Following the announcement that the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) will not apply for 2025 race dates and that CARF and Alameda County Fair have decided to end Pleasanton stabling Mar. 25, stakeholders in southern California will now intensify efforts to develop a single circuit to create a positive platform for Thoroughbred racing at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Los Alamitos, the Southern California Stabling and Vanning Committee said in a press release late on Thursday.
The new version of California Thoroughbred racing will continue to offer suitable racing opportunities specifically created last month to accommodate horses previously based in northern California as of Dec. 28, 2024. This effort includes higher purse levels of approximately 20 percent for every class level from the newly instituted $5,000 claiming races to top end allowance races. With the end of stabling in the north, these opportunities will become part of the new 2025 structure at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Los Alamitos.
Northern California is making an immediate impact on racing at Santa Anita. Mr. & Mrs. Larry D. Williams have won five races from 10 starts through Jan. 26, currently second in the owner standings at Santa Anita, while trainer Tim McCanna is off to an impressive start during the first month of the Santa Anita trainer standings.
Horsemen and horsewomen with any of the 478 horses still stabled at Pleasanton that wish to relocate to southern California are encouraged to contact the Santa Anita Racing Office for stabling arrangements at one of the three available locations–Los Alamitos, San Luis Rey and Santa Anita. Transportation allowances are also available.
California's new single circuit structure will help ensure that the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry continues to provide the state with over $2.5 billion of positive annual economic impact and more than 24,000 jobs. Additionally, this new path forward has already delivered purse increases and additional racing opportunities. Further purse increases will be announced for shortly for the southern California racetracks.
San Mateo County fair manager Dana Stoehr, the newly minted CARF chairperson, said that “resulting financial positions and losses of the GSR meet” and other regulatory factors led to the decision to suspend stabling on March 25 at Pleasanton.
“Others in the industry may have resources that we don't. And we did not want to appear that we did [have those resources], or that there was some Band-Aid, or that there was something that didn't exist,” said Stoehr, explaining the decision.
“Most of us fairground managers in support of racing, we're also the stewards of public land. And we step up during emergencies and at the drop of a hat or a phone call or an email,” Stoehr added.
“We're all quasi-governmental if not directly governmental. And we have a higher standard of care for our communities that we need to adhere to. That's the fairground managers' standard of ethics. And it is with those ethics in mind that we need to be absolutely transparent about what we can and can't do. We know it affects those that are most vulnerable in situations like this,” she added.
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