Del Mar Racetrack
With the 2012 Triple Crown underway, sports betting enthusiasts from across North America are trying to familiarize themselves with the rules behind thoroughbred horseracing. One suggestion we offer new handicappers is to travel a racetrack, and get a feel for what you can expect watching a major stakes race. A racetrack that often goes unnoticed by new handicappers is Del Mar, which is part of California’s brilliant racing scene. Today we’ll look at why Del Mar is a track everyone must attend a race at.
Del Mar was opened up for business in July 1937, by a celebrity ownership that included Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brian and Oliver Hardy and Charles Howard. The track is currently owned and operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Del Mar has four major grade one stakes races, Pacific Glass, Eddie Read Stakes, Del Mar Oaks, and the John C. Mabee Stakes. The Del Mar Oaks is often used to help three-year-old thoroughbreds qualify for the American Triple Crown, as it is run in April. Throughout its 84-year history, betting online enthusiasts have watched some of the best races in the industry.
While Del Mar is known for it’s quadruple grade one stakes races, the track itself is best known as the home of one of the greatest horses in the history of the sport. As MLB blogs writers can attest too, in 1938, the legendary Seabiscuit, owned by track owner Charles Howard, ran a $25,000 winner take all race against relative unknown Ligaroti. At the time of the race, horseracing played second fiddle to the MLB, but because of Seabiscuit’s popularity, the race gained much attention. The race brought in one of the largest crowds in Del Mar history, which included the first ever NBC broadcast of horseracing on the radio. Luckily for Howard and his fellow track owners, Seabiscuit came away with the victory and kept the purse at Del Mar.


