Del Mar

In an effort to give young fans an "inside" look at the game, Del Mar launches 'Paddock Pals'--an up-close-and-personal session in the paddock on race days. Beginning Saturday, July 19, the program will see a Del Mar staff member randomly select a youngster and their family out of the crowd and accompany them into the paddock prior to certain races throughout the summer season. There the "Pal" will be in close proximity to the Thoroughbred racehorses as they are saddled up for their impending activity, listen in on chats between...

FanDuel TV will provide on-site coverage of the entire Del Mar meet, which begins Friday. Opening weekend coverage will feature jockey Joe Talamo's return to the oceanside oval--this time from behind the broadcast desk. Talamo won 364 races at Del Mar and enjoyed a banner season in 2012 when his 12 stakes wins tied him for third all-time for a single summer season. He also won three consecutive editions of the GII Del Mar Mile from 2011-2013. "Del Mar has always been a special place for me as a rider...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will square off against old foe, GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner, and 'TDN Rising Star Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), plus G1 Dubai World Cup champ Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GISW sprinter and 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution) in next Saturday's 44th running of the $1-million GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs, which is a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic. The last time Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone faced one another was in the 2024...

Roel Dill has been appointed the new Chief Financial Officer by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, according to an organization release Wednesday. Additionally, Ann Hall has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Lynn Wright has been pegged as the Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer. Dill formerly served as Qualcomm's Senior Director, Finance of Qualcomm's Technology Licensing business unit and Ventures and Treasury groups. Prior to Qualcomm, he was a Senior Manager at KPMG, where he worked on DMTC's audit team. His full DMTC title, as...

Great Friends Stable has been selected by Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) as the recipient of this year's Horseracing Partnership Award. Great Friends campaigns GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. winner Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) in partnership with Yulong Racing. The Southern California-based partnership is headed by Craig Dado, founder and owner of Sports Injury Central (SIC), a real-time expert sports injury analysis website. Approximately 15 members of the Great Friends Racing group traveled to Saratoga to watch Raging Torrent win the Met Mile. Great Friends Stable was conceived by...

California-breds have long been a staple of the state's racing product. Since 2014, CA-breds have represented between 45% and 50% of all starters at Thoroughbred race meets. Since the consolidation of racing in the south of the state, that trend has continued. From the start of the Santa Anita winter meeting through mid-March, Cal-breds made up about 47% of all individual starters, which includes both open races and those restricted to northern trainers. But with last year's foal crop (now yearlings) currently sitting at just below 1000 amid a breeding...

Kathy Walsh, who started training as an interloper among the nation's almost hermetically-sealed male ranks and who pursued her career with a rare combination of grit, guts, gumption and generosity, passed quietly in her sleep at the age of 85. A consummate horsewoman, Walsh brooked no fools and minced no words, yet garnered the kind of deeply held reverence and affection typically extended to those of royal lineage. There's a reason she was nicknamed The Queen. "She probably hired and fired me more times than she changed her underwear, I used...

The 2025 "Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In" television schedule, consisting of five live programs across NBC, FOX, Peacock, and CNBC, was revealed Thursday. Now in its 12th year of programming, the "Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In" spotlights North America's top horses as they compete for an automatic starting position, and free entry, into a corresponding divisional race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Thoroughbred racing's year-end international festival of racing will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar. "The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series...

Tickets are now on sale for the 2025 Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2025, at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Beginning this year, Breeders' Cup has entered into a multi-year partnership with SeatGeek in an effort to 'enhance ticketing for attendees' and those interested in purchasing tickets must have an account with the platform, which can be created for free at SeatGeek.com/#register. All tickets will be mobile only. While tickets will be available to view upon purchase, access to barcodes...

Breeders' Cup Limited is once again rolling out its schedule for the 'Dirt Dozen,' an incentive-driven program offering participation bonuses to horsemen preparing runners for dirt races at the World Championships, the organizer said via a press release on Friday. The 12-race slate--launched in 2022--features existing graded stakes races held from May through October at six racetracks across the United States. "We are pleased to continue our valued Dirt Dozen program," said Dora Delgado, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer of Breeders' Cup Limited. "Offering $525,000 in awards toward...

Guests Andrew Offerman of NYRA, Cathy Shircliff of Churchill Downs, Del Mar's David Jerkens and 1/ST Racing's Jodie Vella-Gregory, joined the latest installment of the OwnerView webinar series Apr. 8 to discuss how they ensure owners take center stage in their operations, according to a Friday press release from The Jockey Club of America who serves as one of the hosts. The panel discussed a myriad of topics related to how to improve an owner's experience at the racetrack, and the group addressed the all-important issue of how to attract...

The 2025 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: 'Win and You're In' will feature 93 races in 15 countries, the most in the history of the event. Each winner receives an automatic berth into a corresponding race, with all fees covered. In 2025, Breeders' Cup Challenge races have been or will be contested at premier tracks in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Dubai, England, France, Ireland, Japan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United States and Uruguay. While several international qualifiers--a record 49 overseas races are scheduled--have already been staged, the...