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It’s the end of an era for Northern California horse racing.

Golden Gate Fields will permanently close after its final racing date later this year at the San Francisco Bay area horse track.

The track’s owner, The Stronach Group, said Sunday it will “double down” on its racing at Santa Anita and training at San Luis Rey Downs in Southern California.

After the Golden Gate Fields meet ends, The Stronach Group said it will focus on moving horses from the Bay Area to Arcadia, with a goal of increasing field sizes and adding a fourth day of racing to the weekly schedule at Santa Anita beginning in January.

“The Stronach Group remains steadfastly committed to racing in California,” company CEO and president Belinda Stronach said in a statement.

“Focusing on Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs as state-of-the-art racing and training facilities that offer enhanced program quality, increased race days, expanded wagering opportunities, and premier hospitality and entertainment experiences is vital to ensuring that California racing can continue to compete and thrive on a national level,” she said.

Stronach said the company realizes its decision to close the Bay Area track will have “profound effects” on employees, owners, trainers, jockeys and stable workers there. She said the company is committed to honoring labor obligations.

The company said it would work with industry groups in California, as well as Los Alamitos racetrack in Orange County and Del Mar north of San Diego, in relocating horses and employees to Southern California.

“The ramifications of this Stronach decision will be far-reaching and long-lasting,” Alan Balch, executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, said in a statement. “They will include, we believe, a great many unintended and mainly detrimental consequences for all of racing and Thoroughbred breeding throughout California and the West, including in Southern California. We can only hope that we are entirely wrong.”

Scott Chaney, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, noted that Golden Gate Fields has been racing nine months out of the year and the board will begin discussing allocating those racing dates in August for 2024.

“I am acutely aware of the human impact of the closure — be they CHRB employees, CHRB contractors, licensees, and, of course, Golden Gate employees — and I will be working hard to ameliorate any negative consequences and to create job and role opportunities,” Chaney said.

The Stronach Group purchased the track in 2011.

Golden Gate Fields, which straddles the cities of Albany and Berkeley along the shore of the San Francisco Bay, opened in 1941.

With the start of World War II, the U.S. Navy took over the property for storage of landing craft that was to be used in the Pacific theater. After the war ended, racing returned to the site.

Among the horses that competed at Golden Gate Fields was 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, John Henry, Shared Belief, and come-from-behind specialist Silky Sullivan, who is buried in the track’s infield.

The track was immortalized in book and movie form. In Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel “On the Road,” Sal Paradise visits the track with his friend, who loses all their money.

In the 1997 movie “Metro” starring Eddie Murphy, his character visits the track to gamble and blames jockey Russell Baze for losing his money.

Retired Hall of Famer Baze won his 10,000th career race at Golden Gate Fields in 2008. He earned 54 riding titles and won 5,765 races there during his career.

The closure will leave Northern California without a major racetrack. Bay Meadows, which opened in 1934, shut down and was turned over to developers in 2008.

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone after a hard fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.

After his series-leading sixth victory, Zilisch was climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet to celebrate. He slipped after apparently getting his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting and tumbled awkwardly onto the asphalt.

Zilisch, 19, was taken on a backboard to the trackside medical center and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. He posted on X about two hours later that he had a broken collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injury.

“Thank you everybody for reaching out today,” Zilisch posted. “I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”

Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. After racing in the Truck and Xfinity Series the past two days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a tripleheader by making his fourth Cup start this season for Trackhouse Racing.

The scary incident capped an eventful day for Zilisch, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.

After starting from the pole position, Zilisch wrecked teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while battling for the lead on Lap 65. After being bumped from the lead to fifth on a restart, Zilisch retook first and led the final four laps.

“He did such a great job of getting back through the field and getting the lead,” crew chief Mardy Lindley told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “Praying for Connor right now that he’s OK. I think he’s going to be fine.”

Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He has 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.

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White Sox nail tribute to former owner Veeck

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White Sox nail tribute to former owner Veeck

CHICAGO –The White Sox threw a party that would have made Bill Veeck proud.

The club celebrated its quirky former owner with Bill Veeck Night on Saturday by bringing back some of the stunts, tricks and exhibitions that added to the lore of the legendary showman and Hall of Famer.

There was a pregame petting zoo and a roving circus with — what else? — a clown to entertain fans entering Rate Field. There was ice sculpting on the concourse in the outfield and a chance to get a photo taken with a 50-foot hot dog, along with an offer of free haircuts. The first 15,000 fans received a Veeck bobblehead, and postgame fireworks were planned.

Another highlight was what the team described as a “married in a minute” event, with two White Sox fans tying the knot in a 60-second ceremony officiated by 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle.

Veeck’s son, Mike, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox took on the Cleveland Guardians.

The fun wasn’t limited to fans in the stands. White Sox players turned back the clock by wearing pinstriped shorts during pregame warmups and batting practice. The team wore those unusual shorts — along with collared uniform tops — for some games during the 1976 season.

Veeck was a two-time owner of the White Sox, first from 1959-61 and again from 1975-81. His tenure was marked by memorable and forgettable stunts to enhance the fans’ game-day experience through entertainment.

His stunts included an exploding scoreboard in 1960 and a disastrous disco demolition night in 1979, when a crate of disco records was blown up between games of a doubleheader. The playing surface at Comiskey Field was so damaged by the blast and fans who rushed the field after the stunt that Chicago was forced to forfeit the second game to Detroit.

Another of his famous acts was signing 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to be a pinch hitter in 1951, when Veeck owned the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel, who had a miniscule strike zone, walked on four pitches.

Veeck died in 1986 at 71 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

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Athletics put P Severino on IL with oblique strain

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Athletics put P Severino on IL with oblique strain

Right-hander Luis Severino, who recently has pitched like the high-priced free agent the Athletics signed in the offseason, was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of a left oblique strain.

The move is retroactive to Wednesday.

The A’s called up left-hander Hogan Harris from Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding transaction.

Severino signed a $67 million, three-year contract in December with the A’s, but he can opt out after next season. It was largest-ever contract for the typically low-spending A’s, though they since made other similar deals with Brent Rooker ( $60 million over five years ) and Lawrence Butler ( $65.5 million over seven years ) in anticipation of their scheduled move to Las Vegas in 2028.

Unless he agrees to an extension, the 31-year-old Severino likely won’t be part of those plans.

He started slow this season, but in his past five starts went 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 27 2/3 innings. That improved his record to 6-11 with a 4.82 ERA.

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