Golden Gate Fields Profile

The poet expects that you might leave your heart in San Francisco, but horse racing fans will tell you that if money is what moves you, a trek to the opposite side of San Francisco Bay, to Berkeley and Golden Gate Fields, would be more your speed.

Not to forget that the Racetrack by The Bay has had its share of romance and lore, courtesy of the arts:

Golden Gate was central to the plot of the film noir classic Shadow of the Thin Man. A Jack Kerouac On the Road character lost all his money at the track; Eddie Murphy lost a bet and cursed out the sport’s all-time leading rider, legendary Russell Baze.

On the racetrack the great English-bred Noor upset a legendary Triple Crown champion, Citation. Russell Baze rode his 10,000^th career winner here, numbering 5,765 Golden Gate victories in all.

Famed San Franciscan Joe DiMaggio is remembered for his 56-game hitting streak, a standard unlikely to be broken, but will any jockey even come close to 54 riding titles at a single track as Baze did before he retired in 2016 with 12,842 career victories?

The fable of Silky Sullivan, who made up a 30-length deficit to win the Santa Anita Derby [link to Santa Anita profile] and become the storyline in the 1958 “Run for the Roses,” began his storied career at the Northern California track.

The great John Henry established a new track record in the Golden Gate Handicap of 1984. Champion sprinter Lost in the Fog became the gold standard for speed and consistency here, later joining Noor as only the second horse to be buried in the Golden Gate infield.

Jerry Hollendorfer, who entered the Racing Hall of Fame in 2011, won 32 consecutive training titles at Golden Gate Fields, not quite matching the 37 straight he won at Bay Meadows until it closed for good in 2008.

Neither Bay Meadows nor Golden Gate Fields could have provided Northern California horse racing fans with Thoroughbred fare had it not been for the Oakland Trotting Track about two miles to the south of Golden Gate. The trot track opened in 1871 and lasted until horse racing was banned in 1911.

The land on which the track sits has shared and varied history. In 1852, John Fleming raised cattle and shipped them across the bay for processing to feed carnivorous San Franciscans.

At the end of the 19^th Century a munitions factory was constructed only to blow up—twice. The site served as a Naval Depot during World War II, where landing craft bound for the Pacific theater was stored.

Racing is conducted on a one-mile oval of synthetic polymer, Tapeta Footings, mandated by the California Horse Racing Board in 2007. The turf course it surrounds measures approximately 7-1/2 furlongs in diameter. On both surfaces, racing covered-up in the European fashion fits the dynamics well.

In addition to Hollendorfer, trainer Bill Morey was dominating. John Martin, Jeff Bonde and Steven Specht have also made their marks. As for the jockeys, after “Russell the Muscle” Baze, Ron Hansen, William Antongeorgi, Marco Castaneda, and Kyle Frye are just a handful of the many riders that have forged their reputations here.

Sadly, total seating capacity of nearly 16,000 has become anachronistic in today’s simulcast era.