Del Mar

8th-Santa Anita, $78,316, Alw, 4-28, 4yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.16, ft, head. EDA (f, 4, Munnings--Show Me, by Lemon Drop Kid) came into this contest riding a three race win streak, though it was one which began in 2021--capped by victory in the GI Starlet S.--and continued via her lone 2022 start where she held on to win the GIII Santa Ysabel S. by a half-length before going on the sidelines. Gone for almost fourteen months, she came back here against an allowance group and the betting public made their...

Last month, a lengthy Financial Times feature detailed the growing share of overall handle generated through Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW)--both in California and nationwide. CAW players are a small group of high-volume and largely anonymous gamblers with an outsized impact on the betting markets due in no small part to the sophisticated wagering tools at their disposal. Because of their high stakes play, they're offered inducements in the form of rebates and reduced takeout rates largely not available to the average punter. CAW proponents argue that these deep-pocketed players provide...

After watching the races just across the street from their home in Del Mar, Joe and Debby McCloskey decided to take the plunge into racehorse ownership with the purchase of a filly by Congrats at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Now, nearly a decade later, Johannes (Nyquist)--the first foal out of that first filly--has become the couple's first stakes winner and the 3-year-old gave promise of more firsts to come in the near-future with an authoritative second stakes victory in the Pasadena S. at Santa Anita last Sunday. Johannes began...

Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is playing host to a fundraiser for recently injured riders 19-year-old Bryce Bourdieu and 21-year-old Joree Scriver. The pair will be presented checks by SPRC Simulcast Coordinator and Chaplaincy representative Rayeanne Holland Saturday, Apr. 1, the racetrack's final Saturday of the season. Raffle prizes included VIP packages at Sunland Park, a Professional Bull Riding event, the Ruidoso Jockey Club and Del Mar Racetrack, as well as a $2,000 saddle, a $1,000 pallet of horse feed and $3,500 custom boots by Mario Garcia. Raffle tickets are...

Del Mar will once again offer a bonus package for maidens competing at the highest levels on dirt throughout its upcoming 84th summer season, the track said in a release on Wednesday. The move adds 25% in purse earnings to runners who fit the simple specifications of the program, is available to all dirt competitors in maiden allowance races, all California-bred maiden allowance races or any maiden-claiming race at the $62,500 level or above. The maiden must come from the barn of a trainer who has no more than 60...

The $1,000,000 GI FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic tops 39 stakes over 31 days, a record-tying stakes schedule worth $8,275,000 for Del Mar's 84th season, beginning Friday, July 21. The Pacific Classic Day card, set for Sept. 2, will feature five graded stakes, including the GII Del Mar H. and GII Del Mar Mile. Del Mar has slated six Grade I races over the course of an eight-week summer stand, as well as six Breeders' Cup "Win & You're In" tests that each guarantee a spot in the starting gate for...

Edited Press Release Del Mar Thoroughbred Club projected its most lucrative racing season ever last summer, then backed it up with a record-breaking meet that saw purse levels total above $25 million for the session resulting in an unprecedented average purse payout of more than $800,000 per day. Those numbers, the highest in California racing history, are in the track's sites once again with the aim to go even bigger for this year's 31-day stand, which will be the iconic track's 84th season. As it did in 2022, the seaside...

The 41st renewal of the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be held at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Nov. 1 and 2, 2024, officials at the organization announced Thursday. It will be the third time the seaside oval has played host to the event. "We are delighted to announce that the World Championships will be returning to Del Mar next year for what is sure to be an unforgettable two-year-run on the West Coast," said Drew Fleming, Breeders' Cup President and CEO. This year's Breeders' Cup races take place at...

The main takeaway from last year's California purse and handle numbers is one of stasis, with no significant movement in any one direction compared to 2021. A roughly 2.5% increase in the number of California races run in 2022 over 2021 is framed against a half-percentage point decrease in purses and an even smaller fraction of a percentage decrease in all-source handle. "It was like holding serve in 2022," said Bill Nader, newly minted president and chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), which once again put...

Some outstanding turf distaffers have prevailed down the years in the GI Matriarch S., contested at Del Mar since the permanent closure of Hollywood Park in 2013. The late Bobby Frankel sent out the closely related Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert) and Intercontinental (GB) (Danehill) to win in 2003 and 2004, respectively--after the race was shortened to a mile--and the honor roll is graced by the likes of Juddmonte's Ventura (Chester House), the globetrotting Miss Temple City (Temple City) and champion Uni (GB). The latter gave Chad Brown, Frankel's star...

Stretching out on the grass for the first time, Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Speed Boat Beach (Bayern) gave the Bob Baffert barn a rare graded stakes victory on turf in Sunday's GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. at Del Mar. Off at 17-10 after touching 6-5 late in the wagering, Speed Boat Beach showed good early speed, but Game Time (Not This Time) speared through at the fence to take up the running into the first turn. Speed Boat Beach settled nicely for this first go at a route of ground...

Speaking Scout came running late to upset the GI Hollywood Derby Saturday at Del Mar. Cold on the board at 8-1, the gelding broke well from the 10-hole, but was content to race near the back as longshot Evan Harlan (Temple City) carved out opening splits of :24.51 and :49.86. Asked for more approaching the far turn, the bay launched a powerful four-wide rally in the lane, forging clear late to score. Spycatcher held second over Wit. Fourth in both the GIII Kent S. and Bald Eagle Derby this summer,...