Wednesday Aug 6

Final 10 days of racing at Bay Meadows begin today

From Daily News Dispatches

The San Mateo County Fair will host the final 10 days of horse racing at historic Bay Meadows Race Course in San Mateo when it conducts its 2008 meeting, a two-week session that begins Wednesday and continues through Aug. 17.

Post time is 1:45 p.m. and racing will be presented Wednesday through Sunday. Grandstand gates open at 10 a.m. daily; club house and turf club gates at 11:30 a.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. weekends.

The Turf Club, which in past years was open only on weekends during the fair meeting, will be open every day during this final fair season of racing.

The first 3,000 fans in attendance this Saturday will have a chance to pick up a Bay Meadows souvenir in the "Grab Bag Giveaway" promotion. On Saturday, Aug. 16, patrons will receive a commemorative poster celebrating Bay Meadows.

The fair will offer $1 grandstand admission to the final day of racing at Bay Meadows, Aug. 17. The $50,000-added Last Dance Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies, will headline the closing-day program.

Bay Meadows Race Course, which opened in 1934 and ranks as the oldest major racetrack in California, is scheduled to be razed sometime after the fair. The property will be redeveloped for housing and commercial and retail use.