In 1979, shortly after I moved to Southern California from Chicago, a friend from the Midwest came to visit and said she wanted to see Hollywood celebrities. “I hear you can buy maps showing where all the stars live,” she said.
It was true. You couldn't drive along Sunset Boulevard without seeing someone on the side of the road peddling “Maps to the Stars.”
I had a better idea for celebrity watching.
“Let's go to the racetrack,” I said. “That's where a lot of the stars like to hang out.”
Back then, it was not unusual to see Hollywood royalty at the races – Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Mel Brooks, and Jack Klugman were among those from the entertainment world who enjoyed going to Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, or Del Mar. Other track regulars from television included Don Adams (Get Smart), Dick Van Patten (Eight Is Enough), Vic Tayback (Alice), and Al Lewis (The Munsters).
My friend wasn't disappointed after seeing several of her favorite stars at the track.
Del Mar racetrack didn't just attract celebrities, it was created by them.
Bing Crosby, one of the biggest stars of the era, was at the gates to greet fans for the grand opening of Del Mar racetrack in 1937. Local businessman William Quigley came up with the idea for the track, built just a few furlongs east of the Pacific Ocean, and brought Crosby and actor Pat O'Brien onboard as founding partners. The first Del Mar Turf Club board of directors, led by Crosby and O'Brien, included actor Gary Cooper and two popular actor/comedians, Joe E. Brown and Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy fame).
Crosby didn't just help open Del Mar, he provided the track with its signature song, “Where the Turf Meets the Surf,” which greets racegoers each day during the post parade for the first race.
Within a few years of its opening, Del Mar became a playground for the stars, who traversed the 100 miles by plane, train, or car from Los Angeles to north San Diego County. Celebrities like W.C. Fields, Rita Hayworth, Red Skelton, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, and Jimmy Durante, among many others, contributed to making Del Mar a popular destination for the Hollywood set.
If you attend the races at Del Mar, take a few minutes to wander through the grandstand and look at the old black-and-white photos of some of the celebrities who helped make the seaside track famous.
Note: For more on celebrities at the races, Alan Shuback has written a book on the subject: “Hollywood at the Races: Film's Love Affair With the Turf.”
In the last six months, we lost two modern-day celebrities who loved both horse racing and Del Mar. In February, award-winning songwriter and musician Burt Bacharach died at the age of 94. For years, Bacharach had a beach house in Del Mar and rarely missed seeing one of his horses run at the track. This week, record-company mogul Jerry Moss, who co-founded A&M Records with musician Herb Alpert, died at the age of 88. Moss lived the dream as a horse owner, winning the Kentucky Oaks, Kentucky Derby, and Breeders' Cup Classic.
Bacharach and Moss were good friends in the music business who both got involved in racehorse ownership as a fun diversion from their “day jobs.” They both were men of integrity who did things the right way as horse owners and supported their Thoroughbreds when they left the track for second careers.
Both left an enormous impact on racing and on Del Mar.
Now, on to the races.
By the Numbers
The “chalk parade” continued in the fourth week of the Del Mar meet. There were 36 races run last week, with 16 winning favorites, 44.4 percent. The 23 dirt races run from Aug.10-13 saw 11 winning favorites, 47.8 percent, while the 13 turf races saw just five winning favorites, 38.5 percent.
Overall, favorites have won 52 of the 144 races run so far at Del Mar, 36.1 percent.
Average field size is 9.1 for the first four weeks of the meet, which is on par with last year's numbers. Week four field size was 8.4 horses per race.
Average winning payoff overall in week four was $10.93 ($9.50 on dirt and $13.45 on turf). It is $12.65 for the first four weeks of the meet.
The meet began with what appeared to be an anti-speed bias for the first couple of weeks, on both dirt and turf. Week three saw a major swing toward front-runners being favored, and the following week saw more balanced results.
Of the 23 races on dirt Aug. 9-13, seven were won by front-runners with six winners who pressed or were close to the early pace. Five came from mid-pack and five were closers.
Of the 13 turf races, three were won by front-runners, with seven coming from just off the pace and three were deep closers.
A tip for horseplayers: Look for horses coming back that may have shown speed before fading during the first couple weeks of the meet – on both dirt and turf.
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