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Bay Area's premiere track could be just a memory
ALBANY, CA - Nov. 16, 2011 - After 70 years of
hosting the likes of triple-crown winner Citation, Lost In the Fog,
Silky Sullivan and other racing luminaries, the Bay Area's premiere
horse track could be headed for its final stretch.
The grandstand-shaking cheers of fans may become a distant memory,
lost to the quiet murmur of scientists and lab workers working the
corridors of a new campus there for Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory.
Golden Gate Fields, that opened in 1941 on 140 acres of shoreline in
Albany and Berkeley and has thrilled decades of race fans, is among
six sites being considered as a site for a second lab campus. A
winner is expected to be chosen by month's end.
But, if racing goes away in Albany, closing California's only near
year-round track north of Bakersfield, it could drastically change
Northern California racing. Golden Gate's owners say they would seek
another large track site if theirs is chosen, but one scenario would
see Golden Gate's racing days divvied up among existing tracks --
adding racing days and a new non-fair racing circuit at fairgrounds
like Alameda County's in Pleasanton.
But horse trainers and owners fear the loss of the Bay Area's
marquee track would be a huge blow to an industry already dealing
with a shrinking fan base, declining revenue and competition from
out-of-state tracks that allow slot machines.
It would be the second time since 2008, when San Mateo's Bay Meadows
closed, that the Bay Area has lost a major racetrack to new
development.
"Bay Meadows was making money but there was more money by developing
the property," said Rick Pickering, the CEO of the Alameda County
Fairgrounds. "Golden Gate, I am assuming there is more money. It's
valuable land. How do you walk away from that?"
The lab announced in January it was seeking proposals for a campus
with up to 2 million square feet that would consolidate satellites
in Oakland, Emeryville, Walnut Creek and Berkeley. Golden Gate
Fields and sites in Oakland, Richmond, Alameda, Emeryville and
Berkeley were as finalists from 21 proposals lab received.
"It would be devastating" if Golden Gate Fields were redeveloped,
said Gloria Hayes, Northern California vice president of the
California Thoroughbred Trainers. "It would be another agricultural
minus that we don't need."
Despite picking up 18 additional racing days over the past year,
Golden Gate Fields has seen its total handle -- amount wagered --
increase by less than 1 percent, rising from about $545.6 million in
2009 to $546.2 million in 2010. From 2005 to 2010 the average daily
handle dropped from about $4.34 million to $3.14 million in 2010.
Statewide, betting has dropped too. From 2009 to 2010 the total
amount dropped by $486 million, according to figures from the
California Horse Racing Board.
Stronach Group, which owns Golden Gate Fields and other tracks
around the country, has said several times that if the track is
selected for the lab site, a new track will be located elsewhere in
Northern California.
"The Stronach group is committed to racing in Northern California,"
said Joe Morris, general manager of Golden Gate Fields. "If this
place is chosen, there will be a delay (until) they break ground,
and in that time we will find a place."
One proposal could be a windfall for the Alameda County Fairgrounds
in Pleasanton, which boasts the country's oldest one-mile horse
racing track, built in 1858.
It would divide racing days allotted to Golden Gate Fields among
Northern California's six racing fairs, allowing each a second
session of racing in addition to its annual fair run. Golden Gate
Fields had 174 racing days in 2010 and 157 this year. The track has
been awarded 154 days for the 2012 season.
Alameda County had 13 days of racing at this year's fair and has
been awarded 13 for the 2012 fair.
"If that (lab) deal comes about and Golden Gate Fields is the
successful property ... there are options for more racing at (Pleasanotn),"
Pickering said. "It would look like a circuit."
The Pleasanton fairgrounds also benefitted when Bay Meadows closed
by becoming the auxiliary training ground for Golden Gate Fields --
more than 400 extra horses were sent to be trained and housed in the
Pleasanton barns.
Some say added racing sessions would help renew luster and
excitement to a racing scene that has grown stale following the Bay
Meadows closure.
A circuit could allow Alameda County, Sonoma County, Cal Expo and
the other racing fairs to each pick up an additional two to four
weeks of racing per year and give operators a chance to build
excitement with more season opening and closing celebrations and
venue changes.
It has been rumored the Stronach Group is looking at other existing
horse racing tracks in Northern California to house more racing.
"Six or seven years ago Frank Stronach visited the Alameda County
Fair during the fair and met with folks and kicked the tires,"
Pickering said. "There was no formal negotiations but he was
extremely complimentary of the product here."
Not everyone is in favor of a Bay Area circuit scene and would
rather see the lab select land in Richmond that it already owns
instead of taking the track.
Keith Pronske, the Thoroughbred Owners of California's Northern
California vice chair, and his wife have been breeding and raising
horses since 1997 and fear if Golden Gate is chosen for the lab site
it would be detrimental on the industry, including hundreds of lost
jobs.
Golden Gate has 350 full- and part-time workers and another 500 to
600 workers employed in the barn areas who care for close to 1,200
horses.
"There is the fair option, but it would be very different without
Golden Gate Fields," Pronske said. "It would have a financial impact
and not just on owners but everyone. If you don't have a marquee
track like Golden Gate in Northern California, racing will go on,
just on a smaller scale."
Before the Stronach Group proposed plans to house the lab's second
campus, the land had been discussed for redevelopment at least four
times.
Given the interest in Golden Gate Fields, Albany paid $600,000 to an
Oakland consulting group in 2008 to create a plan on how to
redevelop it, said City Manager Beth Pollard, The Voices to Vision
report featured community feedback from meetings on how residents
would like the land developed.
The Albany track provides a combined $1.7 million to the city and
school district. City coffers get about $1 million annually that
includes revenue from property taxes and betting.
Pollard noted the wagering revenue has steadily declined and that a
decade ago it brought about $500,000 to the city, but is now between
$300,00 and $400,000.
Any proposal to develop the Albany land would have to be approved by
voters.
Pollard said the Stronach Group has said it would pursue a vote in
the summer 2012.
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Inside Bay Area
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