Del Mar's 13th Bing Crosby Season will bring 15 stakes races worth $2.1 million to the seaside track Nov. 6–29, headlined by two Grade I events on closing weekend, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced Thursday, Aug. 13.
The $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds runs Saturday, Nov. 28, and the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares closes the meet Sunday, Nov. 29. Both run on turf.
The two Grade I races will be contested on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, with the Hollywood Derby going a mile and one-eighth and the Matriarch at a flat mile. Nine of the 15 stakes go on the grass, a late-season emphasis that senior vice president for racing David Jerkens called unmatched nationally.
"We've got one of the best turf courses in the country, and we put a real emphasis on it for our fall meet," Jerkens said. "Our lineup is the best in America during that period."
Racing runs Fridays through Sundays, with one addition: a Thanksgiving Day card on Thursday, Nov. 26. That eight-race program starts at 11 a.m. and wraps by approximately 2 p.m. The Thanksgiving headliner is the $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile and three-eighths on turf.
First post on all other days is 12:30 p.m. Friday cards carry eight races; weekend programs carry nine.
The fall meet launched in 2014 after Hollywood Park Racetrack closed, bringing signature races like the Hollywood Derby and Matriarch to Del Mar. Stakes names honor the track's show-business roots: Betty Grable, Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Cecil B. DeMille all figured in the glamorous early days at the shore oval, where Bing Crosby co-founded the Del Mar Turf Club in 1936 and personally greeted fans at the gate on opening day in 1937.
Opening weekend features two Cal-bred stakes Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8: the Chosen Vron Stakes and the Betty Grable Stakes, each at seven furlongs with $100,000 purses. The closing weekend card also includes the Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Friday, Nov. 27, and the Grade II, $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap on Saturday, Nov. 28.
Three graded dirt stakes round out the schedule: the Grade III Bob Hope Stakes (Sunday, Nov. 15), the Grade III Native Diver Stakes (Saturday, Nov. 21) and the Grade III Bayakoa Stakes (Sunday, Nov. 29), according to Thoroughbred Daily News.
Key dates for the fall meet:
- Friday, Nov. 6: Opening day, first post 12:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Thanksgiving Day card, first post 11 a.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Hollywood Derby (Gr. I), Seabiscuit Handicap (Gr. II)
- Sunday, Nov. 29: Matriarch Stakes (Gr. I), closing day
