The Humboldt County Fair Association reiterated its intent to again apply for horse racing dates during the August fair from a state board next month, despite a tightening timeline and a host of uncertainties.
During a report from the association’s Racing Committee at its April 28 board meeting, committee Chair Greg Gomes said he’s “trying anything and everything possible to drum up support” for the association’s application, which was on the wrong side of a 3-2 vote, failing to get the four votes necessary for approval from the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) last month. Gomes and Board President Andy Titus indicated they are now preparing to present a business plan and a contract with the newly formed Bernal Park Racing, LLC, when they again lobby the CHRB for race dates on May 15.
The regularly scheduled April 28 meeting opened with Titus leading the association board in a moment of silence for Director Bob Prior, who served on the association board for a record 61 years and passed away April 12, just shy of his 93rd birthday.
Later in the meeting, the board took up a brief conversation on how to honor Prior, a U.S. Army veteran and accomplished lawyer and rancher, who first joined the board in 1961 and served until his death. Directors proposed naming the grandstand lift or the livestock scale after Prior — noting he’d purchased both — and ultimately appointed Directors Lawrence Dwight, Johana Rodoni and Jack Rice to an ad-hoc committee to return with a proposal.
Titus noted a memorial service is scheduled for Prior from 1 to 3 p.m. on May 3 at the Ingomar Club in Eureka.
When it came time for the Racing Committee’s report, Gomes praised Titus, saying he did an “excellent job” presenting to the CHRB in April, noting he “earned a lot of respect in the room.”
“Hopefully, we can carry that respect over to next month, when we go back May 15 and try to get these dates,” Gomes said.
While horse racing has been part of the Humboldt County Fair for 128 years, its status at this year’s fair has been shrouded in uncertainty since early this year, when the California Authority of Racing Fairs, the joint powers authority that has traditionally helped the fair with the logistics and financing of putting on race meets, announced it would not be pursuing race dates for any fairs this year and was on the brink of fiscal insolvency.
That decision — and the preceding collapse of Golden State Racing, an entity CARF created to fill the void left by the closure of Golden Gate Fields in Alameda County — has reverberated throughout Northern California. At present, it appears not a single fair — or any other entity, for that matter — will hold horse races in Northern California this year, with most fairs having voted to forgo even trying without CARF’s support.
While the Humboldt County Fair Association (HCFA) has yet to make an official decision on whether to hold meets, the board has approved pursuing dates, kicking a final decision on racing down the proverbial road.
Some on the board have been vocal in their belief that racing is not just an institution at the soon-to-be 129-year-old fair, but that it’s also an economic driver, even if the fair’s financial records don’t show it. Specifically, they argue that racing is one of the annual event’s largest drivers of attendance, with a multiplier effect that boosts parking, carnival, concession and bar revenue, though the association has never been able to quantify that.
But without CARF in the picture this year, some have also expressed a fear that putting on race meets will be expensive and financially risky. Titus said in February he was scared “of not having horse racing and the fair going down,” and of “having horse racing and the cost of it bringing the fair down.”
The stakes of the decision may be the future of the fair itself. A financial report presented to the board April 28 shows the association has a balance of $460,000 in its accounts — enough to last about two months without an additional influx of funds — meaning it needs to turn a substantial profit at this year’s event to carry into 2026. (An agenda item on purchasing an ice-skating rink fair staff hopes will diversify the association’s revenue streams and that staff projects could bring in $26,000 in its first year and $115,000 in subsequent years was also tabled April 28 until racing decisions are finalized.)
Some clarity has come in recent weeks about how the association hopes to pull off hosting racing meets if ultimately given dates and a license from the CHRB, as well as approval from the association board. At the April CHRB meeting, Titus said the association will be partnering with Bernal Park Racing, LLC, recently launched by longtime racehorse owner George Schmitt and owner/breeder John Harris to replace CARF. Schmitt told the board at the meeting the outfit would supply full financial backing and provide the equipment and staff needed to race in Ferndale in August. But the three board members who ultimately didn’t support HCFA’s application each said they felt the proposal lacked a concrete business plan.
Gomes told the association board April 28 that his committee would be working with Bernal Park Racing to put together such a plan, as well as a contract between the association and the LLC. Exactly what that will look like is unclear, however, as neither a draft plan or contract have been reviewed by the full association board or even the Racing Committee.
“We’re working to get something on paper,” Gomes told the association board. “We know exactly what we expect from him and [what] he expects from us. On the financial side, like I said, we’re guaranteeing his money back for the purses. That has to be on paper, as well as a business plan.”
Guaranteeing purses for the races could poses a significant financial risk for the association, making it potentially liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars, though that’s unclear, as the proposed terms of such a contract have not been made public.
Nonetheless, Gomes made clear the Racing Committee is charging forward, trying to deliver what CHRB members want to see and gather a show of support from horse owners and trainers, elected officials and the community. “We’re trying to get anyone and everybody.”
Even with its ducks firmly in a row, HCFA may face an uphill battle getting the needed votes. Currently, the CHRB has a vacant seat, with only six seated members, three of who opposed HCFA’s application last month, with two supporting it and another member absent. That means that to succeed May 15, HCFA will have to sway one of the board members who voted against it in April, or hope that both the governor fills the vacancy before the May with someone who will support its application and that the board member absent in April votes to approve the application.
With the board having already heard from Gomes during the Racing Committee report, there wasn’t much to say when an agenda item set to discuss the 2025 horse racing meet came up later in the meeting.
“You guys want to waste an hour of your life?” Titus asked the board wryly, noting the subject of race meets had been discussed repeatedly for months.
“We’ll save that for the good news in May,” Gomes responded.
In other matters, HCFA CEO Moira Kenny offered a brief update on the association’s efforts to get exemptions from the state to its prohibition on dairy and poultry shows due to the avian flu outbreak. She said the association has applied to for exemptions that would allow it to hold the shows 14 days before or after the fair, but has yet to hear back.
A member of the board asked if any fairs have been granted exemptions in the state to date, to which Kenny responded simply, “No.”
“Even fairs seeking to hold one 14 days prior or after have been denied,” she said.
This article appears in From Garden to Table in the Hall.
