Stakes minimum rises to $75,000

ALBANY, Calif. - Golden Gate Fields has raised the minimum stakes purse for its upcoming fall meet to $75,000. The fall meet marks the debut of Golden Gate's new Tapeta surface.

Racing secretary Sean Greely will card seven stakes during the meet, which runs from Nov. 7 to Dec. 17. Six will carry $75,000 purses with a $150,000 purse for the Grade 3 All American at 1 1/8 miles on Nov. 17.

"I think stakes races have to have stakes purses," he said.

The meet's first two stakes, the Nov. 10 Tanforan at 1 3/8 miles and the Nov. 11 Miss America at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares, will be on the turf. The final five stakes will be run on Tapeta.

Greely is hopeful that Smokey Stover will run in the Nov. 23 Sausalito at six furlongs.

Greely also released the stakes schedule for the winter meet that begins Dec. 26 and runs through Feb. 3. The number of stakes was cut from seven to six with elimination of the Fairfax, a sprint, but the total purse structure is an identical $500,000 with a pair of $75,000 stakes, two $50,000 overnight sprint stakes for 3-year-olds, plus the $150,000 California Derby on Jan. 27 and $100,000 California Oaks on Feb. 2.

"I think this is the time of year with our new track that we can get horses from other places," Greely said.