Bay Meadows Race Course in San Mateo is the longest continually operating racetrack in California.
Three weeks later, Determine won the Kentucky Derby. During World War II Santa Anita Park in Arcadia was closed, but Bay Meadows raced on.
In 1951, one of the greatest horses to race, Citation, began his final campaign at Bay Meadows. The Triple Crown winner at one time assumed immortality by winning 16 consecutive races, and that record was equaled in 1996 by Cigar, a horse who finished third in his only Bay Meadows start, the 1993 Ascot Handicap. Jockeys that have called Bay Meadows home include Bill Shoemaker, John Longden, and Ralph Neves, but Bay Meadows will also be known as the home of Russell Baze. Russell the Muscle as he is known moved into second place on the all-time win list for jockeys when he rode his 8,834th career winner on January 22, 2005. Baze has led the nation in victories seven times. Baze has won 32 riding championships at Bay Meadows and 26 at Golden Gate Fields.
