The pending shutdown of Golden Gate Fields and its potential aftershocks to the California racing industry was the common theme running throughout the Aug. 16 meeting of the California Horse Racing Board’s Racing Dates Committee.
Even when the committee tried to follow the agenda and focus on Southern California dates first, the discussion could not help but steer toward the myriad of issues to surface since The Stronach Group’s 1/ST Racing announced July 16 it was closing the San Francisco track after its last live racing date this year.
Aidan Butler, CEO of 1/ST Racing and Gaming, quickly offered a glimmer of hope during the Wednesday meeting by revealing that a six-month extension to the life of Golden Gate Fields is a possibility.
“I know the temperature is high at the moment…but in the past, we made multiple statements about the viability of the North and unfortunately that came to bear,” Butler told the committee. “No one would think shock is a good thing and the timing (of the announcement) could have been done differently, but the commitment to racing in California is going to take the industry to reconsider it in its entirety. There was a request by the TOC (Thoroughbred Owners of California) about potentially extending racing at Golden Gate by six months. That is going to have to be a negotiation, but I believe it can be done.”
Whatever that “negotiation” looks like, Butler said, it cannot do harm to the $30 million investment 1ST/Racing is now making to Santa Anita Park to further grow Southern California racing.
“Anything that could be detrimental to Santa Anita at this point is simply putting us back in the cross-hairs of what has happened in the North,” he said. “Yes, racing is our passion but it has to pencil out.”
Aidan Butler
CHRB vice chair and committee chair Oscar Gonzales said he was encouraged that an extension at Golden Gate was a possibility but wanted to know from Butler what needed to happen to lock in that six months.
“There needs to be a bit of a reality check between all the players about what the future of racing in California looks like,” Butler said. “The facts are we had a racetrack, it was very well maintained, the building was not pretty but it was a nice building, and we lost $10 million. We need to get around a table and make the money flow where it needs to flow.”
Until those discussions can take place, Bill Nader, TOC president and CEO, encouraged committee members to move forward with approving the 2024 dates for Southern California—which largely mirrors the 2023 schedule with an accommodation for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar—and delay for a month any recommendations for the North.
“I don’t think the core dates in the South in any way reflect what may or may not happen in the North. The North is just a big bundle of uncertainty,” he said. “This will provide clarity and stability instead of people asking what’s next. We know Santa Anita will open on Dec. 26 and Breeders’ Cup will be held at Del Mar. So much is manageable and predictable.”
Alan Balch, executive director for California Thoroughbred Trainers, told the committee he felt the entire dates schedule needs to be put off for 30 days.
“The back and forth in California of horses in the North racing in the South and vice versa is well known. Del Mar’s exceptional field size is in part obtained by great participation during the summers of the northern horses,” he said. “The dates are integrated. What you are grappling with, what we all are grappling with, is this idea of stabilization. In my opinion, stabilization can be preserved by withholding approval of dates for the South as well as the North so everyone can see how everything develops in the next 30 days, including potential legislation.
“The highlight of everything we’ve heard is the very welcome announcement by Mr. Butler of the potential extension of racing at Golden Gate ‘if it pencils.’ The fairs, which are so involved in the hope and prayer that Northern California racing continues in some form, are completely dependent on that answer,” Balch said. “It would be a tremendously stabilizing event.”
Balch was asked by CHRB commissioner Wendy Mitchell if he was aware of any specific legislation to be filed that might affect California racing. He said he wasn’t but thought waiting 30 days was important to see if anything materialized.
When the committee got around to Northern California dates on the agenda, a number of fair executives used their opportunities to speak to bolster their racing operations’ potential to preserve northern racing, though not for a full 12 months each year.
“We certainly applaud the discussion to keep Golden Gate open until June for the obvious reason it gives us much more time to plan,” said Larry Swartzlander, executive director for California Authority of Racing Fairs. “We want to accommodate our meets for the next year and then in the future look at extending meets or boutique meets. As of right now, those discussions are ongoing.”
Racing at the California State Fair and Exposition in Sacramento
CHRB executive director Scott Chaney had several questions about how the fairs were going to fill the gap left by Golden Gate Fields when that track struggled financially and the fairs don’t have the same brand recognition or bargaining clout in the simulcasting market possessed by 1ST/Racing, as the owner of multiple racetracks.
“Running 12 months without a break doesn’t work, we have to look at boutique meets,” Swartzlander said. “The branding we are working on. Over 60% of our handle is ADW and I think that can be changed. CARF is already looking to the future to incorporate fantasy sports. We want to expand racing, we want to grow purses, we want to make racing better.”
