The year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States. “New Coke” was introduced in April en route to a historic marketing fizzle. In May, Michael Jordan was voted NBA Rookie of the Year. In early July, John McEnroe became the youngest ever to win Wimbledon.

 

And it was the debut summer for jockey Gary Stevens at Del Mar.

 

“I was coming off an injury at Oak Tree at Santa Anita that previous fall, but I had a good meet here,” Stevens recalled on Monday, looking over the track from a spot near the barn where Beholder, whom he has called the best horse of his Hall of Fame lifetime, was stabled.

 

“I won the Eddie Read (on Tsunami Slew) and the Del Mar Derby on First Norman and the Del Mar meeting I had set me up for Oak Tree, and I was leading rider the year after I’d gotten hurt there.”

 

The Del Mar stakes wins in 1985 were the first two of 90 that Stevens will take into Friday’s Opening Day of the 2016 summer season. The ’85 Oak Tree was one of 16 different riding titles for Stevens including two (1987 and ’88) at Del Mar.

 

Two retirements and summer ventures to ride in France in 2004 and Saratoga in 2005 removed Stevens from the Del Mar scene for a few years. Officially, this will be his 24^th season at the track.

 

And his success following full knee replacement surgery in 2014, in the midst of seven years of a comeback after seven years of retirement and pursuit of careers in acting and TV race commentating, has been amazing.  He won eight stakes over the course of the combined summer and fall meetings last year here, among them the summer signature $1 million TVG Pacific Classic aboard Beholder.

 

Stevens’ first ride on Beholder came here in the 2013 Torrey Pines Stakes. He’s been aboard for 11 of Beholder’s 12 starts since then and won 10 more times. They’ll be shooting to repeat last year’s Clement L. Hirsch/Pacific Classic double this summer.

 

Stevens, 53,  has a new agent, Mike Ciani, and said he’ll be looking to ride “as many as I can,” during the course of the meeting.

 

A field of 14, the maximum allowed on the expanded Jimmy Durante Turf Course, was entered Tuesday for Friday’s $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, the traditional opening day feature.

 

Eighteen of the 34 Oceanside nominees were entered on Tuesday morning, leaving two also eligibles and two excluded after racing officials opted to card the one-mile turf event for 3-year-olds as a single entity rather than split it into divisions.

 

There was precedent either way.

 

The Oceanside, first leg of a three-race series that includes the Grade III 1 1/16 mile La Jolla on August 6 and Grade II Del Mar Derby on September 4, was split into divisions 20 straight times from 1987 to 2008 but has gone solo five of the last seven years.

 

With the decision-making done and the draw set later Tuesday, those in the field for what will be the  eighth on a 10-race program in alphabetical order are: Arcature, Blackjackcat, Diploducus, Dressed In Hermes, Ebadan, Hollywood Don, Imperious One,  Liam The Charmer, Mishegas, Monster Bea, Moonlight Drive, Mr. Roary, Path Of David and Tristan’s Trilogy.  On the also eligible list are All The Marbles, and Lauren’s Ladd while Free Rose and Lucky Bryan were excluded.

 

 

 

California Chrome will be vanned down I-5 following his morning exercise at Los Alamitos on Wednesday and start the preparation here for the Grade II $200,000 San Diego Handicap on Saturday, July 23.

 

The San Diego will be the first start since a March 26 victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup for the 2014 Horse of the Year by virtue of Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins. The 5-year-old California-bred trained by Art Sherman is 3-for-3 with earnings of more than $6.2 million in a 2016 comeback from an injury-plagued 2015.

 

Tuesday morning at his Del Mar stable, Sherman, a Rancho Bernardo resident, expressed contentment with Chrome’s 1:39.60 work in company last Saturday at Los Alamitos and was naturally, looking forward to the big chestnut’s arrival.

 

“They’re making special silks for him for the (San Diego), all pink for cancer awareness.” That evening, the silks will be auctioned off at the annual Barretts Paddock Sale of horses in training with proceeds going to the cancer charity.

 

California Chrome is scheduled to make his first gallop around the Del Mar track at 5:45 a.m. on Thursday. Around a half-hour after, at approximately 6:30, Sherman will meet with San Diego media.

 

On Saturday, a 5 furlong workout is planned for the son of Lucky Pulpit-Love the Chase under regular exercise rider Dihigi Gladney. It will be held during a window, starting at 7:45, when the track will be cleared for all but San Diego Handicap  entrants.

 

 

 

Monday morning, the portion of Barn Y set aside for trainer Doug O’Neill’s contingent was virtually empty. Twenty-four hours later, it was alive with most of the stable’s 40-horse allocation ensconced.

 

The overnight move for the four-time  Del Mar champion trainer was supervised by assistant Jack Sisterson. And among the horses making the transition from Santa Anita was Nyquist, whose victory in the 2015 Del Mar Futurity was the third of eight straight career-starting wins culminating with the Kentucky Derby last May.

 

Late Monday, after weeks of contemplation involving O’Neill and owners J. Paul and Zillah Reddam, it was announced that Nyquist’s next start would  be in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on July 31.

 

“He worked really well yesterday and he’ll work here the next couple of Sundays before he goes east,” O’Neill said. “We don’t know exactly when that will be.”

  

 

 

Much like horse racing, Texas Hold’em poker takes skill, strategy and a bit of luck to win. Combining the two for the final time, California Retirement Management Account (CARMA)<http://www.carma4horses.org/>, a nonprofit dedicated to funding Thoroughbred aftercare, will host its signature summer CARMA Cares fundraiser on Saturday, July 16 at the Del Mar Hilton at 6:30 p.m.

 

Offering an entertaining evening of casino games, live music, a silent auction, delicious food, a no-host bar and a silent auction – “Chips All In” is a major social event of the Del Mar opening weekend. Guests will mix and mingle with Southern California’s most prominent racehorse owners, trainers and jockeys while helping raise money for Thoroughbreds that have raced in the state. Those confident in their poker prowess are encouraged to participate in the thrilling Texas Hold’em Tournament.

 

“Chips All In will be our final casino themed fundraiser at Del Mar,” said CARMA Executive Director Lucinda Mandella. “It has been incredibly successful and helped raise awareness about the importance of supporting our equine athletes when they cross the wire for the last time. We are looking forward to offering something new next year on our traditional day of the first  Saturday of Del Mar.”

 

Through sponsorships and guest attendance, last year’s event raised more than $80,000 – helping CARMA provide funding to more than 20 aftercare organizations which rehabilitate, retrain and relocate off-track-Thoroughbreds. Annually, CARMA awards over $500,000 to these non-profits through a grant process which takes place in September.

 

Individual Poker Players will donate $200 and Individual Casino Night tickets are $50. Those who register for Chips All In will receive two complimentary Clubhouse Passes valid any single day of the 2016 Del Mar Summer Meet. Sponsorships are still available ranging from $500 to $5,000.

 

For further information access carma4horses.org or call (626) 574-6622.

 

 

 CLOSERS --  Vyjack, previously raced on the East Coast, is now in the care of trainer Phil D’Amato and is nominated to both the Wickerr and Eddie Read stakes on the weekend, but is considered more likely for the Wickerr. Vyjack was 18^th behind Orb in the 2013 Kentucky Derby and won the Grade II Kelso Handicap in September of 2014.… Among Bob Baffert’s stable here are Arrogate, a 3-year-old colt purchased for $560,000 for Juddmonte Farms who is considered a candidate for the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saragota and American Cleopatra, a full sister to Triple Crown champion American Pharoah. Arrogate shares a name with the 1955 and ’56 San Diego Handicap winner. The 1956 score was No. 4,871 in the career of John Longden, moving him past Sir Gordon Richards as the winningest jockey at that time. “They’re here, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with them yet,” Baffert said Tuesday.

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793