Officials at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced that the track will conduct racing on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule through the entire summer and have pushed forward opening day from July 18 to July 10. The track will close with a four-day week ending on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. The schedule is pending the approval of the California Horse Racing Board at its June 11 meeting.
“We're coming back and we're going to put on the most unique show in Del Mar history,” said Del Mar's CEO Joe Harper. “It's going to look different, it's going to feel different, but it's going to be first-class horse racing at Del Mar and in these unusual times that's something to look forward to.”
Del Mar has announced that it will follow guidelines issued by San Diego County public health officials and are 'prepared' to operate without spectators while adopting any procedural changes as necessary. Del Mar is committed to following similar COVID-19 protocols that have enabled racing to be conducted safely in California and throughout the country.
The track will host 10-race cards on Fridays and Sundays and 11 races on Saturdays. Opening day is scheduled to include 11 live races, while the Labor Day program will offer 10 races. Barring any changes, a total of 291 races will be carded over the course of nine weeks. The track carded 297 races in 2019.
“We want to begin the meet earlier and offer horsemen the same number of opportunities to run as we have for the last several summer seasons,” said Tom Robbins, DMTC's executive vice president of racing. “We've had inquiries from new trainers from across the country who are interested in sending horses to Del Mar, which is encouraging. And because the San Diego Fair was cancelled this year, our track maintenance team will be preparing our racing surfaces earlier and we'll be able to have horses on-site sooner than in the past. It will be a little different, but we're confident we can present the same high caliber racing that fans, owners and trainers have come to expect.”
Santa Anita, which reopened to spectator-free racing Friday, May 15, will continue to race through June 21. Los Alamitos will offer racing between June 26 and July 5.
Del Mar anticipates running its traditional stakes schedule with some adjustments. The schedule will be announced Friday, May 29.
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