Berkeley Handicap Tops Golden Gate Fall Stakes Schedule

Ten stakes will be part of the eight-week, 25-day fall meet at Golden Gate Fields that commences Oct. 22 and runs through Dec. 12. 

On Oct. 30, the one-mile, $75,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes for 2-year-old turf fillies kicks off the stakes action followed the next day when main-track sprinters take center stage in the $75,000 El Dorado Shooter Stakes.

The El Dorado Shooter is one of two stakes at the fall meet restricted solely for California-bred or -sired runners. The other, the $75,000 Bear Fan Stakes, is Dec. 11. Both California-bred stakes will be run at six furlongs on the Tapeta main track, with the El Dorado Shooter for 3-year-olds and up and the Bear Fan for 3-and-up fillies and mares.

On Nov. 6, when Del Mar stages the second of two Breeders' Cup Days, the marquee event is the Joseph T. Grace Stakes, one of five stakes next month. The final one is the $100,000 Berkeley Handicap (G3) on Nov. 27, the signature race of the fall meet, which is contested at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta.

Juveniles will be given opportunities to shine on the main track throughout the fall. The Nov. 13 Golden Nugget Stakes is a six-furlong sprint before the $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes Dec. 4 at one mile which will attract youngsters who wish to stretch out in distance. Juvenile fillies play their hand sprinting on Black Friday, Nov. 26, in the $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante at six furlongs.

Other stakes on the schedule include the $50,000 Oakland Stakes for 3-year-olds and upward at six furlongs and the Miss America Stakes on closing day, Dec. 12, for filly-and-mare turf routers.

                                 Golden Gate Fall Stakes Schedule