Golden Gate reclaims grade

The purse for the Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields has been raised to $100,000, allowing the race to retain its Grade 3 status.

The purse for the Berkeley, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up, was $75,000 when the Golden Gate stakes schedule was released last weekend. The minimum purse for a Grade 3 race is $100,000. To retain the race's grading, Golden Gate canceled the $55,000-added Raise Your Skirts Handicap and shifted $25,000 to the Berkeley, to be run June 11.

Another $20,000 was given to the Malcolm Anderson, a 2-year-old race that now has a $75,000 purse.

Golden Gate also confirmed that the $100,000 Yerba Buena Breeders' Cup Handicap, for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf May 21, had also retained its Grade 3 status. The Yerba Buena was listed as ungraded when the Golden Gate stakes schedule was released.

The revised stakes schedule has 11 stakes worth $965,000 for the meet, which runs from May 11 to June 19.