Downpour, Lightning Create Havoc at Del Mar

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Downpour, Lightning Create Havoc at Del Mar
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Among many, one criticism of the “all-weather” synthetic track employed at Del Mar from 2007 to 2014 was that it was unnecessary.



It never rains in San Diego. Who needs it?



So it was almost cosmically ironic when a downpour, equipped with constant lightning strikes, pounded the seaside racetrack July 18, causing all kinds of havoc at the summer hotspot on the first weekend of racing with its new dirt surface.



BALAN: Del Mar Dirt Under Observation as Meet Begins



The morning began with a lightning strike that caused a palm tree bordering the barn area to catch fire, which, along with the weather, led to the closure of the main track for an extended period of time, but all was well enough for Triple Crown champion American Pharoah to record his scheduled workout.





BALAN: American Pharoah Records First Del Mar Breeze



As the rains intensified, however, 24 horses were scratched spread across the 10-race Saturday card, three turf races were moved to the main track, and there were reports of flooding on the backstretch. For the first time since 1991, Del Mar had an “off” main track, and the first race was delayed 10 minutes after stewards decided to bring the horses back into the paddock because of more lightning in the area. Mid-card, television crews were even brought inside for safety reasons.



“We’ve never had anything like this,” said Tom Robbins, Del Mar’s vice president of racing, who has worked at the racetrack since 1981. “I worked for a lot of years at Santa Anita, through some torrential downpours in the winter, but this was different. We’re not used to that kind of weather.”



Water collected near the rail early in the card, but it didn’t seem to impact races and the track dried out well later.



“It was a lake,” Robbins said. “We couldn’t drain the water. It was just getting pushed to the inside. Once it stopped raining, it drained well.”



The backside, likely won’t fare as well.



“It’s probably going to be pretty messy for the next few days,” Robbins said.



All things considered, though, the track managed the unusual weather relatively well. Although races were taken off the turf, the $400,000 Eddie Read Stakes (gr. IT) remained on the grass and went off without incident, with winning jockey Mike Smith declaring, “I don’t think it rained on the turf course, only the main track,” with tongue firmly in cheek.

BALAN: Gabriel Charles Swings Wide to Win Read

More than 12,000 were in attendance despite the inclement weather. Even though the track took away its "guarantee" on a Pick 4 pool of at least $600,000, because of the weather and scratches, the pool built to more than $627,000 anyway.