In one respect, the Del Mar fall meet, which begins Friday, marks a return to normal. For the first time in three years, the Bing Crosby autumn meet will start without the emptiness of the 2020 pandemic or drama of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. However, there is a new normal in California, one that Del Mar quietly adopted at its fall meet one year ago. For the first time in track history, Del Mar conducted a meet with more races on turf than dirt. During fall 2021, the scale tipped – 68 turf races, 66 on dirt. :: Bet the Breeders' Cup with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs. Join DRF Bets. Although racing secretary David Jerkens plans to offer a balanced program of dirt and turf this fall, he acknowledged the significance of autumn turf racing. “This meet, people expect a lot of grass,” Jerkens said. “Given our stakes schedule and that Los Alamitos follows us, there is more of a demand for turf.” Del Mar’s fall meet runs 13 days through Dec. 4, Friday to Sunday plus Thanksgiving. The dirt-only Los Alamitos winter meet is Dec. 9-18, followed by Santa Anita opening day on Dec. 26. Del Mar’s shift toward a higher percentage of turf races mirrors the transition at Santa Anita, where each of the last three meets included more races on turf than dirt. The stakes focus for fall is mostly grass. The turf festival is the meet highlight, with Del Mar spreading eight turf stakes over the final two weeks. Overall, 15 stakes are scheduled. The turf-festival portion, previously run during a single week, begins Thanksgiving and ends with a pair of Grade 1, $400,000 races – the Hollywood Derby on Dec. 3 and Matriarch on closing day, Dec. 4. A turf sprint is a new addition the stakes schedule – the $100,000 Stormy Liberal on Dec. 3. A pair of Grade 3 stakes received $50,000 increases to $150,000 – the Thanksgiving-day Red Carpet on turf and Nov. 27 Native Diver on dirt. Two-year-olds sprint on dirt Nov. 19 in the $100,000 Desi Arnaz for fillies and Nov. 20 in Grade 3 Bob Hope. Unlike summer when entire stables relocate to Del Mar, fall is primarily a ship-in meet. Jerkens expects about 300 horses will be stabled onsite, some 1,500 at Santa Anita, 450 at Los Alamitos and 250 at San Luis Rey Downs for a total of approximately 2,500. The voice of the Del Mar fall meet is two voices. John Lies will call the races opening week; Larry Collmus will call the last three weeks of the meet. The betting menu remains unchanged. The only mandatory payout in the single-ticket pick six is closing day. Plans for out-of-state stakes shippers are being formulated by four-time Matriarch winner Chad Brown, while East and Midwest trainers who may compete at Del Mar include Victoria Oliver, Brendan Walsh, Shug McGaughey, and Christophe Clemente. East Coast-based trainer Graham Motion and assistant Alice Clapham could strike first with opening-day shippers ridden by Flavien Prat and John Velazquez. Both jockeys plan to ride the entire fall meet. Prat rides potential favorite Sareeha in a maiden turf route that is race 1 on Friday. Velazquez rides Script in the $75,000 Let It Ride Stakes, race 7. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Nine entered the Let It Ride, a restricted turf mile for 3-year-olds who have not earned $60,000 winning a stakes at a mile or more since April 1. The locals include stakes-placed Handy Dandy, multiple stakes winner St Anthony, Grade 2-placed Spycatcher, and likely pacesetter Crazy Dreams from Northern California. The horse to beat might be Script, who has always been well regarded by Motion. “I thought he was a Derby-type horse,” Motion said. “I was surprised he didn’t show more early on.” Script ran okay on dirt, winning one of four starts, then got sick and missed summer. Motion switched him to turf for his comeback. “Even though he won on dirt, he looks like he’s going to be superior on the grass,” Motion said. “I think switching him to the grass was the key.” Script made his first start in eight months in an entry-level allowance turf route Oct. 12 at Keeneland. He parlayed a ground-saving trip under Velazquez to win by a neck. The stakes on Friday at Del Mar is his second start back. Key races Friday also include race 3, a turf sprint for entry-level allowance 2-year-olds led by stakes-placed speedster Helladic. Race 6 is a Cal-bred allowance at a mile on dirt, filled with sprinters including likely favorite Leyas Candy, who is stretching out. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.