© Benoit Photo
Fall racing at Del Mar – known fittingly as the Bing Crosby Season in a salute to the man who got the seaside facility started way back in 1937 – is off and running on Friday, November 6. It will be the 13th edition of the “Crosby,” first put into action in 2014.
All told there will be 13 days of the sport presented, running through to Sunday, November 29. Programs will be held on a Friday through Sunday basis with the inclusion of one outlier – Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 – with first post slated primarily for 12:30 p.m. throughout the stand.
With a special emphasis on its highly popular Jimmy Durante Turf Course, Del Mar will offer 15 stakes races during the month with nine of them on the lawn. The highlights of the session are a pair of Grade I grass offerings on closing weekend – 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 Thanksgiving program, which has an 11 a.m. start and a 2 p.m. finish (to allow folks plenty of time to get home to the turkey and all the fixings) will feature the Grade III, $120,000 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile and three-eighths on the green. It also will provide a Thanksgiving Fun Run at 8 a.m. where families will be encouraged to bring the kids along for a gallop around the one-mile oval. Proceeds from the event will go to the Helen Woodward Animal Center.
All told, there will be $2.1 million in stakes offerings over the course of the session. Harkening back to its show business roots, the stakes program will follow a Hollywood theme, notably 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.
As per usual, Del Mar will offer lots of extras for racing fans throughout the meet, highlighted by Saturday specials that include College Day (Nov. 7), Uncorked: Derby Days Wine Fest (Nov. 14) and a Taco & Beer Fest (Nov. 21).
There also will be the annual Toys for Tots Drive and Ride on Sunday, November 22; Free & Fun Sundays featuring free admission and seating along with discounted food and drinks; the Del Mar Fall Handicapping Challenge (Nov. 28), and free handicapping seminars at noon each Saturday and Sunday.
Friday cards will normally consist of eight races, while Saturday and Sunday programs will provide nine tests.