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Welfare Of Humans, Horses Top Priority At Del Mar Summer Meet

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) will continue its enhanced safety measures for its horses and riders, while now also implementing a new set of protocols and procedures to ensure human safety, as its seaside Thoroughbred headquarters prepares to celebrate its 81st season of racing.

The horse/rider initiatives amplify the effective safety and welfare measures that Del Mar introduced over the last several seasons of racing and which have led to it being recognized as one the safest racetracks in the U.S. for both 2018 and 2019, according to The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database, which ranks Del Mar as among the safest major racetracks in the country with a rate of 0.79 fatal injuries per 1,000 starts in 2018 and 0.62 in 2019. The national average for track's reporting was 1.68.

Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the track also will take the unprecedented step of racing without fans in attendance in 2020 and with an extensive series of health and safety measures in place for all mandatory personnel.

“We're all about safety here,” said DMTC's CEO Joe Harper. “Safety and health will be our focus for the people involved with putting on this year's extraordinary race meet, but we'll also be continuing with our safety reforms for the well-being of our riders and horses.”

Working with health and medical experts in the county and state, Del Mar has put together a large-scale human safety program that will ensure those onsite at the 340-acre Del Mar Racetrack will have the most secure working environment possible during the 28-day session that runs from July 10 to September 7.

Among the daily measures that will be implemented throughout the 2020 summer race meeting at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club:

Admittance to the facility will be strictly limited to essential personnel
Daily on-site health screening for all personnel, which include temperature checks
All personnel will be required to wear face coverings
Some staff – such as jockeys and the starting gate crew – will be required to wear additional personal protective equipment
Proper social distancing will be required
Additional handwashing and sanitizer stations throughout the Grandstand and stable area
Enhanced janitorial services including daily disinfectant of all “common areas”
No congregation of people will be permitted in the saddling/paddock area
Saddling/paddock area and starting gate will be disinfected after each race
On-site medical personnel
Quarantine area procedures

Additionally, access to the Del Mar stable area will be limited to those licensed individuals who work directly with the horses. Stable area personnel will be subject to the same mask/wristbands/distance rules all frontside individuals will work under.

As for the track's extensive horse/rider safety program, it again will follow its well-considered and newly bolstered set of racing safety protocols that have been a model for best practices adopted by other tracks across the nation. Among racing steps that will be in place for the upcoming Thoroughbred stand are:

Entry Review Panel. The continuation of a panel of experts made up of regulatory veterinarians who will oversee the entries of all horses and provide an additional review of each of their medical, training and racing history. The panel will recommend to the track's Stewards that any horse it deems unfit for competition not be allowed to race.
Medication Reform. Del Mar will further its adoption of reforms modeled after the International Federation Horseracing Association (IFHA) requirements. Rules surrounding NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories) have been enhanced and extended and additional rules regarding other equine medications have been clarified and codified.
Increases in out-of-competition testing. Random testing will continue on for any horse at Del Mar, including ones readying for – or having just completed – morning workouts.
Enhanced stable security. As before, and working in conjunction with the investigative staff of the CHRB, an enhanced stable security team will monitor all aspects of the stable area to ensure that rules are properly followed.
Veterinary protocols for morning training. Just as they were last summer, veterinarians will be stationed at elevated observation points at the facility to oversee morning workouts and will have the ability – through communication with outriders – to remove horses from the racetrack and have them undergo a follow-up soundness examination.
Prohibit the use of the riding crop during morning workouts. Exercise riders and jockeys again will be prohibited from using a riding crop to encourage their horses during morning workouts. Del Mar continues to work with the CHRB and the Jockey's Guild on additional guidelines for riding crop use.
Stakeholder Advisory Committee. DMTC created a stakeholder advisory committee last summer represented by trainers, veterinarians, jockeys, racing surfaces maintenance personnel and management that met regularly to discuss safety practices, operations and track surfaces. That committee will be in session during 2020 also.
In addition, the conditions of all horses stabled at Del Mar (approximately 1,800) once more will be thoroughly analyzed by Del Mar's racing department regularly with specific conditions (e.g., gaps in racing or workout activity) flagged for additional scrutiny.

Over the past three years, Del Mar made a series of changes and adjustments aimed at horse and rider safety. Those measures will carry forward to this summer and include:

The highly professional work of our directors of racing surfaces maintenance. In 2017, DMTC hired Dennis Moore, widely considered the top track maintenance professional in the industry. Moore immediately changed Del Mar's banking and grading to conform with the other racing surfaces in Southern California, allowing an easy transition for horses competing in the Los Angeles-area. Moore's exceptional work – as well as the untiring efforts of our grass course specialist Leif Dickinson – will be at the heart of the track's safety efforts.
Fewer horses on the grounds. Over the past several seasons, DMTC has reduced the number of horses allowed on the grounds by more than 15% – from approximately 2,100 to 1,800. Fewer horses alleviated demand for access to the main track during busy morning training hours, creating a safer training environment.

Adjusted morning workouts. DMTC allowed only “workers” (those going at race speed, not joggers or gallopers) on the track for the first 10 minutes following the first two morning breaks. It has proven to be a successful safety procedure that has been adopted by other tracks in the industry.

Enhanced veterinary inspections. DMTC will continue to employ additional veterinarians to conduct pre-race inspections and monitor pre-race activities for starters, creating four distinct veterinary observation points for horses on race day.

Racing Surfaces expert Dr. Mick Peterson. DMTC continues to be aided by the services of Dr. Mick Peterson, director of University of Kentucky's Equine Ag Programs and Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, widely recognized as the nation's foremost track surfaces analyst.

In addition, in 2019 DMTC joined the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an association of major U.S. racing organizations committed to meaningful reforms and accountability across U.S. racing jurisdictions. Del Mar remains fully accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Safety and Integrity Alliance for its upcoming season, having passed a complete review of equine and track safety protocols, injury reporting and prevention, medication testing, jockey health and safety best practices, wagering integrity and equine aftercare policies at its most recent testing.

Del Mar will race on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule throughout the summer, finishing its meet with a traditional closing day card on Labor Day Monday. First post daily will be 2 p.m.

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Tom Robbins, David Jerkens Among Veteran Racing Officials For Del Mar’s Summer Meet

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will conduct its 81st summer racing season beginning Friday, July 10 led by a seasoned collection of veteran racing officials.

As they have for the past seven years, Tom Robbins and David Jerkens will combine to run the show as the heads of the seaside track's racing department.

Robbins, a member of one of California's great racing families, will be starting his 40th year at Del Mar as he heads up a crew of more than 80 racing department staff in his role as the track's executive vice president, racing and industry relations. Jerkens, who also hails from a great racing clan – his an east coast-based one that was headed by his late grandfather, the Hall of Fame conditioner H. Allen Jerkens — has made his mark in the west and will be heading up the track's racing office as its racing secretary for the seventh straight summer.

Others signed on for the 28-day, nine-week run through the summer will be assistant racing secretary Zachary Soto, returning for his 30th summer at Del Mar, and racing veteran Ed Reese, serving as the track's stakes coordinator for the third time. Joining them this year will be the track's new Racing Coordinator, Tora Yamaguchi, who worked in the department previously but now is coming off a stint as the jockey's agent for rider Rafael Bejarano.

Other key personnel in the unit include stable superintendent Jackie Lynn, jockey room clerk of scales Matt Nichols and his assistant, Charles McCaul, as well as clerk of the course Dawn Schmid.

In the stewards' stand will be the trio of Kim Sawyer (in her 12th season at Del Mar), Grant Baker (in his seventh) and Luis Jauregui, who has served as either a regular steward or a safety steward locally every year since 2009. Joining them as this summer's safety steward will be Ron Church, who performed the same job at Del Mar last fall.

Del Mar's placing judges will be Robert Moreno, Sue Brent and Reese doing double duty. Additionally, Heather Correa will serve as a patrol judge along with Brent, while Karen Denovel will work as both a paddock and patrol judge.

The track's veterinarian crew will consist of three CHRB “official” veterinarians: Dr. Barrie Grant, D.V.M., Dr. Nolton Pattio, D.V.M. and Dr. Tim Grande, D.V.M. Del Mar will have four additional veterinarians: Dr. Dana Stead, D.V.M.; Dr. Helmuth Von Bluecher, D.V.M.; Dr. Alina Vale, D.V.M., and Dr. Laurie Bohannon, D.V.M.

Following a safety measure the track put in place last year, two of the veterinarians again will be assigned to elevated observation stations in the mornings to oversee workouts and gallops on the racing surfaces. Should one of the veterinarians see something untoward with a horse, they have the capacity to have the animal removed from the track and examined for possible injuries or negative conditions.

Other noteworthy officials for the session – which will have racing on a Friday-through-Sunday basis each week and finish on Labor Day Monday, September 7 – include Bridget Crawford, paymaster of purses; Jennifer Paige, horse identifier; John Lies, morning line maker and officer timer, and Victor Tovar, horseshoe identifier.

Leif Dickinson is back for his 21st year as Del Mar's turf and landscape superintendent, while main track guru Dennis Moore returns for his fourth summer as director of track maintenance.

Yet another returnee for the meeting is veteran head starter Jay Slender, spending his seventh year at the shore.

First post throughout the stand will be at 2 p.m.

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Del Mar’s 2020 Wagering Menu Retains Early Pick 4, Late Pick 5

Del Mar's 2020 betting menu will offer 17 different ways for racing fans to back their favorites at the seaside oval as it presents its 81st racing season between July 10 and September 7.

Though current plans call for the track to race without fans in the stands, the many satellite and online opportunities to wager and follow the action are expected to provide handle results similar to – and possibly even better than – past years. In 2019, 90% of Del Mar's betting took place away from the racetrack.

The track's bet roster starts with the traditional win, place and show wagers and expands all the way out to several five- and six-horse combinations.

Three relatively new multi-race bets that have proven well-liked by the track's punters are again on tap this summer. They are the early Pick Four, beginning on Race 2 at a .50¢ price; a late Pick 5 offered on the last five races daily, also at the .50¢ level, and a Win, Place, Show Parlay available for a minimum of two races and a maximum of six. It is a $2 bet.

In addition to its Early Pick Four, the track will continue to offer its usual Pick Four on the last four races on the day's card, a bet that has proven to be one of the most popular in the country and regularly registers $1-million-plus pools on weekends. Further, the late Pick Five will be similar to the track's early Pick Five held on the day's initial five events. And the Win, Place, Show Parlay will be presented using the standard single-bet W-P-S takeout of 15.43% instead of a multi-bet takeout that goes above 20%.

Del Mar also will continue with its longstanding $2 Pick Six on all racing days, along with the “Single Ticket Jackpot” addition to it that the track introduced during its 2016 fall season. Under the “Jackpot” rules, a separate pool accumulates alongside the regular one if nobody hits the bet as a lone ticket holder. This allows for a large separate pool to grow even in the case of a “hit' on the Pick Six by two or more players. The “Jackpot” pool often reaches six figures in fairly rapid order and can be expected to do so throughout the stand.

And, as it has the past several summers, Del Mar will schedule two “mandatory payouts” on the “Jackpot” pool: first on TVG Pacific Classic Day (Saturday, August 22), then on Closing Day, Monday, September 7. That means that a Pick Six winner on either of those dates would share not only in the regular pool, but the full “Jackpot” pool besides. Additionally, consolation winners on those days also would share in the “Jackpot” payout.

“Seeing what has happened at other tracks that have raced without fans because of the COVID-19 situation is giving us encouragement,” said Del Mar's director of mutuels Bill Navarro. “Across the board nationally betting has been strong. Wagering is the lifeblood of our sport and we believe we can – and will – have a good summer in that regard at Del Mar.”

The full array of Del Mar bets is as follows: $2 win, place and show (all races); $1 Exacta (all); $2 Quinella (all); .50¢ Trifecta (all); $2 Rolling Doubles (all except last); $1 Rolling Pick 3 (all except last two); $1 Superfecta (.10¢ minimum – all); $1 Place Pick All (starts w/Race 1 or 2); $1 Super High 5 (last); $2 Pick Six (last six); .50¢ Players' Pick 5 (first five and last five); .50¢ Pick 4 (Races 2 thru 5 and last four), and $2 Win-Place-Show Parlay (all races but last).

Del Mar will race on a Friday – Saturday – Sunday schedule throughout the summer, ending on its traditional closing day, Labor Day Monday, September 7. First post daily throughout the session will be 2 p.m.

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Del Mar Backstretch Workers To Receive Gregson Foundation Coupons For Food, Basic Necessities

Backstretch workers at the upcoming Del Mar summer meeting will continue to benefit from a recent special coupon program that has been financed by the Gregson Foundation, the California organization founded to aid those workers and enhance their lives.

In a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the extra burden placed on the workers, the foundation twice issued coupons during the month of April covering the stable area workers of 149 different trainers – 82 of them in Southern California and 67 in Northern California. Approximately 1,350 workers received the coupons.

Each worker received two of the $5 coupons twice, which in turn could be redeemed at the stable area cafeterias – Debby's Café at Santa Anita Park and Kan's Cafeteria at Golden Gate Fields. They also were good at California Thoroughbred Trainers' recreation hall stores for the purchase of food and snacks and everyday necessities, such as hygiene products, over-the-counter medicines, and laundry needs.

All told, the redeemed coupon value amounted to $26,690.

“Our backstretch workers are very appreciative of a seemingly small perk like this,” said Gregson Foundation president Jenine Sahadi. “They don't have a lot and they work hard with our horses and something like this is a recognition of the important jobs they perform. This was met with such positive feedback that we're going to do it again at Del Mar.”

Sahadi, previously one of America's most successful female trainers, has headed the foundation since 2001. The 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization, named to honor the driving force behind its establishment, the late trainer Edwin Gregson, raises funds to benefit backstretch workers and their families.

Over the past two decades, the foundation has provided over $1.3 million in scholarship grants, paying the costs of attendance at various colleges, universities and trade schools for 625 sons and daughters of California grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders and assistant trainers. Many of these children are the first in their families to go on to higher education.

Further, the Gregson Foundation has raised more than $5 million through grants, donations, fundraising events and Charity Day funds. Those monies have gone toward providing various activities annually for the workers and their families, such as softball and soccer leagues, family excursions to amusement and water parks, zoos, fishing trips, professional sporting events, holiday festivities, picnics and Bar-B-Qs. The foundation functions both in Southern and Northern California.

Del Mar's 2020 racing season opens on Friday, July 10 and runs through Labor Day Monday, September 7.

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