Del Mar trainers have been preparing for Hurricane Hilary

For the first time since 2019 and for only the second time in the 84-year-history of Del Mar, racing was canceled due to inclement weather. Sunday’s nine-race card was shelved due to the likelihood of heavy rain and high winds from Hurricane Hillary.

Forecast models showed up to three inches of rain were possible from Saturday evening through Monday morning. Del Mar officials felt for everyone’s safety, it was best to scrap racing on Sunday.

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“Unfortunately, the forecast calls for substantial rain and winds that appear to be headed our way,” Del Mar president and COO Josh Rubinstein said Saturday morning. “We are hopeful this will only be a one-day thing for us, but it is a necessary step we feel we have to take.”

The lost date will not be made up. Instead the races scheduled for Sunday will be distributed among other upcoming cards over the next weeks.

Turf training, usually conducted Sundays, was moved up to this morning.

Trainers on the backside stable area anticipated the cancellation for days. They’ve also been making preparations for whatever rain may dump on Del Mar this weekend.

“We’re going to move the ones that are outside up to San Luis Rey, or we’ll move them inside,” said trainer Peter Miller, who has a bulk of his horses in one of the concrete barns on the east side of the grounds. “Basically we’re going to shift some horses around, so we don’t have any horses outside when the rains come.”

The trainers may be competitors on race day, but in situations like this, they work together.

“I used a couple of Phil D’Amato’s stalls,” Mike Puype said. “They’ll find homes for all those horses. It won’t be a problem. The biggest problem is the blowing wind. The rain could blow into the shed rows or if the drains back up. In the old days they backed up right away, but they’ve put better drainage in here over the years.”

D’Amato had to move up the works for about a dozen of his turf runners, but you won’t hear him complaining.

“The wrench thrown into my plans is the same wrench thrown in every other trainer’s plans,” D’Amato said. “We’re all in the same boat. We just got make the most of it and do what’s best for the horses.”

In addition to racing, training also was canceled Sunday and Monday, too, so several trainers were calling audibles Saturday morning and moving works up a day to avoid the rain and cancellations.

Bob Baffert said he had to shift “lots” of works, and Miller estimated about 10. A total of 384 horses put in official works on the dirt and turf Saturday morning, a record number for a single morning of works at Del Mar.

As for the jockeys, most were relieved they wouldn’t have to ride in a tropical storm.

“It’s a no brainer. It’s the logical thing to do,” Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux said. “I’m glad that they made their decision early. That way these horses that were ready to run can breeze (Saturday) morning. I’m sure horses that were supposed to run today will exercise now instead of staying in their stall.”

The last time weather affected racing at Del Mar was Thanksgiving 2019, when racing was canceled ahead of a projected storm.

There have been many times races were taken off the turf at Del Mar because of wet weather. The most recent came in September, when the previous night’s rain forced racing off the grass and onto the main track.

“We’re just going to try to close down the hatches,” trainer Craig Lewis said. “We’ll do everything we can to protect the horses. That’s the main thing.”