Goodbye Bay Meadows

[SlewsMyHero]

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

I am VERY sad about this Bay Meadows is my home away from home and I'm really going to miss it. The people there are like family to me, I fell in love with this game the first time I went there three years ago. I knew they were going to close the place down but I had hoped that they would continue to get extentions. The end really is near

Derby Cat. I can understand your sadness. I grew up in the Bay Area, and spent many a day and evening at BM, too many when I think back. When I should have been in class at college, I found myself sitting in the grandstand at Bay Meadows. Since it's been many years since I've been there, I don't have the same connection to the place that you have. What I see now are small fields, and pretty low quality levels. It seems a far cry from what it once was. Back in the early 80's when I spent most of my time there, the quality of racing was excellent, and field sizes were good. Horses like Wild Again, Truce Maker and John Henry, among others raced there in good graded stakes. I'm not sure when or why it all changed, but the plethora of 5 horse fields is hard to take. It's been several years since I've wagered on a race there. I've never gotten a good answer as to why the field sizes are so small at BM, when they draw from the same pool of horses, trainers and owners as Golden Gate and the Fair Circuit.

I'm sad to see it go, but I won't miss the small field sizes.