By John Marr

WE'RE DYED- in-the-wool horseplayers. We love the sleazy atmosphere that prevails at the Bay Area's major horse tracks. We go as often as we can, joining the idle retirees, slumming hipsters, low-rent frat boys, and other assorted reprobates for an afternoon of screaming, "Go, baby, go!" at the losing horses. We may not always show a profit, but we're always ready to go back for another try.

As much fun as we have at the regular tracks, our favorite part of the Bay Area racing calendar is far from the big ovals. During the summer, horse racing in northern California goes rural. The major tracks are closed while the horses run on a circuit of county fairs stretching from Fresno to Ferndale. This celebration of the state's agricultural heritage isn't popular with the stuffier, big-time horse owners and trainers. They don't like the smaller purses, they don't like the facilities, and they don't like hauling horses through the California hinterlands (where the hell is Ferndale, anyway?). But for the racing fans, the county fairs offer an irresistible showcase of horse racing as it was – and as it should always be. The Bay Area is lucky enough to have no less than three county fairs (Alameda, Solano, and Sonoma) that feature top-notch fair racing.

The county fair tracks are a little more rustic than their big-city brethren. Most of the seating is benches rather than fold-down chairs, and high rollers will look in vain for elite, segregated Turf Clubs or Club Houses. But they're quite comfortable and feature all the modern conveniences – self-service betting terminals, video monitors with races simulcast from other tracks – so dear to the heart of the serious handicapper. And after you enjoy an afternoon of county fair atmosphere, screaming at the simulcast from Santa Anita loses some of its charm.

We were first drawn into county fair racing by the history. The racing fairs are proud of their traditions, and rightfully so. Many county fair tracks predate the big tracks, and we all know that old is good. Built in 1858, the Alameda County Fair track in Pleasanton is, in fact, the oldest mile track in America (yes, older than Saratoga). And when California re-legalized gambling on horse races in 1933 after a 25-year hiatus, the first track to open pari-mutuel windows was at the San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton.

The history may have hooked us in, but the atmosphere keeps us coming back. A day at the county fair is an eye-opener for any big-track habitué. To begin with, there's the crowd. And it's a crowd in every sense of the word. Declining on-track attendance gives the big tracks a ghostly feel, as hundreds rattle around in grandstands built to hold thousands. It's the perfect outing for the antisocial – you don't even have to share a row of seats with another person if you don't want to. But at the county fairs solitude is the last thing you'll find in the grandstand. Crowds are healthy even on weekdays. On the weekends they spill out of the grandstands and onto the apron.

And this is no ordinary racetrack crowd. One looks in vain for the old guys in their "Go Baby Go" baseball caps. Perhaps they are there, clutching their dog-eared Racing Forms as they plot their next exacta. But they are lost in a middle-American mob dressed to do the county fair in the finest shorts, sunglasses, and stylish baseball caps the mall has to offer. Whatever the crowd lacks in terms of sleaze, color, or loudly mismatched clothing, it makes up for in youthful enthusiasm and sheer energy.

It's always a thrill to see your horse surge into the lead on the homestretch. But to watch it as part of a roaring crowd, whipped into a frenzy as the horses surge to the wire, is an ecstatic experience. Caught up in the heat of the moment, people go berserk. As the horses approach the finish, it's like a scene in a 1940s movie. Pandemonium breaks out as the spectators leap to their feet, each person frantically urging their entry on. You too may find yourself shouting incomprehensible, uncharacteristic phrases like "Come on, number five!," "Faster, faster!," or even, god forbid, "Go, baby, go!" There are no jaded hipsters in county fair grandstands.

Of course, horse racing at the county fair isn't about gambling: like that of all horse racing, its real goal is to improve the breed. But county fairs don't just help improve the existing breed of Thoroughbreds; they are also mandated by California law to help establish emerging breeds such as quarter horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, and mules. This makes for great variety. Although Thoroughbred races make up the bulk of the county fair cards, on a typical day you'll probably also get to see a quarter horse race or two, perhaps an Arabian or Appaloosa race, and – our favorite – a mule race. In fact, California is the only state that allows mules to race in county fairs.

You may laugh. And at the risk of enraging the good folks at the American Mule Racing Association, we will admit that racing mules do look funny. It's those big long ears that stick straight up – they just don't look aerodynamic. But mule racing is a serious, if young, sport. The mules run like hell, hitting speeds of up to 35 miles an hour. And the handicappers love them. As Cate Snider of the AMRA says, "they run true to form. A mule isn't going to try to cheat you."

In fact, the biggest name in California racing right now is a mule: the amazing Black Ruby. She's the Man O' War of the mule circuit. She wins more than 80 percent of her races and hasn't finished out of the money in more than five years. The crowds bet so heavily on her that the tracks find themselves holding the bag of a "minus pool." The paltry sums bet on the other mules don't cover the minimum $2.10 payout on a $2 ticket on Black Ruby. Guess who makes up the difference? When Black Ruby runs, it's only the tracks that get cheated. And she is scheduled to run in the biggest mule race at each fair on the circuit this year.

But the best part about horse racing at the county fairs is that it's at the county fair! When you've blown your roll on the nags, you can always wander out of the grandstand and buy some cotton candy, ride a few rides in the carnival, and check out the farm animals and crafts in the pavilions. Just don't be surprised if the roar of the crowd draws you back into the grandstand.
John Marr is the editor and janitor of Murder Can Be Fun.

Fair gaming

The following fairs are all accessible by public transportation from San Francisco. Admission to the track grandstand is free with the fair admission. Entries and post times for the day's racing appear each morning in the sports sections of all major daily newspapers. For more information go to www.racingfairs.org.

Alameda County Fair June 26-July 7 (no racing July 2), Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton, Pleasanton. www.alamedacountyfair.com.

Solano County Fair July 10-21 (no racing July 16), Solano County Fairgrounds, 990 Fairgrounds Dr., Vallejo. www.scfair.com.