DEL MAR –
Opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack featured a parade of elegant creatures bred to be winners. And then there were the horses, too.
NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
The Batman headpiece worn by John Westerlund of Valley Center commanded attention at the opening of the Del Mar racing season yesterday.
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A crowd of 43,459 – an opening day attendance record – turned out yesterday for the 69th summer of racing at the oceanfront track. It was the second-largest crowd ever to gather at the track for a single day, behind the 44,181 who gathered in 1996 to see Cigar run in the Pacific Classic.
Track spokesman Mac McBride called the opening day “a ripper.”
“They kept coming in the door all day long,” he said. “And the reason is, Del Mar is a happening. It's hip and it's cool.”
Opening day also is a showcase for lavish headgear, a tradition since 1995. Folks fashion novelty hats and compete in the One and Only Truly Fabulous Hats Contest.
The scene will be repeated – but with fewer folks wearing crazy hats and elegant gowns – six days each week through Sept. 3. The track will be closed Tuesdays during the 43-day racing season.
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Craig Fravel, executive vice president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which operates the racetrack at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said opening day was “nerve-wracking” because everything needed to be perfect, from the landscaping to the weather.
His butterflies finally settle down, he said, “when the horses come out onto the track and Trevor (Denman) does his first race call.”
Ace handicapper Tom Connolly drew a standing-room audience for his Newcomers Handicapping Seminar, held under a tent near the grandstand entrance. What's the most common rookie mistake?
“Overbetting,” he snapped. “Most people who manage their money wisely come out ahead.”
Chris McCarron, a former jockey and Kentucky Derby winner, was among the notable horse people in the paddock, where the horses are paraded before each race.
“It's always a blast to be here on opening day,” said McCarron, who competed at Del Mar for 24 years.
McCarron said he came to Del Mar this year to help comedian Tim Conway host an annual fundraiser for the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, which assists injured jockeys.
The rich and famous flashed some bling and enjoyed the sun with others not worried about the price of gasoline. Celebrity sightings included Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, and Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. Actress Bo Derek, who on Tuesday was appointed to the California Horse Racing Board by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, awarded a silver plate to the winner of Oceanside Stakes, the day's featured race.
While not among the noted celebrities, Brandon Linster stood out in the crowd. Linster wore a pink Stacy Adams suit with pink sunglasses, a pink hat and pink shoes.
“I saw it in the window at the House of Flava and bought it,” said Linster, an investment counselor and practicing extrovert. “I wanted something over the top.”
In the grandstand, Marty Markzon of Phoenix had a winner in the first race. A $2 wager on a horse named Plan for Fun netted him $48.50.
“I feel like I'm the luckiest man on the face of the Earth,” he said.
Terry Rodgers: (619) 542-4566; terry.rodgers@uniontrib.com
