Amid uncertainty, Golden Gate opens possible penultimate meet

Golden Gate Fields opens what could be its the penultimate meeting of its 82-year history on Saturday with questions about the timing of its expected closure still unresolved.

The track on the shore of the San Francisco Bay will race on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays durings its six-week summer-fall meet, which ends on Oct. 2.

Two stakes races are on the calendar: the $50,000 Sam Spear Memorial, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up on Sept. 4, and the $50,000 Golden Gate Fields Turf Distaff, a 1 1/6-mile turf race for fillies and mares 3 and up on Sept. 16.

The Stronach Group, the track's owner, stunned Northern California horsemen when it announced on July 16 that it intended to shut down the last major horse racing venue in the San Francisco Bay Area at the conclusion of its meet that runs from Oct. 20 through Dec. 10.

In a statement, Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing, the operations arm of TSG, said the move was intended to bolster racing at Santa Anita, which the company also owns, by luring some of the horsemen and horses currently stabled in the north to Southern California.

But in subsequent remarks at California Horse Racing Board meetings  this month, officials with 1/ST Racing, the TSG division that operates its racetracks, said discussions will take place soon about potentially racing at Golden Gate Fields through mid-June 2024.

Officials with the Northern California racing fairs also have had private discussions about expanding race meetings at fair locations to partly fill the void left by Golden Gate's closure, though no plans have been announced.

Golden Gate publicist and announcer Matt Dinerman said Thursday that despite the uncertainty hanging over the upcoming meet, "Everyone's working really hard to take care of the horses" and prepare for the races.

"We're anticipating good participation," he said. "These owners have horses that are ready to run and we're expecting a good meet."