CARF AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS MEETING OPENS WEDNESDAY

The inaugural CARF (California Authority of Racing Fairs) at Golden Gate Fields horse racing meeting will begin Wednesday, Aug. 12, and continue through Sunday, Aug. 23. 

Racing at the 10-day session will be conducted on a Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule with first post at 1:45 p.m.  General admission, Club House and Top of the Stretch gates will open at 9:45 a.m. each day.

Golden Gate Fields will open its elegant Turf Club on weekends during the CARF meeting.  The Turf Club, which offers patrons fine cuisine as well as a great view of the racing, will open at noon on Saturdays and Sundays only. 

Sundays will be Dollar Days, with general parking, general admission, programs, beers, hot dogs, and sodas all costing just a buck apiece.

Members of Golden Gate Fields’ Thoroughbreds Fan Club will have the chance to win $50 each Saturday and Sunday through the Golden Gate Gold Contest, a drawing restricted to Thoroughbreds members.  There is no charge to join the Thoroughbreds Fan Club, which offers members many perks, including discounted admission prices, special offers, free gifts and entry into cash contests.

People interested in joining the Thoroughbreds Fan Club can do so by visiting a Thoroughbreds Center at the track.  Thoroughbred Centers are located on the mezzanine and Club House levels.
 

The CARF meet will be an all-thoroughbred affair, with eight-race cards scheduled for weekdays and nine-race programs slated for weekends.  The feature race of the season is the $50,000 CARF Debutante, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies that will be run Saturday, Aug. 15.

The leading jockeys (Russell Baze, Frank Alvarado, William Antongeorgi III and Chad Schvaneveldt) and top trainers (Jerry Hollendorfer, Steve Sherman, William E. Morey and Steve Miyadi) from the 2008-2009 Golden Gate Fields racing season will be competing at the CARF meeting.