Bay Meadows To Continue Racing in 2008

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park

The 2008 Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event, consisting of 14 Breeders' Cup races and $25.5 million in purses, will be held on October 24-25, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

With filly Zenyatta remaining undefeated as the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Day concludes, see the October 24 Breeders' Cup results & Payouts. Breeders' Cup Day Saturday will be highlighted by the Breeders' Cup Classic where Horse of the Year Curlin will defend his title against Casino Drive of Japan, Raven's Pass of Europe and other horse racing stars.

Posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007

The California Horse Racing Board has announced the possibility that Bay Meadows would resume horse racing in 2008. Bay Meadows president Jack Liebau told the board that the 73-year-old track could reconsider its decision to shut its doors if it can get the calendar dates he wants.

Bay Meadows announced in March that it would close when its fall meet ends Nov. 4 after the CHRB refused to waive its requirement that all major Thoroughbred tracks in the state install synthetic racing surfaces by 2008. Bay Meadows, which is facing demolition for redevelopment of the San Mateo property, has refused to make the multi-million dollar investment for a new track surface and sought a two-year waiver.

The CHRB has come under some intense political pressure to reverse course. Yee, a Democrat whose San Francisco district includes San Mateo, has sharply criticized the board. He authored a State Senate resolution calling for the resignation of board chairman Richard Shapiro and also convinced a budget sub-committee to “zero out” the CHRB’s budget for the coming fiscal year.

The Bay Meadows reconsideration was not on the agenda for a vote, but after much debate, Liebau agreed to meet with representatives from Golden Gate Fields, the fairs, and the Thoroughbred Owners of California to see if an acceptable calendar for ‘08 can be worked out. They are expected to return to the board for its next meeting June 19.

Asked if he would consent to run in 2008, Liebau responded, “It depends on how many dates we get. Our 2007 dates were the pits because they were fabricated around the installation of a synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields. I think we can have a reasonable conclusion.

“We’re all in the soup together in this. I am saying that if we get dates that are fair to us, we would run.”

Tags: Bay Meadows, Synthetic Race Track, California Horse Racing

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"Bay Meadows To Continue Racing in 2008" was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 9:23 am and is filed under Bay Meadows, Horse Racing Industry, Race Tracks News, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.