The Last Horse Race Track in Northern California is Shutting Down for Good

THINK

Aug 1

Golden Gate Fields, Northern California's only remaining major horse racing track, will close later this year, following years of protests by animal rights activists.

Horse racing at Golden Gate Fields race track located in Berkeley and Albany will permanently close later this year, bringing an end to the racing in Northern California.

The company CEO and president of the track’s owner, Belinda Stronach, claims it will “double down” on its racing and training at Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs in Southern California. The group remains “steadfastly committed to racing in California”, she said, adding that the move: “is vital to ensuring that California racing can continue to compete and thrive on a national level.”

The final event on the race track’s calendar is currently October 2, 2023. It is currently unknown what will happen to the site, which spreads across 100 acres of land. Mayor Jesse Arreguín said, “it is too early to speculate what will replace Golden Gate Fields”.

Eight horses have died this calendar year at Golden Gate Fields, according to the California Horse Racing Board. In 2022, there were 15 horse fatalities, while in 2021, there were 26.

In response to the deaths, local activist groups have been protesting the racecourse, arguing that horse racing is “an outdated industry that profits off gambling and animal cruelty.”

In 2021, four Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) activists chained themselves together across the track to raise awareness about the cruelty of horse racing and stopped a horse race from occurring at GGF— which led to legal backlash from Golden Gate Fields that they are still battling. With each horse's death, activists held a memorial protest and called on residents of Berkeley and Albany to join them in demanding the track’s permanent closure. A petition by the group to shut down the racetrack has attracted more than 39,000 signatures.

“(The horses) are raced to death since they are forced to run until they are, one way or another, led to die,” said Cassie King, an organizer with DxE. “They ‘euthanize’ horses who have been injured catastrophically since they can no longer run. They kill the athletes when they’re injured. We would never tolerate this in human sports.”

DxE is also one of a number of groups working on a ballot initiative, launched last month, that would ban Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Berkeley, including the Golden Gate Fields stables.

Meanwhile, Kate Harrison, Berkeley City Councilmember, has introduced an ordinance, sponsored by the local advocacy group Stop Blood Sports, aimed at implementing a "racehorse protection policy." This ordinance includes protections for horses, such as limiting their confinement to stables to only 10 hours within a 24-hour period, placing restrictions on pain-inflicting tools like whips and bits, and prohibiting the overuse of medication to combat doping.

“I grew up watching my dad fall prey to gambling addiction at horse abusing operations like Golden Gate Fields and I made it part of my animal advocacy to speak out against animal gambling specifically,” says Rocky Chau, a DxE activist who was arrested during a protest on the Golden Gate Fields track in March of 2021 and is currently being sued by the company. “This closure is a win for horses and for vulnerable humans who are taken advantage of by the gambling industry.”

An average of three horses die on race tracks every single day in the U.S., according to People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA). Meanwhile, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association reports that half of all horses bred for racing go to slaughter.

Species Unite is taking action against horse racing in its home state of New York, by calling on elected officials to stop subsidizing the industry. According to the petition, the horse racing industry in New York receives $230 million in government subsidies every year, despite 91 percent of New Yorkers having no intention of ever attending a horse race.

“The only way to truly protect horses is to end the industry,” reads the petition. “If we make our voices heard, not only can we end a cruel and dying industry, saving the lives of thousands of horses.”

You can take action by signing the Species Unite petition here.

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