By DRF.com
ALBANY, Calif. (Dec. 23, 2021) — Coming off a resounding fall meet closing weekend with more than $8 million in wagers, Golden Gate Fields kicks off its 2021-2022 season with an 11-race card Sunday.
The first thing horsemen will notice is an across-the-board increase of $3,000 to purses in all claiming races, with the increases ranging from 12 to 30 percent.
“This is good for the trainers, and we need to keep horses here,” said racing secretary Patrick Mackey, who noted tracks such as Turf Paradise had increased purses and attracted some locally based horses there.
Coming off a meeting where the average field size was 7.1 runners, Mackey hopes that the purse increase will lead to bigger fields. The opening-day races average 7.5 runners per race.
Mackey is also pleased with the quality of racing, which seems to be improving, with local runners more than holding their own with Southern California runners at all levels, including stakes.
Once again, the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby will kick off the stakes schedule on Feb. 12. The race is a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Preakness, and produced last year’s winner, Rombauer. He was the fourth El Camino Real winner to win the Preakness following Tabasco Cat (1994), Snow Chief (1986), and Tank’s Prospect (1985). The El Camino Real runners-up Charismatic (1999) and Gate Dancer (1984) also won the Preakness.
Mackey is not expecting the race to regain the graded status it lost in 2018 this year, but he is hoping it might in the future. He is also hopeful the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile can be boosted to the Grade 2 status it held from 1994-2010.
The San Francisco Mile is the highlight of Gold Rush Weekend on April 30-May 1 when Golden Gate holds eight stakes, six on Saturday and two on Sunday.
Golden Gate will again team with Santa Anita on the Golden Hour Double and Golden Hour Pick Four on days the tracks race simultaneously.
The Golden Hour Double is a $5 minimum wager and links the final race of the day at each track. The Golden Hour Pick Four has a $1 minmum and combines the last two races at each track. Both bets have a 15 percent takeout.
Mackey is anticipating another hot jockeys race after Pedro Terrero captured the fall meeting riding title with 28 wins, one ahead of Evin Roman. Armando Ayeso finished third with 24 wins.
Jonathan Wong continued his domination of the trainer standings in the fall with 35 victories and $691,118 in earnings, and his trainee Boise won the Gold Rush Stakes.
Reid France led all trainers with a 40 percent win average with 16 winners from 40 starters and saw 70 percent of his runners hit the board.
Tim McCanna, third in winning average at 28 percent with 14 winners from 50 starts, won three of the fall meeting’s 10 stakes, with Top Harbor in the El Dorado Shooter, Rager in the Oakland, and Rebalation in the Bear Fan.