Saturday, October 18 was the first day of the Golden State Racing fall meeting at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.
This time I was able to enjoy myself from my box seats in the grandstands.
It was a nice day, weatherwise, and it was relaxing to sit and enjoy the day, cashing win tickets in six of the nine opening day races.
There were some things that were different than what the races are like when they run concurrently with the Alameda County Fair. Having been involved in the team during the Fair for so long, I was asked questions by people throughout the day, and even some the next day.
Most were just operational questions and others were my thoughts of the potential. A handful of questions – around 20 people asking me while walking around the crowd – where my picks are posted.
During the Fair, they run on the Fair web site, as well as some other places. I know there are groups of people that print out my picks each day and bring them to the track.
And Saturday they would have done well! My picks will always be posted on my golf lifestyle web site – www.acesgolf.com.
As for being at the track on Saturday, the biggest difference of the day was how much more chill it was as opposed to when the Fair is around.
When the Fair is running, you have so many more peripherals going on – rides, vendors, music, food trucks everywhere, exhibits and performances.
There are activities going on, as well, a lot of noise.
When it’s just the races, it is very low key. We had over 1,000 people at the races on opening day, but because there was no Fair crowd surrounding the track area, it seemed like way less.
It’s not bad either way, it’s just different. People will adjust and I think embrace the low-key vibe you get.
The lone disappointment of the opening weekend was the handle, and the major effect has nothing to do with the Golden State Racing team.
In getting the racing dates away from The Stronach Group, the people in the north were given the chance to save racing in the region.
The pettiness of the Stronach Group, as well as their unwillingness to work for the betterment of the sport, is still trying to sabotage Golden State Racing.
Their Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) service – Xpressbet – did not reach an agreement with the GSR group over the amount to be paid to Pleasanton, thus no contract was signed meaning the Pleasanton races would not be shown or wagered upon their outlets.
NYRA Bets, the ADW arm of the New York Racing Association did the same, thus depriving GSR from getting to wager from two big ADW.
The two entities have approximately 28 percent of the market, meaning it was a substantial amount of money that was denied to GSR.
It might have been $300,000 Pleasanton was denied.
The GSR group was on it and by Tuesday afternoon, an agreement was reached with Monarch – the ADW operating arm of The Stronach Group – with Friday’s races set to be shared.
There was a lot of pressure put on Monarch by groups not associated with either GRS or Monarch.
It worked.
NYRA was still in negotiations, but it is believed they will follow suit soon.
That it happened to begin with is mind-blowing, and at the same time, expected.
It’s the one thing that has driven nuts about horse racing. Each group in power may say they want to work with each other, but the reality is that each organization will only do so if they maximize what they get at the expense of others.
It really seems like groups like TSG would rather fail than not get their way.
Every time GSR avoids one land mine from TSG, another one lays right in front of them.
The one big thing Golden State Racing has that most organizations in the industry do not, is everyone pulling together for all the right reasons.
Golden State Racing was formed by different groups in the Northern California horse racing industry. Everyone has joined forces to save horse racing in the region.
Differences have been pushed aside and egos have been checked to unify the group. But there are still the monsters in the southern half of the state that will never stop trying to destroy the north.
The powers in the south truly cannot see the forest through the trees when it comes to Northern California horse racing. If they would step back, take a breath, and look at what could be with a unified California, we all could prosper.
What once was when we had Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields, and the Fair circuit in NorCal, with Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Fairplex, has been stripped down to Del Mar, Santa Anita, Los Alamitos, Pleasanton, and the Fair circuit.
If everyone worked together, we could increase the horse population and make racing in the state affordable and profitable.
The continued vengeance by some organizations could end the sport. It’s inevitable with the way things are going now. And the worst part – it seems like some would be just fine with that happening.
Stopping racing in Northern California is not going to make Southern California stronger, it will make them weaker as many owners, trainers, and breeders would just drop out of the industry.
Let’s all hope from the ashes of where horse racing is now will rise a new world for all of us.
By Dennis Miller