Del Mar meet opens to samba beat
DEL MAR, Calif. – They came from all over the world for opening day at Del Mar, none perhaps farther than jockey Tiago Pereira and trainer A.C. Avila.
Both are natives of Brazil. Avila has been in this country for more than a decade, but Pereira, a world-class jockey who has based in Southern California for the past few months, is riding here for the first time. And in his very first mount at this track, he and Avila teamed to win the opener on Thursday with the Brazilian-bred horse Hawk’s Eyes, making Avila and Pereira, at least for a half-hour, the leaders of their respective divisions at Del Mar.
“It’s nice to break the ice,” Avila said.
There was plenty of crushed ice all around on Thursday, used to blend margaritas, keep beer cold, and adorn the trays of shellfish in the turf club. Opening day at Del Mar has become the must-do sports event in San Diego, and a typically large, enthusiastic crowd, predicted to be well north of 40,000, stuffed itself into the facility like some patrons shoehorned themselves into their outfits.
It is a day to see and be seen. In the turf club, pricey suits and dresses are the norm, and women wear stylish hats, a scene quite similar to the look at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. But this is Del Mar, the track Bing Crosby co-founded and memorably tagged as the place “where the turf meets the surf,” so casual beachwear is in order all around, with many patrons in shorts and flip-flops in the grandstand and the infield.
There were plenty of festivities to keep the many neophytes occupied, the most popular of the longtime traditions being a hat contest that awards prizes in several categories, from the most elegant – those costing hundreds of dollars - to the those that honor the track’s racing tradition. One contestant had a scale-sized grandstand atop his head, which put him in line not only for first prize in that category, but probably first in line for his chiropractor on Friday, too.
It was a warm, gorgeous day here, with temperatures in the upper 70s and a few wispy clouds to fill out the palette. The area around the paddock was packed well before the horses arrived for the first race, as was the apron lining the homestretch.
Excitement began to increase about an hour before the first post, when race caller Trevor Denman came on the public address system with the day’s changes. Denman is an extremely popular figure on this circuit, and even though with the absence of Hollywood Park he called into late June at Santa Anita, his arrival here for years has been a cause for the locals to celebrate. They appreciate how Denman has changed the craft of race calling in this country forever.
The horses came into the track to the familiar strains of Crosby’s signature song, “Where the Turf Meets the Surf.” The first race of the meet always is at a mile, so it starts right in front of a grandstand crowd bursting with anticipation. Denman understands the theatrics of it all. So as the runners crept closer to the gate, Denman animatedly said, “They’re at the gate for the first at Del Mar.”
That produced a nice cheer from the crowd, but the loudest cheer of all came just moments later, when starter Gary Brinson dispatched the field and Denman’s call was drowned out by a lusty roar.
A little more than 97 seconds later, Hawk’s Eye bounded home an easy winner of the opener.
“It has always been Tiago’s dream to ride in California,” said Pereira’s wife, Fernanda Machado Pereira, a veterinarian seeking, like her husband, to work in this country.
As Pereira found out in the first race, dreams can come true. His win in the opener was most appropriate for the first race on opening day, when, at least for a moment, anything seems possible.