Sports Radio Service


		Last run at Bay Meadows; final race this weekend By Ralph Gora and Michael Wang August 16, 2008

	SAN MATEO--"And they’re off" for good more like it. The institution better known as Bay Meadows will be shutting off it's electric gates for the last time on Sunday and this Sunday also marks the conclusion of the San Mateo County fair. The horses will continue to be stabled and will train on the track grounds until October 12th. The racetrack will make way for an 84-acre development for residential condos, commercial space and parks. Bay Meadows was built in 1934 when William P Kyne bought the land, which was used as an airfield. Before 1910, Thoroughbred horse racing was prohibited and also gambling that all went down when Kyne fought to have it overturned in 1933 leading to horse racing and gambling to go hand in hand and the start of the construction of Bay Meadows. With nearby Tanforan shopping center nearby it was a great tandem for both the track and retail as racing fans could either park, walk, or drive a short distance to the grounds. "I lived right up the street. I watched them build it. They had big crowds, and there were characters and everybody had a nickname. The newspapers had two pages of horse racing everyday. In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s more people watched horse racing than football, baseball, and basketball combined." said Boots O'Neill who has worked at the track since 1953 as a money room and mutual clerk. O'Neill who was born in 1924 also remembers when they built the place. Some of Bay Meadows most famous horses to appear at the track are as follows: Seabiscuit, El Lobo, Citation, Coal Town, Two Lea, Determine, Round Table, Native Diver, Majestic and many, many more. Also former A's, Warriors, and Cal Bears announcer Red Rush was a fixture at Bay Meadows and horse racing was a passion for Rush. Rush used to frequent Golden Gate Fields as well and at times lent his voice to the public address system at certain horse races. All of this just a part of the mystique of what will be the former Bay Meadows Race Track. Ralph Gora and Michael Wang are talk show hosts for Sportstalk Radio.