Ferndale - Humboldt County Fair

[46zilzal]

The town nearby (featured in two major motion pictures, the Majestic and Outbreak) is a wonderfully old time city with great architecture reminiscent of the Victoria era.

[Hambletonian]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Ran out of mules.

As a person who was lucky enough to see mule racing at many county fairs out west, it seemed that the majority of mules were involved with a relatively few individuals. They even had a website, and it just did not seem that folks were breeding to sell, and it was just the same mules year after year. And there were racing opportunities for much of the summer starting with Winnemucca in June and going through the beginning of the fall. The racing curcuit started to coalesce in California, where the money was better, so your chances of seeing a mule race outside of the Golden State decreased as time went on.

And now it is basically a memory...which is really too bad because the average fan loved the mules!!

[46zilzal]

I have the photo of the Great Mule Duel at Del Mar when Black Ruby won easily

[ranchwest]

It was probably tough to support a mule whose best effort got a paycheck for second (behind Black Ruby).

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by Boomer

On my bucket list. Even enjoy it on TV.

Me too!

On a related matter, what happened to Santa Rosa's turf course? Previous years I remember it being super super lush, and now it looks awful.

I also love Pleasanton. Went there one weekend to take advantage of a California Winemakers wine tasting event in a big 'luxury' tent in the infield with betting machines etc. Was the first year of that event and I think the 'rules' were pretty damn non-existent because they were giving full pours of anything all day long and it started to feel like a scene from 'Sideways.' Total blast. The following year it looked like it was scaled way way back.

[HorsemenHeist]

Looking forward to yet another visit to Ferndale on Sunday for the biggest race of the year in California, the Humboldt County Marathon.

The owner of the Ivanhoe passed during the pandemic unfortunately and the family didn't reopen. There is still solid food in town. Ferndale Pizza Company has wonderful pizza and I am hoping that the Clendenen's apple cider shop will be open next weekend for the best apple cider I've ever had.

I'll try to take a minute to say hi if you aren't too busy during the day.

[Scanman]

Very enjoyable meet so far. Though it may be difficult, but I think they need to find a new starter. I've never seen so many horses "hop"/miss the start as the gate opens.

[davew]

I watched a couple races yesterday. Race 6 was bad. A 7 horse maiden claiming $5000 race. The 5 was balking at entering gate and 4 and 2 flipped in gate ... horses removed and then 2 and 4 scratched. The next attempt had 5 again balking and reared up and flipped, this provoked 7 to rear up and jockey Robert Webb fell off behind the gate. He was not moving when last seen 5 seconds after fall. The 5 and 7 also late scratched and about a 30 minute delay before last 3 horses raced. I hope the jockey is okay.