Decades ago, when I made the trek with my young family from New Jersey to California or bust, I was full of bull and vinegar and thought I was the best handicapper in the world.

After settling in Northern California and having my head handed to me on a silver platter betting horses at Golden Gate, reality set in and I was much more prepared for racing on the Left Coast when the Bay Meadows meeting opened.

I would travel up to the track nearly every day; talk may way into the track for free, scoot over to the turf club side of the railing, and hobnob with the players.

It was at this meeting that I had one of my biggest scores to date and it came at the perfect time as far as finances were concerned and there will always be a place in my heart for that Mateo track.

With that said, and with the days at Bay Meadows winding down, this is as good a time as any to recount some of the greats that called the track a home for at least a race or two over the years.

Legends like Native Diver, Majestic Prince, Noor, Citation, A. P. Indy, Lady's Secret and Cigar knew the track and took to the track at the Bay.

The track was the first to install a photo-finish camera and the first to use an electric starting gate.

Bill Shoemaker started his career galloping horses at Bay Meadows and Russell Baze topped Laffit Pincay Jr. as the all-time winningest rider there.

The sad reality is that this will likely not be the last of the dinosaurs to go the way of the implosion.

Hollywood could very well be next on the list since they are owned by the same company that prompted the close of Bay Meadows and plans for where those Southern California dates would go is truly up in the air.

As far as racing in Northern California is concerned, they really have not been able to compete for years now because of tracks that have slots.

The fields are generally minute, the unattractive betting cards offer very little excitement and it is expected that about half of the Bay Meadows dates will go to Golden Gate, across the Bay in Albany right outside of Berkeley.

As far as being a horseplayer, Bay Meadows was the venue that allowed me to understand the California racing game inside and out. I was privy to conversations among local riders and trainers that always brought insight and sometimes some great betting opportunities.

In addition to learning a new facet of the sport, the Eastern racing I was used to was more class oriented and had less emphasis on pure speed, my time at Bay Meadows was a joy for the friendships and the teachers that I knew and had to leave behind.

My heart goes out to all the little people involved at the track, the vendors, the parkers, the ushers and the good people of the backstretch.

This is the area where greed and the need to put up yet another parking lot, misses the mark by about a million miles.

Farewell my friend.