Full slate of turf racing, 50-cent pick six make autumn meet attractive to bettors

With the general public not allowed to attend the races, the Del Mar autumn meeting begins a five-week season Saturday with higher overnight purses than last year, an emphasis on turf stakes in the final days of the meeting, and a lower minimum wager for the pick six.

First post Saturday is 12:30 p.m. Pacific. Following this weekend, racing will be conducted largely on a Friday-through-Sunday basis, with a program scheduled for Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26.

The autumn meeting covers 15 racing days through Nov. 29.

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Del Mar has conducted an autumn meeting since 2014, following the closure of Hollywood Park in 2013. Turf races have played an integral role in recent autumn meetings. In 2019, 46 of the 114 races were run on turf. Overall, fields averaged 7.43 runners per race, and 8.5 runners on turf. The 2018 autumn meeting averaged 7.7 runners in the 136 races, including 8.67 runners in the 52 turf races.

Racing secretary David Jerkens said Thursday that there are approximately 2,350 horses in training in Southern California, down about 100 head from fall 2019. Jerkens said approximately 400 horses will be based at the track during the autumn meeting, with many remaining at Santa Anita.

“If the weather cooperates, we should fill our races fine,” Jerkens said.

There are 16 stakes this fall, including nine on turf. On Saturday’s nine-race program, five races are on turf.

The track has increased overnight purses by approximately 10 percent compared to the 2019 autumn meeting. Purses are slightly higher than at the track’s summer meeting. A maiden special weight race will be worth $57,000 compared to $52,000 last fall and $55,000 at the end of this year’s summer meeting.

Prior to the summer meeting this year, the track reduced overnight purses by 20 percent out of concern that business would decline because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the end of July, overnight purses were increased by 10 percent, retroactive to the start of the meeting, which cut in half the earlier reduction.

Track officials said last month that the summer meeting ended with an underpayment in the purse fund, which allows additional money to go toward purses for the autumn meeting.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, the summer meeting was held without fans. Owners were allowed to attend when they had horses racing. A similar plan will be in effect at the autumn meeting.

In an effort to revive interest in the pick six, the minimum bet of the once-popular wager has been reduced from $2 to 50 cents.

The pick six will continue to have a single-ticket jackpot format, with 80 percent paid to tickets with six winners and 20 percent to a carryover pool that will be paid out when there is one winner.

The entire pick six pool will be paid out on closing day.

The more popular pick five and pick four pools have 50-cent minimum wagers.