Golden Gate Fields cancels Feb. 19 card amid concerns on horse availability

Golden Gate Fields has canceled racing for Feb. 19 because of concern over horse availability, track general manager David Duggan said on Sunday.

Golden Gate Fields will have three days of racing next weekend from Friday through Sunday.

“I think four days of racing at this juncture would set us back,” Duggan said. “I think we’d suffer in the long-term.”

At the current winter-spring meeting, which began on Dec. 26, the track has run 189 races and averaged 6.85 runners per race through Sunday. For the corresponding period last year, the track had run 197 races and averaged 6.73 runners.

This is the final meeting at Golden Gate Fields, with the track scheduled to close on June 9. Because of the looming closure, trainers Brendan Galvin and Ed Moger Jr. have moved horses to Southern California, and Jack Steiner plans to do so later this month, he said last week.

The losses of those stables, as well as other horses being transferred to other circuits, has affected the available horse population.

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