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Five-Day Week Spurs Positives for Del Mar

"The key to most everything we did this summer was the change to the five-day race week. It was overwhelmingly popular and absolutely successful." -- Joe Harper, president and general manager, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

Del Mar's 70th racing season came to a close Wednesday and -- despite generally hard economic times nationally and a tough go in the racing industry in particular -- the seaside track just north of San Diego had some good news to report.

On-track daily average attendance and handle for the seven-week session ran ahead of last year's numbers with all signs pointing to the track's shortened five-day race week as the triggering element for much of the enhancement.

When the final turnstile had been spun, Del Mar could boast of an average daily attendance of 17,181, an increase of 7.4% over last year's daily tally of 16,002. The 2009 final average daily attendance stands as the track's best gate count since pre-ITW days in California -- all the way back to 1987's daily average of 19,685 to be exact.

In addition, figures out of the mutuels' office show that on-track handle checked in with an average number of $2,292,284 per day, a rise of 5.8% over the 2008 daily average of $2,167,028.

Well prior to the start of the 2009 session, Del Mar petitioned for -- and was granted by the California Horse Racing Board -- a reduction in its number of racing days from a long-standard 43 days presented six-days-per-week, to 37 racing cards run over five days each week between Wednesday and Sunday. The track's reasoning in this regard was based on an ongoing shortage of racing stock, the economy both nationally and in California, as well as a direct-result plan to alter a racing industry that had diluted itself and its product to unprecedented low levels.

It was a classic attempt to make less be more --- and it appears to have worked exceedingly well.

"When we went all out for our dates change," noted Del Mar's long-time leader Harper, "we were reacting to economic circumstances and trying to put some energy back into this wonderful sport of ours. For too long now the idea has been that you can never have enough, a philosophy that, given the reality of the times, no longer holds true.

"The key to most everything we did this summer was the change to the five-day week. It was overwhelmingly popular and absolutely successful. From our racing fans, to our horsemen, to our employees, it has been win, win, win. We offered a better show this summer in so many ways and the across-the-board response to it has been gratifying."

The track also showed growth through its Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) platforms, with several new providers on board for the first time, including its own DelMarBets.com, a unique arrangement that has Del Mar sharing profits with its horsemen in the form of added purse money. In-state average daily ADW handle was up over 14%, while average daily out-of-state was even better at a growth of over 22%.

In regard to purses, final numbers were still to being calculated, but it appears likely that the track will show an increase in average daily purses of over 6%, a fact directly linked to its shift to five-day racing. Last year Del Mar's purses were $554,403 per day.

Further on the positive front, Del Mar could brag of turning its Opening Day extravaganza this year into an all-time through-the-gate record when a party-hearty crew of 44,907 kicked off the season on July 22 in rousing fashion. Additionally, its new "Free & Easy Wednesday" promotion, which offered free admissions and seats along with half-priced food and beverage, met with an enthusiastic response from racing fans who signed on readily for the track's Diamond Club cards to access the discounts. More than 20,000 signed up for the program on Wednesdays and the daily average attendance those afternoons jumped from 10,790 to 12,732, a boost of 18%.

"In the face of challenging economic headwinds, we were very pleased with the growth in average daily on-track and ADW wagering," said DMTC's senior vice president and chief financial officer Mike Ernst. "These growth areas helped offset wagering declines in off-track simulcast handle, which is down sharply throughout the country."

The track's overall daily average handle -- when all sources are considered -- came in at $13,040,206, which is an increase of 0.3% from last year's final daily average of $13,005,906. Del Mar's preference in its new five-day racing arrangement is to measure all numbers on a daily average basis, with the belief that this standard is a more consistent measure of actual performance. But even in the case of last year's six racing Monday's being eliminated from the equation and a 37-day-vs.-37-day table being drawn up, the track only showed a 1% decrease in daily average handle on-track from $2,316,577 in 2008 to $2,292,284 in 2009. Under the 37-vs.-37 scenario its attendance was down a tad also at 0.4% from a 2008 total of 638,470 to 635,679.

Total handle for the 37 days came in at $482,487,630, as opposed to $559,253,943 for 43 days the previous year. That was a decline of 13.7%, understandable given the six fewer Monday racing cards.