> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.albanyscanner.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A life behind the scenes at Golden Gate Fields - URL: https://www.albanyscanner.com/2026/08/24/community/golden-gate-fields-trainer-faith-taylor/ - Published: 2026-08-24T23:50:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-25T01:37:22.000Z - Description: Faith Taylor rose from hot walker to exercise rider to trainer, building a career inside one of Bay Area racing’s most storied tracks. - Author: Allyson Aleksey - Tags: Community, Business, Golden Gate Fields, #articles When Faith Taylor got a job as a hot walker at [Golden Gate Fields](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/golden-gate-fields/?ref=albanyscanner.com) in 1973, it was "a dream come true." "I just thought, 'I'm getting paid to work with horses?'" she told Albany Scanner. More than 50 years later, Taylor's career had taken her from hot walker to exercise rider to trainer, where she worked alongside some of the track's most established trainers. She watched the crowds swell and eventually dwindle, built lifelong relationships with people in the barns and trained horses of her own. Then, in 2024, Golden Gate Fields closed for good. For Taylor, the closure meant the end of a career that had shaped most of her life. ## The golden years at Golden Gate Fields Taylor, who was born in Oakland and raised in San Leandro, had been around horses since childhood. She got her first pony at age 8 and, by 12, had graduated to her first stallion. She named him Ronchi Bay. "He really was a big, beautiful horse. Everybody in the neighborhood loved him and wanted to breed their mares to him," she recalled. "So I put a sign up at the local tack store, 'Stallion available for breeding.'" A woman who worked at Golden Gate Fields met Taylor through the advertisement and noticed how naturally she handled Ronchi Bay. "She said, 'You're really good with horses, you ought to be working at the track,'" Taylor recalled. The idea stuck. After a short stint working in offices, Taylor followed the woman's advice, went to Golden Gate Fields and asked around for work. She got her first job in 1973 as a hot walker, cooling down horses after their morning workouts. From there, she worked her way up, becoming an exercise rider and eventually training horses with Charlie Comiskey and Lloyd Mason, two longtime Golden Gate Fields trainers. Comiskey won a training owner title at Golden Gate Fields in 1982 while Taylor worked with him as a freelance horse trainer. He went on to secure victories there and at Bay Meadows across multiple decades. Those were the golden years, Taylor said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/2026/08/IMG_2982-2-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/2026/08/IMG_3015-1.jpg) Left: Faith Taylor's first Clydesdale race, riding double with jockey Brian Johnson in 1975\. Right: Taylor with jockey Anne Sanguinetti. **Courtesy* "The atmosphere was pretty darn good, and especially at Charlie's barn," she said. "When you're in the barn day in, day out with the same people, you end up becoming a sort of family." The work was demanding and started early. Mornings at the track revolved around exercise, grooming and race preparation. Taylor rode horses during their workouts and eventually took on more responsibility. The first horse she trained with Comiskey, a mare named Gladnap, won her first race. "I was riding her all the time, so that was so exciting," Taylor said. "That was what got me hooked." The crowds made the work even more exhilarating, she said. From the time Taylor started in 1973 through the early 2000s, Golden Gate Fields was often packed. Major race days could bring crowds so large that it was difficult to move through the grandstand, she recalled. "You couldn't even move, there were so many people," Taylor said. "And it was fun. It definitely was a different atmosphere in the early years." ## Golden Gate Fields closure "was devastating" By the time Golden Gate Fields closed permanently in June 2024, Taylor had spent more than five decades working in the Northern California racing industry. The Stronach Group, which owned the 161-acre property, cited declining attendance and a desire to consolidate operations with [Santa Anita Park](https://www.santaanita.com/?ref=albanyscanner.com) in Arcadia. The group announced the permanent closure of [Golden Gate Fields](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/golden-gate-fields/?ref=albanyscanner.com) on July 16, 2023. Taylor said she "just barely" heard about the closure before the news reached media outlets. "It kind of came out of the blue, but then people were sort of suspecting it for a while," she said. "And it was devastating." The announcement sent trainers, jockeys, grooms and other workers into a scramble to figure out what would happen to their horses — and their livelihoods. "Everybody was kind of in a panic," Taylor said. She remembers the final race in June 2024 as a particularly difficult day. "Everyone was depressed, and everybody asked me, 'Well, what are you going to do?'" she recalled. "I'd say, 'I don't know. What are you going to do?' Everybody was just in shock." The [Alameda County Fairgrounds](https://alamedacountyfair.com/?ref=albanyscanner.com) racetrack in Pleasanton "stepped up," Taylor said, welcoming trainers, horses and their handlers for a meet immediately after Golden Gate Fields closed. "Just about everybody at Golden Gate moved there," she said. When [racing at Pleasanton ended](https://www.ktvu.com/news/alameda-county-fairgrounds-horse-track-closes?ref=albanyscanner.com) last year, the Stronach Group offered to ship horses to Santa Anita. Some trainers packed up and headed south, while others relocated to tracks in other states. Taylor decided to stay in the Bay Area. "A lot of people, myself included, didn't want to relocate," she said. "I have my whole life up here." She eventually turned her horses over to another trainer. [Golden Gate Fields park deal: All the latest detailsOfficials have begun answering key questions about potential financial impacts in Albany, the timeline and what the public process will entail.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/icon/The-Berkeley-Scanner_Icon_Color-b6d9a2e7-50f8-46ed-9470-8a8dbee33a27.jpg)The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/thumbnail/53231015130_68f6b729d5_k-35fcc563-a666-47c8-834f-82a66272a5d4.jpg)](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/05/15/community/golden-gate-fields-park-deal-latest-details/?ref=albanyscanner.com) ## Finding a new routine Now, public agencies are working to [transform the Golden Gate Fields property into a public park](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/05/15/community/golden-gate-fields-park-deal-latest-details/?ref=albanyscanner.com) with recreational amenities along San Francisco Bay. [Trust for Public Land](https://www.tpl.org/?ref=albanyscanner.com) is leading the acquisition effort and coordinating funding to secure the property. Ownership could transfer to the [East Bay Regional Park District](https://www.ebparks.org/?ref=albanyscanner.com) next spring. If the deal goes through, a public engagement process would run [from 2027-29](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/05/15/community/golden-gate-fields-park-deal-latest-details/?ref=albanyscanner.com#golden-gate-fields-what-comes-next), the city has said. For Taylor, the end of Golden Gate Fields has been bittersweet. "I was kind of lost, at first," she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-05-at-5.46.02---PM-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b5/b0/b5b0b7ec-798c-4cb6-ab42-472b59c05589/content/images/2026/08/dogsandpony-2.jpg) Left: Faith Taylor with her dog and pony show on National Night Out. [**Scanner Insider*](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/support/?ref=albanyscanner.com#become-a-scanner-insider-by-sharing-tips) | Right: The stars of the Dog & Pony Show. While working at the track, Taylor had supplemented her income with pony parties and rides for children's birthdays and other events. After the closure, she decided to give the business more attention. Taylor now brings her animals [from her ranch in Clayton](https://california.agricultural-services.org/45052-snow%5Ffire%5Franch.htm?ref=albanyscanner.com#google%5Fvignette) to community events, and returned to Albany for National Night Out on Aug. 4 with her pony and Jack Russell terrier, performing a literal dog and pony show. Her dogs have found work, too. Her younger terrier recently appeared in a commercial for Rocket Money, playing dead, while her older terrier was featured in a Hilton Hotels commercial. "I was really impressed \[with them\]," Taylor said with a laugh. "I thought, 'I have got to do more commercials.'" The work is different from getting up before dawn and heading to the track, but Taylor is still doing what she has done for most of her life: working with animals. Golden Gate Fields may be gone, but Taylor hasn't left that part of her life behind. "I've always loved animals," she said. "I just lucked out." *Have questions for Albany Scanner, or want to share story tips?* [*Here's how to reach us*](https://www.albanyscanner.com/tips/)*.* ## Sign up for Albany Scanner Stories for an informed community Get updates Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.