Del Mar Barn Area © Del Mar Thoroughbred Club
GETTING THE COBWEBS OUT AS OPENING DAY APPROACHES
You know Opening Day of the summer meet at Del Mar is close at hand when you hear the whinny of a happily content Thoroughbred as he settles in to his new surroundings.
“It’s nice to be here because they (the horses) like the turf and the weather,” points out trainer Richard Baltas, who was one of the first arrivals with his string of 40 horses on Sunday. “I think the horses like being here because they get out of the heat. People like it, too.”
Horses began arriving at Del Mar Saturday evening. More trickled-in on Sunday and by Monday afternoon stalls were beginning to fill as the constant flow of horse trailers made their way throughout the backside.
“We’ll have a full barn area,” says racing secretary David Jerkens. “The horse population throughout the year increased with the new consolidated circuit. We’re at a number we’ve been comfortable with for the last few years and there’s an increased number of horses at the auxiliary facilities, Los Alamitos and San Luis Rey.”
That number for Del Mar is around 1,800 but Jerkens notes there was more demand this summer. He even had to put together a waiting list and that’s always a good sign.
By Tuesday morning it was beginning to look like the Del Mar backside as we’ve come to know it. Horses going through their morning routines, be it a simple walk along the shedrow or a quick gallop out on to the main track which was open for the first time this season. Tuesday’s estimate was about 1,200 horses on board, according to Jenkens. The rest will follow soon.
The first remnants of trainer Bob Baffert’s operation began showing up Tuesday. John Sadler and Richard Mandella’s crews were hard at work Monday. Phil D’Amato brought his Opening Day starters on Sunday.
“It’s still a work in progress,” D’Amato explained Tuesday morning. “We’re about halfway there. The rest are coming today. We like to split it up amongst a couple days.”
D’Amato has brought his usual share of 40-to-50 horses. Enough to fill up barn ‘A’ on the east end of the stable area.
Meanwhile, the Del Mar work crews are busy washing everything down, sprucing up the plazas and paddock areas and making sure the grandstand is prepared for the sellout crowd expected this Friday and the 30 race days that follow. A daunting task that always gets completed on time every year.
100 HORSES DRAW IN FOR OPENING DAY CARD AT DEL MAR
The opening day entries were pulled Sunday and it will be busy at the starting gate come Friday afternoon. 110 horses were entered, 100 are slated to go on the 10-race card that begins with the usual one miler right in front of the crowd at 2 p.m. sharp.
Opening Day is highlighted by the 80th running of the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes. The traditional opening day feature has drawn a field of 10 3-year-olds who will go one mile on the Jimmy Durante turf course. It includes Iron Man Cal, a 3-year-old colt by Collected, who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last fall at Del Mar. He’s the likely favorite.
Three of the races on the opening day card are allowance/claiming races. The sixth race is a second-level allowance race and features Maltese Falcon, a 5-year-old gelding out of the Doug O’Neill barn who’s in for an $80,000 tag. He won the 2023 G3 La Jolla Handicap and followed that with a runner-up finish to Conclude in the G2 Del Mar Derby. He’ll face Dandy Man Shines, winner of the 2023 Let It Ride Stakes at Del Mar.
Also on the Opening Day docket are a pair of $100,000 maiden races. The purses include $20,000 from the Maiden Dirt Bonus. In race #5, horses that finish first through fifth are eligible for the bonus. A field of nine will go to the post in the 6 ½ furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up.
In race #7, a full field of 10 maidens is expected in the 5-furlong sprint for Cal-bred 2-year-old fillies. In this race, horses that finish second through fifth are eligible for the bonus. It’s the first of many juvenile races written for this year’s summer meet as the “babies” begin to stretch their legs and learn the ropes.
The rest of the Opening Weekend races will be drawn Wednesday and Thursday. They include the G2 San Clemente and the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes on Saturday and the $100,000 Osunitas Stakes on Sunday.
“SHIP & WIN” TURNS 15-YEARS-OLD IN 2025
Del Mar’s revolutionary “Ship and Win” program is back for a 15th season at the seaside oval continuing its quest to increase field sizes as well as the horse population in California. It has been a win-win for everyone involved, from the owners who benefit from the purse enhancements to the fans who get large, competitive fields in which to wager, which in turn provides Del Mar with increased pari-mutuel handle.
The program entices out-of-state owners with several perks to bring their horses to Del Mar, beginning with guaranteed bonuses of $5,000 for dirt runners and $4,000 for turf runners who have not raced in California in the past 12 months. On top of that, Del Mar enhances their winnings by 50-percent for dirt and 40-percent for turf…a supplement that continues as long as the horse stays and races in California.
“It’s a program that’s designed to give local trainers a tool to bolster their stable,” racing secretary David Jerkens says. “Acquire horses, get owners groups together that want to come out here as well as an incentive to land out-of-state outfits.”
Over the first 14 years, nearly 3,000 horses have participated in the “Ship and Win” program. This past spring, Del Mar “Ship & Win” participants accounted for 64 starts at Santa Anita’s Hollywood meet proving that many are staying out west and running in Southern California.
“It’s a vital program that allows us to run in a circuit that runs three days a week to run four days a week here,” Jerkens explains. “It allows us to maintain industry-leading field size figures.”
COOLING OUT: Journalism was loaded on a plane early this morning and shipped back to New Jersey where he will run in the G1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park Saturday. For those who were hoping to see the Preakness winner and Derby/Belmont runner-up race here at Del Mar this summer trainer Michael McCarthy says “All of his options will be open after the Haskell,” leaving a chance that he may still participate in this year’s G1 Pacific Classic August 30…The son of the late trainer Doug Peterson is expected to pitch in tonight’s MLB All-Star game in Atlanta. David Peterson is now in his sixth season with the New York Mets. Doug Peterson is best known for training the great Seattle Slew.