Turf Gate Start © Benoit Photo

Headlined by a pair of Grade I stakes offerings, Del Mar will present a $2.1-million stakes schedule during its 13th Bing Crosby Season starting on Friday, November 6 and running through to Sunday, November 29.

The two prime offerings are the $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds on Saturday, November 28 and the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares on Sunday, November 29. The former is run at a mile and one eighth on Del Mar’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course, while the latter also goes on the heralded turf layout at a flat mile.

Race cards will be presented on a Friday through Sunday format throughout the month with the one addition of Thursday, November 26, which is Thanksgiving Day. That special eight-race program will start at 11 a.m. and be concluded by approximately 2 p.m. to allow folks plenty of time to get home to that turkey and all the fixins.

Nine of the 15 stakes on the schedule will be on the lawn, a late-season emphasis at the seaside oval.

There are a pair of Cal-bred events on opening weekend in The Chosen Vron Stakes for 3-year-olds and up on Saturday, November 7, then the Betty Grable Stakes for fillies and mares on Sunday, November 8. Both are at seven furlongs and each carries a $100,000 purse.

Also of note on the agenda is the Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and a half on the green on Friday, November 27, as well as the Grade II, $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one-sixteenth on the grass Saturday, November 28.

The Thanksgiving Day headliner is the $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile and three eights on the turf.

“We’ve got one of the best turf courses in the country,” said Del Mar’s senior vice president for racing and racing secretary David Jerkens, “and we put a real emphasis on it for our fall meet. Our lineup is the best in America during that period.”

Harkening back to its show business founder Crosby, the meet will feature a Hollywood theme for most of its stakes, among them the Betty Grable, the Desi Arnaz, the Bob Hope, the Jimmy Durante and the Cecil B. DeMille, all of whom were part of the glamorous early days at the shore oval.

First post daily throughout the session will be at 12:30 p.m. Friday cards will normally consist of eight races, while the weekend program will present nine.

The complete list of stakes follows: