FANS RETURN TO THE RACES BEGINNING FRIDAY
Welcome back, fans! We missed you! Beginning this Friday, Golden Gate Fields is pleased and excited to offer admission to fans on a limited capacity basis. Friday marks the first afternoon since March of 2020 that fans will be able to view the races trackside.
Fans must reserve tickets online at Goldengatefields.com. There will be no walk-up or general admission tickets sold. To go to the tickets page and read our health and safety information page, please use the following link: https://goldengatefields.com/events/tickets/#.YHe_RBNKjUp.
“We are delighted to be able to welcome racing fans back to Golden Gate Fields,” said Vice President and General Manager David Duggan. “Our team has worked tirelessly and in collaboration with the officials from the Berkeley Health Division to plan for the reopening of Golden Gate Fields to the public. It is our goal to deliver a world-class Thoroughbred racing meet for our guests and the community in a safe and memorable way.”
The Turf Club Restaurant and simulcast facilities will remain closed until further notice. Contactless wagering is encouraged through the 1/ST BET app, though the track will have a select amount of betting windows and tellers available on-site. Contactless food and beverage options are available through the GoTab app, with an in-seat delivery service provided for all food and beverage concessions.
FRIDAY’S STRONACH 5 ENDS WITH RACES 3 AND 4 AT GOLDEN GATE
The growingly popular Stronach 5 wager, an industry-low 12% takeout bet, is featured every Friday. The wager is a Pick 5 sequence, with all five races in the lineup coming from 1/ST owned racetracks (Golden Gate, Gulfstream, Laurel Park, Pimlico, and Santa Anita). This week, two Golden Gate races are featured in the sequence.
Race 3 on Friday, Leg D (the second to last leg) of the Stronach 5, drew a full field of 12. The 5-furlong sprint on Tapeta is for maiden 8k claimers. The morning-line favorite at 5-2, Winning Appeal, breaks from post position 8 and comes off a runner-up effort as the odds-on favorite at this condition last month. Evin Roman retains the mount for trainer Ed Moger Jr. Other main contenders include Hematite, who ran third behind Winning Appeal last time out, the Blaine Wright trained pair of Wahasha and Don’t Rub It, and class dropper Silver Lyric. Two first-time starters are also entered: Lil Tinker for trainer Bill Delia and Lovely Hussar from the Steve Sherman barn.
Race 4, Leg E (the last leg) of the Stronach 5, is a claiming race for routers on turf at one mile. The French-bred Blackout makes his first start for the Steve Miyadi barn and gets significant class relief after a handful of subpar efforts against tough claiming company at Santa Anita. Trainer Jonathan Wong saddles a duo of contenders in lone speed possibility Pioneeerofthestorm, who comes off a victory on March 19, and Tyler’s Tek, who gets back to his favorite surface after spending the winter at Sam Houston Racecourse in Texas. Friendly Outthedor is another who will enjoy getting back to grass-two of his three-lifetime wins have come over the surface-while Implicitly makes his first start since being reclaimed by trainer Tim McCanna. A field of eight go postward at approximately 3:00 PM PT.
The Stronach Five sequence this Friday goes as follows:
Leg A: Gulfstream Park Race 7 (approximate post time: 4:18 PM ET/1:18 PM PT)
Leg B: Gulfstream Park Race 8 (approximate post time: 4:40 PM ET/1:40 PM ET)
Leg C: Gulfstream Park Race 9 (approximate post time: 5:22 PM/2:22 PM PT)
Leg D: Golden Gate Race 3 (approximate post time 5:27 PM ET/2:27 PM PT)
Leg E: Golden Gate Race 4 (approximate post time 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT)
CADMAN, JAIME SET TO SPICE UP GOLD RUSH WEEKEND TV COVERAGE NEXT WEEK
Well-respected TV talent Zoe Cadman and Joaquin Jaime will be on-site covering live racing throughout Gold Rush Weekend Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25. Gold Rush Weekend, the biggest racing weekend of the year in the Bay Area, features eight stakes races-six on Saturday and two more on Sunday. Nominations for all eight stakes’ will be released on Friday, with entries for Saturday the 24th to be drawn next Wednesday. Entries for Sunday the 25th will be taken on Thursday.
Cadman, a regular on 1/st Technology’s XBTV and the Santa Anita simulcast feed, will join the Golden Gate feed throughout the racing weekend, giving pre-race analysis and interviews by the paddock. Cadman, a horsewoman from a young age that rode as a jockey at Hawthorne and Arlington Park in the early 2000s, has been doing broadcasting work since her retirement from riding.
Joaquin Jaime, also scheduled to make the trip north from his Southern California home base, will be featured on TVG’s on-site coverage of Gold Rush Weekend. Jaime reported for TVG during Golden Gate’s inaugural Gold Rush Weekend in 2019, and most recently worked on-site at this year’s El Camino Real Derby, won by Rombauer.
CLAIMS REPORT
Below are a list of claims from last week:
Thursday
No claims
Friday
Race 3: Bee Einstein (New trainer Jonathan Wong…new owner MJVET Stables and Pewtherer)
Race 4: Fort York (Tim McCanna…John Feddema)
Race 6: Empressive Cat (Jonathan Wong…Johnny Taboada)
Race 6: Raiderette (Jonathan Wong…Aaron Pewtherer)
Saturday
No claims
Sunday
Race 4: My Sunshine (Jonathan Wong…MJVET Stables)
Race 7: Southern Venture (Owner/Trainer Dan Franko)
FINISH LINES: Kyle Frey (with 66 wins at the current meet) has a 3-win lead over Evin Roman in the jockey standings…Jonathan Wong continues to pave the way in the trainer standings with 40 victories, 19 more than Isidro Tamayo…In Race 4 on Saturday, 3-year-old gelding Imissbaymeadows makes his third lifetime start for Southern California trainer Dan Blacker and owner/breeder Harris Farms. He seeks his first career victory. Wouldn’t that be fitting if he were to break his maiden in the Bay Area…2-year-old horses are on the grounds at Golden Gate and several of them have already posted workouts. One that has an intriguing pedigree: Lady’s Sermon, a daughter of 5-time stakes winner Lady Railrider…Happy birthday to trainer Jose Puentes and jockey agent Fernando “Shoes” Navarro, who celebrate their birthdays within the next week…$95,968 is carried over into the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager on Friday while the Super Hi 5 wager has a carryover of $8,461 heading into the next race on Friday in which there are 7 or more starters.