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San Mateo County supervisors have approved an emergency resolution supporting efforts to retain horse racing dates and satellite wagering in the county in order to financially support the San Mateo County Fair and the Event Center.
“If we don’t take this action today … we are in jeopardy of losing the county fair for 2008,” Supervisor Jerry Hill said.
The San Mateo County Fair, which draws thousands of families from throughout the region each year for several days of exhibits, concerts and carnival rides at the Event Center in San Mateo, celebrates its 73rd year this August.
The Event Center has a contract with the neighboring Bay Meadows racetrack to run a series of horse races each year to support the county fair, Event Center General Manager Chris Carpenter said May 16.
Bay Meadows is currently scheduled to close at the end of this year.
Carpenter said the issue was brought to the board’s attention after learning that the California Horse Racing Board’s Race Dates Committee intends to exclude racing days benefiting San Mateo County in 2008.
CHRB spokesman Mike Marten denied May 16 that any such decision had been made.
“The Race Dates Committee has only met once this year and they did not consider any specific [racing calendar] proposal for 2008,” Marten said.
“The various [CHRB] commissioners have stated publicly that they hope that Bay Meadows remains open and that racing dates will be allocated to Bay Meadows,” Marten added.
However, with the board’s denial in March of a waiver allowing Bay Meadows to continue to operate without a synthetic track surface, the racetrack then announced it would likely close at the end of the racing season in November.
Without the fair racing days, “We stand to lose a tremendous amount of money, which could have a detrimental effect not only on the fair but the overall operations at the Event Center,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter estimated the potential financial loss at “more than a half-million dollars.”
However, fair racing days benefiting San Mateo County could be scheduled at other tracks in Northern California with the approval of the CHRB, Carpenter said.
“That would solve our problem,” Carpenter allowed. “It wouldn’t mean the same amount of revenues, but it would not be as big a [financial] hit.”
With the possible closure of Bay Meadows, Event Center officials are also seeking to have the racetrack’s satellite wagering facility relocated to the Event Center, which would provide further revenue, Carpenter said.
However, according to Carpenter, if Bay Meadows were to successfully appeal the board’s waiver denial, allowing the racetrack to operate in 2008, Bay Meadows would also retain all rights to its satellite wagering revenues.
Hill summed up the Board of Supervisors’ concerns: “We’re asking that we maintain our race days for 2008, and that there’s no tampering with the law or the agreement that’s established to transfer the satellite wagering to the Event Center, when Bay Meadows stops racing,” he said.
Carpenter said he planned to attend the racing board’s next regular meeting May 22 in Sacramento, when a formal discussion on the 2008 racing schedule in Northern California will begin, as well as a discussion on the status of the Bay Meadows racetrack.
No action will be taken at that meeting, but Carpenter speculated that a vote on next year’s racing schedule could occur this summer or fall.
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