Plans for a race meeting at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., this summer collapsed over the weekend after investors for the proposed season and representatives of the Southern California stabling and vanning committee failed to agree on financial and logistical terms. A wide range of issues, including regulatory approval for training from the California Horse Racing Board, worker’s compensation coverage, and water compliance measures, prevented the two sides from reaching an agreement, according to Bill Nader, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. The stabling and vanning committee, which has representatives from horsemen’s organizations and racetracks, had a supervisory role in offtrack stabling at Pleasanton in recent months. For the proposed season, there was an urgency to finalize plans over the weekend. Offtrack training will end at Pleasanton on Tuesday, a deadline first announced in January by fair officials. There were more than 300 horses still based at Pleasanton as of Sunday, officials and trainers said. The lack of a race meeting at Pleasanton in late June and early July means that the only likely racing in Northern California this year with be at the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, in the far north of the state, in late August and early September. Humboldt officials are expected to ask the racing board for racing dates at the regulatory agency’s next meeting on April 17. Two prominent owner-breeders – George Schmitt and John Harris – were part of a group seeking to continue training at Pleasanton in advance of a proposed meeting this summer. In a phone interview Sunday morning, Schmitt was furious that a decision could not be reached. “The South killed the North,” Schmitt said. “They’re not going to extend training in the North. I am now officially angry.” Schmitt held meetings with Alameda County Fair officials in recent days in an effort to sustain training beyond Tuesday. There has been no racing in Northern California since December, after the conclusion of an autumn meeting at Pleasanton held in place of race dates previously run at Golden Gate Fields in nearby Albany. Golden Gate Fields closed permanently last June. The autumn meeting at Pleasanton had far lower-than-expected handle figures, leading to the cancellation of a proposed winter-spring meeting. Instead, Santa Anita this winter and spring has offered a small number of races for horses based at Pleasanton, while offering financial support for training at Pleasanton and round-trip transport of horses from Pleasanton to Santa Anita. Some trainers relocated their stables to Southern California. Without racing in Northern California, purses at Santa Anita’s current meeting were increased at the end of February after simulcast revenue from that part of the state was redirected toward prize money for Southern California Thoroughbred tracks. Purses are scheduled to increase at Del Mar and the Los Alamitos daytime Thoroughbred meetings later this year. As for the remaining horses at Pleasanton, they are likely to be sent to various locations, including Emerald Downs in Washington and to Southern California. The Emerald Downs meeting begins April 26. While Santa Anita’s stable area is near capacity, Nader said there is stall availability at Los Alamitos and the San Luis Rey Downs training center. Schmitt acknowledged last week that his group faced a difficult timeline in recent days to complete negotiations for the proposed race meeting. He said financing for stabling in coming months was one of the leading issues. The Alameda County Fair board of directors voted March 18 to extend training for an additional month while negotiations continued regarding a potential summer meeting. On Saturday, those negotiations ended without an agreement. Through the day on Sunday, Santa Anita officials fielded numerous phone calls from Pleasanton-based trainers seeking stalls in Southern California. Later on Sunday afternoon, the racing board sent an advisory alerting racing participants that Pleasanton will lose its status as an auxiliary training facility of Santa Anita at the end of the day on Tuesday and that worker’s compensation policies “will no longer cover activity at Pleasanton” on Wednesday. The advisory cited the expiration of an agreement between the Southern California stabling and vanning committee, the California Authority of Racing Fairs, and the Alameda County Fair. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.