Depending on the intensity of Hurricane Hilary as it moves from the coast of Mexico to Southern California, the status of weekend racing at Del Mar was up in the air – literally.
A 10-race program is scheduled for Saturday featuring the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks (G1) for 3-year-old fillies. Sunday’s 9-race card, topped by the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes on the turf, is a bit dicier.
According to The Weather Channel, the forecast for Del Mar on Saturday calls for cloudy skies with showers developing in the late afternoon, a high temperature of 72 degrees, and humidity at 83%.
The forecast for Sunday, though, calls for rain all day, potentially heavy at times, with winds ranging from 10-20 mph. Rainfall is predicted at one inch (with other predictions up to three inches), with a high temperature of 82 degrees and humidity at 74%.
With that, the chatter at Del Mar on Friday was more about hurricanes. The forecast had trainers making plans to keep their horses safe. Many are housed in outside pens, with chain link fencing with plastic tarps as roofs. The hurricane could become a tropical storm by the time it hits the San Diego area, but trainers are worried.
Trainer John Sadler has a few dozen horses in outside pens and was planning to move them to empty stalls on the backside or to Los Alamitos, according to a Del Mar press release.
Trainer Carla Gaines also found temporary housing for he
r dozen or so horses, but George Papaprodromou has several horses he needs to shelter.
“I’m full, I don’t know what to do,” Papaprodromou said.
The forecast is one thing, but hurricane/tropical storm movement will decide what takes place.
“Three inches of rain and this will all be flooded,” Gaines said of her stable area.
In 2019, Del Mar canceled its Thanksgiving card ahead of a projected storm. It marked the first time in Del Mae’s 82-year history the track lost a day of racing due to inclement weather.
There are forecasts predicting Hilary is “highly likely’ to impact San Diego, generate torrential rains and cause flooding.
San Diego averages 0.01 inch of rain in August. The most it has ever received during the month is 2.13 inches, which occurred in 1851. “The rain that’s coming will rival that level,” a weather service forecaster said.
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.
