Del Mar Dirt Under Observation as Meet Begins

As Richard Tedesco circled the new Del Mar dirt main track in his golf cart, the Southern California racetrack's superintendent got instant feedback on the new dirt surface that made its racing debut July 16.

Jockeys Mike Smith and Drayden Van Dyke were jogging past, counter clockwise on the dirt course as Tedesco, who is responsible for the surface's maintenance, moved clockwise in his cart.

"Well, what do you think?" Tedesco said to the jockeys.

"Getting better every day," Smith said with a smile.

That's the essence of the plan for Tedesco, at least for now. Maintaining the new surface is a process.

"You don't get a track ready overnight," Tedesco said. "We're close to our ultimate goal to have the track where we want it. I'll be tweaking things as we go along."

Since Del Mar opened for training July 10, trainers seem to be at least relatively pleased with the way the track is performing, but some have expressed concerns with how it will hold up in the afternoon, as the sea breeze and sun takes effect. The previous synthetic surface had a reputation for changing entirely at different times of the day.

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"Here, you get the fog, you get the moisture from the ocean, so it's relatively tight in the morning, and in the afternoon, it's a different track," said Bob Hess Jr., who was one of the first trainers to send horses out for training at Del Mar. "If they do their job and add a lot of water, it'll be fine. It's a little loose, but they'll figure it out."

It's a distinction Tedesco agrees with. As moisture leaves the dirt in the afternoon, the track could become deeper and more sandy, causing times to slow down. Morning workouts, at least so far, also seem to be slower than recent training times at Los Alamitos Race Course and Santa Anita Park. On July 16, the morning of opening day, only two horses of 52 working five furlongs ran under 1:00 flat.

"We could be a little slow, and if we are, so what?" said the 78-year-old Tedesco, who has been working on racetracks, from Southern California to the Middle East, since he started at Hollywood Park in 1960. "If you look at the tracks back East, it's a lot slower than out here. As long as it's safe, and every horse gets off safely and they come back to run again—that's my main concern."

Tedesco says he's opened himself up to criticism and suggestions, from trainers and jockeys, on a daily basis. They've expressed a variety of opinions, but there are some consensus takes. One is that the track has so far been tiring. The slow times haven't been a top complaint, but he anticipates that will change once racing begins.

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"It's a tiring track and we've experienced that here from the beginning, but it's safe," Tedesco said. "It's tiring, but it's safe, and it's not going to be a speedy racetrack. They say now, 'Who cares, (as long as) it's safe?' But once we get going, they'll care."

But the word "kinder" has been tossed around on the backside, as well. Although it's the same dirt Santa Anita uses, the different climates make management different.

"Sure, it's the same soil, but it's a different atmosphere, different weather patterns, different place," Tedesco said of the "El Segundo Sand" Santa Anita and Del Mar both employ. "That changes everything. Thank God we live in a cool area."

"It's a little deep here, but to me, that's a plus," trainer Carla Gaines said. "It's kinder to the horses. I galloped for a few days and the track felt very soft and consistent. The biggest fear is getting it all consistent. You don't want anything undulating and it wasn't that way at all."

Still, the racing component—the most important component—is unknown. Soon enough, however, speculation will end.

"It's pretty much an unknown," Gaines said. "But they have a great track superintendent here. He's been in the business a long time and he knows how to take care of these tracks. That's no BS, either."