Del Mar news: 'A little different schedule' for fall meet

The seal will be broken on the fifth edition of fall racing at Del Mar come Friday afternoon. It is another chapter in a saga centered on the Southern California thoroughbred industry’s resolve to carry on after the demise of Hollywood Park through new days at a favored venue for horsemen and fans alike.

And if the fifth chapter reads as well as the first four, that will be fine with the folks in the Del Mar racing office. 

“What we have done in the past with this fall meet has set the bar high,” racing secretary David Jerkens said. “We’re coming off a strong summer meet and hopefully that momentum will carry over. We’ll take it day to day and put out the best cards we can day by day and I think we’ll finish strong with the turf stakes at the end of the meeting.

“It’s a little different schedule in that we’re not ending on Thanksgiving weekend this year. We’re ending a week later. So we’re kind of spreading out our stakes over two weekends.”

The first three fall sessions here were either 15 (twice) or 20 racing days in length. The 2017 event, 16 days in duration, was unique in that the opening weekend included Del Mar’s first hosting of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships (it’ll be back in 2021) and the track’s own complement of stakes races had to be sandwiched in from weeks 2-4.

So the closing weekend slate had three graded stakes on Saturday and three more on Sunday of the closing weekend. This year, the same six stakes will be presented over a five-day period with two each on November 24 and 25 and one apiece on the closing weekend, December 1 and 2.

“The numbers in the horse population and overall activity for the month of October are down. So we’re facing some obstacles,” Jerkens said. “But I’m cautiously optimistic that we can once again achieve the level that we have in the past.”

The average field size for the past two years has been 8.5, a worthy goal for 2018. There were 67 entered on the opening day program, an average of 8.3.

WAY TO VERSAILLES NARROW FAVORITE IN OPENING DAY STAKES

Gary Barber’s Way to Varsailles was made the 7-2 morning line favorite in a field of 12 for the featured $75,000 Kathryn Crosby Stakes on Friday’s program to open fall racing at Del Mar.

Way to Versailles, a 4-year-old Florida-bred daughter of Tizway, was third in the Swingtime Stakes at Santa Anita on October 7 in her first start for trainer Peter Miller after shipping in from Canada. Way to Versailles was beaten three-quarters of a length by Fahan Mura in the Swingtime and was only a head behind runner-up Quebec, who is the 9-2 second choice on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s line for the Kathryn Crosby.

The race for older fillies and mares is contested at a mile over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

The field from the rail: Gliding By (Evin Roman, 8-1), Pyscho Sister (Edwin Maldonado (20-1), Miss Southern Miss (Assael Espinoza, 20-1), Excellent Sunset (Mario Gutierrez, 8-1), Shehastheritestuff (Geovanni Franco, 20-1), Quebec (Rafael Bejarano, 9-2), Way to Versailles (Flavien Prat, 7-2), Tonahutu (Gary Stevens, 6-1), Escape Clause (Ruben Fuentes, 20-1), Sweet Charity (Mike Smith, 6-1), Last Promise Kept (Drayden Van Dyke, 5-1), Pantsonfire (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1). Also eligible: Birdie Gold (Mike Smith, 10-1).

SEVEN TO GO IN SATURDAY’S LET IT RIDE STAKES

Prince Earl, a 3-year-old gelded son of Paddy O’Prado out of the Unusual Heat mare Soo Steamy, will put his undefeated (2-for-2) record on the line in Saturday’s featured $75,000 Let It Ride Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, Prince Earl will have 2018 summer meeting riding champion Drayden Van Dyke in the saddle for the first time. Martin Garcia was aboard when Prince Earl won at first asking by 3 ½ lengths on May 20 at Santa Anita and again in a half-length score at the allowance claming level as the 5-2 favorite here on September 1.

The post position draw for the Let It Ride was later Wednesday afternoon. The field in alphabetical order: Afleet Ascent (Kent Desormeaux), Calexman (Geovanni Franco), Choo Choo (Flavien Prat), Extraordinary Jerry (Mike Smith), Fight On (Rafael Bejarano), Prince Earl (Drayden Van Dyke) and Risky Proposition (Joe Talamo).