{"id":201712,"date":"2025-06-21T05:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T05:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201712\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T05:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T05:11:09","slug":"neigh-nay-state-board-rejects-last-ditch-effort-to-save-horse-racing-in-ferndale-lost-coast-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201712\/","title":{"rendered":"NEIGH NAY! State Board Rejects Last-Ditch Effort to Save Horse Racing in Ferndale | Lost Coast Outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"


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PREVIOUSLY<\/b><\/p>\n

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The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Thursday narrowly rejected a last-ditch effort by the Humboldt County Fair Association (HCFA) to keep horse racing alive in Ferndale, voting 4-3 to deny a proposal for three consecutive race weekends this October, citing concerns over limited resources and the financial viability of horse racing in Northern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision comes one month after the board turned down the HCFA\u2019s request<\/a> to hold races at the Humboldt County Fair in August, ending a 128-year tradition of horse racing at the fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CHRB also rejected a proposal from the Fresno County Fair to host seven days of horse racing between Sept. 19 and Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s horse racing industry has struggled to stay afloat<\/a> in recent years amid significant financial losses, dwindling attendance, competition from online sports gambling and increasing concern over animal welfare. Earlier this year, the California Exposition and State Fair Board announced that there would be no horse racing<\/a> at the California State Fair in 2025. Several<\/a> other<\/a> Northern California counties and cities have followed suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Thursday\u2019s meeting, the CHRB expressed concern about HCFA\u2019s partnership with Bernal Racing Park, LLC, a newly founded entity financed by racehorse owner George Schmitt and owner\/breeder John Harris to replace the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF), which folded late last year.<\/p>\n

George Schmitt, managing partner for Bernal Park Racing, LLC, acknowledged the board\u2019s concerns about \u201cproper management,\u201d but offered assurance that the outfit \u201chas the financial support to take care of all the requirements up front.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the [Ferndale and Fresno] fairs don\u2019t make enough money to pay us back what we [gave] them to run their fairs, then we\u2019ll take a loss,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe state of California is no longer on the hook for any losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

A letter from HCFA Chief Executive Officer Moira Kenny attempted to reassure the board that the Humboldt County Fair can \u201cself-sustain,\u201d noting that the 2024 meet generated $900,000 in commissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Humboldt meet generated enough purse money to wipe out the overpayment from other fair venues,\u201d Kenny wrote. \u201cIn 2025, that established record will enable Humboldt to offer even higher purses and entice additional horses to participate in its three-week meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

HCFA Vice-President Greg Gomes emphasized the significance of horse racing in Ferndale, adding that the organization has the support of the greater Humboldt County community and the horse racing industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just asking for a chance to run, to build upon something for 2026,\u201d Gomes said. \u201cWe\u2019re just asking for a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking during the public comment porting of yesterday\u2019s meeting, Humboldt County First District Supervisor Rex Bohn read a portion of the CHRB\u2019s mission statement, which aims to \u201censure the integrity, viability, and safety of the California horse racing industry by \u2026 promoting horse racing, breeding, and wagering opportunities, and fostering safe racing through the development and enforcement of track safety standards and regulations for the health and welfare of all participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCutting these opportunities doesn\u2019t fill the bill on any of those,\u201d Bohn said. \u201cI know you have a tough deal, but it says you\u2019re supposed to promote horse racing for the whole state. We\u2019re up in the north. We\u2019re forgotten. \u2026 I hear all the reasons why we can\u2019t do this \u2026 but there isn\u2019t any reason not to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board maintained that it had not forgotten about Northern California, with CHRB member Thomas Hudnut noting that the problem stretches across the state. \u201cWe, at the moment, have a problem with the viability of horse racing in this state, regardless of where it is,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the final analysis, it\u2019s not about horses. Unfortunately, it\u2019s about money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board ultimately voted 4-3 to reject both proposals.<\/p>\n

Reached for additional comment this morning, Kenny told the Outpost that the CHRB vote presents \u201ca lot of uncertainties\u201d for the future of the Humboldt County Fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith no horse racing, there are a lot of concerns around whether our sponsors are going to be willing to support us in the same way that they have in the past,\u201d she continued. \u201cOur sponsors are amazing, and they do everything that they can to help make this an amazing event, but there is still a lot of uncertainty. \u2026 I\u2019m typically a very optimistic person, but I am absolutely concerned about what this year is going to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HCFA has been looking for other attractions and events to replace horse racing at this year\u2019s fair. A couple of weeks back, they held a town hall meeting to gather ideas, which ranged from tractor pulls<\/a> to \u201cgrand-scale\u201d concerts to kinetic sculpture races.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many great ideas that came out of that discussion,\u201d Kenny said. \u201cOn the last Sunday of the fair, we\u2019re going to produce a tractor pull. We\u2019re also in conversation with a Mexican bull-riding event, which was already in the works before the meeting. We also have a live music lineup featuring Brett McFarland and the Freedom Riders and plans to extend Kids Day at the fair. We are doing our very best to provide activities to fill up the grandstands.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HCFA is also looking for volunteers. If you\u2019re interested in donating your time, check out the Humboldt County Fair website \u2014 linked here<\/a> \u2014 or give \u2018em a call at 707-786-9511.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ### PREVIOUSLY ### The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Thursday narrowly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-201712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114719639945864348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}