Del Mar fall meet, with 9 graded stakes, opens Nov. 10
Del Mar will present its 10th fall racing session, dubbed the Bing Crosby Season to honor the track’s iconic founder, starting Friday, Nov. 10, and highlighted by a stakes schedule that features 15 major events over the course of its 13-day run.
Topping the list of black-type tests again will be a pair of Grade 1 grass features, the $300,000 Hollywood Derby at nine furlongs for 3-year-olds on Dec. 2 and the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares run at a mile on closing day, Dec. 3.
Also on the agenda are twin Grade 2 turf offerings for 3-year-olds and up, the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup at the marathon distance of 12 furlongs on Nov. 24 and the $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 25.
All told, the stakes roster carries gross purses of $2,050,000. Of the 15 events, 10 will be contested on turf, with nine of them overall providing graded value.
“Our fall meet offers some excellent racing,” said Del Mar vice president and racing secretary David Jerkens. “Coming on the heels of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, it is well positioned to continue a positive racing flow in Southern California. Our turf festival, starting on Thanksgiving Day and following through to our close, offers eight grass stakes and has attracted marquee horses from across the country in the past and we’re expecting more of the same this year.”
The session will kick off with an overnight event, the $75,000 Let It Ride Stakes, at a mile on the turf for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 10.
There will be a stakes doubleheader on Nov. 18 with the running of the Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies and the Cary Grant Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up. Both of those events are at seven furlongs on the main track.
Further, there will be a stakes tripleheader on Dec. 2 with the presentation of the rich Hollywood Derby, the Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3) for 2-year-old fillies and the Stormy Liberal Stakes for older horses at five furlongs on the turf.
First post daily throughout the stand will be at 3:30 p.m. EDT with the exception of the Thanksgiving day card when racing begins at 2 p.m. EDT.