to withdraw its application to run a Dec. 25-June 10 racing meet at Pleasanton.

Pleasanton is currently being used as a training center for Northern California horses who then van to Santa Anita for winter races. However, Alameda County Fair has requested that the arrangement to use Pleasanton for training be cut short and end March 25 unless 500 or more horses are stabled there, in which case the agreement would last until the originally proposed June 10.