New Del Mar train platform proposed

An area behind the Southfair complex in Del Mar is earmarked for a seasonal train platform.

By Jim Kerr

The North County Transit District (NCTD) and the Del Mar Fairgrounds have begun formalizing plans for a new seasonal train stop platform near the fairgrounds.

Discussed off and on numerous times in the past, funding issues and logistical problems have always squelched the idea.

Now after discussions between the NCTD and a committee of its board members, the plan seems close to reality.

"They are absolutely serious about it this time," said Del Mar's deputy mayor Dave Druker, who is a member of the NCTD board.

Jockey agent’s success marked by family ties

Jockey Agent Brad Pegram, left, discusses plans with jockey David Flores on Del Mar’s backstretch.

By Julie Sarno

Brad Pegram became a jockey’s agent in 1998, the year his uncle Mike’s Real Quiet won the Kentucky Derby.

Coincidence?

No, Pegram was attending college at nearby University of Kentucky at the time and decided that horse racing offered more excitement. He books mounts for top jockeys Mike Smith and David Romero Flores, a native of nearby Tijuana.

Read here for the entire Del Mar Times article.

Polytrack meets the surf in old Del Mar

The 68th season of Del Mar thoroughbred racing opens Wednesday.

By Laura Petersen

In the early morning hours at Santa Anita Racetrack, it is a sight to behold horses running through the misty fog enveloping the track with the snowcapped San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Seven freeways over is Hollywood Park Racetrack, an oasis in Inglewood with gazebos nestled amongst flowering gardens and flowing brooks.

But there’s only one track in the Southern California racing circuit where it’s possible, in fact, routine, to walk from the beach to the racetrack, take in a few breath-taking races, and then catch a couple waves before the day is done — Del Mar.Complete article here.

Polytrack receives its first test

Key of Solomon with exercise rider Cody Prine up, tests out Del Mar’s new Polytrack surface.

The Del Mar racetrack is looking a little brighter these days with installation of the new Polytrack surface complete. The $8 million synthetic surface, a combination of silica sand, recycled rubber particles and carpet fibers, is lighter color than the old dirt surface. But it’s the consistent cushion the surface provides for the horses everyone is most excited about.

“It has a nice spongy feel,” said outrider Curley Ortiz, who participated in the test-run morning workouts held April 23 and 24. “You can’t hear the foot falls very loud, which is a good indication it’s not overly hard.”

A few horses tried out the new surface before it is covered up for the San Diego County Fair.

“There’s no dust or mud, no material that flies up — the horses stay clean,” Ortiz said. “They get a hold of it very well.”

The fair board has approved a new racing surface.

By Jim Kerr

The installation of a new, and safer, racing surface for the Del Mar Racetrack cleared a major hurdle with the Sept. 12 funding approval by the 22nd District Agricultural Association.

“It’s the right thing to do for the horses and the sport,” said board member Michael Alpert.

The fair board voted unanimously to approve a budget of $8 million plus an additional 6 percent, if needed, to install a new synthetic surface that, hopefully, will dramatically cut down on the number of injuries to thoroughbreds incurred while racing, or training, on a regular dirt surface. This summer, racetrack injuries at Del Mar resulted in the well-publicized deaths of 18 horses.

In presenting the item for approval at the Sept. 12 meeting, Craig Fravel, executive vice president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, said anecdotal evidence showed synthetic surfaces such as Polytrack greatly benefited horses.

“The potential to impact the catastrophic injury rate is dramatic,” said Fravel.

The California Horseracing Board has mandated all racetracks in the state running races for more than four consecutive weeks, install a new synthetic surface by 2008. The state’s Racetrack Leasing Commission already has approved Del Mar’s project. The proposal was sent to the California Coastal Commission for approval, and was scheduled to hear the item at their regular meeting at the end of October.

The fairgrounds has yet to adopt a mitigated negative declaration for the project, which the city of Del Mar has responded to with environmental concerns over drainage issues. Drainage from the fairgrounds including the racetrack, flows into Del Mar’s Sewage system. Del Mar City Manager Lauraine Brekke-Esparza said the two parties currently are meeting over the issue and hope to have a resolution in time for the Coastal Commission meeting next month. She implied a continued disagreement between the city and the fairgrounds, which could jeopardize the commission’s approval.

“But we are hopeful,” she added.

If all approvals are granted in a timely manner, construction on the new surface is expected to commence in early January. It is expected to take eight weeks. Board members expressed skepticism on that timeline due to unpredictable winter weather, but fairgrounds general manager Tim Fennell said the January start date was crucial so the track would be ready in time for the start of numerous horseshows held at the fairgrounds.

The fairgrounds is expected to get final test results this week regarding the environmental impact of new materials to be used in a surface such as Polytrack. Preliminary results have shown materials contain no toxic byproducts.

Several companies have licenses on artificial surface patents, all with a slightly different combination of materials. Most contain a mixture of synthetic fibers, recycled rubber and sand with silicon content of 80 to 85 percent. The company eventually winning the bid for installing the new track will be expected to reveal all levels of certain materials so the racetrack can perform further tests so that all environmental reports are accurate.

Fravel presented the board with financial projections associated with the new track, which requires greatly reduced watering and harrowing. They indicated a potential savings of $500,000 a year in maintenance costs.

Cost after savings were put at $175,000 a year or 1.3 percent of total operational costs last season. Fravel estimated installation costs could be paid back by increasing race field sizes by .08 percent or by running 3.6 races more per year. The average revenue per race was put at $50,000.

Fravel said he would like to see nine races run during the week as opposed to the usual eight, with 10 on weekends. He speculated the artificial surface would attract a larger quantity of horses with a potential for more races and more revenue. Cost estimates were based on needing to replace the surface every seven years, although some tracks in Europe using Polytrack have had their surface intact for 12 years with occasional “touchups,” Fravel said. In comparison, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club spends $117,000 a year to add more sand to the track to soften it for horses.

“To be honest,” Fravel said, “I don’t have a huge fudge factor.”

The most vulnerable areas for cost increases in the fair board’s approval are expected in raw material and transportation, with surface materials possibly being shipped by boat from England, where Polytrack originated. Board member and construction executive Douglas Barnhart concerned about cost escalations of materials, and inflation, suggested including the extra 6 percent of wriggle room to the $8 million.

After the board’s approval, Fravel was appreciative.

“Thank you,” said Fravel. “This has become a personal crusade for me.”

42,005 racing fans set an opening-day record at Del Mar

July 20, 2006

SCOTT LINNETT / Union-Tribune Horses were paraded around the paddock before the inaugural race on Del Mar Racetrack's opening day of the 67th Thoroughbred Club season. “Del Mar is as good as it gets,” said official starter Gary Brinson.

Some people dressed up, others dressed down, and there was more than just a whiff of excitement in the air yesterday as the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club began its 67th summer meet at the Del Mar Racetrack. It ends Sept. 6.

The crowd of 42,005 set an opening-day record, topping 40,682 in 2003.

And all those people, sporting almost as many hats, ranging from the plainly utilitarian to the outrageously impractical, were still streaming into the Del Mar Fairgrounds long after the first race at 2 p.m.

With the parking lots already full, the late arrivals brought local traffic to a virtual standstill on Jimmy Durante Boulevard and northbound Camino Del Mar. The going was just as slow on northbound Interstate 5, with traffic backed up well beyond the Interstate 805 merge, and no relief in sight.

The big story inside the track before race time was the traditional opening-day “One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest.” San Diegan Ootsen Eastburn's entry in the Best Racing Theme category was a formidable hat full of puffy cotton clouds with a hot-air balloon on top. The basket beneath the balloon was home to a small herd of horses, and more horses poked their heads through the clouds.