More days for horse racing in September at Fresno Fairgrounds

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- We are just 22 days away from the Big Fresno Fair's opening day, but you don't have to wait until then to enjoy horse racing.

For the first time ever, the Fresno Fairgrounds will add additional days for horse racing in September before the Big Fresno Fair begins on October 2nd.

"This is the most excitement we've had. 14 days of horse racing. To me, that is like, it hits me here in the heart," said Fresno Fairgrounds interim CEO Christina Estrada.

Starting on Friday the 13th, the fairgrounds will begin hosting the races with themed days.

From 'Boots and Bets' to a 'Lucky 13' day, Estrada said there will be fun for everyone.

"One of the things that we're doing is reserved seats, come and get your reserved seats. You can get up to 10 reserved seats. All you have to do is fill out the form online," said Estrada.

Across the fairgrounds, one horserace trainer is excited for the extra race days in Fresno.

"The people here are great. They love horse racing, they show up for the races and it makes it exciting," said Isidro Tamayo.

He has been coming to Fresno for horseracing for about seven years.

He's grateful there's more opportunity for his racers since the Golden Gate Fields, a popular horse racing spot in the bay area, closed earlier this year.

Officials at Golden Gate said they had to consolidate their assets and closing the track was the best decision.

Because of the closure, Larry Swartzlander from the California Authority of Racing Fairs said there were extra days to offer the Fresno Fairgrounds to host more horse racing.

"The fairs have built such a fan base, especially Fresno," said Swartzlander.

He adds there's roughly 300 hundred more horses than they thought they would have for the meet in Fresno.

"The big plus is the owners and trainers are stepping forward. They wanna go down there, they wanna race, and they want to make this meet very successful," said Swartzlander.

For more information on the added days of horseracing, click here.

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