Peter W. Tunney, vice president of California operations for Magna Entertainment Corp. , has announced the appointment of veteran racing official Sean Greely as racing secretary at Golden Gate Fields.
Greely, the son of former Keeneland president William Greely, has been around racing his entire life and has worked as a racing official for 23 years. Greely was racing secretary at Monmouth Park and The Meadowlands from 2000-2003 and at Hialeah from 1999-2000. Greely, 41, worked as an assistant racing secretary at Hialeah and Calder before taking the racing secretary post at Hialeah in 1999. He took some time off after leaving Monmouth Park and says he comes to Golden Gate Fields feeling recharged.
"The time away did me good but I'm ready to go back to work," said Greely. "My objective is to improve the quality of racing as much as I can."
Although he has never worked in California, Greely believes that will not be a hindrance.
"Getting to know horsemen is not a problem for me," said Greely. "I speak the same language as trainers and that helps. The first step in the process is to go through the stall applications, which are due Oct. 10. When I review them, I'll talk with trainers to find out which horses are ready to run, what type of races they are looking to run in, and write my condition book accordingly." "We are very pleased to have acquired an individual like Sean, who has an extensive racing background and comes from such a fine racing family," said Tunney. Greely's brother, Kevin, is the racing secretary in Dubai, which hosts the rich Dubai World Cup program. Greely's cousin, Beau, trains successfully on the Southern California circuit.
Greely replaces Tom "Bomber" Doutrich, who resigned as racing secretary at both Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows in July. C. Gregory Brent took over for Doutrich at Bay Meadows, which is currently conducting its 2004 fall meet. Golden Gate Fields will open its 2004-2005 season on Wednesday, Nov. 10.