Golden Gate Fields plans three-week turf festival

Golden Gate Fields has announced a special three-week turf festival from April 14 to May 1, when it will be the only track with a turf course running in California.

Increased purses with an extra $125,000 allocated to turf races, free shipping from Santa Anita, and guaranteed late pick fours will be offered as well as additional turf opportunities for horsemen.

The highlight of the turf festival will be three grass stakes held the weekend of April 30 to May 1. The $100,000, Grade 3 San Francisco Mile will be held Saturday, April 30. A pair of $100,000 California-bred turf stakes for 3-year-olds, the Campanile for fillies and the Silky Sullivan, will be run May 1. Two California-bred maiden races and two Cal-bred allowance races also will be run May 1.

Golden Gate will guarantee a pool of $75,000 in the late pick four on weekends during the turf festival, with a $100,000 guarantee on San Francisco Mile Day.

“The Golden Gate Fields turf festival will benefit horsemen throughout California by bolstering purses in the North and giving Southern California horsemen a place to run their grass horses,” said Joe Morris, senior vice president of West Coast operations for The Stronach Group. “It’s our goal to offer competitive turf racing with big fields, which should be attractive to horseplayers.”