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 The paddock at Del Mar |
Dateline: 07/17/03
If it's July, it must be time for another season of exciting Thoroughbred racing at the seashore playground that is Del Mar. Founded by entertainment icons Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien in 1937, Del Mar will open its 65th season of racing Wednesday, July 21, and will feature its richest stakes program. The six-day-a-week, 43-day schedule runs through Wednesday, September 8. There will be no racing on Tuesdays.
Del Mar's laid-back, fun-loving style and Crosby's daily siren song, "Where the Turf Meets the Surf," mark it as a setting for a spectacular salute to the sport and a place where horses, trainers, jockeys and owners seemingly are united in efforts to make each season better than the last. The track, operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, sits just a few furlongs from the shimmering Pacific Ocean about 20 miles north of San Diego and 100 miles south of Los Angeles.
Headlining the record $6,325,000 stakes program, of course, is the 14th running of the $1-million, Grade I Pacific Classic, to be contested by 3-year-olds and older Sunday, August 22, at 1 1/4 miles on the main track. It is one of six Grade I events slated for the meeting. Top prospects for the track's signature event include Pleasantly Perfect, winner of the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2004 Dubai World Cup; Southern Image, reigning champion of the Santa Anita Handicap and Pimlico Special; Total Impact, upset winner of the recent Hollywood Gold Cup, and Peace Rules, triple millionaire and winner of the Suburban Handicap in his latest start. Also possible for the race is 3-year-old Rock Hard Ten, winner of Hollywood Park's Swaps Stakes and the Preakness runner-up to Smarty Jones. Fans most likely will get an earlier look at Pleasantly Perfect, with his connections indicating he is being pointed toward a comeback race in the Grade II San Diego Handicap on Saturday, August 1.
The season begins with a flurry of stakes action over the first five days, spotlighting two of the track's top turf tests of the meet, the $400,000 John C. Mabee Handicap on Saturday, July 24, and the $400,000 Eddie Read on Sunday, July 25. Both are Grade I events at 1 1/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, with the Mabee matching fillies and mares aged 3 and up and the Read open to all horses, aged 3 and up. The highlight of opening day is the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, annually one of the track's most popular stakes with horsemen. The 3-year-old test on grass at a mile has been split 22 times in its 57 runnings, including the last 15 years in a row. It serves as one of two major preps for the track's top 3-year-old race, the Del Mar Derby.
The biggest boost in purse money for the 2004 season goes to the Del Mar Derby. The 60th running of the race, a Grade II event, will carry a prize of $400,000, an increase of $100,000. The grass race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will be contested on Labor Day, Monday, September 6, the penultimate day of the 43-day meet. Taking the spotlight during the season, also, will be the Grade I, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf course, and the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Futurity for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs on the main track. The Oaks is set for Saturday, August 21, and the Futurity will go in its traditional closing day spot.
The other graded sprint on the schedule, the Grade II, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Breeders' Cup Handicap, is set for Sunday, August 15. Picking up an added grade for the season is the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap, which goes from Grade III to Grade II. It's a prep for 3-year-olds considering a run in the Del Mar Derby and will be presented on Saturday, August 14, at 1 1/16 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
While the horses are on-track stars at the shore, trainers and jockeys get attention, too. Perennial training leader Bob Baffert will be trying to set a record as he goes for his eighth straight title, eclipsing the mark of seven straight shared with all-time training-title king Farrell W. Jones, who won 11 titles overall. Baffert's 23 wins in 2003 pushed his total at the seashore to 254, good for a 10th-place tie with longtime conditioner Noble Threewitt. This will be Baffert's 16th season at Del Mar, while it will be Threewitt's 59th.
In addition to the racing, there are many of other events planned daily. Lots of concerts, movies, handicapping seminars, giveaways and family fun are scheduled. Del Mar is a great place to take the family for the weekend and even has a nice playground in the infield to keep the kids busy. So come on out to Del Mar this summer and have some fun!
Post time for the majority of race days is 2 p.m., with the exception of Fridays and the 1 p.m. start on Pacific Classic Day, August 22. For the most part, eight races are slated on weekdays with 10 on Saturdays and nine of Sundays.
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Photos ©2004 Cindy Pierson Dulay, licensed to About.
Adding to this year's stakes luster is the upgrading of the Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap from Grade II to Grade I status, which in turn meant an increase in its purse by $50,000 to $250,000. The six-furlong dash, the first of two graded sprints on the schedule, will pair up with the Eddie Read on July 25 for a double-barreled Grade I program.
The fountain in the center of the Plaza de Mexico at Del Mar.
