A 3-2 vote against the request in April was followed by a 4-3 decision against a Ferndale meet. during least four votes are needed for the board to make a final decision, which is why the issue was brought up again during the May meeting. Dylan McNeill of the Eureka, California-based Times-Standard reported on the meeting and the vote. In 2025, the Humbolt County Fair has asked for seven race dates: closing day on Labor Day, September 1, and Saturdays and Sundays from August 16 to August 31. Additionally, the fair asked for nine days of simulcasting, from Wednesday through Friday, before to every weekend of live racing. The Humboldt County Fair claimed that their racing was self-sustaining in its application for dates. A portion of the application argues for the dates’ financial financial viability, HCF said that in a three-week meet without overlap, it generated $353,000 in underpayment of purses, enough to outweigh the overpayment at other fair venues.
The application for dates also highlighted the backing of well-known figures from the local community and racing world, including a letter from Ferndale native and media celebrity Guy Fieri. The poor Golden State Racing meet at Pleasanton last year, according to Thoroughbred Owners of California president and CEO Bill Nader, demonstrated that there was not a strong enough market for Northern California racing to support it. Additionally, Nader noted that racetracks in Southern California contributed $600,000 to support the Alameda County Fair and the California Association of Racing Fairs. The CHRB declined to set up a special meeting for the Humboldt County Fair and Bernal Park Racing representatives, who requested another meeting in ten days to further explore a summer meet in Ferndale that.
