GOLDEN GATE FIELDS STABLE NOTES

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

• 2017 FALL MEET KICKS OFF THIS THURSDAY
• NEW LOCAL CONDITIONER ANTHONY STABILE READY TO RUMBLE

2017 FALL MEET KICKS OFF THIS THURSDAY

Live racing for the 2017 Fall Meet at Golden Gate Fields begins this Thursday, October 19 and runs through Sunday, December 10. Entries for opening day were taken earlier this afternoon (Sunday, October 15) and 55 horses were entered to compete on the seven-race Thursday card (an average of 7.8 horses per race).

First post time each afternoon of the 32-day Fall meet is at 12:45 PM, with three exceptions. The first race on November 3 (Breeders Cup Friday) will go off at 12:05 PM while post time on November 4 (Breeders Cup Saturday) is at 11:40 AM. Golden Gate Fields will also hold live thoroughbred racing on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 23) with a special first post of 11:15 AM. The gates open every morning at 10 AM.

Eight stakes races (listed below) are set to take place this fall, highlighted by The Grade 3, $100,000 Berkeley Handicap for colts and geldings and the $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes for 2-year-olds.

2017 GGF Fall Meet Stakes Schedule

October 28: $75,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes for 2 YO fillies (one mile on the turf)

November 11: $50,000 Golden Nugget Stakes for 2 YO’s (six furlongs on the tapeta)

November 18: $50,000 Oakland Stakes for 3 YO’s & up (six furlongs on the tapeta)

November 24: $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante for 2 YO fillies (six furlongs on the tapeta)

November 25: $100,000 Berkeley Handicap for 3 YO’s & up (Mile and a sixteenth on the tapeta)

December 2: $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes for 2 YO’s (one mile on the tapeta)

December 9 $75,000 Bear Fan Stakes for Cal-bred fillies & mares 3 YO’s & up (six furlongs on the tapeta)

December 10: $50,000 Miss America Stakes for fillies and mares 3 YO’s & up (mile and a sixteenth on turf)

NEW LOCAL CONDITIONER ANTHONY STABILE READY TO RUMBLE

Trainer Anthony Stabile is no stranger to the racetrack; he worked for trainers Bobby Frankel and Laz Barrera, was a jockey agent for top quality riders like Kent Desormeaux and Jean Cruguet, and has trained horses since 1980. But for now Stabile is the new guy in town, as the Brooklyn native recently shipped his 20 horse stable to Golden Gate from Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania.

“I’m here to run. We’ll be entering plenty of horses,” said Stabile. “All of my stock can run on either turf or the tapeta.”

One horse Stabile is quite high on is Black Tie Event, a 4-year-old gelding by Distorted Humor who won six races at The 2017 Presque Isle meet, three of those victories coming against allowance company.

“Black Tie Event is the reason I came here, honestly,” said Stabile. “I looked and saw The Berkeley Handicap in the condition book and thought it’d be a great race for him. That horse has the heart of a gorilla. He’s tough.”

“I’d like to stay here as long as possible,” added Stabile. “So far, The Stronach Group and [racing secretary] Patrick Mackey have been nothing but good to me.”

Stabile’s son, also named Anthony, is a host on the Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) and a commentator on NYRA Live.

FINISH LINES: 25-year-old trainer Ari Herbertson is pointing 4-year-old gelding Noble Nick to The Marathon Stakes on the Breeders Cup Friday undercard at Del Mar. The Marathon, run at a mile and three-quarters on the dirt, will go as Race 3 on the November 3 undercard. Herbertson and his father Scott claimed Noble Nick for $16,000 in May and have won two races with the son of Zensational, including a victory last month in The Humboldt County Marathon at Ferndale. Noble Nick also ran third in The Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar this summer…Jockeys Rocco Bowen, Julien Couton and Kevin Orozco are back in the Bay Area after a successful meet at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington. Bowen finished first in the standings with 126 wins, just one victory shy of the Emerald Downs record for most wins by a jockey in a single season. Couton, who showed up to Emerald a couple of months after the meet started, finished second in the standings with 65 wins while Orozco wound up third with 63 trips to the winners circle, and also received the Top Apprentice Rider award. Kevin, the younger brother of 2016 summer meet leading rider Irving Orozco, lost his bug in late August. Bowen and Couton are represented by agent David “Marbles” Singer while Tom “Bomber” Doutrich has Orozco’s book…Golden Gate Fields welcomes Jose Verenzuela to the jockey colony. Verenzuela is a native of Venezuela who recently shipped his tack up north from Santa Anita Park. Verezuela scored the biggest win of his career in the 2009 $2,000,000 Grade I Dubai Golden Shaheen aboard Big City Man and has also won multiple stakes races in Singapore. He will be represented by agent Don August…Track announcer Frank Mirahmadi returns to the Golden Gate announcer’s booth on Thursday after another season at Monmouth Park in New Jersey…Matt Dinerman, fresh off a track announcing gig at Emerald Downs, is also back at Golden Gate and will be doing paddock/handicapping analysis for the second year in a row…Notable horses on the Sunday, October 15 work tab include 2 time Oakland Stakes winner Star Student (1/2 mile in 50 seconds), 2016 El Camino Real Derby (G3) winner Zakaroff (one mile in 1:40 & 4/5 seconds), and 2016 Laz Barrera Stakes (G3) winner I Will Score (5 furlongs in 1:01 & 4/5 seconds).

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Golden Gate Fields will guarantee that the 50¢ Late Pick 4 pools will hit at least $100,000 on both Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17.  The promotion will highlight the closing weekend of the summer meet.

The popular Late Pick 4 requires a minimum of just 50¢ to play, and tasks horseplayers to select the winners of the last four races on Golden Gate’s card.

First post will be at 1:45 p.m. on both days.

MANDATORY PAYOUTS: On Sunday, September 17, the track will offer mandatory payouts for the Pick 5, Pick 6, and the Super High 5.

Golden Gate Fields will be the only track in California offering turf racing September 8 – 17 during its annual Summer Turf Festival.

The track will offer free shipping from and to Santa Anita Park for Southern California horsemen looking to run on Golden Gate’s lakeside turf course.  Horsemen may contact the Racing Office at (510) 599-7350.

Summer racing at Golden Gate Fields begins August 24 and runs through September 17.  For complete race day info, please visit goldengatefields.com.

Albany, Calif. (June 18, 2017)–Golden Gate Fields concluded its 99 day winter/spring meet on Sunday, June 18 with gains in both attendance and on-track handle. The Bay Area track was able to achieve these gains despite experiencing one of the wettest seasons to affect Northern California in years, with over 40 inches of rain recorded during the first part of the season. This is the first winter/spring meet since 2011 where attendance was up by 5.65% with on-track handle also increasing by 3.44%. The most notable change in attendance came from the popular Dollar Day Sundays which saw a 13% increase year-over-year.

“We are very happy with our loyal fans for braving the weather and supporting our live racing product. I look forward to seeing them again during our summer meet,” said Joe Morris, senior vice president of West Coast operations for the Stronach Group.

The leading trainer of the meet was John Martin with 62 wins, leading him to back-to-back winning trainer titles (Martin was the leading trainer of the 2016 fall meet at Golden Gate Fields). Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer came in second. The leading jockey for the winter/spring meet was Abel Cedillo with 89 wins.

“It was a long meet. I’ve just been working hard and running a lot of horses. I tried really hard to win it this time. I need a little bit of a rest now,” said trainer John Martin.

“I learned a lot down at Santa Anita from great jockeys like Mike Smith and Kent Desormeaux. I’m just blessed I’m here. I’m getting great horses now and my agent, Roger Olguin, couldn’t be better,” said jockey Abel Cedillo.

Golden Gate Fields is set to open its doors for another exciting summer meet on Thursday, August 24. The brief summer race season will run through Sunday, September 17, with special holiday racing on Labor Day Monday, September 4. First post every race day is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. The summer meet will feature a Turf Festival during the last two weeks: September 8 to September 17, a time in which Golden Gate Fields will be the only track in California offering turf racing.  The track will offer vanning and stabling incentives for horsemen looking to ship from Southern California.  The Turf Festival will be highlighted by the $50,000 Rolling Green Stakes, which will be contested on the lakeside turf course at a distance of a mile and one-sixteenth.

Fans can enjoy the famous Dollar Day deals every Sunday during the meet, when the track offers $1 general admission, $1 general parking, $1 programs, $1 hot dogs, $1 beers, $1 Mimosas and $1 sodas. For updates and racing news, fans are encouraged to visit goldengatefields.com

 

Albany, Calif. (June 10, 2017)–At 62-1, the longest shot in the field, Krsto Skye, won the $50,000 Albany Stakes. Ridden by Billy Antongeorgi and trained by Ari Herbertson, Krsto Skye was unhurried to the turn then moved outside to win handily. Horse Laugh, ridden by Ricky Gonzalez, raced off the rail to close with Krsto Skye, but didn’t have enough in the tank even though he finished willingly. Rocket Heat, ridden by Aaron Gryder, set the pace, but faded in the stretch. The $50,000 Albany Stake is for three year olds and upwards, on the turf, and is run at a distance of 5 furlongs. Today’s victory was completed in a time of 56.70 seconds with the winner paying out $126.40 for a $2 win bet. This was trainer Ari Herbertson’s first stakes win of his young career, which began less than year ago.

“We were a big longshot in there. I just kept my cool with him. I knew he had some gas, but there was a lot of other horses in there that out footed him early. I just let them go and let him get into stride himself and he just carved his way through there real nice. On the turn, I knew I had a lot of horse and then when he got outside, he ran like the even money favorite,” said jockey Billy Antongeorgi.

“You know Billy is a great rider and I just told him to break and play the break, just use your best judgement, he worked him last week and was completely confident in the horse and he also knew we were stepping way up in class. When I told him the horse would be running in the stake, he almost didn’t believe me. We knew there was a lot of speed in the race and just went out there and won the race for us. I am really proud of the horse, he has come a long way. He used to run with his head sort of cranked to the side, he finally learned to relax a little bit. And I think that has helped him the most,” said trainer Ari Herbertson.

Live music will run now through the end of the meet on June 18^th. Horseplayers, be sure to take advantage of the mandatory payouts offered on Closing Day of the Winter/Spring Meet.  Golden Gate Fields will offer mandatory payouts for the Pick 6, Pick 5, and the Super High 5. First post is at 1:15 p.m. PT. And the last Dollar Day of the season.

Albany, Calif. (May 29, 2017) — G.G. Ryder, trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, won determinedly in a four horse photo to take the victory in 1:37.48. Ridden by Irving Orozco, G.G. Ryder was never far back to the second turn, but had to cover four lengths in the stretch to get the nod over Flamboyant. Trained by Patrick Gallagher, Flamboyant, also coming with a rush, could not catch G.G. Ryder, the California bred, who is now over $600,000 in earnings after today’s effort. The betting favorite, Alert Bay, pressed the pace with Street Lad, but was outkicked to the wire. The GIII $100,000 All American stakes is for three years old and upward. G.G Ryder rewarded fans $23.80 with the $1 superfecta (7-8-6-1) paying $2,213.

Orozco: “I was kind of disappointed in myself last time because I let Alert Bay get away. This time I wanted to sit just off of him. Once I got my horse to the outside, he knows what to do. I knew I had the inside horses put away, and I was just worried about the outside horse closing. But my horse dug in and put his nose out to get there,” said jockey Irving Orozco.

“This horse always tries real hard. He’s never changed and he’s always been eager to do this. He’s been very good for us and we’re grateful to have him. Street Lad is a horse you’re going to be hearing a lot from. He’s a really nice horse. They had a hard time getting to him,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Live racing will resume next Friday, June 2. Live music will run now through the end of the meet on June 18^th. Tickets are available online for our Belmont Wine Festival, June 10^th; come out and celebrate the last leg of the Triple Crown and taste wines from around the world.

GRECIAN FIRE ESCAPES THE ALCATRAZ STAKES WITH $75,000

Albany, Calif. (May 14, 2017) — Grecian Fire, trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, held the pace then was much the best in the stretch to win by 1 ¼ lengths. Ridden by William Antongeorgi III, Grecian Fire completed today’s route in 1:37.81. The performance rewarded fans $11.00 for their $2 wager. The runner up, More Power To Him, trained by Faith Taylor, kept pace to the turn then moved outside to close in late for the nod. The $75,000 Alcatraz stake is on the turf for three year olds and institutes a track record time of 1:33.40, accomplished on March 22, 1980.

“My horse was running in spots in the last race and so I felt ok coming back in two weeks. Actually, jockey Frank Alvarado, told me to try some blinkers on the horse and I was going to do that anyway. I was surprised he didn’t ride him back. He kept to his task a little better today; he’s a really nice colt and Unusual Heat has a good record as a sire. I didn’t know if Moger’s horse would go or not, but I thought we would have tactical speed,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

“We wanted him to get on his way. The last time he won, he was right up on his lead. Jerry put blinkers on him so we wanted to get him out on his way. The one went so we sat off him then toward the quarter pole the horse on the outside headed us and I got into him left handed and he responded for me and kicked back on. And he ran very game. He was on his toes in the paddock and in the post parade. I knew he would be alive out there and he dug in for me,” said jockey William Antongeorgi III.

Live racing will resume next Thursday, May 18. Live music will run now through the end of the meet on June 18^th. Tickets are available online for our Belmont Wine Festival, June 10th. Come out and celebrate the last leg of the Triple Crown and taste wines from around the world.