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Northern California Trainers React to Golden Gate Closure, Plot Their Next Moves

Whether someone had the biggest stable in Northern California or a two-horse operation, the news released Sunday that Golden Gate Fields, which opened in 1941, will shut down at the end of the meet in December was a punch to the gut and led to a great deal of uncertainty. Horsemen have just five months to figure out what they will do next. The possibilities are many. They could shift their operations to Santa Anita. They could stay put and hope that the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) circuit expands and offers enough racing opportunities to make it viable to remain in Northern California throughout the year. Or they could simply leave the sport.

The TDN checked in with six Northern California trainers, ones with both big and small stables, and asked how they plan to try to make the best out of a bad situation and whether or not they will relocate to Southern California.

Steve Sherman: I was surprised by the announcement like everyone else. I really didn't have a clue. They had just fixed the roof on my barn, so I really didn't think this sort of announcement would be coming out. I was shocked. You always heard rumors that the place could be gone in two, three years, but I certainly didn't think it would be closing in December. As for a plan, I'll be honest with you, I don't have one. I will see how things shake out. I don't want to make too quick of a decision. Is Santa Anita an option for me as we speak right now? No. I have no plans to go there. Things could change, but as of right now it's not my plan. I was going through my barn and I probably have 10 to 12 horses that could compete down there. It's just a different beast down there compared to the way it is here. The horses are much better and the races are a lot tougher. That's why you see a lot of horses come up north. It's because they can't handle it down there. Out of 1,000 horses here, maybe they'll get 200, 300. That might help short term, but if those horses don't do well there and don't pan out what does the long-term picture look like? And where are the other 600-700 horses going to go? I don't see what Santa Anita is envisioning. Maybe they were expecting to get half the horse population from here or maybe two-thirds of it. If so I could understand what they're trying to do. But when people start going through their barns and trying to figure out what horses can make it down there, there's probably not that many. The numbers don't add up.

Dan Markle: I had a pretty good routine. Raced up at Emerald in the summer and went down to Golden Gate in the winter. That worked out pretty good. But to lose Golden Gate is devastating. With them closing Golden Gate I'm going to have to think of something new. I don't have the caliber of horses that can compete at Santa Anita, so I won't be going there. And the purses at Santa Anita aren't that great either compared to some of the other big tracks. I guess I'm going to have to relocate. Maybe they can get something going with the Fairs. I think that's possible. If that happens it might work out better than what we had before. But I'm not in favor of moving my operation down there at all.

Marcia Stortz: I am hearing that CARF is going to try to work things out so that the meets go for 10 months between Sacramento and Pleasanton. I'd like that because it would be good to get back on the dirt. I have a couple of horses that would fit in Southern California but not really many more than that. It's a different league. We were told in December a year ago that The Stronach Group was going to replace the surface, which was, in my opinion, in dire need of repair. We were told the new surface would be put in by June when we left for the fairs. When it wasn't purchased in the winter, the writing was on the wall in my opinion.

I would never move to Santa Anita. First of all, I don't think I would get the stalls. I suppose I could try to get into Los Alamitos.

Golden Gate | Vassar Photography

Brendan Galvin: It was a bit of a shock. We were kept in the dark, but we do know that the people at CARF are trying to organize something. It's unfortunate that they are closing Golden Gate. That place has been good to me. I've got to go some place or I've got to retire and I don't have the money to retire. I'll either go to Southern California or another state. I've got some nice allowance horses here, but they probably wouldn't be allowance horses down there and that's a problem. I also have some cheap horses who would have no business going down there. It's a real kick in the head. I'm hoping the fair tracks can get something together. If they don't expand I think that will be the end of the fair circuit because nobody is going to ship all the way back up here for a few months of fair racing. There are a lot of horses here who would be running over their heads at Santa Anita. These horses are here for a reason. Everyone wants to win at Santa Anita and Del Mar and if they could they would be there already and not racing in Northern California. These horses are here for a reason.

Tim Bellasis: Nobody knows what to do. We are all hoping that CARF steps up to the plate and it looks like they will and that would allow racing to continue in Northern California. They're saying they could race 10 months out of the year. They've worried for a good five years that Golden Gate was going to close so they have a plan that can be put into action fairly quickly. They'll get some of the better barns from here with the better horses. They may go down there. Out of my 10 horses I've got now, seven of them are Santa Anita rejects. I wouldn't be capable of making any money down there. When Golden Gate decided they weren't going to put down a new surface on the Tapeta track, which was way overdue, you could pretty much tell what was going to come next. Santa Anita will get some of our horses, but it will be a small percentage. I think only 10-20% of the horses we have in Northern California could win a race down there.

Reid France: For me, it wasn't a big surprise. That being said, it's a bummer. It's the track I attended as a kid, I won my first race there and had a lot of success there. It's very disappointing that it's going to be gone. As far as my plans go, nothing is set in stone. We still don't know what kind of dates will come out of this. I will keep my options open and look at places like Florida, Kentucky and New York. Once we know what our options are here and we can sort some things out, we'll try to figure out where we'd go. We'll consider sending some to Santa Anita because we have a lot of Cal-breds. We're not closing that door. But we will look at a lot of places, all the major racing jurisdictions and see where we're at. I probably have a handful that could fit at Santa Anita. I'm sending five to Del Mar and will see what happens with them. This will all work itself out.

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With Golden Gate Closing, Can Nor-Cal Fashion Alternative Circuit?

One day on, the fallout from The Stronach Group's (TSG) announcement that it is closing Golden Gate Fields at the end of the year continues to reverberate around the state's beleaguered platoon of trainers, owners, breeders and other stakeholders.

“It's like you're Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life, and you're losing your job right before Christmas,” said trainer Tim McCanna Monday, while on the road to Del Mar for the track's summer meet. “It just really leaves things up in the air.”

The reason for the closure of Golden Gate, according to TSG's Sunday announcement, was to focus its racing and training venues at Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs, consolidating the horse population in Southern California with the goal of increasing field sizes and adding another day of racing to the weekly racing calendar at Santa Anita.

McCanna, who maintains a stable of roughly 36 horses at Golden Gate, said that about half of his string are classy enough to fit the Southern California circuit. But at the moment, McCanna is unsure where the rest of his string might head, he said.

As such, McCanna said that he might end up leaving California entirely to race elsewhere. “It's possible,” he replied.

“I don't want to,” he added. “My home's up in Washington. It's a great commute for me back to my ranch up there, and to my owners up there. I still run at Emerald Downs. It was just a good fit, Northern California.”

Given the political winds that have pummeled California racing, and the spotlight Golden Gate has been under by animal rights groups in recent years, there's a palpable sense of inevitability about the closure among many industry stakeholders.

More shocking has been the abrupt nature of the announcement, poorly timed to coincide with the Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale Aug.15 at Alameda County Fairgrounds.

“If I were those guys, I wouldn't even call the van to pick the horses up,” said Tom Bachman, a long-time owner-breeder in the state.

The decision to close Golden Gate, Bachman added, will likely hit the state's biggest breeders the hardest–a grim prognosis with profound implications for Santa Anita.

During Santa Anita's recently concluded six-month meet, Cal-breds made up about 37% of all individual starts, according to DRF chart data, and Cal-bred races constituted more than 20% of the overall races.

While Cal-breds make up a significant portion of Santa Anita's inventory, however, their influence is waning, according to DRF chart data. The average Cal-bred race field size at Santa Anita's recently concluded meet was 7.36. In 2018, it was 9.01. Ten years ago, it was 9.70.

“I don't know what's going to happen to Barton Thoroughbreds, and the Terry Lovingiers and Tommy Town–those people who breed a large number of horses–I just don't know where those horses are going to find a home,” Bachman said, before estimating that only between 10-15% of the horses at Golden Gate would suit the SoCal circuit.

“The Stronach Group have made a really poor decision trying to prop up Santa Anita with the horses from Golden Gate,” Bachman added. “There's just not enough horses at Golden Gate to make the difference down there.”

Bill Nader, president and CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), voiced frustration at the dearth of specific details currently on offer.

“It's all happened so fast,” said Nader. “Whether anybody thought this day would come or not, to that end we're surprised by the news, but we're not shocked by the news.

“By the same token, we do not have the complete story yet to really have any kind of meaningful discussion that can result in a recommendation as to what the best avenue is to take California racing forward,” he said. “There's so much missing detail at the moment, it's hard to give you a complete answer.”

The TDN requested an interview Monday with a TSG representative and submitted a series of questions.

Among the questions raised were those about future land use at the facility, and about specific reasons for the planned closure. Earlier this month, for example, the TDN reported that Berkeley City Council had issued a proposed ordinance that, if passed into law, would make it illegal to keep a horse stabled for more than 10 hours a day at Golden Gate, and requires that every horse has access to a minimum of one-half acre pasture turnout.

The TDN also asked about the organization's short and long-term future for Santa Anita. This included whether it planned to invest in renovating the track's long rundown living quarters for the backstretch staff–what many would see as a gesture of the organization's firm commitment to horse racing in the state.

Golden Gate Fields | Shane Micheli/Vassar Photography

TSG declined to answer the questions. “For now, the [Sunday] statement is going to be our comment around the story. We look forward to being in touch in the future about our plans,” wrote Stefan Friedman, a TSG spokesperson.

But amid the rubble of Sunday's announcement, the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) has emerged swiftly with a possible alternative vision of racing in Northern California.

CARF executive director, Larry Swartzlander, shared with the TDN Monday a one-page document outlining in bullet-point CARF's position on the 2024 racing program.

Among the points raised, CARF proposes:

-That TSG reassess Golden Gate's closure date to run through the end of next June. This would give stakeholders more time to realign the racing calendar.

-That Cal Expo in Sacramento becomes the “base of operations” for year-round racing in Northern California.

-That CARF forms a new racing association called “Capitol Racing.”

-Finding revenue sources to support “capitol improvements” at Capitol Racing tracks, including a new turf track at Cal Expo.

-A new racing calendar with reduced dates with the intent to improve field size, return racing to four days a week, and give the Cal Expo turf course time to recover, among other reasons.

-Moving summer racing at Cal Expo to the evening.

According to Swartzlander, a new turf course at Cal Expo would take approximately six months to build and cost roughly $6 million.

There's currently no funding for the proposed track, though Swartzlander said there are a “variety of different funding sources” he was looking at.

“This was a unilateral decision,” said Swartzlander, about Sunday's announcement by TSG. “And now, this all needs to be reassessed with all the stakeholders of California.”

The next California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) race-dates committee meeting is on Aug. 16.

When approached about CARF's proposals Monday morning, Alan Balch, executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT), declined to comment, other than to say that “we don't know what the CARF plan is, and we will evaluate what we see when we see it.”

Nader was similarly equivocal. “We can look at that as an option, and we'll have a conversation with them later this week,” said Nader.

“But again, we've got to put that down alongside whatever it is this plan is going to look like–we'll call it the 1/ST Racing, Santa Anita and San Luis Rey plan. Until we have those side-by-side, I think it's impossible to really come to any meaningful decision,” he said, adding that the TOC board was planning to meet via telephone late Monday afternoon.

“I expect emotions are going to run high,” he said. “It'll probably be a spirited conversation. But we won't have a unified position because there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that are still unclear.”

Given the general quality of racehorse participating at Golden Gate, a potential obstacle to broad participation among that group at Santa Anita would be the minimum $10,000 claiming threshold at the track–a condition of licensure imposed by the CHRB in 2019.

According to agency spokesperson Mike Marten, however, the CHRB looked at Santa Anita's most recent license application–spanning their recently concluded winter-spring 2022-2023 meet–and that condition “was not discussed or included.”

Another wrinkle in this whole fragmented saga is TSG's potential purchase of the Arizona Downs racetrack, as reported by the TDN in August of last year.

Reached Monday morning, Tom Auther, an Arizona Downs owner and partner, said he and his partners have continued to speak with TSG representatives “every once in a while,” but that other potential buyers were circling the facility.

“I don't know if Golden Gate going away helps, hurts, or makes any difference at all,” he said, when asked if the announcement changes the color of these ongoing negotiations. “We've walked a couple other entities through it. But I don't want to make things sound imminent because it isn't.”

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Stronach Group To Close Golden Gate Fields, Focus On Santa Anita

In order to focus on its racing and training venues at Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs, The Stronach Group will close Golden Gate Fields at the end of its 2023 racing meet, the organization said in a release late on Sunday.

With the goal of increasing field sizes and adding another day of racing to the weekly racing calendar at Santa Anita Park, come Jan. 2024, officials hope this consolidation will serve to further elevate the overall customer experience at Santa Anita Park.

“The Stronach Group remains steadfastly committed to racing in California,” said Belinda Stronach, Chairwoman, Chief Executive Officer and President, The Stronach Group. “We believe that the future success of racing depends on a business model that encourages investment in Southern California, one of North America's premier racing circuits. Focusing on Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs as state-of-the-art racing and training facilities that offer enhanced program quality, increased race days, expanded wagering opportunities, and premier hospitality and entertainment experiences is vital to ensuring that California racing can continue to compete and thrive on a national level.”

Stronach added, “We recognize that the decision will have profound effects on our valued employees as well as the owners, trainers, jockeys and stable personnel at Golden Gate Fields. The Stronach Group is committed to honoring labor obligations and developing a meaningful transition plan.”

Moving forward, the company will work in cooperation with industry participants including the California Horse Racing Board, Thoroughbred Owners of California, California Thoroughbred Trainers, and Del Mar and Los Alamitos racetracks, to develop a plan to relocate horses and employees to Southern California while supporting all affected by this closure.

The California Horse Racing Board confirmed its commitment to work towards finding the best path forward for California horse racing in a release sent out soon after The Stronach Group's statement.

“Golden Gate Fields has been racing nine months out of the year in Northern California,” said CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney. “I think it is fair to say that race-date allocations will take on a new meaning when the Board opens discussions in August for 2024 race dates. I am acutely aware of the human impact of the closure–be they CHRB employees, CHRB contractors, licensees, and, of course, Golden Gate employees–and I will be working hard to ameliorate any negative consequences and to create job and role opportunities.”

CHRB Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales, who chairs the CHRB Race Dates Committee, expressed assurance that the GGF workforce and horsemen will be treated with dignity and respect and that there will be an open and transparent process.

“While we await more details and information, Golden Gate stakeholders and Northern California horsemen should know that horse racing will continue,” said Gonzales. “We look forward to receiving and implementing the industry's transition plan. We hope the upcoming CHRB meeting [Aug. 17] and Race Dates Committee meeting [Aug. 16, both in Del Mar] will be an opportunity to share more information with the public.”

Chaney said the possibility of new off-track wagering locations in the East Bay should be part of the ongoing discussions.

Not long after The Stronach Group released its statement, Alan Balch, executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, released his own statement.

“Today, we learned with great dismay, fear, and anxiety, on behalf of all California trainers and their thousands of employees, of the Stronach racing company's decision to discontinue racing at Golden Gate Fields later this year,” Balch's statement read. “Were it not for our contractual obligations with Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita management, we would publicly disclose the reasons for our serious trepidation–all of which our CTT leadership has taken the initiative to discuss privately with Stronach management on several occasions, during last year and earlier this year. We can only say that we would have hoped those responsible for such a decision had taken their own contractual obligation for fairness, inclusion, communication, and honesty, as seriously as we have.

“The ramifications of this Stronach decision will be far-reaching and long-lasting. They will include, we believe, a great many unintended and mainly detrimental consequences for all of racing and Thoroughbred breeding throughout California and the West, including in Southern California. We can only hope that we are entirely wrong.”

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Proposed Berkeley City Council Ordinance Threat To Golden Gate Fields

A proposed Berkeley City Council ordinance has been introduced that, if passed into law, would put Golden Gate Fields' future in serious jeopardy.

The proposed ordinance makes it illegal to keep a horse stabled for more than 10 hours a day and requires that every horse has access to a minimum of one-half acre pasture turnout.

While reaffirming state and federal laws surrounding animal abuse and cruelty, the proposed ordinance also makes it a crime to conduct training and racing under a “reasonable expectation” that it could substantially injure or harm the animal.

“Such reasonable belief would be based upon substantial evidence, which may include, without limitation, the animal's physical condition, indicia of pain or suffering, musculoskeletal limitations, age or other relevant factors,” the ordinance states.

“Obviously we're concerned,” said Craig Fravel, chief executive officer at 1/ST Racing and Gaming, a company under The Stronach Group (TSG) umbrella, which owns Golden Gate Fields.

Fravel said that he was alerted to the ordinance on Friday. As such, TSG has not yet had a chance to conduct a legal analysis of the ordinance, or to plot a clear response, he said.

“I'm not going to over-react at this point, and just try to be constructive in our approach,” said Fravel. “There will be some time to engage and I think educate people on our safety record and our protocols and efforts that we go through.”

The proposed ordinance, introduced by Berkeley City councilmember Kate Harrison, has been referred to the Council Health and Life Enrichment Committee for hearings. The ordinance would need a recommendation from the committee before being taken up by the Berkeley City Council.

Harrison declined an interview, saying that she was on vacation. Harrison added, however, that she would discuss the proposed ordinance when committee discussions begin.

The nine-page proposed ordinance is specifically focused on horseracing and excludes other facilities within city limits where animals are housed, including animal rescue and adoption agencies.

It makes, however, several glaring misrepresentations and distortions of the Thoroughbred racing industry. This includes an erroneous suggestion that Thoroughbred racehorses, on average, live to only three to five years of age.

“Many fatalities in horseracing are euthanizations after horses suffer catastrophic injuries, cutting their lives unnaturally short,” the ordinance states. “When CBS Bay Area reported on the most recent horse death at GGF in May of this year it cited the fact that 'live into their 30s, but the average age of is [only] three to five years old.'”

The ordinance also states that “horse deaths continue to rise at the horse racing tracks within City limits.”

According to the Jockey Club Equine Injury Database, race-day equine fatalities are declining nationwide. Last year saw the lowest statistical equine fatality rate since 2009, when record keeping began–1.29 fatalities per 1000 starts.

When it comes to Golden Gate Fields, the track's equine fatality rate has been consistently below the national average since 2017. Last year, the rate was 0.56 fatalities per 1000 starts–a number less than half the national average.

“I'd like to push back pretty solidly against some of the suppositions,” said Scott Chaney, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), who added that the CHRB is “aware and certainly concerned” about the ordinance.

Golden Gate Fields | Vassar Photography

“Fatalities are not on the rise at Golden Gate Fields. The opposite is true,” said Chaney. “And while it is true that racehorses generally race from three to five, that is not their average life expectancy.”

The ordinance argues that the City of Berkeley, a charter city, has the legal authority to “establish regulations” and the jurisdiction to “protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare by establishing safeguards for animals” as long as those regulations don't conflict with state and federal law.

“It is in the public interest to adopt an ordinance prohibiting inhumane or abusive treatment of animals held, owned, used, exhibited or otherwise kept for sport, entertainment or profit within the City limits,” the ordinance states.

Chaney is less sure of the city's ability to establish such a law. “I believe that there would be some major legal hurdles in attempting to pass such a thing,” said Chaney.

He added, however, that the CHRB hasn't yet conducted a thorough legal analysis of the proposed ordinance to identify what those legal obstacles might be.

One possible hurdle would presumably concern how Golden Gate Fields straddles two adjacent cities, Berkeley and Albany.

The ordinance outlines a set of tough penalties, beginning with minimum fines of $5,000 per animal, per violation, per day, or imprisonment for periods between 30 days and one year.

In explanation of the proposed requirement to provide racehorses access to open pastures for a good portion of the day, the ordinance argues that how colic, laminitis, and pleuropneumonia are issues worsened by excessive confinement.

“Confining a 1200-pound animal to a 12×12 stall is akin to confining an elephant to a box car or a killer whale to a swimming pool. Equine veterinarian, Dr. Kraig Kulikowski, compared this to locking a child in a 4×4 closet for 23 hours a day, abuse punishable by law,” the ordinance states.

In recent years, Golden Gate Fields has found itself the target of animal rights activists.

In March of 2021, protestors disrupted racing by running onto the track before lying in a circle with interlocking pipes.

The protestors belonged to animal rights organization, Direct Action Everywhere, which seeks to see Golden Gate Fields shut down.

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