Friday card canceled due to rain with card added for Monday
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar canceled racing on Friday due to a pending rainstorm, the second weather-related cancellation at the track in less than a week.
The latest cancellation was announced Wednesday morning after Del Mar officials monitored the updated weather forecast that called for significant rainfall this week.
“All indications are we’re going to have rain Thursday night into Friday, pretty much all day,” racing secretary David Jerkens said. “You’re looking at an inch or more, it looks like significant precipitation.”
Southern California is getting soaked this season. Del Mar received close to two inches of rain last weekend, which led to the cancellation of racing Saturday, Nov. 15 and the running of an all-dirt program on Sunday, Nov. 16 that allowed the turf course to begin to dry.
The dirt races canceled for Friday were to be written back as extras for Saturday, when Del Mar plans another all-dirt card. Jerkens is hopeful turf racing can resume Sunday. The track plans to add a Monday card that will include turf races. For now, the saturated course needs a break.
“We have the Turf Festival coming up, and the turf has had a lot of rain, so we decided with an inch or so upcoming, let’s just take an all-dirt card on Saturday, and hopefully we’re on the turf Sunday,” Jerkens said.
Entries for the all-dirt Saturday card were being taken Wednesday. The Saturday card will include a $51,879 pick six carryover initially slated for Friday. Entries for Sunday and Monday cards will be taken Thursday.
Del Mar scheduled normal training on Thursday morning until 9 a.m. Track superintendent Dennis Moore planned to seal the track after training Thursday, and reopen it prior to the scheduled resumption of racing on Saturday.
“You’re protecting your track for Saturday and Sunday by not running on it Friday in the middle of the rain,” Jerkens said. “Monday looks clear, so it would allow us to potentially run a nine-race card which could feature five grass [races].” The card Monday will be comprised of “extras.”
The feature race scheduled for Saturday is the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt; the feature race scheduled for Sunday is the Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf.
Meanwhile, the backlog of turf races is building. By the time Sunday arrives, it will have been nine days since the most recent turf race at Del Mar. The situation is especially problematic during the fall meet when Del Mar typically runs more races on turf than dirt. But through last weekend, the track had run 32 races on dirt and only 20 on turf.
Nominations for the closing-week Turf Festival were scheduled to close Thursday. The Turf Festival includes seven turf stakes topped by a pair of Grade 1s – the Hollywood Derby on Nov. 29, and Matriarch on Nov. 30, closing day. In addition to turf stakes, the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mare on dirt will be run Nov. 30.
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