By Jim Charvat

Larry Collmus © Benoit Photo

LARRY COLLMUS: BACK IN THE BOOTH FOR ANOTHER FALL MEET

Time flies when you’re having fun and Larry Collmus is definitely enjoying himself at Del Mar. With the pressures of the Breeders’ Cup behind him, Collmus is settling into his fourth year calling the Bing Crosby Season at the seaside oval. The voice of the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup finds Del Mar a perfect way to cap off a busy year.

Collmus first called races at Del Mar in the summer of 2020, during the height of Covid, when the grandstand was empty of fans and regular race caller, Trevor Denman, chose to remain home in Minnesota during the pandemic. Collmus returned in the fall and then the following year, when Denman suffered a back injury and couldn’t make the trip, Collmus was back in the booth calling the fall meet for a second year. In 2022, Denman chose to expand his retirement and cutback to summer racing only leaving Collmus with a regular gig calling the races at Del Mar in the fall. 

“I love the area,” Collmus says. “I love seeing a bunch of people I don’t get to see around and, of course, the quality of racing is terrific. It always puts you in a good mood when you get here.”

Collmus calls New Jersey home though he admits he hardly ever works there these days. He will stay here in San Diego for the duration of the fall meet with the possibility of a quick trip over to Las Vegas to visit friends. It’s his time to wind down from a stressful year.

“I think that’s fair to say,” Collmus admits. “(Del Mar is) three days a week of racing and and for those three days you’re in a great atmosphere. In a place where you enjoy being and so even the work days are not that much work.”

The pressures of calling the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup can be overwhelming. But Collmus has learned what it takes to make that pressure manageable.

“You approach it with a lot of preparation,” Collmus says. “Make sure you know who all the horses are and know everything there is to know about them. The toughest part once all the preparation is done is keeping the nerves in check. Nothing quite like the Kentucky Derby when it comes to being a little edgy. Breeders’ Cup I’m usually okay but the Derby can be a little tough so you just need to try to keep yourself as calm as possible.

“You try not to think about it (the pressure),” he adds. “It’s going to be there no matter what. The good news is when the horses leave the starting gate you’re kind of in your own world. It’s more of the lead up than the race itself.”

Collmus has been calling races for 40 years during which time he has seen the very best that American racing has to offer.

“I’ve been very fortunate to call so many races,” Collmus says. “I never would have thought when I first started that I would have the chance to call the Triple Crown or the Breeders’ Cup. Now this year I got to do the Dubai World Cup so that’s another one off the bucket list.”

As for which race Collmus would like to call that he hasn’t.

“Maybe the Arc,” Larry says. “I don’t know if that will ever happen but that would be fun for sure. I was there once and it was a great time.”

And what is the highlight in a career filled with highlights?

“It’s easy. It’s American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown,” Collmus says. “First Triple Crown winner in 37 years and getting the chance to be the guy who got to call it, it’s unbeatable.”

ABEL CEDILLO TO RIDE AT TURFWAY PARK THIS WINTER

Abel Cedillo will ride two races today at Del Mar and then pack up his tack and move east, to Florence, Kentucky and Turfway Park for their winter meeting that starts on November 29.

He has every intention of returning to the seaside oval next summer, but says the timing just seemed right to try something new.

“I just want to go because I’ve never gone out of California,” Cedillo says. “I’m still young so I don’t want to wait until I’m too old to make the move. I’ll take my chance right now.”

It’s not the first `chance’ the 34-year-old jockey has taken in his career. In 2019, after capturing the riding title up at Golden Gate Fields, Cedillo moved to the highly competitive Southern California circuit where he made quite a splash. He finished third at his first meeting, Del Mar’s summer session, then tied for the top spot during Santa Anita’s autumn meet only to return to Del Mar and win the Bing Crosby Season’s riding crown.

“One of the agents at Turfway Park (Jimmy McNerney) called me and said he had some good people who could help me,” Cedillo says. “He asked if I wanted to come with him. I was trying to go to Oaklawn but I decided with my family to go to Kentucky.”

Cedillo was off to a decent start this past summer at Del Mar. After two days of racing he had won two races and was looking forward to another successful meet. But it all came to a crashing halt on day three when his mount in the fourth race clipped heels with another horse shortly after the start of the race, unseating Cedillo who landed awkwardly on his head.

He suffered a broken bone in his neck and was sidelined for the remainder of the meet. He avoided having surgery and instead went through a rigorous rehab.

“It took six weeks,” Cedillo says. “I was working out in the gym by myself and doing my routine. Sometimes in the morning I get up and I’m a little sore. But soon as I start working I feel better. I feel a hundred percent now.”

Cedillo returned to the races on September 22 at Los Alamitos and went on to ride at Santa Anita, but only managed one win from 27 mounts.

BACKSIDE MEALS TO CONTINUE THIS FALL AT DEL MAR

Del Mar is providing meals for the backside workers this fall. Once a day, on race days, meals are served up for those who qualify. Specifically, the grooms and hot walkers and anyone else who lives on the backside and works with the horses during the meet.

This past summer, the Backside Meals Program fed up to 500 people a day. The meals consisted of pasta one day and tacos or burritos the next. They had a fish day and on another day served hamburgers and hot dogs. Because the bulk of the workforce is concentrated toward the east end of the stable area in the fall, the dinners are being served at the Horse Arena instead of the stable kitchen.

“We’re at the back of the Horse Arena,” says Sue Walls, the v.p. of facilities at Del Mar who coordinates the program. “We tried to move the kitchen closer to where the people are caring for the horses. There’s a trailer that they use during the Fair and we borrowed that. They still use the stable kitchen to prep the meals.”

Of course the numbers will be less than those from the summer because there are less people working on the backside. But the need is just as great.

“We said, ‘Let’s base it on 200 a day,’” Walls says. “We haven’t got there yet but it’s only been a couple of days. The word has to get out. We announce it over the (backside) speaker so everybody knows and then it’s really word of mouth.”

Del Mar is the only racetrack in the nation that provides this service to its workers.

“I think it was exactly what Josh Rubinstein, Tom (Robbins) and David (Jerkens) wanted,” Walls explains. “It became a communal thing. The only hiccup we had was with the televisions. Our reception is really bad back there. We had to get a Roku box.”

This fall it will be more of a lunch being served from 1 p.m. to 4.

“The first day we did barbeque pork sandwiches,” Walls says. “Saturday we did carnitas, beans and rice. Fortunately we have lots of utilities up there so instead of messing around with the propane patio heaters, I rented two big floor heaters and we brought in picnic tables and trees.”

Some days it does get chilly and one of the most requested items last summer will probably be more in-demand this time of year.

“Omar (Vergara, the man who sets the menu) is always open for suggestions,” Walls says. “People wanted soup so they did pozole one night and albondigas another night.”

The workers are grateful and happy with the program, and, in turn it makes the people providing the service feel good.

“We’re there appreciating the people that we’re taking care of,” Wall notes, “because we couldn’t be racing without them.”

COOLING OUT:   Jockey Geovanni Franco moved one step closer to a personal milestone. With his win aboard Flatterwithjewels in the fourth race Saturday, Franco is five shy of 1,000 career wins…Jockeys Juan Hernandez, Ricky Gonzalez and Kyle Frey were waiting for assignments outside of trainer Phil D’Amato’s office this morning, the first morning of turf training in all of Southern California since the summer meet closed in September. D’Amato’s string of turf runners at times looked similar to the parade of horses the European trainer, Aiden O’Brien, runs out on the track during Breeders’ Cup…Dolce Zel came out of her win in the $75,000 Kathryn Crosby Saturday in good order. D’Amato is considering bringing her back in the G1 Matriarch at the end of the meet, but adds that nothing’s set in stone at this time…Jockey Umberto Rispoli had a riding triple on Saturday…Notable works on Sunday – Dirt:  None Above the Law (4f, :48.40) and Newgrange (6f, 1:14.80). Turf: Hong Kong Harry (4f, :48.80); Turn on the Jets (4f, :50.20) and Balnikhov (5f, 1:01.20). 44 horses put in official works on the main track, 14 on the grass.

Del Mar Statistics

 Jockey Standings
(Current through November 11, 2023 Inclusive) 

Trainer Standings
(Current through November 11, 2023 Inclusive) 

Winning Favorites Report
(Current through November 11, 2023 Inclusive) 

Winning favorites -- 10 out of 17 -- 58.82%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 5 out of 8 -- 62.50%
Winning favorites on turf -- 5 out of 9 -- 55.56%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 5 out of 5 -- 100.00%
In-the-Money favorites -- 13 out of 17 -- 76.47%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 5 out of 5 -- 100.00%