Yep, it's time to whip out the Daily Racing Form, dust off the binoculars, hit the ATM, and pray to the racing gods -- Del Mar is back for another season. Co-founded by Hollywood legend Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien, Del Mar is "where the turf meets the surf," as fine a horse racing atmosphere as you'll ever find anywhere.
The annual beach party known as the 2011 Del Mar Thoroughbred racing season parades to the post for the 71st time beginning Wednesday, July 20. The season extends through Wednesday, September 7, with a five-day-a-week schedule, Monday and Tuesday being each week's day of rest.
Del Mar’s Opening Day celebration (which has come to be known as the biggest party on the west coast) is expected to draw more than 40,000 celebrities, socialites and fun-seekers to the track to kick-off another historic year. The “One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest” will continue the eye-catching tradition of glamorous, comedic and shockingly beautiful hats on the first day of racing.
With a new venue and a mix of debuting performers and returning favorites, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club envisions even bigger things from its popular Summer Concert Series during the 2011 racing season that starts Wednesday, July 20.
Three weekend special concerts are scheduled led off by “Ziggy Marley salutes the Legends of Reggae” on Saturday, July 30, followed by the return of Weezer on Saturday, August 6 and concluding with Ben Harper on Sunday, September 4. The groups slated to perform following the seven “Four O’Clock Friday” racing programs are G-Love & Special Sauce (July 22), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (July 29), The Bravery (Aug. 5), Jimmy Eat World (Aug. 12), Devo (Aug. 19), The Airborne Toxic Event (Aug. 26) and Fitz & The Tantrums (Sept. 2).
Highlighting the stakes roster for the 21st straight year is the track's showcase event, the $1-million Pacific Classic, which this year will be offered on Sunday, August 28. The mile and one-quarter for 3-year-olds and up will be the richest and most prestigious of 31 "major" -- or "advertised" -- stakes planned for the summer stand. The 31 stakes will have total purse values of $6,075,000. Additionally, the racing headquarters first opened by entertainment titan Bing Crosby and his Hollywood pals back in 1937 also will stage 11 "overnight" stakes with a value of $935,000, bring the total stakes incentives for the session to $7,010,000.
The track's Spanish-style architecture and laid-back attitude make Del Mar the annual setting for one of America’s foremost salutes to the sport, where horses, trainers, jockeys and owners come together for racing beside the sea. The track sits a couple of furlongs from the shimmering blue Pacific ("where the turf meets the surf," get it?), about 20 miles north of San Diego and 100 miles south of Los Angeles.
So what makes the racing season at Del Mar different from say, Hollywood Park or Santa Anita up north LA way? Well, for one, it's not in LA (have you ever driven to Hollywood Park? Scary area, that Inglewood is). But besides the typical different stakes activity and trainers, stables and jockeys it attracts, Del Mar is just plain cool.
And it all begins with the track's beginning back in 1937 when crooner Bing Crosby and some of his Hollywood buddies such as Pat O'Brien and Jimmy Durante got together and found a spot in a sleepy town called Del Mar to start a race track. Now, you gotta either love horses or love gambling to do something like this. Most would say it's foolish, but the genius lies in selecting Del Mar as the track's site. You see, a seaside track is just too cool...especially in the middle of summer!
Then, in 1938, the great legendary horse, Seabiscuit, came to town in an epic race against Ligaroti, where Seabiscuit, with George "Iceman" Woolf riding, won by a nose. How cool is that? Given that Seabiscuit was immortalized in the acclaimed book by Laura Hillenbrand and the much-anticipated movie based on the book is being released this summer, well, it's very cool to know Del Mar had a chapter in the legendary horse's life.
Through the years, the track ebbed and flowed with the fortunes of the sport. Some of the greates names in horse racing have graced its turf: Pincay, Shoemaker, Wittingham, Longden, Delahoussaye, Lukas, Baffert, McCarron, Cigar, Mabee, Best Pal. The list goes on...
In 1993, a major renovation and expansion made Del Mar an even better place to bet on the ponies. Whether it's rubbing elbows with the well-heeled in the Turf Club, or with the sun lovers in their beach chairs down trackside, Del Mar brings a laid-back, fun-loving attitude to horse racing. You might say, San Diego has put it's stamp on horse racing...and losing money was never so much fun!
