Del Mar boss talks COVID, Breeders’ Cup ... and Baffert

Joe Harper, chief executive officer of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, possesses a level of experience and expertise that ranks him among the racing industry’s most prominent leaders. He has managed Del Mar since 1978, helping to boost average daily handle and attendance so that it stands among the sport’s premier venues with an ambiance that is hard to match.

As Del Mar prepares to host the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday and the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5 and 6, Harper, 78, participated in a question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of Horse Racing Nation.

Controversial Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was among a wide range of topics discussed. Harper described Baffert as an “honest guy,” but as someone who “had some positives that were certainly his fault.”

You have overseen Del Mar since 1978. How do you keep your position fresh and interesting?

You hire younger people, I can tell you that, and smarter people. My only speech way back when was “we have to realize we are in the entertainment business and not just the racing business or the gambling business or the food and beverage business.” I think growing up in Hollywood ingrained that in me about entertaining the folks. The secret to Del Mar is to keep it fresh and go outside your normal gambling patron.

How are you faring during the current meet, given ongoing concern about the pandemic?

We’re still a little compromised by the COVID restraints. We’re playing it as safe as we can. Opening day we went to seating only, so we went from what could have been 35,000 people to 17,000, which worked very well. We did it online, and it actually worked out better than I thought it was going to work out. We have probably 17,000 seats, and we pretty much sold all of those out. We’re going along as best we can in this age of restraint.

You recently raised the purse for the Pacific Classic to $1 million. Why was it important to do that?

I suppose there is a certain amount of marketing to having a $1 million race. Obviously last year we went down to half a million. But TVG, who is the sponsor, helped us with that. When we saw what we were handling last year, we had a tremendous increase in purses, and so we boosted it up to $750,000. What we’re seeing now, being up almost 17 percent over last year, we felt it was a pretty safe bet to have it up to $1 million again.

Do you intend to keep it at that level?

Absolutely.

How do you account for such a significant increase in handle?

I kind of attribute it to people who couldn’t bet on other sports that were canceled last year, they switched over to racing. We’ve always had a very high percentage off track, some days as much as 90 percent. With higher purses we were able to get more horses here with our “Ship and Win” program. It gave a lot of incentive to put your horse on a plane and come out and play at Del Mar.

How do you view the controversy surrounding Bob Baffert? What constitutes a fair treatment of him at this stage?

Everybody is waiting to hear from the Kentucky (Horse) Racing Commission on what the ruling would be. It was a violation of the rules, obviously. It was not doping a horse. I think the media overreacted, and I think Churchill Downs, the New York Racing Association and The Jockey Club, of which I am a member, overreacted. I understand why they did it. I certainly can see their reasoning. We want to keep this game safe. We don’t need the kind of publicity that generated from that. I’ve known Bob Baffert since he was a quarter-horse trainer. I think he’s an honest guy. He had some positives that were certainly his fault; there is no getting around that. He is the captain of the ship. It doesn’t matter what excuses he came up with. It still happened. Hopefully, as we go farther down the road, this will be in the rearview mirror.

Have you spoken to Bob about his situation?

I see Bob every day. He obviously feels very badly about it. It was certainly under his watch. I believe him when he says it was in an ointment (referring to Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s positive test result). He’s going along being Bob. He was back at the sales. He bought some horses. He’d like to move on.

How do you view the state of racing in California. Is it healthy?

I think it is. I’ve always said that the health of racing in California is pretty much up to the people who run it. We’ve had a great run at Del Mar. I know when you read the paper, the racetrack graveyard is filling up pretty fast. That’s scary. But you have to position yourself as best you can with regard to horse safety. We’re lucky at Del Mar. The Del Mar racetrack is owned by the State of California. We’re a pretty good tenant and have been over the years. I think we’re fine. Santa Anita is doing great. When Hollywood Park went south, one of our challenges was where to put the horses for training, and that is still a challenge. I think there are going to be some decisions made and some adjustments down the road that will probably deal with off-track training. But for the most part I’m optimistic.

You referred to the importance of safety. Where do you stand on how the riding crop should be used?

My stance is pretty much that of most management. Somebody said to me once, “Where else can you turn on a television and see an animal get hit?” I think the jockeys understand it from our conversations, limiting the number of hits, all that kind of stuff. I think eventually you’re probably not going to be able to use the whip. As a visual it’s just bad for us and for the game. It takes a while to get these things to where everybody is comfortable with it.

How do you view the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act? Can it help fix some of what ails racing?

Absolutely. We’ve supported that and were delighted when it passed. It’s going to take a while to figure out how to bring some of the smaller jurisdictions up to par with what needs to be done. I think it’s terrific.

What do you want to see changed in racing?

It depends where you are. At Del Mar, I think we’re doing the right stuff, and I wouldn’t want to change anything. The best thing for all of us is to get together. This is a game with 35 or so jurisdictions. I think some of us do the right things. I think some of us, including us, can look at other tracks and places and find out we can do something else. As an industry we’ve been under scrutiny for horse safety and other issues. We need to get together.

What lessons did you learn from the first time Del Mar hosted the Breeders’ Cup?

I think we both learned things. Del Mar was a success in 2017. It was one of the highest, if not the highest, financial successes in Breeders’ Cup history and with fewer people. Del Mar works for Breeders’ Cup for a number of reasons. It’s in California, on the West Coast, which is good for television, and there is good weather. Also, when we rebuilt this facility back in the early ’90s, we put a lot of high-end places in, luxury suites and those kinds of things. When you do that you can sell seats for more money, and you don’t need as many people. And when you don’t need as many people, the operation is much smoother. With 38,500 people or whatever it was, it worked out very well. You don’t want Sheikh Mohammed standing in line at the betting windows. You need a free-flowing operation, and that is really what it was. What I learned is you don’t need to spend as much money to put in temporary seats as maybe some other racetracks. Del Mar is a destination place.

What will we see that will be different the second time? Any major changes?

I’ve been in a few of those meetings. Some things you don’t need to do is more of what we learned. Some things can be done a little differently and can run a little smoother. We’ve thrown more bodies at it and looked at it from a different point of view. I don’t see any major changes. If it’s working you kind of leave it alone. The great thing is their people, and our people are very simpatico. We learned to work together in 2017, and we’re continuing on with that now.