With so much rain in the San Diego area recently, race dates at Del Mar continue to change, fields have been redrawn, and even a stakes race had to be scrubbed.
For bettors, all this shuffling of dates and races, including a few stakes, makes handicapping a bit tougher than usual. But that’s part of the game, and handicappers will have to roll with the punches.
Del Mar’s popular Bing Crosby meet opened with the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 30. So far, two racing days have been called off due to rain, and one race, the Bob Hope Stakes (G3), originally scheduled for Nov. 16 and rescheduled for Nov. 21, won’t be run this year due to lack of entries.
“It's disappointing, obviously, to not have a stakes race go, which is extremely rare here," Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens told drf.com earlier in the week. “It's a dose of reality with 2-year-olds on the dirt right now. It's been a frustrating category all summer.”
Of course, the foul weather isn’t helping. With heavy rain in the forecast, Del Mar canceled Friday’s card and rescheduled it for Monday (Nov. 24). The Nov. 15 card was also canceled due to rain.
That was the first cancellation at Del Mar since Aug. 20, 2023, when Tropical Storm Hilary blew through the area. Also, it’s just the third time in the track’s 86-year history that it has lost a day of racing to the elements.
Racing is set to resume Saturday, with the $100,000 Native Diver Stakes (G3) the featured race on the card.
Nevada Beach, winner of the Goodwood Stakes (G1) and seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), is the 3-5 favorite in a field of five 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles. He’s the only graded stakes winner in the field.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Nevada Beach also has a 4 ¼-length win in the 1 1/8-mile Los Alamitos Derby on June 28. Juan Hernandez has the call for the Omaha Beach colt, who has three wins and a second in five starts.
Also in the field is Westwood, who ran fourth as a maiden in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) back in April. Since then, the colt trained by John Sherriffs ran in the Affirmed Stakes, broke his maiden going a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 24, and finished second twice. Umberto Rispoli has the call for the first time.
The other entries are Indispensable, British Isles, and Clouseau.
With the cancellation of Friday’s card, the $2 Pick Six carryover of $51,879 and $1 Super High Five carryover of $23,912 will be available on Saturday.
First post time for the nine-race card is 12:30 p.m. Post time for the Native Diver is 4 p.m.
The 7-furlong Bob Hope was formerly the Hollywood Prevue Stakes from 1981-2013 before it was moved to Del Mar and renamed for the late comedian and racetrack regular. The race drew just three entries; it was moved to a later date, still didn’t fill, and was canceled for the year.
It’s been a rough few months trying to fill fields for 2-year-old dirt races in Southern California. The Best Pal Stakes (G3) at Del Mar in August drew five horses; the Del Mar Futurity (G1) in September drew six; and the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) in October at Santa Anita attracted six.
And most of those runners came from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who usually dominates the 2-year-old division at his California home base as he begins early plans for the 2026 Kentucky Derby (G1).
A quick look at the charts from the 2-year-old races mentioned earlier proves the point. Baffert had two of the three original entries for the Bob Hope; he ran 1-2 with Brant and Desert Gate with four entries in the Del Mar Futurity; he won the Best Pal with Desert Gate; and had four of the six runners in the American Pharoah, finishing second, third, fifth, and sixth.
The next race for 2-year-olds in California is the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) on Dec. 13, a Kentucky Derby points-qualifier offering 10-5-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers. If there are five runners or less, the points are reduced.
Baffert has won the Los Alamitos Futurity 14 times.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
