Flatter: Del Mar or Saratoga? A legendary doctor weighs in

Comparing Del Mar with Saratoga is like comparing your kids, right? Well, other than the fact that racetracks are less likely to do something stupid as teenagers and make you want to sell them to the lowest bidder.

The conveniently diplomatic thing to do with this Schrödinger’s cat, or horse, is profess love for both. But come on. We all have a favorite.

Some wise man, maybe Quincy Jones or Chris Berman, once said, “You can like the Beatles and like the Stones, but you can’t love the Beatles and the Stones.” For the less geezerly, swap Drake and Kendrick Lamar for the Beatles and the Stones, and the axiom works all over again.

Saratoga vs. Del Mar may not be like the Yankees vs. the Sox or the Longhorns vs. the Sooners or Caitlin vs. Angel. It is not as if the comparison is fueled by searing rage. This is more like the old dilemmas of Ginger or Mary Ann, Zach or Slater, even Secretariat or Man o’ War. This may as well be Bob or Todd.

Take the truth serum. Make a choice. Del Mar or Saratoga?

This goes beyond making lists of positives and negatives, even though that is exactly what is about to unfold here.

Saratoga is Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Lambeau Field. It is impossible to put a value on seeing old friends and familiar spots in the well-tended, wooden grandstand. The whole place oozes history even as it has been modernized in increasingly popular ways. Just as long as they do not screw with the gabled roof.

Del Mar is SoFi Stadium, Crypto.com Arena, Oracle Park, thankfully without the mercenary name change. As unpopular as the new grandstand was when it replaced the old one about three decades ago, it has grown on Southern California. It has that squeaky-clean West Coast feel to it, and it has become a pretty comfortable place to watch the races. It certainly will be full of people for opening day Saturday, and about 87 percent will be not sober.

Saratoga annually and reliably showcases familiar stars of racing in foundational stakes. The Travers, the Whitney, the Sword Dancer, the Diana, the Jim Dandy, the Test, the Fourstardave. The list goes on. Revered races that are immovable on the calendar. Or at least they should be.

Del Mar has been a proving ground for champions like Flightline and Zenyatta and Arrogate and California Chrome and Beholder. Memorable 2-year-olds like American Pharoah, Songbird, Nyquist, Game Winner and Lookin At Lucky graduated through the California summer.

Ah, the weather. Del Mar wins that duel every year. Fog and low clouds in the morning followed by blue sky, a sea breeze and an unmatched coastal sunset are as reliable as the slow traffic on I-5.

For better or for worse, Saratoga’s weather in that verdant landscape can be spectacular. When it is good, it is very, very good, making for a convenient escape from a steamy summer in the five boroughs.

But now to the inevitable negatives. There are few words more dreaded at Saratoga than off the turf. They are heard far more often than they are at Del Mar.

Field sizes have dwindled at Saratoga, too. Last summer they fell to 7.6 per race. The puny turnout of entries especially for certain stakes may not have reached the level of alarming, but it has become head-shaking, especially when trainers are given a free pass by their rivals to load up strings of horses in big-money races.

Yes, the stakes conundrum applies in the west, too, but for garden-variety overnight races, it is just the opposite at Del Mar. Last year’s average field was 9.3. It is easier there, though, because there are only four days of racing each week compared with five for Saratoga. That is what happens when one track becomes an oasis in the middle of California’s racing dumpster fire.

All these positives and negatives are tangibles, but they are not necessarily why we lean one way or the other in choosing between Saratoga and Del Mar. For most of us the reasons for our choice may be indefinable. Perhaps this is something that requires deep analysis.

Oh, excuse me. The phone is ringing.

Hello?

Oh, hi, Dr. Hartley. Thank you for calling me back. How are things there in the windy city?

No, tornado sirens are not funny. I trust you and Emily got through it all right.

Oh, you did. Well, I hope she didn’t take you to the cleaners in the divorce. That’s not why I asked you to call. I am trying to make a difficult choice in my life.

No, it’s not that. I am still happily married to Tina. This is about horse racing, Dr. Hartley.

It’s not that, either. I don’t think I have a gambling problem.

No, I don’t wanna bet on that, Dr. Hartley. This is a real dilemma that I am dealing with. And it has had me stumped for years.

Well, no. I can’t go with you and Jerry to Arlington Park. They tore it down.

Yes, it’s too late to cash a ticket there from 10 years ago. Anyway, Dr. Hartley, this is really important. And I hope you put as much thought into this as I have. Which track should I prefer? Del Mar or Saratoga?

Well, it’s important to me. I think you should weigh the value of my opinion in helping me with this.

Hello? Hello? Dr. Hartley? Hello?

So much for that. May the great Bob Newhart rest in peace. And may heaven be as wonderful as my choice in this dilemma. That would be old Del Mar.

Ron Flatter’s column appears Friday mornings at Horse Racing Nation. Comments below are welcomed, encouraged and may be used in the feedback segment of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod, which also is posted every Friday.