NOTHING COMPARES TO DEL MAR; RACE FANS ARE GIDDY.Byline: Kevin Modesti The woman with the flower-festooned feed bag over her head said it's the chance to gawk at celebrities. ``I'm people-watching,'' said Tamara Kirby, a hat-contest entrant from Vista, trying to explain what's special about Opening Day at Del Mar racetrack Del Mar Racetrack is an American thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan, "Where The Turf Meets The Surf. . ``They really do look filthy rich filthy rich adj. Extremely rich. .'' The Cal State Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. phys-ed professor who spends his summer vacations working behind a parimutuel machine said it's not the class of the customers but the class of the horses. The ladies pouring drinks in the Daily Double Bar in the grandstand agreed with each other that it's the casual environment of the track across the street from the Pacific Ocean. The student and teacher who drove an hour from Temecula to attend their first afternoon of horse racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with said it's the party atmosphere. The hottest trainer on the circuit said it's the first-day-of-summer feeling that mellows out the racetrack regulars who endure the 10-month grind at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
And then there were people in the crowd of 28,463 Wednesday afternoon who couldn't explain what makes Opening Day at Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
The lines formed outside the parking gate on Via de la Valle La Valle may refer to:
The first cheer of the new season went up when Trevor Denman's microphone crackled crack·le v. crack·led, crack·ling, crack·les v.intr. 1. To make a succession of slight sharp snapping noises: a fire crackling in the wood stove. 2. open for the announcement of the day's scratches. The first real frenzy was let loose when the 10 horses in the first race broke from the starting gate starting gate n. Sports 1. A series of stalls with interconnected doors that open simultaneously at the beginning of a race. 2. placed directly in front of the grandstand for Del Mar's traditional one-mile opener. It didn't seem to matter that the opener was a maiden-claiming event with an unusually weak field (the horses had lost their latest races by an average of nearly 17 lengths). It didn't seem to matter that the morning overcast never lifted, foiling the would-be sunbathers on the beach chairs in the infield. Opening Day at Del Mar is, said grandstand bartender Kathy Hogben with only mild exaggeration, ``the biggest event in San Diego - much bigger than Chargers Opening Day.'' The thoroughbred racing schedule in Southern California is numbing to those who compete in the sport or simply try to follow it as bettors. Fifty-two weeks a year, five to seven days a week, after a while one afternoon of racing can be indistinguishable from the next. The exceptions are few: The days of the Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during and Derby, the Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. , the Pacific Classic and the California Cup. Opening Day at Santa Anita - always the day after Christmas - is big because it marks the start of the old 10-month racing calendar. Opening Day at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita - in October - causes some excitement because it offers the first major racing in the Los Angeles area in two months. But none of those lightens the hearts of racegoers like the Del Mar opening. The simplest explanation is that San Diegans are excited to have live racing back in the county after 45 weeks of watching on TV. ``We have people (friends from San Diego) say, `When does Del Mar open? When does Del Mar open?' '' said Rod Faurot, the Cal State L.A. professor who was working his 14th Opening Day as a mutuel clerk. On the other hand, Del Mar feels like a working vacation for the trainers and jockeys. ``It's like an escape,'' said Richard Mandella, the trainer whose Dare and Go upset Cigar in the 1996 Pacific Classic here. ``It seems like a happier bunch of people down here.'' Until they hit the traffic, at least. Driving with his family from their condo around the corner, Mandella said he inched along for 45 minutes before hopping out of the car and walking to the track. When's the last time you heard complaints about overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. at the giant tracks in Los Angeles? The answer is: Before the advent of intertrack wagering depersonalized the racing experience. ``The camaraderie that used to exist at the racetrack still exists here,'' Murray said. ``The reason I get excited about it is that this is the only track on the West Coast that gives us a sense of what racing was like 30 years ago. It's the intimacy. You're close to the horses. You're close to the people.'' Said Cheri Leonard, a Palomar College student who came to Del Mar for the first time with her friend Amy Crismon: ``It's kind of like a big party.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) Racing fans at Del Mar, including many decked out in wacky hats, crowd the paddock area to view horses prior to the fifth race. Michael Poche / Special to the Daily News |
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