Del Mar: Where the Surf Meets the Turf

Jill's Journal: There are three “boutique” racetracks in the U.S.: Saratoga in upstate New York, Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, and Del Mar in the San Diego area. They’re considered boutique because they have short meets (each holding live racing only about six weeks every year), which makes every day special, and they have higher purses, so they attract the best horses. They have smaller grandstands than other big-name tracks and are so popular they’re packed to the gills on weekends and big racing days. Saratoga and Keeneland have the ultimate of prestige to go alongside storied histories and a day at the races at either is an event. People either dress up and dine at the track on wonderful fare, or they tailgate and make it a party. The purses at both Saratoga and Keeneland are the highest in the country and it’s a parade of continual top-quality races with the nation’s (and some of Europe’s) top horses, top trainers, top jockeys, etc. The entire top echelon of racing society converges on those two tracks during their meets. They’re the places to see and be seen. A win at either Saratoga or Keeneland can make a career.

Del Mar is a little different. It has a little history of its own, California-style, of course. It opened in 1937 with Bing Crosby at the gate to personally greet fans. Crosby was part of the partnership that built the track; his partners were entertainers Jimmy Durante, Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy), and Pat O’Brien, plus Charles S. Howard (owner of Seabiscuit).

Del Mar is almost adjacent to the Pacific Ocean (horses even used to be allowed to train on the beach), certainly something neither Saratoga or Keeneland can claim. However, California racing is generally considered a cut below East Coast racing and Del Mar is no exception. It has top races, to be sure, and attracts top horses, to be sure, but it doesn’t have the constant display of highest-quality horseflesh that its eastern counterparts boast. That doesn’t stop Del Mar from having fun though: shorts and flip-flops and a beer in hand are standard dress (all of which would deny one admittance to the clubhouse at Saratoga or Keeneland), as are skimpy sundresses on the ladies that would drop jaws in New York or Kentucky and send track staff scurrying for jackets to cover up the “impropriety.” Del Mar is a party from the moment the gates open until the last horse crosses the finish line on the final day of the meet each year. It’s renowned for its good, old-fashioned California fun and casualness. Oh yes, there’s something special about Del Mar, indeed.

It’s mid-July to Labor Day that Del Mar blooms, but we’re here now, well before the meet, and just had to see the famed track for ourselves. Isn’t it beautiful? Maybe someday we’ll have the good fortune to be here during the summer.

“Where the Surf Meets the Turf”
Sang and co-written by Bing Crosby

Where the surf meets the turf
Down at old Del Mar
Take a plane
Take a train
Take a car.

There is a smile on every face
And a winner in each race
Where the turf meets the surf
At Del Mar.