Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets

For me, there are a handful of things that serve as sort of benchmarks for a San Diego summer outdoors: baseball gets into full swing at the beginning of summer, and then the outdoor concert season around the county gets cooking, followed by the San Diego County Fair's rite of summer. But there's one more annual event that takes place and we ride it right around the turn and down the homestretch of summer -- the Del Mar Thoroughbred racing season. Yep, it's time to whip out the Daily Racing Form, dust off the binoculars, hit the ATM, and pray to the racing gods -- Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing is back for the 65th season. Co-founded by Hollywood legend Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien, Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing is "where the turf meets the surf," as fine a horse racing atmosphere as you'll ever find anywhere. The annual beach party known as the Del Mar Thoroughbred racing season parades to the post for the 65th time beginning Wednesday, July 21.

The extends through Wednesday, September 8, with a six-day-a-week schedule, Tuesday being each week's day of rest. The track's Spanish-style architecture and laid-back attitude make Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing the annual setting for one of America's foremost salutes to the sport, where horses, trainers, jockeys and owners come together for racing beside the sea. The track sits a couple of furlongs from the shimmering blue Pacific ("where the turf meets the surf," get it?), about 20 miles north of San Diego and 100 miles south of Los Angeles. So what makes the racing season at Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing History different from say, Hollywood Park or Santa Anita up north LA way? Well, for one, it's not in LA (have you ever driven to Hollywood Park? Scary area, that Inglewood is). But besides the typical different stakes activity and trainers, stables and jockeys it attracts, Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing is just plain cool.

And it all begins with the track's beginning back in 1937 when crooner Bing Crosby and some of his Hollywood buddies such as Pat O'Brien and Jimmy Durante got together and found a spot in a sleepy town called Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing History to start a race track. Now, you got to either love horses or love gambling to do something like this. Most would say it's foolish, but the genius lies in selecting Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing History as the track's site. You see, a seaside track is just too cool...especially in the middle of summer! Then, in 1938, the great legendary horse, Seabiscuit, came to town in an epic race against Ligaroti, where Seabiscuit, with George "Iceman" Woolf riding, won by a nose. How cool is that? Given that Seabiscuit was immortalized in the acclaimed book by Laura Hillenbrand and the much-anticipated movie based on the book is being released this summer, well, it's very cool to know Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing History had a chapter in the legendary horse's life.

Through the years, the track ebbed and flowed with the fortunes of the sport. Some of the greates names in horse racing have graced its turf: Pincay, Shoemaker, Wittingham, Longden, Delahoussaye, Lukas, Baffert, McCarron, Cigar, Mabee, and Best Pal. The list goes on... In 1993, a major renovation and expansion made Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets an even better place to bet on the ponies. Whether it's rubbing elbows with the well-heeled in the Turf Club or with the sun lovers in their beach chairs down trackside, Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets brings a laid-back, fun-loving attitude to horse racing. You might say, San Diego has put its stamp on horse racing...and losing money was never so much fun! The season begins with a flurry of stakes action over the first five days, spotlighting two of the track's top turf tests of the meet, the $400,000 John C. Mabee Handicap on Saturday, July 24, and the $400,000 Eddie Read on Sunday, July 25. Both are Grade I events at 1 1/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, with the Mabee matching fillies and mares aged 3 and up and the Read open to all horses, aged 3 and up.

Adding to this year's stakes luster is the upgrading of the Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap from Grade II to Grade I status, which in turn meant an increase in its purse by $50,000 to $250,000. The six-furlong dash, the first of two graded sprints on the schedule, will pair up with the Eddie Read on July 25 for a double-barreled Grade I program. The biggest boost in purse money for the 2004 season goes to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets Derby. The 60th running of the race, a Grade II event, will carry a prize of $400,000, an increase of $100,000. The grass race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will be contested on Labor Day, Monday, September 6, the penultimate day of the 43-day meet. The highlight of opening day is the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, annually one of the track's most popular stakes with horsemen. The 3-year-old test on grass at a mile has been split 22 times in its 57 running, including the last 15 years in a row. It serves as one of two major preps for the track's top 3-year-old race, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Derby.

On Friday, July 23, 2-year-old Cal-bred fillies have their say in the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs on the main track. The CTBA often provides starters in the track's juvenile filly championship, the Grade I, $250,000 Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets Debutante, slated for Saturday, August 28. The other graded sprint on the schedule, the Grade II, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Breeders' Cup Handicap, is set for Sunday, August 15. Picking up an added grade for the season is the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap, which goes from Grade III to Grade II. It's prep for 3-year-olds considering a run in the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Derby and will be presented on Saturday, August 14, at 1 1/16 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Taking the spotlight during the season, also, will be the Grade I, $300,000 Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf course, and the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Thoroughbred Racing Tickets Futurity for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs on the main track. The Oaks is set for Saturday, August 21, and the Futurity will go in its traditional closing day spot.