By DRF.com
PLEASANTON, Calif. (June 15, 2023) — The five-stop Northern California fair circuit begins Friday with a four-week meeting at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, highlighted by a newly created $150,000 stakes for older horses.
The Pleasanton meeting runs through July 9 and is followed by race meetings at Cal-Expo in Sacramento later in July, the Sonoma County Fair at Santa Rosa in early August, the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale in the far north in late August, and the Big Fresno Fair in October.
The Pleasanton season covers 13 days of racing, primarily on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule with an additional racing day on Tuesday, July 4.
The $150,000 Pleasanton Mile, run at a mile and 70 yards, will be held for the first time on July 9 as part of a program that includes the $75,000 Everett Nevin Stakes for 2-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs.
The Pleasanton Mile is likely to draw runners from the throughout the state. I’mgonnabesomebody, winner of the $100,900 All American Stakes on May 29 at Golden Gate Fields, is a candidate for the race, trainer Bill McLean said last month.
Of the 11 proposed races on July 9, the Nevin Stakes is the only one-turn race. The other potential races will be run at distances ranging from a mile and 70 yards to 1 1/4 miles.
In 2022, Pleasanton had three $75,000 stakes. The track has an expanded calendar of Thoroughbred stakes this year. Aside from the Pleasanton Mile, the new $75,000 Mary Clare Schmitt Pleasanton Oaks for California-bred fillies at six furlongs will be run on July 2. The race honors the memory of the owner and breeder who died earlier this year.
Racing secretary Tom Doutrich said a successful 2022 meeting allowed for additional stakes.
“We had a strong year,” Doutrich said. “The purse fund is in the plus. We were able to get creative and add some stakes.”
The season begins on Friday with a modest seven-race program with several short fields. Opening day of the 2022 meeting also had a seven-race program, followed by programs of seven and eight races through that weekend. A similar number of races is likely this weekend.
The 2022 season averaged 6.16 runners per race, an increase from 5.77 runners at the 2021 meeting.
Doutrich said entries are expected to be slow this weekend at a time when Northern California stables are departing Golden Gate Fields for the summer bases at Pleasanton and Cal-Expo.
Doutrich said approximately 650 horses will be based at Pleasanton, with another 375 to 400 at Cal-Expo.
“It’s a hard transition for our horsemen,” he said. “Our strength of the meet won’t start until the second week.”