DEL MAR MIGHT NOT BE THAT RECESSION-PROOF THIS SUMMER.

Byline: ART WILSON 

HORSE RACING 

DEL MAR - A recording of "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" by Bing Crosby serenades the fans at Del Mar before the first race and after the nightcap each racing day, but track officials are not singing any tunes after seeing the numbers for the first seven days of the 43-day meet.

According to Del Mar president Joe Harper, on-track handle is down 11.5 percent compared to 2007, when Del Mar had the second- highest all-sources average daily handle in track history. On-track attendance is also in decline, down as much as 900 per day according to one estimate.

Because of the economy and high gas prices, it appears many Los Angeles-area race fans are staying home and betting through TVG or Youbet.com.

According to one industry source, Del Mar management may cut purses by 7 percent in the near future, a possibility that Harper would neither confirm nor deny.

"We don't really know (yet) if we'll have to adjust purses or not," Harper said Thursday. "We really want to take a look at how this weekend is going to set up because it will tell us a lot.

"We had projected some decrease in handle, but we also had a $400,000 surplus from last year. So we have kind of a built-in buffer there."

Still, numbers don't lie. Overall handle is down 6percent, putting Del Mar in danger of suffering through its worst meeting in several years despite fixing the problems with its Polytrack, which is in its second season and generated much negative publicity last year because of its inconsistencies.

"The main thing we were concerned about was the racing surface, and that seems to be going well," Harper said.

"The business, I don't know literally anybody that isn't being impacted by this economy. Most of my friends that have their own businesses are seeing a 20 percent increase in costs and a 20 percent decline in revenues, so I guess we're probably sorta in the middle of all that.

"A lot of these racetracks around the country are losing money. Del Mar is not going to lose money. We may not make quite as much as we did, but fortunately our revenues are just about even, so that's a good sign. We try to keep our prices down. Obviously, in this kind of economy, you don't want to gauge the people. Those price increases we do have are in the high end, from the people who are going to be impacted less."

Some of the more negative reports floating around show Del Mar making about $3 million less this year than in 2007 if the current trend continues, but Harper prefers to maintain a positive outlook.

"We're still in good shape," he said. "We're going to make money. Last year was over $11 million, and I'm sure this year won't be too far off that mark."

Harper said it's been close to 20 years since Del Mar has been affected this much by a slumping economy.

"In the old days, it never would impact us," he said. "A recession was sort of good, it seemed. The old hardcore gambler was going to bet five instead of two. Now, the last recession we went through in the 80's, it did impact us. We saw a decline.

"Nowadays, I think our fan base is made up of much less of a hardcore gambler than say a Hollywood Park or a Santa Anita."

No more grace period

Effective next Friday, the California Horse Racing Board will enforce all its new regulations concerning anabolic steroids and will no longer issue "unofficial notices" when test samples reveal unauthorized levels.

There has been a grace period since testing for anabolic steroids began July 1 to allow for the implementation of the new regulations, guidelines and procedures, but complaints will be filed against trainers or other licensees alleged to have violated the regulations beginning with next Friday's races.

"We are trying to implement this enforcement regulation in the most logical, timely way," CHRB chairman Richard B. Shapiro said in a statement. "We have given notice to the owners, trainers, veterinarians and other track personnel. It is part of the process. The administration of all anabolic steroids to horses in competition must stop immediately. Complaints will be issued.

"The hammer is coming down. In this way, we are protecting the public and all of those who are playing by the rules."

Gomez OK being home

Garrett Gomez has gotten off to a slow start at Del Mar, winning only three races in the first eight days. But he's glad he made the decision to forego Saratoga this summer and return to Southern California to be closer to his family in Duarte.

"This is my home," he said. "I was riding quality races (in New York), which is what you always want to do, but during the week I wasn't doing much. If I'm just going to ride the weekends and so forth ... I think the whole time I was at Belmont Park I was only there one full week where I was there through the week and the whole weekend, and that was Belmont week. But other than that, I'm on an airplane.

"A lot of our business was on the weekends. Why sit there when I can sit here, ride throughout the week and then ship just the same as I was doing?"

Rafael Bejarano, aiming for his third consecutive riding title on the circuit after winning the Santa Anita and Hollywood Park championships, has a 10-win lead on Gomez heading into today's action.

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- Art Wilson