Del Mar’s seventh Bing Crosby fall race meeting, which begins Saturday Oct. 31 for its 15-day run and continues through Sunday, Nov. 29, will offer 16 stakes races, headed by the GI Hollywood Derby Nov. 28 and GI Matriarch S. Nov. 29. Nine of the track’s fall stakes will be run on its Jimmy Durant Turf Course.
Following 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. 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. 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.”
First post throughout the season will be 12:30 p.m. on all days with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, which gets an 11 a.m. start. Live cards will also be presented on both Breeders’ Cup days at Keeneland Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.
For the complete stakes schedule, visit www.dmtc.com
The post Del Mar Fall Meet Kicks off Oct. 31 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
“American Pharoah winning the Classic was awesome. He was doing something that will probably never done again in many years, if ever.”
“Selfishly, we had a runner that year in the Distaff, Curalina. She put up a really game effort to be third behind Stopchargingmaria and Stellar Wind. That was my most vivid memory.”
“I had 2 1/2 to get from Lexington, Ky., to Shelbyville, Ind., to make it from the end of American Pharoah's Classic win to Bucchero's first stakes win as a 3-year-old in the To Much Coffee at Indiana Grand. I'm a big planner, and I was sitting next to my partner saying, 'I don't think we can wait until American Pharoah crosses the finish line.' We had to make a beeline to the car because other people would be trying to leave. I had so much excitement for American Pharoah's race, and I thank him for winning it so convincingly, because we legitimately headed into the tunnel when he passed us, and we were able to get to the car. We arrived in Shelbyville as Bucchero was walking into the paddock. It was the first stakes win for Ironhorse.”
“American Pharoah putting on a show in the final race of his career, and destroying the field. He was just a magical horse. I was a big fan of his, and to watch him go out to Keeneland and dominate the way he did, and the reception he got, it was just a special, special day.”
“Donegal Racing had over 125 people at the races that day, and I think that was my biggest memory. It was the year Keen Ice won the Travers, beating American Pharoah, and we, of course, were hoping that he'd repeat that feat in the Classic. That wasn't meant to be, but it was still a very exciting summer and fall of racing.”