Steve Sherman

On Monday, the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) board voted unanimously (with one abstention) to rescind a proposed Golden State Racing meet spanning the first half of next year, essentially leaving Northern California without Thoroughbred racing in 2025 outside of the annual suite of summer fair meets. This means that the Northern Californian horsemen and women have had little time to respond and adapt to a proposal by the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) and 1/ST Racing and Gaming--a business entity under The Stronach Group (TSG) umbrella--to maintain a...

Let the record show that the very first horse to win a race at Golden Gate Fields was a mare named Skookumchuck, who won the inaugural race on Feb.1, 1941 before a crowd of 30,000. The last horse to win a race there was Adelie (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}), who got to the wire first in Sunday's eighth, the last race ever at a track. In between, there was a lot of history, a lot of memories...Citation, Russell Baze, Lost in the Fog, Noor. That's history that cannot be erased, but...

Whether someone had the biggest stable in Northern California or a two-horse operation, the news released Sunday that Golden Gate Fields, which opened in 1941, will shut down at the end of the meet in December was a punch to the gut and led to a great deal of uncertainty. Horsemen have just five months to figure out what they will do next. The possibilities are many. They could shift their operations to Santa Anita. They could stay put and hope that the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) circuit...