At about 4:45 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, an era in California racing history will
come to an end, as the last race of the final Bay Meadows meet will go off. The
74-year-old facility will enjoy one last hurrah by hosting the San Mateo County
Fair for nearly two weeks in August. When the fair closes, plans call for the Bay
Meadows property to be developed into residential, retail and office space.
The $55,000
Mother’s Day H. holds the distinction of being the final stakes race held
under the auspices of a regular Bay Meadows season. Appropriately, perennial
Northern California supremo Jerry Hollendorfer will be represented by a
triumvirate in the 1 1/16-mile turf test. UNSPOKEN WORD (Catienus), who just
held on in the Hillsborough H. over this course two back, ranks as the 119-pound
highweight. Most recently fifth in the Wilshire H. (G3) at Hollywood Park,
Unspoken Word will be guided by fellow Northern California institution Russell
Baze. Joining in the fray are her uncoupled stablemates ANDOVER THE CASH
(Unusual Heat), who was third in the Hillsborough, and ROCKELLA (Tribal Rule),
successful in the Palo Alto S. here last September. Other intriguing sorts in
the eight-distaffer field are Hillsborough near-misser WILD PROMISES (Wild
Event), who hails from the barn of Greg Gilchrist, and Brazilian Group 3 star
GREETINGS (Brz) (Choctaw Ridge), a sharp allowance/optional claiming winner at
Santa Anita for Paulo Lobo.
Bay Meadows owed its existence as a racetrack to William P. Kyne. In the wake
of his tireless efforts, pari-mutuel wagering was legalized in California in
1933, and Kyne set his sights on building a new racing facility. To this end, he
purchased the old Curtiss-Wright airfield on the south side of San Mateo,
California. The ground-breaking took place on April 8, 1934, and the track
celebrated its opening day on November 3 of that year, with 15,000 patrons in
attendance. It was named Bay Meadows because the land had once been a meadow,
and it was near San Francisco Bay.
Kyne’s work was not yet finished. When the United States was embroiled in
World War II, Bay Meadows and all of the other West Coast tracks were ordered to
close. Kyne persuaded the authorities to allow Bay Meadows to remain open, but
only by agreeing to a series of stipulations, including handing over 92 percent
of its profits to the war effort. Because of wartime gas and rubber rationing,
fans were not allowed to travel by car or bus to the track, relying instead on
horse- and mule-drawn wagons. Bay Meadows played an important role on the home
front by supporting war bond drives and entertaining the troops, among other
initiatives.
As a result of its operation during the war years, Bay Meadows is the longest
continuously operating racetrack in California. Bay Meadows is notable in racing
history in other respects as well. It was the first track to employ the Puett
electric starting gate, and the first track in California to implement the
totalizator system, photo-finish camera, the daily double and nighttime racing.
In 1945, El Lobo became the first horse to be transported by air to a racetrack,
taking off from Los Angeles and landing in the Bay Meadows parking lot. The next
day, El Lobo captured the Inaugural H.
Many of the sport’s leading lights graced the stage at Bay Meadows — the
legendary Seabiscuit, who won the Bay Meadows H. in 1937 and 1938; 1948 Triple
Crown conqueror Citation and his Calumet stablemate Coaltown; Citation’s
nemesis, *Noor; Round Table; Native Diver; Majestic Prince; John Henry; Lady’s
Secret; Cigar; and the ill-fated Lost in the Fog.
Two of the world’s winningest jockeys have strong ties to Bay Meadows. Hall
of Famer Bill Shoemaker began his career galloping horses at this venue, and he
won his first stakes races here in 1949. Baze was responsible for one of the
landmark moments in Bay Meadows history. On December 1, 2006, he earned his
9,531st career victory when piloting Butterfly Belle (Wavering Monarch) to a 2
1/4-length tally in the 4TH race. In the process, Baze surpassed Laffit Pincay
Jr. as North America’s all-time winningest rider.
Now boasting more than 10,000 career victories, Baze will try to contribute
to the final chapter of the Bay Meadows story, with mounts in eight of the nine
races on the card.