Saturday, January 14 2012
HODGE IS MORNING-LINE FAVORITE IN $100,000 CALIFORNIA DERBY AT GGF
ALBANY -- Hodge, who ran third at odds of 21-to-1 in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes in his last start, will be a much shorter price on the tote board Saturday when he competes in the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
Hodge is the 9-to-5 morning-line favorite in the California Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds that serves as a springboard to Northern California’s most important Triple Crown prep – the Grade 3 $200,000 El Camino Real Derby, which will be run Feb. 18.
Friday, January 13 2012
BAZE WILL SEEK SIXTH CALIFORNIA DERBY WIN SATURDAY AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS
ALBANY -- Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze will try to gain sole possession of the record for most California Derby victories Saturday at Golden Gate Fields when he rides Hodge in the 97th running of the historic feature for 3-year-olds.
Baze has won the California Derby five times, a record he shares with the late Hall of Fame rider Johnny Longden, who recorded his victories well before Baze rode his first race.
Thursday, January 12 2012
GOLD RUSH STAKES CHAMP RUSSIAN GREEK AMONG SEVEN ENTERED IN CALIFORNIA DERBY
ALBANY -- Russian Greek, a promising son of Giant’s Causeway who has two wins in three starts, heads a field of seven 3-year-olds entered in the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
The California Derby will be run Saturday and all fans attending Cal Derby Day will receive a free Golden Gate Fields hooded sweatshirt. Gates open at 10 a.m. and post time for the nine-race card is 12:45 p.m. The California Derby is the eighth race on the program and will be run at approximately 4:22 p.m.
Monday, January 09 2012
HERNANDEZ FOLLOWS UP THREE-WIN SATURDAY BY RIDING FOUR WINNERS SUNDAY AT GGF
ALBANY -- Jockey Juan Hernandez followed up his riding hat trick on Saturday by riding four more winners Sunday at Golden Gate Fields.
In recording his four-bagger, Hernandez won the second race with Certified Diamond ($6.80), the third with Do What U Dare ($7.80), the fifth with Move Over Marino ($4.80), and the eighth with Big Honey Bee ($11.20).
Sunday, January 08 2012
POINT LOBOS IMPROVES TO 6-FOR-12 AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS
ALBANY -- The 6-year-old gelding Point Lobos upped his career batting average at Golden Gate Fields to .500 Saturday when he won the $33,940 allowance feature.
Point Lobos outran 12-to-1 outsider Fire in Excess down the stretch to take the six-furlong contest for older horses by a half-length. Jaylo Marino, the 3-to-2 favorite, lacked racing room on the turn and through most of the stretch run and finished a hard-luck third.
Saturday, January 07 2012
RUSSIAN GREEK AMONG 11 NOMINEES TO $100,000 CALIFORNIA DERBY
ALBANY -- Gold Rush Stakes winner Russian Greek is among the 11 horses nominated to the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
The California Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, will be run Saturday, Jan. 14. The race serves as a steppingstone to the Grade 3 $200,000 El Camino Real Derby, a 1 1/8-mile contest that will be run Feb. 18.
Thursday, January 05 2012
APPRENTICE RIDER FROM CZECH REPUBLIC MAKES HER GOLDEN GATE FIELDS DEBUT FRIDAY
ALBANY -- Apprentice rider Eliska Kubinova, a 23-year-old native of Jesenik, Czech Republic, will compete at Golden Gate Fields for the first time Friday when she rides Princess Annabella in the fifth race.
Kubinova began her American riding career last summer at Emerald Downs in Washington and scored her first victory with her fifth mount, 26-to-1 outsider Get Going, who paid $55.
Tuesday, January 03 2012
ATTENDANCE, HANDLE AVERAGES WERE UP AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS IN 2011
ALBANY -- Golden Gate Fields achieved increases in its on-track attendance and handle averages in 2011, a year in which the East Bay racetrack conducted 157 days of racing compared to 174 in 2010.
The average daily on-track attendance in 2011 was 2,616, up 8.8 percent from the 2010 figure of 2,403. The average daily overall attendance (Golden Gate Fields and the Northern California off-track wagering facilities) was up 5.3 percent, from 5,367 in 2010 to 5,650 in 2011.
Monday, January 02 2012
HOLLENDORFER, BAZE RANKED AMONG NATION’S LEADERS IN VICTORIES IN 2011
ALBANY -- Northern California’s leading men in horse racing, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and jockey Russell Baze, ranked among the nation’s leaders in races won in 2011.
Hollendorfer saddled 251 winners to finish fourth in the nation in victories behind Steve Asmussen (348), Jamie Ness (330), and Todd Pletcher (254). Hollendorfer’s horses earned $7,866,623, a total that placed him sixth in purse money won behind Pletcher ($17,186,956), Asmussen ($16,287,685), Bob Baffert ($14,104,834), William Mott ($10,731,249), and Graham Motion ($8,818,283).
Friday, December 30 2011
TRAINER CHUCK JENDA CALLS IT A CAREER
Chuck Jenda, who conditioned Northern California’s first Eclipse Award winner, Brown Bess, has retired from training after a successful 36-year career.
Jenda, 65, took out his trainer’s license in 1976 after learning the business from trainers Olen Battles, Charlie Comiskey and Mort Lipton. According to statistics from Equibase, Jenda started 8,410 horses and won 1,477 races, good for a career win percentage of 17.5. His horses finished in the money 47 percent of the time and earned $24,661,645 in purses.
Wednesday, December 28 2011
HOLIDAY RACING AT GGF RESUMES THURSDAY
ALBANY -- Holiday racing at Golden Gate Fields resumes Thursday and will continue through Monday, Jan. 2. Post time is 12:45 p.m. each day.
Golden Gate Fields will give away a free 2012 Santa Anita wall calendar to fans attending the track Saturday. Santa Anita is Golden Gate Fields’ sister track and the calendars feature large, colorful photographs of racing action at the Arcadia facility. The calendars also include “where are they now” notes about ex-racehorses that competed at Santa Anita.
Tuesday, December 27 2011
TRAINER SHERMAN STARTS NEW MEET AT GGF BY SADDLING THREE WINNERS
ALBANY -- Golden Gate Fields opened its 2011-2012 winter/spring meeting Monday and trainer Steve Sherman was clearly the star of the opening-day program.
Sherman saddled the winner of the first two races of the 101-day season and completed a training triple when he captured the fourth race.
