ALBANY -- Golden Gate Fields is opening all admission gates at 9:30 a.m. Thursday for its special Thanksgiving Day racing program.

Post time for the eight-race card is 11:15 a.m. The early starting time will allow the program to be completed by approximately 2:50 p.m., giving fans plenty of time to get home for their Thanksgiving feast.

Golden Gate Fields will present nine races Friday. Post time is 12:45 p.m. and the main event is the Forty Niner Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile contest for 3-year-olds and up. Post time for the Forty Niner, the eighth race on the card, is 4:15 p.m.

Heading the list of entrants in the Forty Niner is Monterey Jazz, winner of the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita and the Texas Mile at Lone Star Park. Monterey Jazz won't be competing in the Forty Niner, however, as trainer Craig Dollase has opted to run his colt in New York Saturday in the Grade 1 $300,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.

Monterey Jazz's defection leaves a field of six to contest the Forty Niner. Taking over the spotlight from Monterey Jazz will be Pass the Heat, a 5-year-old gelding who has won three of his last four starts.

Trained by William J. Morey, Jr., Pass the Heat is a multiple stakes-winner who has earned $321,499 while claiming victory in nine of his 18 career starts. Pass the Heat is coming off a three-length score in a mile allowance race at Golden Gate Fields on Nov. 1.

Post time Saturday and Sunday is 12:45 p.m. Sunday, Golden Gate Fields will offer $1 general parking, $1 general admission, $1 programs, $1 hot dogs, $1 beers, $1 sodas and the NFL Sunday Ticket.