Del Mar Announces Summer Stakes Schedule

Thursday, March 29, 2018 | 2:06 pm

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club kicked off it's annual summer season Friday, July 15, 2016 to the delight of thousands of fans and visitors. The seaside track in Del Mar, CA races Wednesday through Sunday through and including Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. Accelerant and jockey Santiago Gonzalez (second from left) won the first race of the meet and returned $17.80 to his backers. ©Benoit Photo

Mirroring its 2017 summer stakes pattern, Del Mar will present 41 stakes races worth a combined $7.3 million over the course of its 36-day meet in 2018. Racing gets underway for the 79th season at the seaside oval Wednesday, July 18 and concludes Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3.

The marquee day at the meet will feature the GI TVG Pacific Classic Saturday, Aug. 18, one of six Grade I's and 21 graded events overall. Nineteen of Del Mar's stakes will be run on turf, with the other 22 coming on the main track.

“We're very pleased to be able to offer the same stakes schedule as last year,” said Del Mar's racing secretary, David Jerkens. “Some stakes programs across the country are declining a bit, but we are holding the line at Del Mar. We saw a lot of new owners and trainers here last fall because of the Breeders' Cup and we heard a lot of positive reviews. We're hopeful some of those outfits will be back for stakes races this summer.”

Minor tweaks have been made to the track's juvenile stakes program, with the GII Sorrento S. and GII Best Pal S. being shortened to six furlongs from six-and-a-half.