IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
There will be no more thoroughbred horse racing at Fairplex Park in Pomona.
Members of the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday approved the transfer of race dates from Fairplex Park to Los Alamitos Race Course.
The board voted 5-0 in favor of the proposal. Members Bo Derek and George Krikorian absent.
Starting in September, the Los Angeles County Fair race dates – the only horse races held at Fairplex Park – will be held at Los Alamitos in Cypress, which is in Orange County.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Fair have been trying to engineer that move for several years, arguing that Los Alamitos is a larger and more modern facility that is better equipped to handle the race dates.
Earlier this year, Los Alamitos installed a one-mile track, part of a multi-million dollar upgrade at the venue. Fairplex, which held harness and chariot races during the inaugural Los Angeles County Fair in 1922, has a track that is 5/8 of a mile.
However, the races will be run in conjunction with the county fair and will still be considered part of that month-long event, said James Henwood, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Fair Association.
This year’s races are scheduled to be held Sept. 4 through Sept. 23.
A Senate bill that would formally approve the move has been introduced in Sacramento and is expected to reach the governor’s desk soon, Henwood told the board members.
Moving the races to Los Alamitos will be better for both venues and for horse racing in Southern California, said Brad McKinzie, vice president of Los Alamitos Race Course.
“We think that this transfer of dates is good for the California horse racing industry,” McKinzie said. “It’s going to mean a bigger handle, which translates into bigger purses. Our projections are upwards of $1 million in increased purses because of the transfer of dates to Los Alamitos.”
