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Opening day at Del Mar is on July 22nd and the mood always changes here in So Cal. The thought of the late Bing Crosby singing "Where the Turf Meets The Surf" for the 1st race brings chills to those who can feel the ambiance and look forward to the traditional call from Trevor Denman. The roar from the crowd is guaranteed to thrill anyone who is blessed to once again hear the call for the 2009 season. Having been a regular at the meet for 40 years now, I can safely say that as settings go for any sporting venue it simply doesn't get any better than this as the boys somehow knew the garden spot of all garden spots for the summertime in Del Mar many decades ago. The lyrics of the song really do say it all!!! Now it is time to get down to the business at hand for the upcoming season. The meet has been shortened to 37 days and 5 days a week rather than the 6 day weeks of the past. This is a bigtime plus, regardless of the tough economic times that forced this decision, as those in the business are fried by Monday and the extra day off will only freshen one and all for the next week of racing. Closing day is on Sept. 9 and the Del Mar Futurity will actually be run on Labor Day Monday the 7th, which the powers that be are hoping will bring the ultimate closing to the meet. Of course, the Oceanside Stakes over the turf course will be the opening day feature for 3 yo and if history repeats the race will be split as there is usually an overflow of owners that want to have their horse run on this spectacle of a day. The biggest race of the season is the Pacific Classic which will be run on Aug 27 with two outstanding supporting feature races in The Del Mar Derby and The Pat O'Brien Stakes which will insure a blockbuster of a racing card. Polytrack will be the biggest adjustment that one must make to winning or losing at the meet. This surface is radically different then the Cushion Track of Hollywood Park and the Pro Ride surface of Santa Anita. The word on the street is that the conditions of racing over this synthetic track will be similar to the year that it first went in. This means a slower and perhaps more anti-speed type tempo to the races run over it. The Jimmy Durante Turf features really tight turns and "horses for courses" rules should apply. One rule of thumb for the races beginning out of the chute is that the further outside ones post position, the bigger the disadvantage as it is a very sharp left hand turn that must be dealt with by horse and rider.
The live barns for me going in are not new names to the scene. My top 5 trainers of the meet are: Bob Baffert, Doug Oneill,John Sadler, Mike Mitchell and Barry Abrams. As for the jockeys--Joel Rosario, Rafael Bejarano, Garrett Gomez and perhaps a big improvement from a young and hustling Martin Garcia are in order. The stage is set from this corner for a huge meet and I will be on hand a week out clocking all of tomorrows winners for us all to enjoy thru out the entire 2009 season !!!!!! |