Del Mar meet off to encouraging start

DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar reported strong handle figures and no catastrophic injuries for the first week of racing, a far more encouraging start to the meet than last summer, when a rash of fatalities set a tone from which the meet never fully recovered.

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Del Mar averaged $13.5 million in handle per day the first five days of the meet, which the track reported as up 8.5 percent from last year.

Average field size was 8.9 runners per race, well above the 8.3 of last year.