The California Authority of Racing Fairs announced Tuesday it would not pursue any horse racing meets during 2025, canceling its familiar county fair circuit in destinations like Pleasanton. 

The news sent a major jolt – and what could be a fatal one – through the already reeling Northern California race industry, which saw the closure of Golden Gate Fields in Albany last year and lackluster results for its inaugural Golden State Racing fall series at the Alameda County Fairgrounds that hoped to reinvigorate interest in the Bay Area. 

Still many expected the county fair meets to go on as typically scheduled during the summer of 2025, even after CARF last month called off plans to organize a GSR winter meet in Pleasanton. That all changed when the press release dropped early Tuesday afternoon.

“After making the difficult decision not to submit future race meet applications, (CARF) announces that it has directed staff to reorganize operations to focus on addressing current obligations and future efforts to support California Fairgrounds and their Satellite Network. This difficult decision was based upon an assessment of financial challenges incurred in the GSR race meet as well as current obstacles facing the horse racing industry,” CARF officials stated.

“While this marks a difficult and challenging moment for the Northern California live racing community, CARF will continue to support its satellite wagering members and explore all possible avenues to support the California Horse Racing industry,” they added. “CARF remains dedicated to serving all of our member fairs and their communities.”

Alameda County Fair representatives have not issued any public statement in reaction to the news from the Sacramento-based racing authority and had not responded to a request for comment from the Weekly as of early Wednesday morning. 

Live horse racing has been a centerpiece of the summer fair in Pleasanton for decades. The fairgrounds in the heart of town boasts the oldest one-mile dirt track in the United States. 

With CARF being the lead agency to apply for race date approvals from the California Horse Racing Board, the Alameda County Fair has lost its horse racing organizer for 2025 – as did its peers in places like Sacramento, Ferndale and Fresno. Absent the arrival of some new organizer, the fair scheduled in Pleasanton from June 13 to July 6 will be without the horses. 

The status also remains unclear for the training and wagering facilities at the local fairgrounds.

The prospect of no Northern California races in 2025 marks a harsh reality compared to the optimism that was brewing around this time last year as stakeholders banded together to earn approval in March 2024 for a 26-day inaugural GSR fall meet from October to December in Pleasanton, hoping to build momentum after a strong summer fair circuit and stave off a Southern California consolidation of the horse racing industry.

But the financial strain of the underperforming fall meet forced CARF to call off plans for a winter meet in Pleasanton that would have started after Christmas — and the effects of the GSR effort would prove lasting, if not lethal, as the authority cited it among the reasons for canceling its summer fair races.