Golden Gate track, backstretch to close during dark months for maintenance

Golden Gate Fields in northern California will temporarily close its track and stable area for seven weeks in the summer while the property undergoes maintenance on its sewer system, the track said in a statement on Wednesday.

The property will be closed from June 18 through Aug. 7, a time in which there will be no training, stabling, or backstretch housing. The track’s racing season is not affected. Golden Gate closes its current winter-spring meeting on June 12. The track’s summer-fall meeting begins on the weekend of Aug. 26-28.

Wednesday, track officials emphasized that the project will be completed before the scheduled resumption of racing.

During the closure of Golden Gate Fields, racing will be held on the northern California fair circuit at Pleasanton, Sacramento, and Santa Rosa.

In past years, Golden Gate Fields has remained open for training during the summer. In the recent years, the track hosted the Santa Rosa meeting during the pandemic since Sonoma County did not conduct a fair with exhibits.

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During the closed period at Golden Gate Fields, work will be done to bring sewer systems in compliance with “legal requirements” of the local utility district, according to the statement. More than a mile of sewer piping will undergo evaluation and repair or replacement.

Golden Gate Fields “is closing this summer because we have no choice,” the statement read.

Golden Gate Fields “has been advised by its consulting contractor that the planned temporary closure is necessary to meet regulatory requirement and to avoid the inconvenience and risks to occupants and horses absent the planned temporary closure,” according to the statement.

This spring, the stable areas at Pleasanton and Sacramento will open from June 1 to early August to accommodate trainers until Golden Gate reopens its barns, officials said.