Golden Gate Fields gets shuts down
ALBANY » Golden Gate Fields was shut down Thursday just hours before the scheduled first post by Alameda County officials in an ongoing effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s office announced its inspectors ordered the closure Thursday and that management agreed to comply with the decision immediately.
William Rizzuto, the racecourse’s assistant general manager, said in a brief interview that the track is closed at least until May 3, but training will be allowed to continue.
“We’re disappointed,” Rizzuto said. “We felt like we were pretty safe. But we have to abide by what the county wants.”
Rizzuto said more than 1,200 horses are housed at Golden Gate Fields, which sits between the San Francisco Bay and I-80 in Albany. He added that about 400 people work the backstretch to take care of those racehorses. Many of them also live on site.
The track has been closed to everyone other than essential personnel since March 12. But live racing continued for online bettors.
Albany city councilwoman Rochelle Nason began questioning Alameda County public health officials last week about why Golden Gate was allowed to continue to stay open during the shelter-inplace order that has been extended to at least May 3.
She said in an interview Thursday that workers in the backstretch were not abiding by guidelines on “social distancing” or other precautions based on videos she saw of the track over the weekend.
The action Thursday follows the Sacramento Health Department’s decision Wednesday to suspend racing at Cal Expo. On March 27, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department temporarily closed Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. Santa Anita and Golden Gate are owned by the Stronach Group, which came under scrutiny last year because of a spate of racing and training deaths at its Arcadia site.