Del Mar Thoroughbred Club President and Chief Operating Officer Josh Rubinstein has words to describe Del Mar’s first half of ’83.rd Summer thoroughbred horse racing season.
“It’s phenomenal,” said Rubinstein. “I would like to continue this for four more weeks.”
Everything from total daily handles to track attendance is up to 15 of the 31 days of the season.
some numbers:
attendance: Total on-track attendance for the first 15 days was 155,917, averaging 10,394 per day, a 24% increase over the first 15 days of racing in the 2021 Summer season.
bet: The total amount processed is $297,044,168, with a daily average of $19,802,945, an increase of 6.7% from 2021. The favorable amount processed of $25,580,826 represents a 12.7% growth from last year’s figure. The out-of-state figure of $152,542,303 is an 8.2% increase from 2021.
Field size: The average number of runners per race was 9.3, far exceeding last year’s high average of 8.45. In turf races he was drawn by 9.9 horses per start, while on the main (dirt) track he averaged 8.83 in races.
and another number: zero. This is the number of times horse ambulances have taken to the truck to help an injured thoroughbred in the afternoon. After 16 dates, all horses that left the gate were finished. Miss Sugar Hill, a three-year-old mare trained by Jeff Mullins who doctors believe caused respiratory arrest.
“We couldn’t be happier with the results after four weeks,” said Tom Robbins, Executive Vice President of Racing at Del Mar. “The participation has been great as we continue to strive to deliver safe and competitive racing at the highest level.”
“We love everything we see,” said David Jerkens, Del Mar’s racing secretary.
“Field size is a robust number,” says Jerkens. “Finishing the event with an average of nine horses per race is historic. But on Sunday he has 9.7 horses per race and on Saturday he has 9.0 horses. “
So far this season, 55 different trainers have won races with Delmar.
“We have been working with owners and trainers to see what kind of racing they need and want,” said Rubinstein.
“We are in communication with Trianers and owners on where the races need to be adjusted,” Jerkens agreed.
Del Mar achieved a California record of $800,000 per day at the conference. The racecourse’s ‘Ship and Win’ program also attracts many trainers to bring horses to Dell’s Marr from other racetracks. As of 2022, 120 ship-and-win horses are his 14 wins.
Delmar has also upgraded its program for 2-year-olds.
“We started monitoring the activity of the two-year-olds during the San Anita conference,” says Jerkens. “We’ve noticed an uptick. Our two-year-old field is full.”
The surge in Del Mar numbers began in the 2020 pandemic season and has been moving forward since then.
“TVG Racing Network is a great partner for us,” said Rubinstein. “It started with the pandemic. Sports fans stayed home and couldn’t watch anything but races for a while. Old and new fans tuned into TVG. , they are sticking to us.
“TVG is like four hours of infomercials every day. Their coverage of Del Mar is exceptional. People love us. And we’ve had a very competitive race.”
Del Mar’s barn holds 2,000 horses, down 15% from recent years.
“The barn capacity reduction was part of our horse safety program,” said Rubinstein. “We turned some horses away. We also changed our training and workout rules to make them safer for horses.”
noteworthy
Jockey Juan Hernandez won three races on Thursday. In the first Pesos it was Bob Baffert ($6.20), in fourth was Ronald Ellis’ ($4.80) Brittle and You, and in his sixth Phil D race of note was Turn On The Jets ($18.80). “Amato. Hernandez now has 30 wins in 16 races, putting him 2-1 ahead of second-placed Humberto Rispoli (15 wins). 2 races, tying him for third place with Joe Bravo for 12 wins.
The new start time for the Friday program is 3:00 PM starting this week.
The center is a freelance writer.
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