Bay Meadows auction everything going

[Echo Farm]

Going, going, gone...................................

Memorabilia, tractors, fixtures, track equipment and more.

Saturday, August 23 through Monday, August 25 starting at 10:00am (PST) Each Day

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[Rudeboyelvis]

That's pretty depressing...

Wonder what the 1980's vintage replay equipment will bring

[westcoastinvader]

Wow, viewing those photos made me feel unexpectedly melancholy (baby... ..)


My wife grew up less than 5 miles from Bay Meadows, but had never been until she married me...and then went for the first time (since I've been called a corrupting degenerate gambler........) and developed a wonderful appreciation of the place.

Bay Meadows wasn't even a blip on my radar screen until I moved to California 8 years ago.

I was a Cleveland guy who cut my teeth (literally....pacifier years with my Mom and Dad) at tracks that began disappearing in the 1960's. I thought I was something when I finally graduated to the ranks of Hialeah, Gulfstream (of the 70's), Churchill Downs, Belmont, Saratoga and Del Mar.....and more tracks around the country than I can name without at least a moment's thought.

But anyhow, Bay Meadows surprisingly grew on me in my 8 years here.

It fit like a favorite pair of old jeans, always felt warm in the paddock no matter how damp and cool the Bay Area fog, and consistently reminded that it came before 9 of our 11 revered Triple Crown Winners.

And it was with us before Gone With the Wind, Casablanca and the Wizard of Oz.

I may try to head over on Saturday. I believe I'd like my own three dimensional remembrance. I'm not picky.

I won't think of the day as a funeral.

Thank goodness I'm Irish, cuz I know all about wakes.

[DerbyCat]

I just got back from a week long vacation but I'll be doing half days at work all week so I can be there for the final week of Bay Meadows. I am going to enjoy this week and try not to be sad about it... this place has been my second home for the past several years and I'm going to miss it.

And yes, I will be bidding on some items from the track, not sure what I want yet but I'll get something.

[bigjag0716]

Farewell Bay Meadows. I will admit though, the last few years of racing have not been great. I still will miss the track, though. Never will forget growing up around Bay Meadows. I will miss walking downstairs from the clubhouse to the indoor paddock. I will miss walking to the infield, I will miss the old-fashion feel of the place. I'm not too happy if they make year round racing at GGF, but I guess there is no choice. Santa Rosa will get some dates, I suppose? If so, that's not very exciting.


Man, I wish Dixon Downs had went through. I would feel alot better about Bay Meadows closing.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by bigjag0716

Farewell Bay Meadows. I will admit though, the last few years of racing have not been great. I still will miss the track, though. Never will forget growing up around Bay Meadows. I will miss walking downstairs from the clubhouse to the indoor paddock. I will miss walking to the infield, I will miss the old-fashion feel of the place. I'm not too happy if they make year round racing at GGF, but I guess there is no choice. Santa Rosa will get some dates, I suppose? If so, that's not very exciting.


Man, I wish Dixon Downs had went through. I would feel alot better about Bay Meadows closing.

Hi BigJag.

I've never been to the Santa Rosa meet, but I've recently talked to some old and real horse players who shared with me some nice stories about the place's history.

Apparently back 30 years ago and more it was almost like a "Saratoga" for the San Francisco urban area. Much like Saratoga is for NYC.

San Francisco bookmakers, families and kids, and general horse players would make the trek up to Santa Rosa as an annual tradition for days at a time each summer.

I had never heard that aspect of it's local history. I just knew that with the turf course it was considered to be ranked with Pleasanton as the best of the fair circuit tracks.

[westcoastinvader]

And as to Pleasanton getting days, I have the minority opinion that the ambience of the Pleasanton track could really catch on in Saratoga like fashion.

Now for credibility perspective, I've probably personally attended racing at off the top of my head 30 to 40 venues....maybe more.

Other than Saratoga, Pleasanton is the only venue I know that affords the opportunity to walk a few short residential blocks from a unique and quaint downtown to attend the days's races. It's a heckuva lot easier to navigate Pleasanton's track, restaurants and clubs than it is at Del Mar....that's for sure. No shortage of supply and diversity of hotels and motels....and much easier than what I've encountered at Saratoga. Also, very quietly there are three morning commuter trains that stop immediately adjacent to the track coming from the east, and three more evening trains coming from the south west.

And Pleasanton also has the element of inherent history. It's the oldest mile track in North America, dating to 1859. It's got the obligatory Seabiscuit training connection.

As to scenery, I've always said that the view of the area from that grandstand is quietly one of the very best in thoroughbred racing. My entire life I heard that Santa Anita was beautiful due to the proximity of the mountains. What no one told me though, was that it's a rare day the LA area air quality will allow the mountains to be seen from the track.

From the Pleasanton grandstand there's a beautiful full view of 3,800 foot Mount Diablo in addition to a continuous view to the west of part of the coastal range and Pleasanton Ridge.

Anyhow, I just think Pleasanton has more potential to be successful...and a nice experience.... than many.

[DerbyCat]

WestCoast - If you make it to Bay Meadows today, stop by my box on the clubhouse side, I'm in box 103 on the finish line... I'll be wearing my DT hat.

It's going to be crazy today at the track, the place will be packed with thousands of folks. I've been hearing people around the track this week, folks that have only been to the track once or twice, saying, "this is great! Why are they tearing it down?' My question is, why didn't you come to the track before you heard they were tearing it down?

Have a great day everyone, I'll be in Paradise... for the last time

[TheSpyder]

Have a great day DC. May be sad, but these are days to enjoy! Take some good pictures for the memories.

Spyder

[Storm Cadet]

Wow...I just flipped through all those great images of Bay Meadows...a shame it's closing down and we still have this POS of a track in the Big A still operating with bird crap everywhere!

Too bad the stiffs at NYRA don't snatch all that great memorabilia of racing pix and that great oak bar with racing theme and place it at Saratoga where it would be appreciated.

[geeker2]

It is/was one of those tracks with great history and character. Over the years on my travels to Northern CA I managed to sneak in several visits. I was hoping to make one last visit before the end to say good-bye..but isn't that the way it always is...

BM...

[westcoastinvader]

Here's the DRF comment today on the final horse in the final race at Bay Meadows:

You Lift Me Up

Two words are synonymous with Bay Meadows moreso than all others and it's only right that the last horse in a BM post parade will have been saddled by Jerry Hollendorfer; his right hand guy Baze opted to ride in the Longacres Mile today but he's here in spirit; outside runner hasn't missed on the board all year and seems a steady sort; post, style and turf familiarity in her favor, but we don't know that she'll have enough punch at crunch time; so long to a beloved race course filled with great memories, this corner's most cherished of which came in 1990 with announcer Danny Alameda's call " Hansen got a big run from Variety Road, gonna get up!"

-George Cottrell

[westcoastinvader]

Excerpts caught from Michael Wrona's call of the last race at Bay Meadows.

"The Last Dance"


at the break:

Dancing! And the big crowd gives the grand old lady a fond farewell cheer...


on the back stretch:

They're in the back stretch, and it's a surreal scene as three-quarters of a century's tradition is evaporating before our eyes


on the final turn:

And the final field to grace this hallowed ground heads for home......

[DerbyCat]

I'm still trying to recover from yesterday/last night... The Last Dance was surreal, Michael's call was emotional and so well done - he said everything perfectly and it brought tears to my eyes. The crowd that remained (all the fair weather fans had left by the 8th race, too long of a day for them) was on their feet and cheering through the entire race. Having the Hollendorfer horse win was so appropriate, it would have been wrong for a SoCal invader to win the final race at this historic local track.

I am so sad that my track is no more... this weekend is the auction of everything (and I mean everything) on the property. They start dismantling the facility by Labor Day and construction on the new development will begin in the spring. The end of an era... I know this is considered "progress" but I just see it as "those bast*rds took my track"

[PSH]

As a Bay Area resident, i went to Bay Meadows for the last time on Friday.
It was a depressing day which unfortunately is indicative of the track the last few years.... Poor quality horses, one break down and small crowds at a deteriorating race track.... Still, it did bring back a lot of memories from the times i have spent there.....

Still, i am not sad to see the old place be torn down.... Maybe i am in a minority with that viewpoint but the racing has been so bad and the place an eyesore....

PSH

[ALostTexan]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

Excerpts caught from Michael Wrona's call of the last race at Bay Meadows.

"The Last Dance"


at the break:

Dancing! And the big crowd gives the grand old lady a fond farewell cheer...


on the back stretch:

They're in the back stretch, and it's a surreal scene as three-quarters of a century's tradition is evaporating before our eyes


on the final turn:

And the final field to grace this hallowed ground heads for home......

I just watched this race, and even though I knew what to expect from this post it was still a sad race to watch. Glad that Jerry H. was both the owner/trainer of the final run, but too bad Russel wasn't there for the end...

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by PSH

As a Bay Area resident, i went to Bay Meadows for the last time on Friday.
It was a depressing day which unfortunately is indicative of the track the last few years.... Poor quality horses, one break down and small crowds at a deteriorating race track.... Still, it did bring back a lot of memories from the times i have spent there.....

Still, i am not sad to see the old place be torn down.... Maybe i am in a minority with that viewpoint but the racing has been so bad and the place an eyesore....

PSH

PSH, no debate here on the predominant quality of racing the last few years. To clarify, as a racing fan, I have no problem with fields of mixed quality horses. That's most of the game, most of the time.

My biggest beef with the Bay Meadows fields in recent years has been mostly on the small numbers in the vast majority of the fields. And that's no fault of the historic facility.

As to being an eyesore, I think it depends on the vantage point. The indoor paddock is a classic. The hardware on the stair rails and of the interior preceded many classic horses from times before just about all of us here were born.

I saw the beauty within....

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

I'm still trying to recover from yesterday/last night... The Last Dance was surreal, Michael's call was emotional and so well done - he said everything perfectly and it brought tears to my eyes. The crowd that remained (all the fair weather fans had left by the 8th race, too long of a day for them) was on their feet and cheering through the entire race. Having the Hollendorfer horse win was so appropriate, it would have been wrong for a SoCal invader to win the final race at this historic local track.

I am so sad that my track is no more... this weekend is the auction of everything (and I mean everything) on the property. They start dismantling the facility by Labor Day and construction on the new development will begin in the spring. The end of an era... I know this is considered "progress" but I just see it as "those bast*rds took my track"

Michael has a special knack for capturing historic racing moments with just the right call.

Job well done!

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

Having the Hollendorfer horse win was so appropriate, it would have been wrong for a SoCal invader to win the final race at this historic local track.

DerbyCat

True story, I decided spontaneously to go to the OTB to play the late races at Emerald Downs yesterday. That part worked out pretty well.

I really had no intentions on playing Bay Meadows, and full expected to just come home and watch the last race on TVG.

But when I looked at the form for the last race......and saw the previously shared DRF comment....I decided it wouldn't be right not to be at least a betting participant in the final race.

I decided to toss $20 on You Lift Me Up with no concern of winning or losing.

I'm old school when betting and prefer to interact with real ticket sellers.

I bet the 10th race two races early, so I could head home to watch.

To my great surprise, as I walked up to the ticket seller to call out "the 10th at San Mateo," I actually had a hard time getting the words out. I paused, collected myself, and sort of pointed at the program and gave it one more verbal try that somehow got me my ticket.

I cashed it for $92, of course.

But, through benevolence and the gift of gab, I have the canceled ticket back. I think it's going to be framed with the final day's program cover, the program's last race, possibly the DRF from before the race, and perhaps the chart.

I'm still working on it.

[DerbyCat]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

But, through benevolence and the gift of gab, I have the canceled ticket back. I think it's going to be framed with the final day's program cover, the program's last race, possibly the DRF from before the race, and perhaps the chart.

I'm still working on it.

I too have a winning ticket from The Last Dance as well as a cup of dirt from the track, hundreds of photos and great memories. I went to the track early Sunday morning and watched the horses work and then stayed at the track until the day ended. Sunrise to sundown, and it seemed to fly by, except for the last race which seemed to go in slow motion...

I decided that I will probably not attend the auction next weekend. I had a hard enough time walking away from the track Sunday night, to go back and see it reduced to a "garage sale" would be more depressing than I can imagine. I did purchase one of the limited edition framed prints from Tom Chapman of the track memorial poster so that's my final souvenir of Bay Meadows.

But I like the idea of the framed memorial to the last race... I need to find a way to include in it a voice replay of Michael's call...



"Dancing..." Classic, absolutely classic...