Pacific Classic, Other Stakes Reduced at Del Mar
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Opening Day of the 2019 season at Del Mar
Del Mar announced a 38-race reduced stakes schedule May 29 worth $5.5 million in purses for its July 10 through Sept. 7 summer meet. The track's 81st summer season, moved up a week, is awaiting anticipated approval by the California Horse Racing Board at its June 11 meeting.
Like other tracks running without spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic, with wagering largely restricted to advance deposit wagering platforms, Del Mar has cut stakes purses.
Last summer, 40 stakes worth nearly $7.4 million ran, topped by the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), a race contested for $1 million or more since its inception in 1991. This year's race, set for Aug. 22, is worth $500,000.
The stakes slate includes 32 stakes that carry purses of no less than $100,000, along with six overnight stakes worth $65,000 each. Eighteen stakes will be contested on the track's turf course, and the other 20 will be offered on the main track.
Twenty-one stakes are graded—six grade 1s, 11 grade 2s, and four grade 3s—some of which will support the Pacific Classic program. That card includes the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks (G1T) for 3-year-old fillies; the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap (G2T) for 3-year-olds and up; the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes (G3T) for 3-year-old fillies; and the $100,000 Green Flash Handicap (G3T) for 3-year-olds and up.
The meet kicks off with the traditional opening day feature, the $100,000 Runhappy Oceanside Stakes, a grass mile for 3-year-olds that leads off the track's turf series for sophomores.
The $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds Aug. 1 will take on added importance this year, serving as a prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), which was postponed to Sept. 5 because of COVID-19. The Shared Belief has been lengthened from a mile to 1 1/16 miles and will offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale to the first four finishers.
"It's nice to offer local horseman who have horses on the Kentucky Derby trail the option to stay home and not have to ship out of town to earn Derby qualifying points," Tom Robbins, the executive vice president of racing at Del Mar, said in a news release. "Overall, I'm happy to report we're presenting a very similar stakes schedule that our horsemen have been used to over the past several years. We again will feature a blockbuster TVG Pacific Classic Day card with five graded stakes in one afternoon. And, certainly, to offer 38 stakes over 28 days of racing is impressive any way you look at it."
The track's other grade 1 races are the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at six furlongs Aug. 1; the $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles Aug. 2; the $250,000 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) at seven furlongs Sept. 6; and the $250,000 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1) at seven furlongs Sept. 7.
As in previous summers, five of the track's key stakes have been scheduled as Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" events, providing automatic paid entry into designated Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup races at Keeneland. Besides the Pacific Classic, the other four Breeders' Cup Challenge races are the Bing Crosby, the Clement L. Hirsch, the Del Mar Handicap, and the $150,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) Aug. 29.
Del Mar will offer eight California-bred stakes, part of the state's Golden State Stakes Series consisting of 39 restricted stakes for registered California-bred or California-sired horses.
The track will race on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday schedule while adding a closing day Sept. 7, Labor Day. First post daily will be 2 p.m. PT.
|
DATE |
RACE / CONDITIONS |
PURSE / DISTANCE |
|
Fri. Jul 10 |
RUNHAPPY OCEANSIDE STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Jul 11 |
Wickerr Stakes* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Sun. Jul 12 |
Osunitas Stakes* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Sat. Jul 18 |
SAN DIEGO HANDICAP (G2) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Jul 18 |
Daisycutter Handicap* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Sun. Jul 19 |
EDDIE READ STAKES (G2T) |
$200,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Jul 19 |
Smiling Tiger Stakes* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Fri. Jul 24 |
FLEET TREAT STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Jul 25 |
SAN CLEMENTE STAKES (Gr. II) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Jul 26 |
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' STAKES |
$125,000 Guaranteed |
|
Fri. Jul 31 |
REAL GOOD DEAL STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 01 |
BING CROSBY STAKES (G1) |
$250,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 01 |
CTBA STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 01 |
SHARED BELIEF STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Aug 2 |
CLEMENT L. HIRSCH STAKES (G1) |
$250,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Aug 2 |
GRADUATION STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Fri. Aug 7 |
SORRENTO STAKES (G2) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 8 |
YELLOW RIBBON HANDICAP (G2T) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 8 |
BEST PAL STAKES (G2) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Aug 9 |
LA JOLLA HANDICAP (G3T) |
$125,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 15 |
SOLANA BEACH STAKES |
$125,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun.Aug 16 |
CTT & TOC Stakes* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Fri. Aug 21 |
RANCHO BERNARDO HANDICAP (G3) |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 22 |
TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC (Gr. I) |
$500,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 22 |
GREEN FLASH HANDICAP (G3T) |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 22 |
DEL MAR HANDICAP (G2T) |
$200,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 22 |
DEL MAR OAKS (G1T) |
$250,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Aug 22 |
TORREY PINES STAKES (G3) |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun.Aug 23 |
DEL MAR MILE (G2T) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Fri. Aug 28 |
Tranquility Lake Stakes* |
$65,000 Added |
|
Sat.Aug 29 |
PAT O'BRIEN STAKES (G2) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun.Aug 30 |
GENEROUS PORTION STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Fri. Sept 4 |
I'M SMOKIN STAKES |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sat. Sept 5 |
JOHN C. MABEE STAKES (G2T) |
$150,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Sept 6 |
DEL MAR DEBUTANTE (G1) |
$250,000 Guaranteed |
|
Sun. Sept 6 |
DEL MAR DERBY (G2T) |
$200,000 Guaranteed |
|
Mon. Sept 7 |
DEL MAR JUVENILE TURF |
$100,000 Guaranteed |
|
Mon. Sept 7 |
RUNHAPPY DEL MAR FUTURITY (G1) |
$250,000 Guaranteed |