California Steward Will Meyers passes

William Meyers, a steward in California for nearly 40 years, died on Saturday from health complications, the California Horse Racing Board announced earlier this week.

Meyers was 69.

Known to friends and colleagues as Will, Meyers worked as a steward at several California tracks, including Santa Anita in the early months of the 2021-2022 winter-spring meeting. He was best known for decades of service in Northern California, particularly on the fair circuit.

“He had a passion for the fairs,” steward Grant Baker said on Wednesday. “He was a good listener and a wealth of knowledge from his years.

“He had vast experience being in so many different situations.”

Meyers worked as a steward as recently as mid-February at Golden Gate Fields. Friends said this week that Meyers underwent open heart surgery in April and died of pulmonary fibrosis.

“He was all about fairness,” steward Luis Jauregui said. “For horsemen and everything, he wanted to apply the rules. He had a horsemen’s background.”

Prior to becoming a steward in 1984, Meyers worked as a racing official at tracks such as Del Mar and Fresno and was a steward’s aide on the fair circuit Ferndale, Sacramento, and Stockton.

Steward John Herbuveaux met Meyers in 1980 when Meyers was racing secretary for the Arizona Downs meeting at Turf Paradise. The two later spent years working together as stewards in California, notably at Ferndale.

“He was smooth and steady,” Herbuveaux said. “You could count on him to make the right decision and the tough one when it wasn’t popular. He didn’t let outside factors get to him. He didn’t play the political game.

“He was a good man and a good steward.”

His passing was recognized in a brief winner’s circle ceremony at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday.

Meyers is survived by his wife, Margaret, two children and three grandchildren.