Del Mar nearly sold out for opening day

Del Mar is close to selling out the opening-day program of its summer meeting on July 22, track president Josh Rubinstein said on Friday.

The track plans to limit ontrack attendance on July 22 to approximately 22,000, well above the 15,874 from 2021 when all customers were required to purchase seats because of pandemic-related restrictions. This year, general admission tickets were available, but have been sold. Rubinstein said some reserved seats are available, but expects those to be gone next week.

Del Mar has had summertime opening-day crowds as large 47,339 in 2012, and had crowds of more than 40,000 on opening day on 13 occasions from 2003 to 2016. Attendance on those days swelled through general admission sales.

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Audiences that large put a strain on the facility in terms of access to food and beverage stands, betting windows, lines for bathrooms, and vehicle traffic. This year, there will be no walk-up admissions on opening day, Rubinstein said.

“We’ve learned a lot reopening from the pandemic,” he said. “The feedback we’ve got is we want to take care of our core customers, the people that are with us week in and week out. The person that was coming to opening day and not coming back was a detriment to our core customers.

“We want to ensure a quality experience.”

Rubinstein said the track has conveyed the opening-day ticketing policy to customers through emails and other forms of communication in recent months.

Tickets remain available for the other days of the meeting, which runs through Sept. 11. Walk-up admissions will be available through the meeting. The biggest day of racing is Sept. 3, a program that includes the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and four other stakes.