East Bay track’s Derby day

With its outrageous-hat contest, a cigar bar with a DJ and a full card of horse races, Golden Gate Fields is gearing up for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 6.

If you can’t be at Churchill Downs, then Golden Gate Fields, the East Bay racetrack, is the place to watch the race onscreen. The track will host nine of its own races and offer wagering on all the races at Churchill Downs, including the Kentucky Derby.

Located in Albany near Interstate 80, Golden Gate Fields’ gates open Saturday at 7:15 a.m. so that bettors may wager on the first race at Kentucky’s Churchill Downs, set for 7:30 a.m. PDT.

The Golden Gate Fields races start at 11:45 a.m., take a break just before the running of the Kentucky Derby at about 3:30 p.m., and conclude around 5 p.m.

“It’s our biggest day for betting and a big party day,” says Golden Gate Fields spokesman Sam Spear. “People dress up like (they do at) Churchill Downs.”

All the standard bets allowed on local races — such as daily doubles, exactas and trifectas — are allowed on the Derby and other races from far-off tracks.

Jay Kornegay, vice president of Race and Sports at Westgate Las Vegas Casino and Resort, said handicapping horses is challenging and that odds are set primarily by betting patterns. Jockeys are also a “big part of the equation,” as a good jockey can make a significant difference, he said.

At press time, the favorite was Always Dreaming at 5to-1. The horse won the Florida Derby on April 1. Classic Empire, who won the Arkansas Derby in mid-April and Gunnevera were both 6-to-1.

Next up was Irish War Cry at 7-to-1. Kornegay called Gunnevera a “huge closer” but said the horse needs to run “the perfect race to win.” Gunnevera “needs the speed horses to run each other into the ground,” Kornegay said.

Irish War Cry was an early favorite but had a bad race, then rebounded by winning the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York on April 8.

McCraken, another early favorite, finished third in Kentucky’s Blue Grass Stakes race on April 8, which set the horse back to 10-to-1 at Westgate’s book, Kornegay said. The winner of the Blue Grass, Irap, is a Derby longshot at 40-to-1.

The Kentucky Derby is “one of the hardest races to handicap but one of the best races to bet,” Kornegay said, because it’s “unpredictable” — and if one hits a long shot or trifecta, it “really pays very well.”

For more information, visit Golden Gate Fields’ official website at www.goldengatefields.com.

Bettors may also place wagers at any Off Track Betting locations in California. For details, go to www.otb.us.