DEL MAR: Racing season heads to the starting gate

Quick transition from fair to thoroughbreds has Del Mar primed for opening day

By JEFF NAHILL - Staff Writer | Tuesday, July 15, 2008 4:23 PM PDT ∞

DEL MAR ---- There was a sense of calm surrounding the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Tuesday.

That aura will be decidedly different Wednesday.

The 69th thoroughbred meeting will get under way at 2 p.m. Wednesday when the horses break from the starting gate and fans in their opening hat-day best let out a collective yell.

It would have been hard to predict everything would be ready just nine days ago.

That's when the San Diego County Fair ended and track personnel had one of their shortest turnaround periods to get prepared for the horses ---- most of them coming from the Los Angeles area ---- for their 43-day annual get-together at the seaside track.

"Nobody will notice a thing on Wednesday," said Robert Sanchez, plant superintendent. "We're doing painting. We're doing planting. You name it, we're doing it."

When the fair closed July 6, Sanchez's main goal was to ready the barn area to receive horses 48 hours later. The horse vans were lined up outside the track at midnight June 9, and it was business as usual. The horses were put in their stalls and morning workouts began on Thursday. There has been a steady stream of horse vans arriving at the track ever since.

"It was actually easier than I thought it was going to be," Sanchez said, "but we're not there yet. Knock on wood, I think we'll be fine."

That sort of optimism pleases track president Joe Harper, who has plenty of other things to worry about this year. Soaring gas prices, the faltering economy and his $9 million Polytrack racing surface, which was installed before the start of last year's meet and received mixed reviews, all are areas of concern.

"I figure we'll lose a few (fans) from L.A. and pick up a few from San Diego," said Harper. "We just have to wait and see. Judging by what I saw at the fair, they did well when there was perceived value or discount. We'll be pushing our discount admissions (Diamond Club) and happy hours. We're positioned as well as we can be in this economy."

Overall betting was down 1.8 percent at Inglewood's Hollywood Park, which ended its meet on Sunday.

"There are some things going on at Hollywood that aren't going on here," Harper said. "It's not quite apples to apples, but I'm an optimistic guy and I think we'll be doing fine."

As for the Polytrack, many horsemen weren't pleased last year with the way the surface was faster in morning workouts than during the races in the afternoon. It was a safer surface ---- there were only six thoroughbred deaths on the Polytrack in 2007 as compared to 14 on the old conventional dirt in 2006 ---- but dramatically slower.

Del Mar has added a layer of wax to the Polytrack mix this spring and will allow afternoon watering of the surface to keep it cooler and hopefully tighter and faster.

All Harper wants is a safe track ---- one like last year when it was 39 racing days before a thoroughbred had to be euthanized due to an injury during a race on the Polytrack.

"We know what we want to do with this track," Harper said. "We want to make the morning and afternoon more agreeable with each other and not have that track so loose on a hot afternoon.

"The most important thing to us is safety. That's going to be the No. 1 issue. If the speed comes up and it's still safe, great.

"What's hard for us is to test these things (before the meet). The horses and the heat all arrive at the same time. You have a good idea with all the data we've been doing. We feel comfortable with the maintenance program in place."

Contact staff writer Jeff Nahill at (760) 740-3550 or nctnahill@aol.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.