golden gate fields | Horse Racing Free Tips

With Hazards Having Abated, Golden Gate Returns Thursday

While racing this week at Santa Anita has been canceled due to the fires that are ravaging the West, its sister track, Golden Gate Fields, will be back in business starting Thursday. Golden Gate Vice President and General Manager David Duggan said the area surrounding the track has undergone a dramatic transformation, with clear blue skies having replaced the orange glow that had surrounded the Bay Area earlier.

Golden Gate was forced to cancel its three weekend cards last week and as not raced since Sept. 7.

“Last Thursday, you couldn’t make it up. It was truly bizarre,” he said. “At 9:30 in the morning we had lights on on the track because you could not see in front of you. Visibility was down to about 10 meters.”

Duggan said that as recently as Sunday he was still convinced that racing would not be held at Golden Gate this week, but then came an abrupt change.

“You would not believe the change,” he said. “I promise you, you would not believe the change. It is absolutely beautiful here with an air quality reading of 20. It was just extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s clear and the visibility is great. You can seethe city, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s no hint of smoke in the air whatsoever. It’s as if nothing had ever happened.

“I was frighteningly bad. We lost Friday, Saturday and Sunday and had to interrupt training. Everything that could go wrong with the air quality and the prevailing conditions went wrong. Today, if you were dropped into the place from the sky you’d say ‘Why were you guys making such a big deal about this?'”

Duggan said when the effects of the fires were at their worst the Air Quality Index was about 292.

“It was extremely unhealthy around here for a while,” he said.

An AQI of 20 means the air is satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Duggan said the change was likely the result of shifting wind patterns.

“The winds that came just blew everything away and we’re back to being a beautiful bayside racetrack,” he said.

The post With Hazards Having Abated, Golden Gate Returns Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Failure Of Stewards’ Checks And Balances To Blame For Wrong Order Of Finish At Golden Gate

A disruption in the system of checks and balances between racing officials is to blame for a strange incident at Golden Gate Fields Sept. 7 in which the incorrect order of finish was posted and made official for roughly 15 minutes before being corrected.

Initially, stewards posted the order as 5-2-3-4, when in reality it should have been 5-3-2-4, the difference lying in a photo for second place between #2 Blues Rapper and #3 Hold Me Close. A note from steward Richard Lewis published on the California Horse Racing Board website stated Lewis “spoke with the placing judges, who called the 2 as the place horse and 3 as show finisher. I misread the photo picture as well.”

Lewis admitted he failed to have fellow stewards Will Meyers and Dennis Nevin review the photo. At the same time as the outriders gave Lewis the “all clear” signal after the race, Meyers was telling Nevin to pull #5 Herdsman and #2 Blues Rapper (the second betting choice) for testing. As Lewis was listening to Meyers' suggestions on test horses, he looked at the tote board, which indicated the 5 and 2 were the top two finishers, and gave the go-ahead to make the race official.

Nevin had been checking with Equibase chartcallers to see if the #4 Arc Nation, who finished last in the four-horse field, had officially been eased when he heard the photo operator reading out the finish. When he realized the mistake, he immediately notified Lewis and Meyers and contacted the mutuels department to put a hold on the system until the issue could be sorted out.

According to Golden Gate announcer Matt Dinerman, he was instructed to let the public know horseplayers who had the correct order of finish would be paid out for exactas, trifectas and place wagers.

California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) spokesman Mike Marten reported that $528.40 was paid out on the incorrect order of finish to horseplayers cashing tickets in person at California brick and mortar betting locations before the error was caught. In the case of advance deposit wagering (ADW) monies, one company told Marten ADWs were responsible for removing incorrectly-cashed amounts from customers' accounts.

It remains unclear whether Lewis could face disciplinary action for the error.

“After gathering all of the information the CHRB will determine whether any action is appropriate with respect to the racing officials involved,” Marten said.

The post Failure Of Stewards’ Checks And Balances To Blame For Wrong Order Of Finish At Golden Gate appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Golden Gate Fields Cancels Again Saturday Due to Smoke

For the second day in a row, Golden Gate Fields in Northern California cancelled live racing Saturday due to smoke in the area. Recent wildfires in California and Oregon have been well documented in the news, and the Bay Area, where Golden Gate Fields is located, has been one of the hardest hit locales. Air quality has been deemed unsafe for both horses and humans.

After cancelling both Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 due to the conditions, Golden Gate’s next day of live racing is scheduled to be Sunday.

The post Golden Gate Fields Cancels Again Saturday Due to Smoke appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Golden Gate Cancels Friday Program; Stronach 5 Also Cancelled

The Stronach 5 for this afternoon, Friday, Sept. 11, has been cancelled.

The final leg of today's Stronach 5 was to be the third race at Golden Gate Fields, but due to prevailing conditions in the Bay Area the track has cancelled today's live program.

The popular Stronach 5 will return Friday, Sept. 18 with an industry-low 12-percent takeout and $100,000 guaranteed pool.

Fans can watch and wager on the Stronach 5 each week at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The post Golden Gate Cancels Friday Program; Stronach 5 Also Cancelled appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post