Curtain comes down on Bay Meadows

Curtain comes down on Bay

Meadows

Bay Meadows' 74-year-long existence came to an end on Sunday evening.

Bringing down the curtain, not only on the San Mateo County Fair, but on an era

in California racing history, was the aptly named $63,450

Last Dance S. Just as

appropriately, YOU LIFT ME UP (Lord Carson), from the barn of perennial Northern

California kingpin Jerry Hollendorfer, rolled to a 2 1/2-length score. With

Frank Alvarado in the irons, the sophomore filly negotiated 1 1/16 miles on the

firm Longden Turf Course in 1:44 2/5 in the last race ever conducted at the historic facility.

Bay Meadows owed its existence as a racetrack to William P. Kyne. In the wake

of his tireless efforts, pari-mutuel wagering was legalized in California in

1933, and Kyne set his sights on building a new racing facility. To this end, he

purchased the old Curtiss-Wright airfield on the south side of San Mateo,

California. The ground-breaking took place on April 8, 1934, and the track

celebrated its opening day on November 3 of that year, with 15,000 patrons in

attendance. It was named Bay Meadows because the land had once been a meadow,

and it was near San Francisco Bay.

Kyne's work was not yet finished. When the United States was embroiled in

World War II, Bay Meadows and all of the other West Coast tracks were ordered to

close. Kyne persuaded the authorities to allow Bay Meadows to remain open, but

only by agreeing to a series of stipulations, including handing over 92 percent

of its profits to the war effort. Because of wartime gas and rubber rationing,

fans were not allowed to travel by car or bus to the track, relying instead on

horse- and mule-drawn wagons. Bay Meadows played an important role on the home

front by supporting war bond drives and entertaining the troops, among other

initiatives.

As a result of its operation during the war years, Bay Meadows was the

longest continuously operating racetrack in California. Bay Meadows was notable

in racing history in other respects as well. It was the first track to employ

the Puett electric starting gate, and the first track in California to implement

the totalizator system, photo-finish camera, the daily double and nighttime

racing. In 1945, El Lobo became the first horse to be transported by air to a

racetrack, taking off from Los Angeles and landing in the Bay Meadows parking

lot. The next day, El Lobo captured the Inaugural H.

Many of the sport's leading lights graced the stage at Bay Meadows -- the

legendary Seabiscuit, who won the Bay Meadows H. in 1937 and 1938; 1948 Triple

Crown conqueror Citation and his Calumet stablemate Coaltown; Citation's

nemesis, *Noor; Round Table; Native Diver; Majestic Prince; John Henry; Lady's

Secret; Cigar; and the ill-fated Lost in the Fog.

Two of the world's winningest jockeys have strong ties to Bay Meadows. Hall

of Famer Bill Shoemaker began his career galloping horses at this venue, and he

won his first stakes races here in 1949. Russell Baze was responsible for one of

the landmark moments in Bay Meadows history. On December 1, 2006, he earned his

9,531st career victory when piloting Butterfly Belle (Wavering Monarch) to a 2

1/4-length tally in the 4TH race. In the process, Baze surpassed Laffit Pincay

Jr. as North America's all-time winningest rider.

No longer will Bay Meadows contribute to racing history, for the site will

now be developed into housing, retail and office space.