Del Mar

Astute debuted Oct. 12 on the Santa Anita lawn, going 5 1/2 furlongs and getting a neck win after leading throughout. The $425,000 Keeneland September yearling graduate skipped a few conditions to move straight to black-type company in the Desi Arnaz S. In addition to the jump in company, she was also switching over to the main track and upping the distance by a furlong. Just like in her maiden, Astute went to the front, but this time she got headed by Private Mission (Into Mischief) to her inside after...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 9th-DMR, 57K, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, post time: 4:30 p.m. ET When a pricey yearling works a couple of bullets as a 2-year-old for meticulous preparer and Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, that debut bears watching. Sarah Kelly's VELVET (American Pharoah) brought $875,000 last year at Keeneland September--fifth-highest of her sire's yearlings in 2019--and began working in earnest in August, getting three bullets since, including four panels in :47 (1/87) Aug. 30 at Del Mar and five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (1/21) Oct. 7 at Santa...

With the ongoing Del Mar meet renamed a few years ago to honor Hollywood icon Bing Crosby, it seems only fitting that a colt named Spielberg (Union Rags) would take his shot in the GIII Bob Hope S., the race formerly known as the Hollywood Prevue S. The $1-millon Keeneland September graduate should jump a warm favorite for the seven-furlong affair, a race won by his trainer Bob Baffert no fewer than six times in its last nine runnings and 10 times dating back to 1996. Runner-up on debut and...

4th-DMR, $57K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 5:00 p.m. ET Muir Hut Stables LLC's AFFABLE (Flatter) gets a start for trainer Mark Glatt. Out of the unraced mare Wildaboutshopping (Wildcat Heir), the chestnut realized a $600,000 final bid earlier this spring at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in Training sale. The colt is the highest-priced offspring by the stallion in 2020. Always well-represented in these West Coast tests for babies, Bob Baffert saddles BARRAZA (Into Mischief) and SAVILLE ROW (Quality Road). Out of graded winner Halo Dolly (Popular), the former enters in this...

With the objective of improving the accuracy of tracking and timing data, officials at Del Mar have re-surveyed the track's turf course with a GPS system that will be in use beginning with the start of the Bing Crosby Meet Oct. 31. In August, the track acknowledged a rash of timing inconsistencies and reported that turf races would be hand timed over the last two weeks of the summer meeting. In conjunction with Equibase and its timing partner Gmax, Del Mar has re-surveyed its seven-furlong turf oval for the different...

Del Mar's seventh Bing Crosby fall race meeting, which begins Saturday Oct. 31 for its 15-day run and continues through Sunday, Nov. 29, will offer 16 stakes races, headed by the GI Hollywood Derby Nov. 28 and GI Matriarch S. Nov. 29. Nine of the track's fall stakes will be run on its Jimmy Durant Turf Course. Following its Saturday/Sunday opening weekend, the track will settle into a Friday-through-Sunday format for the following three weeks, then close things out with a four-day finish starting on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26. The...

For the Del Mar Fall meet, which begins Saturday, Oct. 31, all CHRB licensed owners will be permitted on track for both morning workouts and afternoon races. Unfortunately, due to state and local guidelines, non-licensed guests are still not permitted. Owners wishing to attend the races should email or call Mary Forney, Executive Director of TOC (mforney@toconline.com) to secure access, and reservations can be made up until 24 hours before race day. To attend morning workouts, no advanced reservation is required. On race days, owners must show their license when...

As in past years, the concept of "compromise" was accentuated in the assignment of 2021 race dates by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) at its Oct. 22 meeting. But this year, crafting a statewide racing calendar based on cooperation took on even more importance. That's because both the Southern and Northern California circuits have been significantly altered by closures and cancellations over the past 18 months due to several spates of equine fatalities, unseasonably wet weather, wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. With all of those factors in mind, the...

A field of nine, topped by 5-2 morning-line favorite Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute), will line up for Sunday's GII Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. Smooth Like Strait, winner of Del Mar's GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. last December and GIII La Jolla H. in August, raced three deep on a hot pace and understandably tired to fourth as the favorite in the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs last time Sept. 5. The Cannon Thoroughbreds homebred worked five furlongs in 1:00 (5/37) for trainer Michael McCarthy at Santa...

Del Mar released the first condition book for the seventh Bing Crosby Season, an eight-day book that will cover the first half of the 15-day meeting, which runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 29. The condition book is available on-line at www.dmtc.com/horsemen/condition-book. Hard copies also are being distributed at racing centers throughout California. "Our fall meet has just gotten better and better as we've gone along," said Del Mar's racing secretary David Jerkens. "We're again putting the emphasis on the two things that have worked very well for us in the...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) president Josh Rubinstein told the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Sept. 24 that he expects the track will no longer have to rely on hand-timing turf races at its upcoming fall meet because its inaccurate Equibase Gmax GPS timing system has since been tweaked to fix problems that produced numerous wrong clockings throughout the summer season. TDN reported back on Aug. 18 that some dirt and turf final times at Del Mar were mis-clocked anywhere between .07 seconds and 1.19 seconds by the industry's official...

Del Mar's seventh fall race meeting--starting Saturday, Oct. 31--will provide horsemen with a 10% blended increase in their overnight purses and the highest bonuses ever tied to the popular "Ship & Win" program. Despite the ongoing pandemic situation, the track was able to hold firm on its recently announced stakes schedule that offers 16 events with $2.25 million in purses. The track's minimum purse has increased from 2019's $17,000 to this fall's $20,000. Additionally, the track's "Ship & Win" program--now in its 10th year--will provide its richest incentive ever with...