Golden Gate Fields flying solo on opening day

After a tumultuous year of racing, California opens the 2020 racing season Thursday with only Golden Gate Fields in play after Santa Anita, facing a poor forecast, postponed its first card until Saturday.

Although rain is possible in the Bay Area on Wednesday, Golden Gate, with its synthetic Tapeta surface, should not have any trouble weathering the storm.

Racing secretary Patrick Mackey is proud of the resilience of the track, horses, horsemen, and fans who helped Golden Gate provide good field size and wagering in 2019.

“We really try to stay on top of track conditions,” Mackey said.

Mackey had hoped to offer some turf racing early in the meet, which runs through June 16, but has decided the already wet conditions will preclude grass racing until March.

Golden Gate made a major change in its stakes schedule in 2019 that will carry over again for the 2020 meeting.

The El Camino Real Derby became a Win And You’re In race for the Preakness for the first time last year, and the Blaine Wright-trained El Camino winner Anothertwistafate ran in the second leg of the Triple Crown after finishing second in both the Grade 3 Sunland Derby and Grade 3 Lexignton Stakes at Keeneland.

The El Camino is again a Win And You’re In for the Preakness, and Mackey is confident that Wright’s Anneau d’Or, who won his maiden in his career debut here last fall before losing photos in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, will run in the race.

In addition, the Grade 3, $250,000 San Francisco Mile at one mile on turf, which headlines the eight stakes Gold Rush Weekend on April 25 and 26, is now a Win And You’re In for the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the turf on Preakness Day at Pimlico.

The Gold Rush Weekend Saturday card includes six stakes, with the California Derby, California Oaks, Camilla Urso, Golden Poppy, and Lost in the Fog also being run along with the San Francisco Mile. On Sunday, a pair of $100,000 California-bred turf stakes, the Silky Sullivan and the Campanile, will be held.

The Gold Rush Weekend Saturday card also is a mandated pick six payoff day, which alone could lead to $1 million in handle. The hoped-for wagering bonanza didn’t occur in 2019 when the pick six was hit the day before Gold Rush Weekend.

Mackey is pleased with the number of horses on the grounds and thinks the competition between trainers and riders should be good as Jonathan Wong and Juan Hernandez try to defend their training and jockey titles.