Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Horsemen adapt to restrictions
On most recent mornings at Golden Gate Fields, there is a line of cars parked at the top of the stretch for several hours, occupied by trainers watching horses being exercised. It’s as close as the trainers are allowed to get to their horses.
A coronavirus outbreak involving more than 300 of the approximately 500 backstretch employees in the Golden Gate Fields stable area led to a halt in racing last month and has severely curtailed day-to-day activity for the backstretch community.
There is no indication when racing will be allowed to resume, although track officials said earlier this month they had hoped to start a winter meeting on Dec. 26, a date that looks increasingly doubtful.
David Duggan, the track’s general manager, said in a brief phone conversation Tuesday that track officials “continue to work” with the health, housing, and community services department of the city of Berkeley, Calif., on a resumption of racing and the health of the stable area community.
The issue of a start date for the Golden Gate winter-spring meeting was scheduled to be discussed at the California Horse Racing Board’s monthly meeting on Thursday.
For now, most trainers are being kept at a distance, particularly those who have produced negative tests for the coronavirus. People who have tested positive and some personnel needed for the day-to-day care of horses have been allowed stable area access, trainers said.
Earlier this month, popular trainer Bob Hess Sr. died at the age of 86 because of complications from the coronavirus. Hess had been based in Northern California for decades.
Leading trainer Jonathan Wong said Tuesday that he tested negative on Sunday and hopes to gain stable area access as early as next Monday, if poli- cies are changed. Until then, the front seat of his car is morning headquarters of his operation.
“I sit at the eighth pole and watch my horses train,” he said. “You can see everything from there. I have my binoculars.”
There is minimal social interaction among trainers watching from the parking lot, he said.
“You can’t get out of your car,” Wong said.
This is the second time racing has been disrupted by the coronavirus at Golden Gate Fields this year. The track was ordered closed by local health officials on April 2 and did not resume racing until May 14.
During the summer, the Northern California fair circuit was disrupted by the virus. The Alameda County Fair meeting at Pleasanton was held in early summer, but fair racing was not held at Ferndale, Fresno, Sacramento, or Santa Rosa. Some of those racing dates were transferred to Golden Gate Fields.
Wong is somewhat lucky in that he has a small division in Southern California. Other trainers have asked Santa Anita officials for stall space at the track’s upcoming winterspring meeting that begins Dec. 26, but have been denied since they will not be able to bring stable personnel based at Golden Gate Fields into that Santa Anita stable area. “We’ve been down there for over a year,” Wong said. “We have our stalls. We’re set up.”
Like many trainers, Wong has entrusted grooms and assistant trainers to look after the detailed needs of his horses at Golden Gate Fields.
“The horses get the proper care,” he said. “We have to stay out.”
Until racing resumes, Golden Gate-based trainers have two options to ship horses for specific races – the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos, which concludes on Sunday, and the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. The horses must be sent to trainers based at those tracks, who will oversee their care.
Los Alamitos has had a significant increase in field size at its current meeting because of an influx of horses based at Golden Gate Fields. Through Sunday, the seventh day of the brief 11-day season, Los Alamitos averaged 8.65 runners per race compared to 6.97 runners at the corresponding meeting in 2019.
On Friday’s nine-race program, seven races have at least one horse that had their last workout or last race at Golden Gate Fields.
Some trainers based at Golden Gate Fields have taken to transporting their own horses to Los Alamitos for races. Quinn Howey said last weekend that he’s made approximately four 725-mile round trips from Golden Gate Fields to Los Alamitos in recent weeks.
Howey is not allowed on the backstretch at Los Alamitos. He can drive to the stable area entrance before someone allowed in the stable area drives the horses into the stables. Howey waits at a local coffee shop or takes a nap while the horses are unloaded and others are loaded for his return drive to Golden Gate Fields.
If he times it correctly, Howey can be outside of Los Alamitos at the same time his horses are racing, but cannot get closer.
“I’ve got to do something to stay busy,” he said.
Howey said he has not tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he had 45 horses in training at the beginning of November, a number that is currently at 30 after some were retired or sent to farms for a rest. The absence of day-to-day access to the Golden Gate Fields stable is a frustration.
“I don’t how trainers aren’t essential,” he said. “The track won’t let me in.”
Howey said some of his employees who tested positive, but were asymptomatic and cleared quarantine, have been allowed to resume working in the stable area.
The situation has led some trainers to plan to race elsewhere. Wong said he could send “10 to 15” to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. Howey plans to send 10 horses to Turf Paradise in Phoenix this winter.
The financial bottom line is on Howey’s mind, while searching for racing opportunities in the region.
“You can’t leave horses in the barn indefinitely,” Howey said. “Hopefully, they’ll be some movement soon.”