Golden Gate Completes Late-Night Card After Protestors Removed

[Wandering Eyes]

After a surreal day in which four animal-rights protestors scaled a fence and lay on the track for around six hours, connected to one another and weighted down by heavy pipes, Golden Gate completed its racing card under the lights just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

The first race, scheduled to go off at 12:45, was canceled due to the protests from the group Direct Action Everywhere, after the four lay on the track around 12:20 p.m. local time.

The card resumed at 7:28 p.m. local time, around six hours after it was scheduled to be run.

The seventh and last race of the day went off at 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time, with six races being completed in just over two hours.

Removing the quartet was the job of the Albany, California police department, and it was unclear how that was accomplished Friday morning. Direct Action Everywhere had been live-streaming the event on Facebook throughout the day, using drones to provide coverage of the four lying on the track, but the feed ended at 7 p.m., shortly before the group was removed. Expectations Thursday night were that the four people on the track would be arrested.

Golden Gate posted several statements on Twitter about the incidents.

“Golden Gate Fields is committed to the safety of the horses and the people who care for them, and the types of actions exhibited today run directly counter to the safe environment we are trying to create.

“Thoroughbred horse racing is a highly regulated, legal sport. Trespassing and endangering others are completely inappropriate and illegal methods to express opposition to the sport.”

When the activists first lay down on the track, they set off purple smoke flares, presumably to alert the track, the harrows, and the field for the first race that they were there.

“Further,” said the statement from Golden Gate, “bringing incendiary devices onto the property is inherently dangerous to human life, the more than 1,200 horses stabled here and the hundreds of people who care for them. This behavior will not be tolerated. We encourage those responsible to find an appropriate way to air their grievances rather than endangering the lives of thousands, including the horses they claim to want to protect.”

After the second race went off, the track Tweeted, “We are grateful for the support of racing fans in the Bay Area and around the globe. A special acknowledgement is due the Albany Police Department for their professionalism and responsiveness. We were able to race tonight thanks to them and we continue to believe in our commitment to safety, the beauty and greatness of our sport and the right of thousands of Californians to enjoy what we regard as a treasure. We would like to thank all the owners, trainers, grooms and our dedicated employees at Golden Gate Fields for their commitment and patience under extremely trying circumstances today.”

Its website describes Direct Action Everywhere as “an international grassroots network of animal rights activists founded in 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area. DAE uses disruptive protests and non-violent direct action tactics, such as open rescue of animals from factory farms.” They list 30 chapters in the U.S. and Canada, and another 30 internationally.

This story will be updated.

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