Business down on opening day

DEL MAR, Calif. – A safely run racing day more than offset a dip in attendance on opening day Wednesday for Joe Harper, Del Mar’s president and chief executive.

“It was a good day. Couldn’t be happier,” Harper said in the press box to a group of media members after the final race on Wednesday. “Everyone got around safely. That was No. 1.”

Indeed, after a summer season one year ago in which Del Mar was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, this meet has been very safe early on, both in the mornings preceding the start of racing and during the first racing day itself.

Del Mar has set high standards for its opening-day attendance, so even though 34,128 showed up, it was the smallest opener since 2001 and the first time the opening-day attendance dipped below 40,000 since 2004. Still, the attendance was the thirdlargest on the Southern California circuit this racing season, behind the 46,514 at Santa Anita for its opener last Dec. 26 and the 36,155 who attended the Santa Anita Derby card.

“If I’m going to have to make excuses for 30-some-thousand people being at the track, I’m at a loss,” Harper said. “This is one of those crowds that’s all social driven. I’m delighted to get that crowd.”

The overall handle was $14,221,951, down from $16,374,230 last year, $15,339,177 in 2015, and $14.8 million in 2014.

Del Mar is hoping for a big day Saturday, with Arrogate, the best horse in the world, competing in the San Diego Handicap. Harper said Del Mar will be giving away a poster of Arrogate to patrons.

Arrogate will be racing over a main track that has played fairly slowly but very safely since opening for training last Saturday. Del Mar has hired Dennis Moore, the track superintendent at Santa Anita, to oversee the main track, affording consistency to the circuit’s surfaces, including banking the turns here in a fashion similar to Santa Anita. Harper said the base of the surface also was addressed.

“It’s more consistent all the way around,” Harper said. “There’s less change for the horses when they come here.”

Drayden Van Dyke, who rode on both the turf and dirt courses Wednesday, said the banking of the turns was noticeable and welcomed. More significantly, he said the kickback on the main track “was 10 times better.”

“The banking helps them get around better,” Van Dyke said. “Overall, everything was good.”

Harper said, “We’ve put in checks and balances as to who gets on here,” and said outriders – four on the main track, one on the training track – have been instructed to be proactive in identifying horses who look off in the morning.

“We want to know who that horse is, now, and then we can send a vet over to find out what they have in mind,” Harper said. “They can’t just toss them out there and hope for the best.”