By DRF.com
DEL MAR, Calif. (Aug. 16, 2023) – Golden Gate Fields, the Northern California flagship track scheduled to close in December, may stay open until June, pending meetings in coming weeks focused largely on financial arrangements, according to discussions at Wednesday’s California Horse Racing Board dates committee meeting.
Officials with the Thoroughbred Owners of California made the proposal on Tuesday to the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, to continue racing at Golden Gate Fields in the first half of 2024 in an effort to provide short-term continuity for the Northern California racing circuit.
The racing board heard more than two hours of discussions on 2024 racing dates in Northern and Southern California Thoroughbred racing on Wednesday, but did not make any formal recommendations.
Racing dates for 2024 in Northern California have been in turmoil since 1/ST Racing announced on July 16 that it planned to close Golden Gate Fields in December in an effort to consolidate the company’s racing operations in the state to its track in Southern California, Santa Anita in Arcadia. The company plans to invest more than $30 million in improvements to Santa Anita in coming years.
Aidan Butler, chief executive officer of 1/ST Racing, said in an interview after Wednesday’s meeting that a winter-spring meeting at Golden Gate Fields “is completely contingent on the outcome of a sitdown.”
Financial considerations are expected to be a major talking point and are likely to be the subject of legislation introduced in coming weeks. The closure of Golden Gate Fields comes after the track has been losing money for the last decade, Butler told the dates committee.
Without Golden Gate Fields, racing at county fair locations is expected to expand outside of the traditional summer meetings at Pleasanton, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and Ferndale, and a two-week period in the autumn at Fresno. Northern California currently races on a near year-round basis, but the tentative proposals for racing without Golden Gate Fields would see a reduced calendar.
There is widespread concern that handle from a circuit of racing at county fair locations will be well below business at Golden Gate Fields, leading to lower purses.
Officials with 1/ST Racing and the county fairs both hope to use revenue from simulcast and account-wagering sources in the northern part of the state to fund purses at Santa Anita or on the fair circuit, a point acknowledged in a summary of the situation by racing board executive director Scott Chaney.
“Where does the money go?” Chaney said. “There will be a fight between the north and the south because they both want it.
“How many months will Northern California run? It’s a tough one. If you’re only running eight months, what will Northern California trainers, owners, and backstretch help and association employees do for the other four months.
“Everyone is going to have to give a little bit to make this work,” Chaney said. “There is going to be pain involved. There is no question about that.”
Santa Anita is hoping to attract Northern California-based stables to race at Santa Anita, although it is unclear how many stables from that circuit would be competitive at Del Mar and Santa Anita, which have most of the racing dates in Southern California.
If Golden Gate Fields races until June, fair executives would have more time to plan a revamped calendar. One option is expanded racing dates at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, about 25 miles from Golden Gate Fields.
Cal-Expo in Sacramento operates nighttime harness meetings in the autumn and winter that would prevent use of that track from mid-September to early May. Harness racing promoters have a contact with Cal-Expo through 2030, harness officials said last month.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Bill Nader, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, cited lower handle figures at the fairs as a “big gap” compared to Golden Gate Fields.
“There is so much uncertainty right now,” he said. “We do support a viable north. We have to do it responsibly.
“We want racing to continue in the north. It will need an anchor, something new that can be sustained and we can do it in a way that makes reasonable sense.”
Larry Swartzlander, president of the California Authority of Racing Fairs, said racing at Golden Gate Fields until June “gives us more time to plan and more transition time for the horsemen.”
“There are a lot of scenarios right now. We want horsemen to know they’ll have a place to go.”
CARF officials have been in near-daily contact in an attempt to work through a replacement calendar for 2024.
“We’re asking for people to be patient,” said Louis A. Brown Jr., a Sacramento attorney representing CARF. “2024 will be a transition year. It won’t be perfect. We’re committed to putting together the most solid plan we can.”
Brown cited statutory and regulatory issues related to expanding racing and fair venues.
“It takes time to work through these issues,” he said.