Joe Harper, the 83-year-old chief executive officer who transformed Del Mar's racetrack over nearly five decades, will step down at the end of this year.

Josh Rubinstein, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's president, will succeed Harper as CEO starting in January while continuing in his current role, the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported in July. Harper will become CEO emeritus and remain as a director on the DMTC board.

Harper arrived at Del Mar in 1977 as the track's general manager. He joined the DMTC board in 1986 and was named CEO in 1990.

The grandson of Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille and the nephew of actor Anthony Quinn, Harper had been working in the mailroom at MGM Studios before switching to a career in racing. He served six years as executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita before coming to Del Mar.

Under his watch, the track's aging grandstand was rebuilt between 1990 and 1992 into a two-sided facility with balconies and restaurants overlooking the paddock and the Pacific Ocean. Harper established the Grade I Pacific Classic in 1991, now Del Mar's signature race. Those upgrades helped land the Breeders' Cup World Championships, horse racing's most prestigious event, which Del Mar hosted in 2017, 2021, 2024 and 2025.

"This job has been paradise because of the people who work here," Harper said in July, according to the Union-Tribune.

In a Modern Luxury profile published Oct. 30, Harper reflected on what kept him at Del Mar for so long. "The people," he said. "Del Mar has been so successful because of our outstanding team. It's full of hardworking people committed to running the best possible facility and creating the best experience."

Harper endorsed his successor directly. "I couldn't be more thrilled that our Board of Directors selected Josh Rubinstein to succeed me," Harper told Modern Luxury. "He's done an outstanding job as president, and I know he'll continue to maintain Del Mar's gold standard when he steps into the CEO role next year."

David Batchelder, chairman of the DMTC board, called Harper's stewardship "invaluable to Thoroughbred racing in California and the U.S.," according to the Union-Tribune.

The track has continued to perform under the leadership team Harper built. At an Aug. 28 meeting of the state's racetrack leasing committee, Rubinstein reported that the summer and fall race meets plus the Breeders' Cup generated just over $10 million for the 22nd District Agricultural Association and Race Track Authority, according to meeting records. The two-day 2025 Breeders' Cup, which drew more than 65,000 fans on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2025, accounted for $1.5 million of that total.

Harper also received the Pincay Jr. Award this summer, the 22nd recipient of the honor named for Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. Del Mar Racetrack announced the award on X on Aug. 14.

Del Mar's fall meet runs through Nov. 29.