End of NorCal horse racing forces ‘back side’ families out of tack room shelters, RVs and Pleasanton schools

PLEASANTON — Eleodoro Gonzalez has been on the move for the past two decades, bouncing from one Bay Area racetrack to another, as the sport has slowly disappeared locally. He’s among the “back side” workers who groom, exercise and care for horses.

Since 2002, he’s worked the horse tracks at Bay Meadows in San Mateo and Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, where he met his partner, Myriam Castillo, who has three grown children of her own. She has a total of five grandkids, with the youngest just an infant and the oldest attending school in Pleasanton.

This month, they will be on the move again when the Pleasanton Fairgrounds officially shut down racing.

“Some of my family left already because there is no more work here. For me, it’s very hard because we’ve been living together all the time (at the stables), and now we are torn apart,” Castillo said as she wiped tears from her eyes with her jacket sleeves.

Myriam Castillo, who lost her job as a horse groom and walker, cries as she talks about her disappointment with the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack shutting down in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Castillo, her husband, and their family moved from Golden Gate Fields to Alameda County Fairgrounds last June. “It’s sad. It’s sad to leave. We depend on these horses. We’ve taken care of them. We do everything for them. We love these animals. I’ve grown very fond of them,” Castillo said. “They have given us our daily bread.” The move follows the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Over the past weeks, horse owners and trainers continue moving their horses to other parts of the state or out of California altogether, taking with them the jobs provided to many low-income, undocumented or unhoused workers, who either live in the fairgrounds’ stables in closet-sized spaces called tack rooms or are fortunate enough to buy recreational vehicles and live in one of the grounds’ RV parks.

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A central question for many of these families is whether to remove their kids from school and transfer elsewhere, with just months left in the school year. Some are unsure of what to do as the clock ticks toward the March 25 deadline to leave the premises.

Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the Pleasanton Unified School District, said the district is aware of some families impacted by the end of horse racing and has offered some services to them through CityServ, a Pleasanton-based nonprofit service organization.

“While we don’t have an exact number, PUSD does have families that are impacted by this change,” Gannon said. “It is important to note that legally, these families will continue to be able to have their children enrolled in our schools.”

But because the horse stables will be shuttered, Castillo’s two grown kids are taking the grandchildren back to Berkeley, where they lived and worked before Golden Gate Fields closed. Their children will have to enroll in another school before the year is over. Other members of her family have already left because their horse owners have gone to Southern California’s Los Alamitos racetrack. Castillo lost her job recently when her boss moved the business to Seattle. She plans on moving near Cypress, California, where Los Alamitos is located.

“It’s sad to leave. We depend on these horses. We’ve taken care of them. We do everything for them. We love these animals. I’ve grown very fond of them,” Castillo said through the help of a translator. “They have given us our daily bread.”

A trainer rides a horse on the bridle path after a race training at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. A line of tack rooms, left, traditionally used for horse gear, have been converted to shelter housing for some workers. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Castillo’s son Michael Quinteros and his wife will also try to follow them and find work in Los Alamitos, though they don’t have anything lined up yet.

Quinteros said through a translator that he is “hoping to get hired as a galloper and groom in Los Alamitos, but if I cannot, I’ll look for relatives in Los Angeles to ask for shelter while I find a job.”

Jose Antonio and Armando Muños — two single horse grooms with no children — have already left for Seattle to find new jobs. They told this news organization in interviews at the fairgrounds before they left that they would again be moving from tack room to tack room, finding refuge in another makeshift shelter at another stable. Like many of the back side workers at the Pleasanton stables, they also previously worked at Golden Gate Fields.

“We felt sad after working for many years here (in the Bay Area),” Antonio said. “There is nothing to keep us here. We have to follow the horses.”

Jose Camacho rides Graceful Mischief, a horse owned by Sarah Jennings, during race training at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. After the decision to cancel all horse racing at Northern California fairs, Jennings, like many of the horse owners, is relocating its horses to different racetrack stables. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Myriam Castillo, who lost her job as a horse groom and walker, shows her room where she and her husband live at Alameda County Fairgrounds stable in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Castillo, her husband, and their family moved from Golden Gate Fields to Alameda County Fairgrounds last June. “It’s sad. It’s sad to leave. We depend on these horses. We’ve taken care of them. We do everything for them. We love these animals. I’ve grown very fond of them,” Castillo said. “They have given us our daily bread.” The move follows the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

A veteran horse groom, Eleodoro Gonzalez, walks along the Alameda County Fairgrounds stables in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Gonzalez has worked at three different racetracks since 2020. He and his wife relocated from the Golden Gate Fields last June and now have to move to Los Alamitos to continue working with horses. “It is very tiring moving again, starting all over again,” he said. The move follows the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Owner Sarah Jennings plays with her horses Graceful Mischief, left, Bid On The Right and her big goat, Orejas, at the Alameda County Fairgrounds stable in Pleasanton, California, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. After the decision to cancel all horse racing at Northern California fairs, Jennings, like many of the horse owners, is relocating its horses to different racetrack stables. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Trainers and jockeys practice during a morning race training at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Many horse owners are relocating their horses and workers to different racetrack stables in Southern California and outside the state. Some have already become unemployed, and possibly more on March 25, the last day to close the stable, following the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Jose Ramirez, a horse groom, spreads hay in a barn for horses after a morning race training at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Many horse owners are relocating their horses and workers to different racetrack stables in Southern California and outside the state. Some have already become unemployed, and possibly more on March 25, the last day to close the stable, following the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Horses look out of their stalls after practice at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Horse owners are relocating their horses and workers to different racetrack stables in Southern California and outside the state. Some have already become unemployed, and possibly more on March 25, the last day to close the stable, following the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Horse workers broom between the bridle path and the tack rooms at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. The tack rooms are traditionally used for horse gear, but have been converted to shelter housing for some workers. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Alfonso Rivera, a veteran horse groom since 1989, waits for breakfast at Stable Cafe in Pleasanton, California, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. Rivera is moving to Santa Anita Park, like some of his colleagues, while others are relocating to different racetrack stables outside the state following the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Stable Cafe owner Maria Juarez makes breakfast for horse racing workers at the Alameda County Fairgrounds racetrack in Pleasanton, California, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. Juarez and several horse workers moved from the Golden Gate Fields to Alameda County Fairgrounds last June, where she took over the cafe. The racetrack is closing on March 25, following the California Authority of Racing Fairs’ decision to cancel all horse racing in Northern California’s circuit of racing fairs. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Owner Sarah Jennings pats her pony horse Daxter at the Alameda County Fairgrounds stable in Pleasanton, California, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. After the decision to cancel all horse racing at Northern California fairs, Jennings, like many of the horse owners, is relocating its horses to different racetrack stables. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

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The county is currently evaluating a proposal from horse owners George Schmitt and John Harris, who have offered $2 million to cover operating costs of bringing races back at Pleasanton on weekends either this year or next, though no official plans have been cemented in place yet.

Sarah Jennings, a 26-year-old horse owner and breeder from Pleasanton who is the assistant superintendent of the Pleasanton stables, said her way of life is “just getting ripped out from under us.” Jennings, who owns six horses and started working at the fairgrounds at age 16, said her only option is to also move to Seattle. Southern California is no place for her, she said.

“That’s not us, that’s not who we are as Northern California horsemen,” Jennings said. “We have horses that are capable, but we’re not going to take them there. We don’t want to give them the earnings off of us.”