By Hank Wesch RARE RAIN CAUSES NO PAIN FOR TRACK SUPERINTENDENTS Overnight storms Thursday to Friday dropped .22 inches of rain on Del Mar, muddying up some places in the stable area but having little...

A well-balanced line-up of eleven older fillies and mares, including five Eastern invaders, will tangle Saturday in the Grade III $100,000 Red Carpet Handicap at the marathon distance of a mile and three-eighths over Del...

Rallying from next-to-last, Mega Heat and jockey Corey Nakatani narrowly prevailed in Thursday’s $65,000 feature at Del Mar, a one-mile skirmish over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course for older Thoroughbreds. Mega Heat, a seven-year-old...

By Hank Wesch LONG AND SHORT OF IT: INTRIGUING WEEKEND STAKES OFFERINGS Fields were set and post positions drawn Wednesday for stakes races Saturday and Sunday, the penultimate weekend of the inaugural Bing Crosby Season....

Achiever’s Legacy, dismissed at 9-1 as the longest shot in a four-horse field of two-year-old fillies, rallied in the stretch to win the $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes Sunday under apprentice jockey Drayden Van Dyke. Always...

By Hank Wesch McCARTHY RELISHES FIRST DEL MAR AND FIRST GRADED STAKES WIN “I’ve been around plenty of nice, graded stakes horses, but this is the first winner on my own. I’m very excited.” Those...

A day-long series of upsets, including a surprise victory Saturday by 17-1 outsider No Problem in the featured $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes, has triggered a massive three-day carryover of $599,483 into Sunday’s Pick Six at...

By Hank Wesch HOPE GETS CHANGE WHEN FAVORITE SCRATCHES Prime Engine, the 3-1 morning line favorite for Saturday’s $100,000 Grade III Bob Hope Stakes, was scratched Saturday morning, necessitating a revision of the lineup and...

For the second consecutive racing day, there were no perfect tickets in the Pick Six Friday at Del Mar. Thus, Saturday’s nine-race program at the seaside oval will feature a Pick Six carryover of $147,102,...

By Hank Wesch STAKES NOMINATIONS: PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS Think of stakes nominations lists as racing’s counterpart to movie trailers. They provide information about the players, stimulate thought regarding general plotlines and can pique the...