Del Mar Opens New Fall Meet With Questions

Entries for the opening weekend of the Del Mar autumn meet, dubbed the "Bing Crosby Season" by the track, are complete and now a couple of big questions are ready to be answered.



Will a three-week meet in November gain local acceptance just two months after the close of the popular summer-long stand? And will horsemen, most of whom plan to ship in with their starters on race day rather than relocate their stables for the short duration of the meet, support the program given a lower purse structure than they are accustomed to at Del Mar?



The newly-minted 15-day meet, which begins Friday, Nov. 7, is the latest addition to the post-Hollywood Park racing calendar in Southern California. The meet, which runs through Nov. 30, will be the first autumn stand hosted by Del Mar since 1967, which officials agree was unsuccessful from an econoic standpoint.



Having horsemen spread out across Southern California complicates—but doesn't necessarily impede—the process of putting together racing programs, says racing secretary David Jerkens.

 

"It's different from the summer, but the bottom line is that things went well," he said after taking opening day entries Nov. 4. "We're in uncharted territory here. We have an employee at Santa Anita taking entries and giving rundowns. Our text alert system gives trainers updates on what races are filling and what extras (in the condition book) we're going to use. And then we communicate with the racing offices at the other facilities where horses are training.

 

"There are tracks around the country where there aren't a lot of horses stabled. Kentucky Downs just completed its meeting and that's mostly a ship-in deal. But it is a bit different (for Southern California) and logistically there are some challenges that you wouldn't normally face," Jerkens adds.

 

"We're taking it day by day. We'll have to be flexible and we're going to learn a lot as we go."

 

The opening-day card consists of nine races with a total of 78 horses entered, an average field size of 8.67. 

 

"Our goal for the meeting would probably be 8.4-8.5, somewhere in that ballpark," Jerkens said.  "I think Hollywood Park's numbers (for the defunct track's corresponding meeting in 2013) were about eight. I think matching or slightly bettering those numbers would be a realistic goal.

 

"Beyond numbers, we hope that the races are competitive. We're packing in a lot in a short time—14 stakes in 15 days—and I think those races are going to be competitive."



Jerkens said there were 540 stalls allotted for the meeting, but expectations are for 350-400 horses on site for the entire month.



Trainers Mark Casse, Peter Miller, Bob Hess, Jr., and Richard Mandella have reserved stalls in Del Mar's reduced stable area for 20-40 horses. But the majority of trainers have reserved a handful of permanent stalls and will opt to ship horses in close to or on the day of races and use "ship-in" stalls before returning to their bases at Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Racecourse, Fairplex Park, or San Luis Rey Downs.



"We're here to run. We have to support this meet," Miller said. "If you can't support the business, you can't complain when we're all out of work.  We've got a bunch of horses that are ready to run. I live 10 minutes from here so it's kind of a home game for me.

 

"I think it's just a great addition to the racing calendar. I hope it's very successful and I think it will be."



Del Mar officials are projecting attendance and handle at about half of the summer business, or in the neighborhood of $6 million a day in all-sources handle and 8,000 on track.



The opening-day card includes the $75,000 Kathryn Crosby Stakes, which drew a field of 12 headed by 7-2 favorite Wishing Gate, trained by Tom Proctor.



Miller, 48, a Carlsbad resident, shared the training title with Jerry Hollendorfer for the 2014 summer Del Mar meeting and was the leading trainer there in 2012. He will  saddle four  horses on opening day, the most of any trainer.

Leandro Mora is one of five trainers with three representatives on the inaugural card. The longtime top assistant to Doug O'Neill is in charge while O'Neill serves a suspension. The stable is located in the same corner of Barn Y as always. The 25 stalls allotted are more than a dozen fewer than the summertime, but in accord with plans and expectations.

 

"We've got just a handful here right now and they'll all run in the next two days," Mora said. "We're going to see how they do and then we'll decide which ones stay and which ones we (shuttle) between here and Santa Anita."

 

Mandella has been a regular at the summer meeting for almost  40 years. His first stakes winner came, appropriately enough, in the Bing Crosby Handicap in 1978 with Bad 'N Big.

 

"I'm excited to be here in November," Mandella said. "I hope that we'll get enough attendance and support to make it worthwhile, but it's surely a great thing to be here."

 

Mandella said his stable on the grounds consists mainly of young and developing horses. Like most trainers, the majority of his charges will remain off site and horses will be moved in and out as needed.

 

"With only three weeks it's not worth moving the whole thing here and changing everybody's life," Mandella said. "Next year, when it's four weeks, we'll just move. We're giving them a warning, basically."



TVG will be on hand to bring the meet's live action in high definition, where available.



Del Mar's 14 stakes carry purses totaling $2.25 million. Many named for great Hollywood celebrities of the past, in keeping with the Bing Crosby theme, a throw-back salute to the track's founder.

Included are nine graded contests highlighted by a pair of grade I events, the $300,000 Hollywood Derby Nov. 29 and the $300,000 Matriarch on closing day. Seven of the graded stakes will be run during the closing Thanksgiving weekend.