California passes bill that may delay closing of Golden Gate

A bill that would finish a deal to keep Golden Gate Fields open until June won unanimous approval Thursday as part of a flurry of votes just before the California state legislature in Sacramento finished its business for 2023.

First getting a 39-0 vote in the Senate with one abstention Wednesday, the horse-racing bill was approved 80-0 in the Assembly on Thursday. Governor Gavin Newsom has one month to decide whether he will sign the bill that outlines how money wagered in Northern California will be divided.

The Stronach Group, which announced this summer it would close Golden Gate Fields in December, agreed to push the date back six months if the state agreed to divert betting dollars to Southern California when the north state is not hosting any races. That was the essence of an amendment to the bill that originally was written to open simulcast terminals at three county fairs around the state.

The California Association of Racing Fairs has been in a desperate race to salvage the Northern California calendar that was centered at Golden Gate Fields. It proposed to build a hub at Cal Expo in Sacramento in the long term while the Sonoma County Fair track in Santa Rosa hosted more races in 2024.

That decision ultimately will fall to the California Horse Racing Board, which holds its next meeting Thursday.

Stronach said it planned to close Golden Gate permanently in order to focus its West Coast operation on Santa Anita. The track and stables that straddle the Albany-Berkeley line opened in 1941.