Bay Meadows Racetrack

Built on the site of an old airfield, Bay Meadows Racecourse was the longest continually operating thoroughbred racetrack in California—having been founded on November 13, 1934—until its closure on August 17, 2008.

The innovative William P. Kyne introduced pari-mutuel wagering, the popular daily double, the first all-enclosed starting gate, the totalizator board and the photo-finish camera at Bay Meadows.

[1] Prior to the track's closure, the Bay Meadows Handicap had been the longest continually run stakes event in California, having been started in 1934.

[citation needed] In 1948, the eventual Hall of Fame jockey, Bill Shoemaker, began his career by exercising horses on this track.

Bay Meadows' racing season began in August with the San Mateo County Fair portion of the meet, which ran two weeks.

[citation needed] Throughout its history, Bay Meadows has also hosted harness and quarter horse racing meets but due to the low revenue such events generate, they were not run in the final years of the track.

Olden Times, Silky Sullivan, Citation, John Henry, Round Table and Lost in the Fog have raced here.

[4] Criticism from local newspapers and community groups came when, after the demolition of the grandstand and clubhouse, debris waiting to be recycled was left in "unsightly" piles on the site for several months.