Keibar Coa to ride at Del Mar fall meet

DEL MAR, Calif. – Keibar Coa was to ride opening day at Del Mar on Friday, head to Gulfstream Park on Saturday, but be back for Sunday’s races and will ride here this meet, his agent, Joe Griffin, said Thursday morning.

Coa, 26, has won 179 races in a career that began in earnest in 2012. He rode at Delaware Park this summer and fall, his last mount there on Oct. 20, and has had one mount since, riding in a stakes race at Santa Anita for trainer Tom Proctor.

“He’s out here with Proctor,” Griffin said.

Koa is the son of Eibar Coa, 47, who won 4,080 races in North America – including the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Big Drama – before his career ended following an accident in 2011.

Enhanced security for concerts

Del Mar will have metal detectors installed for its two post-race concerts this season following an incident the final weekend of the summer meet in which an irate patron was shot after firing his gun at the admission gates when denied entry to an Ice Cube concert.

The first concert at the fall meet is Saturday, with the reggae band Pepper. The second concert is Nov. 24, featuring Easton Corbin.

Patrons with bags will have to go through one line in order to have them searched. There will be an express line for those without bags. Del Mar employees wearing identification badges, anyone holding a California Horse Racing Board license, or anyone needing access owing to the Americans With Disabilities Act will have a third lane.

The security will be set up on the apron at the crossover from the track’s grandstand to the concert area at the west end of the property.

“We want to get the word out so that our fans can allow for any extra time they may need to get in,” said Ann Hall, Del Mar’s vice president of human resources and administration.

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