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Del Mar Modifies Several Gate, Turf Rail Positions For More Accurate Timing, Tracking

Del Mar has re-surveyed its turf course to enhance timing and tracking accuracy with a state-of-the-art GPS system that will be in use for the start of the Bing Crosby Season this Saturday.

Following its recent summer meet — in conjunction with its racing data partner Equibase and its partner GMAX, a global positioning satellite information platform — Del Mar re-surveyed its seven-eighths mile grass oval for the different race distances run on it. The survey included both the race distances and the run-up distances from where the starting gate is positioned for each race to the point where the timing mechanism is triggered.

As a result of the survey, Del Mar has modified several starting gate and turf rail positions. Additionally, the survey results helped the track correct some historic variations in how distances (back from the finish line) were calculated. As a result of the study, adjustments were made to the pole locations along the turf course.

“The integrity of timing data is critical and we know we have to get this right. We believe the adjustments made as a result of the survey, while relatively minor, combined with GMAX's GPS technology, will provide for more accurate and consistent timing,” said Del Mar's president and COO, Josh Rubinstein.

Del Mar officials noted that in some cases, due to the gate positions, the run-up to where the timing begins may be slightly longer than it was in the past, which could result in slightly faster times.

Del Mar's six turf races are run at 5 furlongs, 1-mile, 1-1/16th miles, 1-1/8th miles, 1-3/8ths miles and 1-1/2 miles. Its turf course has five rail adjustments for its races – zero, 12 feet, 18 feet, 24 feet and 30 feet. Approximately 40% of the track's races are run on its turf course. Rail adjustments and run-ups are necessary for both safety and fairness, helping to preserve the consistency of the turf course.

Del Mar's 15-day season will run through to Sunday, November 29. First post daily will be at 12:30 p.m. for all days with the exception of Thanksgiving Thursday (November 26) when there will be an early 11 a.m. post.

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Del Mar’s Seventh Consecutive Fall Meet To Be Conducted Without Fans

Del Mar's seventh consecutive fall race meeting – presented with a Hollywood flare and a title that honors the track's founder, Bing Crosby – breaks from the starting gate this Saturday for a 15-day stand that will take it through to Sunday, Nov. 29.

The Bing Crosby Season will offer 16 stakes races during its run, headed by a pair of grassy Grade 1's on closing weekend – the $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 28 and the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes on Nov. 29.

After its Saturday/Sunday opening weekend, the track will settle into a Friday-through-Sunday format for the following three weeks, then close things out with a four-day finish starting on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26.

The track will continue its emphasis on the safety of its horses and riders which has now resulted in a highly successful three-year span that has seen it rise to the top of a list of the nation's safest racetracks. Its extensive program of enhanced procedures and protocols include additional veterinarian oversight, a panel of experts that scrutinizes all horse entries and overriding analyses of medications and workout routines for its horses. These once novel steps now have become part of the day-to-day routine at the shore racing headquarters.

As was the case during recently concluded summer meet, the track will operate its fall season under stringent COVID-19 protocols, including daily health screenings for all employees and essential personnel. It will have medical professionals onsite and require both the wearing of face masks and social distancing. In accordance with state and local guidelines, racing again will be conducted without fans in attendance.

“Safety is on our menu from start to finish,” said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's CEO Joe Harper. “If you start with safety, everything else just flows. And not only will we again have safe racing, but we'll once more have the best racing in the country throughout our stand, something racing fans are going to love to watch.”

Nine of the track's fall stakes will be run on its Jimmy Durant Turf Course starting with the opening day Kathryn Crosby Stakes for fillies and mares going a mile. The meet's last seven stakes – presented over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend – are all contested on the lawn, leading up to the two Grade I offerings mentioned earlier.

In keeping with its Bing Crosby/Hollywood theme, the majority of the track's stakes are named for stars of the past who had Del Mar connections. Among the black-type presentations are races named for Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Jimmy Durante and Cecil B. DeMille.

Del Mar's racing office – headed by a pair of pros in its executive vice president for racing Tom Robbins and racing secretary David Jerkens – will be presenting either eight or nine races daily with a first post of 12:30 p.m. on all days with the exception of Thanksgiving Day and its special 11 a.m. start.

It also will present live cards on both Breeders' Cup days – Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7. Eight Del Mar races will be run both afternoons around the 14 championship events – five on Friday and nine of Saturday — conducted at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky this year.

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Thoroughbred Safety Coalition Adopts New Reforms

The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition has added eight medical and operational reforms to its platform. The group’s Steering Committee, made up of executives from the Breeders’ Cup, Churchill Downs Incorporated, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Keeneland Association Inc., the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and The Stronach Group, voted unanimously to adopt the reforms with the ultimate goal of uniform implementation across racing jurisdictions.

The following reforms have been added to the Coalition’s platform:

Strengthen race entry and eligibility requirements;
Work with state racing commissions to apply racing regulations surrounding prohibited substances and restrict selected therapeutic substances in proximity to high-speed works;
Prohibit the administration of external treatments, therapies and musculoskeletal manipulation within at least 24 hours of a race;
Work with state racing commissions to implement a clenbuterol prohibition in racing and training along with reporting/procedural requirements as outlined by the RMTC;
Strengthen requirements for removing horses from the Veterinarians’ List;
Adopt a waiver claiming option for horses coming off an extended layoff;
Require implementation of an emergency track warning system; and
Modify racetrack on and off gaps to increase horse and rider safety.

“As today’s announcement and recent progress make clear, the Coalition’s important work to ensure the well-being of our athletes has continued despite the challenging circumstances our industry and our nation have faced this year. The new reforms will go a long way toward increasing our collective ability to identify at-risk horses before they set foot on a track and protect the integrity of our sport,” said Coalition Strategic Advisor Donna Brothers.

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Del Mar Lowers Pick Six Minimum Wager To 50 Cents For Fall Meet

Following strong growth in its Pick Four and Pick Five bets when they were shifted to a 50¢ wager, Del Mar will change its traditional $2 Pick Six bet to a 50¢ one with the start of its fall race meeting on Saturday, October 31.

Otherwise, the seaside oval will conduct its seventh Bing Crosby Season with the same betting format it has presented at all its recent meets, offering 17 different ways to wager during the 15-day session that will run through Sunday, November 29.

The Pick Six, first introduced to Del Mar in 1980, is one of the track's most popular bets for those who like to “take a swing” at a difficult – but potentially very rewarding – wager where the bettor has to select each winner of the last six races on the day's card. Payouts of six-figures – and occasionally even seven-figures – have become part of the lure and lore of the bet.

“We think our shift to the 50¢ bet will make our Pick Six even more accessible and more exciting to a broad cross section of our fans,” said Bill Navarro, Del Mar's director of mutuels. “When we went to the 50¢ bet with our other two big exotics – the Pick 4 and the Pick 5 – the betting quickly swelled to double digit increases. They are our most favored bets right now and we foresee a similar enhancement happening with the Pick Six.”

Under the previous Pick Six arrangement, the payout was 70% of the pool to the winner(s), 15% to consolations (those with the next-most winners) and 15% to the track's “Jackpot” pool, where a separate pot grows and is only paid out in the case of a single-ticket winner. With the new Pick Six presentation the breakdown will be 80% to the winner(s) and 20% to the “Jackpot” pool. If there are no winners (6 of 6), the 80% of the pool is carried over to the next day (the same as the track's Pick 5 bet).

The betting menu starts with the traditional win, place and show wagers and expands out to popular exotic bets mentioned above.

The full array of Del Mar bets is as follows: $2 win, place and show (on all races); $1 Exacta (all); $2 Quinella (all); 50¢ Trifecta (all); $2 Rolling Doubles (all but last); 50¢ Rolling Pick 3 (all but last two); $1 Superfecta (10¢ minimum – all); $1 Place Pick All (all); $1 Super High Five (last); 50¢ Jackpot Pick Six (last six); 50¢ Pick 5 (first five, last five); 50¢ Pick 4 (second through fifth, last four); $2 Win-Place-Show Parlay (all but last).

After its Saturday/Sunday opening, the track will present three weekends of Friday-Saturday-Sunday cards, then finish up the meet with a four-day run beginning with the Thursday (November 26) Thanksgiving program.

First post daily will be at 12:30 p.m. throughout the stand with the exception of the Thanksgiving Day holiday and its early 11 a.m. start time.

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