Josh Rubinstein | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fans Return to Del Mar For ’21 Summer Meet

Following improving trends in public health data, growth in vaccination rates and the gradual relaxation of limits on attendance at sporting and performance venues in the state, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced the return of fans to the seaside track when it opens for its 82nd summer season Friday, July 16. Track personnel are planning for spectators on site when the racetrack kicks off a 31-day season that will feature 34 major stakes.

“We will continue to follow the guidance of local health officials and our medical advisors, but based on what has been announced for other local attractions such as the San Diego Padres and SeaWorld, we are optimistic we will have fans in the stands this summer at some level,” said Del Mar president and COO Josh Rubinstein. “We have the advantages of a 350-acre site and a facility that can host people quite comfortably with appropriate social distancing as needed.”

Heading its traditional opening day feature–the Runhappy Oceanside S.–the July 16 kickoff will initiate a Friday-Saturday-Sunday scheduled beginning to the first two weeks of the season. The remainder of the meet will feature Thursday through Sunday racing weeks with a finale Labor Day Monday, Sept. 6.

First post daily will be at 2 p.m. with the exception of Fridays in which first post will be at 4 p.m.

The post Fans Return to Del Mar For ’21 Summer Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Del Mar Expecting To Host Fans For July 16 Opening Of Summer Meet

With improving trends in public health data, growth in vaccination rates and the gradual relaxation of limits on attendance at sporting and performance venues in the state, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club officials are looking forward to a return of fans to the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif., when it opens for its 82nd summer season on Friday, July 16, track officials said on Tuesday.

Track personnel are planning for spectators on site when the racetrack kicks off a 31-day season that will feature 34 major stakes, a substantial increase in purses and a return to the sun and fun vibe that has been part of its culture since it first opened its gates in 1937.

With its traditional opening day feature – the Runhappy Oceanside Stakes – topping the bill, the Friday, July 16 kickoff will initiate a Friday-Saturday-Sunday beginning to the first two weeks of the season. The remainder of the meet will feature Thursday-through- Sunday racing weeks with a finale on Labor Day Monday, September 6. First post daily throughout the stand will be at 2 p.m. with the exception of Fridays in which first post will be at 4 p.m.

The post Del Mar Expecting To Host Fans For July 16 Opening Of Summer Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Del Mar Horsepark Closure Not Expected To Impact Training, Racing at Track

In December, tremors rippled through the Del Mar horse community when the 22nd District Agricultural Association announced the cancellation of all scheduled 2021 horse shows at the Del Mar Horsepark, and the proposed removal of all horses boarded there, in order to attend to costly water quality issues bedeviling the facility.

At a meeting Tuesday, board members expanded upon the reasons behind the temporary closure of the Horsepark–a 65-acre equestrian facility located within two miles from the Del Mar Fairgrounds racetrack–and mooted the idea of holding as many of the scheduled 2021 horse shows at the Fairgrounds instead.

According to Josh Rubinstein, president of Del Mar racetrack, if scheduled horse shows are indeed relocated to the facility this year, such developments aren’t expected to impact the track’s anticipated racing and training calendar.

“Everything is so fluid right now, but from what we’ve seen from proposed horse show activity for 2021, there shouldn’t be any impact to what we do racing and training,” Rubinstein said.

Another piece of that puzzle, said Rubinstein, concerns the $13 million that Del Mar recently invested in a new wastewater treatment system, that paves the way for year-round stabling at the facility.

“If you remember back to the Lilac fire of 2017, Del Mar was forced into action because of the closure of San Luis Rey Downs. We stabled approximately 500 Thoroughbreds here through April of 2018, when we had horse show activity on the grounds,” Rubinstein said.

“We worked closely with 22nd DAA staff to ensure that Thoroughbred training could co-exist with horse show activities. It worked well then, with not a lot of notice for planning and such, and we believe in the future it’s something that can work well, too.”

A lawsuit requiring the 22nd DAA to comply with state environmental regulations eventually prompted the board to curtail operations at the horse park in December. Compliance with these new regulations is expected to set the 22nd DAA back a minimum of $3 million.

Prior to the meeting, many in the local community feared that any closure might spell the permanent end to the Horsepark, a major equine hub in Southern California. Indeed, a change.org petition to “Save Del Mar Horsepark” was circulated, garnering nearly 12,000 signatories.

At Tuesday’s meeting, officials insisted that there were no plans to redevelop the property.

“I want the community to know and understand, this board has not made a decision to permanently close horse park,” said Fair board president Richard Valdez, during Tuesday’s meeting. “We’ve hit the pause button so we can determine the next steps.”

The post Del Mar Horsepark Closure Not Expected To Impact Training, Racing at Track appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

California ADW Agreement Set to Boost Purses by $15 Million

With many wheels of California’s daily industry operations greased through wagering made at bricks and mortar venues, a pandemic-driven wholesale betting shift towards ADW platforms has thrown a sizeable wrench into the works, prompting something of a fiscal scramble to readjust.

Just last week, the Southern California Stabling & Vanning Racing Committee announced a set of stop-gap funding measures to grapple with a $2-million deficit and maintain the stabling status-quo in the southern portion of the state during 2021.

On Wednesday, the Thoroughbred Owners of California (“TOC”) announced a new “purse enhancement” program with TVG, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and The Stronach Group’s 1/ST Racing to inject up to $15 million into California Thoroughbred purses in 2021 and 2022.

“California racing has always been very important to TVG, and we are committed to continuing our support of the racing industry here, especially given the challenging circumstances the industry faced in 2020,” said TVG CEO Kip Levin, in the press release. “We feel the right strategy is to partner with the stakeholders to further strengthen what has always been a premier racing circuit in the United States.”

In October, the TDN reported that during the first eight months of 2020–when compared to the same period in 2018–the number of races had declined 30%, and while the overall handle declined 18.8%, purses dropped more than 26%.

During that time, overall purses in the state dropped from about $87 million in 2018 to around $64 million in 2020–a near 30% decline. The press release, however, makes a number of financial projections under the new agreement.

Santa Anita Park recently announced a 10% across the board purse increase for its 2020-2021 Winter/Spring Meet, putting the daily purse average around the $533,000 mark, making Santa Anita Park “competitive with the top circuits in the U.S. despite not receiving any casino revenues or government subsidies,” the press release states.

Under the new program, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club is projected to increase average daily purse levels to over $600,000 in 2021.

“This is a great development for California horse racing,” said Craig Fravel, The Stronach Group’s CEO of Racing. “Along with our horsemen and regulators, we instituted historic safety reforms starting in 2019. We believe these reforms and the enhanced purses previously announced have created a great racing environment that has already attracted top stakes horses, trainers and riders from all over the country to our current Santa Anita Winter/Spring meet.”

Del Mar’s president, Josh Rubinstein, said that, “Coming off our extraordinarily successful summer and fall meets in 2020, these increased purses, coupled with the growing excitement for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, sets us up for a fantastic 2021.”

According to TOC president, Greg Avioli, “This unprecedented level of partnership among California’s horsemen and women, FanDuel/TVG, The Stronach Group and Del Mar is just the beginning. With sports wagering on the horizon and its potential to both add millions more to purse accounts and to create new horse players, combined with the successful safety and welfare measures instituted over the last two years by our race tracks, we are well on the way to returning California to its historic place as the country’s premier racing circuit.”

There is pushback, however. According to the Paulick Report, Churchill Downs Inc.’s ADW company, TwinSpires, does not go along with the agreement-prefaced upon ADW platforms accepting a lower fee on all wagers from California residents-and the matter will reportedly go to arbitration.

The post California ADW Agreement Set to Boost Purses by $15 Million appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post