Del Mar’s Thoroughbred season raced to a finish Wednesday (September 3), nicely closing out a 36-day run that saw high-caliber racing sparkle for the 75th time alongside the blue Pacific at the popular summer playground.
Large purses and full fields put a special shine on the 2014 meeting and the track’s signature event might have provided a coming-out for one of the most dynamic young horses in the game.
Total purse money for the seven-week session is estimated to reach $26,030,000, meaning a daily average purse figure of $723,000, which is second highest in the nation and above the track’s record figures of 2013. The track’s 2014 purses are the highest in the country among tracks not supplemented by casino funds.
Field size continued to be among the very best nationally at 8.8 horses per race, equal to the numbers of the 2013 stand. Those field size figures, one of the key elements in the betting equation, were supplemented once again by the track’s successful “Ship and Win” program, now in its fourth year. This season the shore oval drew 187 out-of-state runners into its lineups via “S&W,” a 26% jump from the 149 starters it lured in 2013.
And though there was one less day of racing – 36 days in 2014 vs. 37 in 2013 – there were only two fewer races (326 as opposed to 328) due to individual races being added to cards throughout the summer.
Additionally, Del Mar’s premier race, the $1-million TVG Pacific Classic, may have been the coming out party for one of the most exciting young horses to appear on the scene in quite a while when the undefeated 3-year-old Shared Belief, owned in part by radio and TV sports celebrity Jim Rome, scored a smashing victory over a stellar field in front of a national television audience. The gelding currently is projected as a serious factor for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and national honors.
Preliminary final figures showed that the track’s overall daily average handle slid 7.3% to $12,087,844 when matched up against its exceptional 37-day numbers from 2013. Attendance, meanwhile, was down slightly by 6.3% to 16,535 per day. By way of perspective, the track’s 2014 mutuel counts were not far off its 2012 standards for daily average handle which was $12,396,871 per day.
“In 2013 we had one of the finest seasons in Del Mar history,” track president Joe Harper noted. “This year we rode the roller coaster a bit, but overall we’re happy with another fine meeting. Our horsemen responded wonderfully to what was offered and the racing, as always, was topnotch. Now we’ve got an exciting new fall season to look forward to.”
The seaside track will conduct a first-of-its-kind fall meeting this year from November 7 to November 30.
On-track handle was off 11.3% on average from $2,174,588 per day in 2014 vs. $2,452,080 in 2013, while California Advanced Deposit Wagering checked in up 0.1% ($1,979,319 in ’14 against $1,977,021 in ’13). Additionally, ITW handle registered in the plus column at 0.4% ($3,988,833 in ’14 vs. $3,973,557 in ’13), aided, undoubtedly, by the addition of several new mini-satellite locations in the southern half of the state.
The 2014 season turned out to be a digital success story for Del Mar. The unveiling of the mobile friendly main website completed the 100% “responsive” transformation across all digital platforms. Usage of Del Mar sites was nearly an exact 50/50 split between desktop devices and mobile/tablet devices with more than 9,000,000 pages viewed during the meet. On-track mobile wagering surged during the summer, topping 2013 in every category. Notably, the total handle was up more than 15%, despite one less day of racing.
9/3/14 ###