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Bill Strauss, Bret Jones Named to DMTC Board of Directors

Bill Strauss and Bret Jones have both been named to the Board of Directors of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The two, who are the first new members added to the board since three members were added in 2018, bring the total number of current board members to 11.

“We've made ourselves better and stronger with the addition of these two fine gentlemen,” said board member and Del Mar CEO Joe Harper. “When you can pick up a pair of individuals who love racing and have rich histories in the game like they do, it was easy to get a unanimous vote to bring them on.”
Strauss, 65, was originally a New Yorker who had a successful financial career in Manhattan before making a coast-to-coast switch to Del Mar in 1992. There he helped found Provide Commerce, which became one of the nation's top e-commerce companies, including its popular ProFlowers.com and Shari's Berries.

He and his brother, Jeffrey, a master chef, partnered in a hugely popular restaurant they called the Pamplemousse Grille just across the street from Del Mar racetrack. They named their first horse The Pamplemousse and he became a stakes winner. Since then Bill has been a partner in such topline horses as double Breeders' Cup winner Mizdirection and $5.6 million earner Hot Rod Charlie.

“As a long-time Del Mar resident with my wife Margie, and a long time horse owner, I am honored to have been selected to serve on the prestigious Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Board of Directors,” Strauss said. “I am looking forward to working with my fellow board members to carve out a successful future for horse racing in California.”

Jones, 43, is the president of Airdrie Stud. In addition to his new role at Del Mar, he has served on the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors since 2011 and sits on the Keeneland Advisory Board, as well as the Board of Trustees for the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Foundation.

“I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity to work with the incredible leadership team at Del Mar,” Jones said. “Anyone who has ever walked through its gates knows how truly special that racetrack is, and anyone who cares about the future of our sport recognizes how vitally important its continued success is for our industry. California racing is a true lynchpin for our sport and its prosperity should be the business of all of us; whether you're from San Diego County or Woodford County, KY. I look forward to helping in any way I can and am honored to be working with an organization I so deeply respect.”

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Del Mar CEO Joe Harper Talks Banner Summer Meet On Writers’ Room

The Del Mar summer meet, always a hot attraction in Southern California, could not have gone much better this year. The stand set records for average daily handle and average field size, and crucially, recorded zero racing or training fatalities, the fourth stakes Del Mar meet with no racing breakdowns. Tuesday, Del Mar CEO Joe Harper joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about how the track has become the gold standard for racehorse safety, what the future looks like for Del Mar, his childhood acting career and more.

“We spent $5 million putting in a new surface,” Harper said when asked what the keys have been to eliminating breakdowns. “It's kind of like picking up a carpet and shaking it out and putting it back down again. We re-banked the turns, and I think the main thing was just keeping our eye on these horses in the morning as well as when [trainers] put in stall applications. I want to know where they've been, how long the layoffs have been, why there were layoffs, take a look at vet records, and then when they get here, we put a lot of eyes on them. We hired a number of veterinarians to watch morning workouts, and they're really good. They know every horse on the grounds. They know the trainers. So if they see something a little off, they call the trainer and say they're going to come by the barn and take a look at this horse. I think it took a while for the change of culture to sink in. There's a little bit of, [when horsemen say] 'I think we've got one more race left in this horse', saying to them, 'I think it's time to retire them.' It was great getting that change of culture and the horsemen to accept the fact that we all had to do something. And it worked. It worked the first year, and it's been working a bit better every year.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the KTOB, Lane's End, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds, Three Chimneys and Legacy Bloodstock, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and guest co-host Barry Spears reacted to closing weekend at Del Mar and Flightline (Tapit)'s stud deal at Lane's End. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Del Mar Summer Meet Set New Records on Multiple Fronts

Highlighted by the buzz around Flightline (Tapit)'s stellar GI TVG Pacific Classic performance in the track's signature event, Del Mar had record wagering and field size for the 31-day summer meet that ended Sunday, as well as a continued excellent safety record for the fourth consecutive year. There were no catastrophic injuries among 2,688 starters in the meet's 294 races.

The 83rd summer meet at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) set new records for average daily handle with $18.69 million a day, an increase of 1.5% from last year's $18.41 million, which was the previous record. Total wagering for the meet increased to $579.24 million, compared to the $570.78 million wagered during the 2021 summer session. In addition, on-track business increased with average daily wagering of $1.52 million, which represented a 4.8% growth from 2021. Total attendance of 278,702 was up 16.1% from 2021's total of 240,030.

With an average of more than $800,000 in purses per day, field size reached 9.77 for turf races and 8.67 for main track races. Together they combined for a Del Mar record of 9.14 horses per race, well above last year's average of 8.45 and among the top in field size for the entire country.

“Just an incredible meet on all levels,” said Joe Harper, Del Mar's CEO. “All season long the racing was ultra-competitive and extremely safe. Our racing office, led by Tom Robbins and David Jerkens, was phenomenal. We're also very appreciative of the support we received from our fans and our players both here on track and all across the country.”

In addition, Del Mar's “Ship & Win” program had its best season yet with 222 new runners shipping in to race well ahead of last year's record 186 shippers.

“This meet is the culmination of a year-long plan to revitalize California racing and return it to its rightful place as one of the best circuits in America,” said Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) chairman Gary Fenton. “A big thank you to our partners at DMTC and our members. Without owners there is no California racing and they continue to make a strong statement that Del Mar is their favorite place to be.”

Rider Juan Hernandez, who won five graded races at the meet, captured the jockey title in a runaway with 49 total victories. Umberto Rispoli trailed in second with 27 wins for the meet. Hernandez won his first rider's title at Del Mar last fall.

In contrast, the trainer's title was so close that it came down to the last day of the meet. Bob Baffert got a victory with Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity, a win that put him on even terms with Phil D'Amato. The two finished the day tied with 19 wins apiece. It's D'Amato third summer title at Del Mar and his fourth overall, as well as Baffert's eighth (but first title at Del Mar since 2003). A total of 70 different trainers won races at the meet.

The leading owner crown went to the partnership of Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, who finished first both in number of wins and money won. They won a total of nine races (35%) and purses of $849,680. Hronis Racing was the runner-up with wins (six) and J. Paul Reddam's Reddam Racing was second in purses ($628,834).

Racing will return to Del Mar for the Bing Crosby meet, which runs Nov. 11 through Dec. 4.

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Craig Dado Leaves Del Mar

Craig Dado, a member of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's executive staff for the past 20 years, is leaving the organization to pursue other opportunities.

Dado, 54, a Northern California native, has been a Del Mar executive vice president and its chief marketing officer since 2013. He joined the company in 2001 as vice president of marketing, then in 2010 was named senior vice president before assuming his current role.

Prior to coming on board at Del Mar, Dado had begun his racing career at Santa Anita Park in 1991 where he worked his way up to become the track's vice president for marketing.

“Craig has been a solid contributor to our efforts at Del Mar over the past two decades,” said Joe Harper, DMTC's CEO. “His intelligence and instincts in the marketing business helped Del Mar rise up in the racing industry and for that we'll be forever grateful. We wish him nothing but well as he moves on to other things.”

Dado oversaw the track's successful strategies to woo younger fans through the use of music and food and drink festivals. He spearheaded the track's “branding” efforts through its blue and yellow diamonds color themes and its “Cool as Ever” marketing and advertising programs.

“Working at Del Mar has been a dream job for over 20 years. I can't thank Joe Harper and the wonderful people there enough,” said Dado. “I'm going to miss it, but I have an opportunity to run my own business, which has been a goal of mine for years. I feel like the timing is right.”

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