Del Mar

Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to:

Places

People

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See also

Del Mar racetrack

Del Mar racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 mi (32 km) north of San Diego. It is the second largest horse-racing venue in the western United States, which has a capacity of 44,000. Owned by the State of California and leased by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogans: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf" as well as "Cool as Ever." It was built by a partnership including Bing Crosby, actors Pat O'Brien, Gary Cooper, Joe E. Brown, Charles S. Howard and Oliver Hardy.

The Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Surfside Race Place all share just one address for the entire complex 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar CA 92014.

History and Information

When Del Mar opened in 1937, Bing Crosby was at the gate to personally greet the fans. On August 12, 1938, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race between Charles S. Howard's Seabiscuit and the Binglin Stable's colt, Ligaroti. In an era when horse racing ranked second in popularity with Americans to Major League Baseball, the match race was much written and talked about and was the first nationwide broadcast of a Thoroughbred race by NBC radio. In the race, Seabiscuit was ridden by jockey George Woolf and Ligaroti by Noel Richardson. In front of a record crowd that helped make the fledgling Del Mar race track a success, Seabiscuit won an exciting battle by a nose.

Opening Day

Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book titled, Why Time Begins on Opening Day. Many feel that the occasion represents a newness or a chance to forget last season, in that all 30 of the major league clubs and their millions of fans begin with 0–0 records.

Opening Day festivities extend throughout the sport of baseball, to hundreds of Minor League Baseball franchises as well as to college, high school, youth league fields and in areas far beyond North America. Since Major League Baseball generally starts their season first among professional leagues, their Opening Day is the one most commonly recognized by the general public. Most of the minor leagues start a few days later, but within the same week; the short season Class A and Rookie leagues are exceptions, since they begin play in June. (College, high school and youth baseball seasons vary widely depending on location and weather conditions.) Opening Day ignores the exhibition games played during spring training in the month leading up to Opening Day.

San Diego

San Diego /ˌsæn diːˈeɪɡoʊ/ (Spanish for "Saint Didacus") is a major city in California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico.

With an estimated population of 1,381,069 as of July 1, 2014, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. San Diego is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the U.S. Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.

Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the entire area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission of San Diego, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of newly independent Mexico, and in 1850, became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union.

Pacific Classic Stakes

The Pacific Classic Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for runners aged 3-year-old or up run at the classic American distance of a mile and a quarter (10 furlongs, 2 km). It is run each year in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California, and the Grade 1 race has become one of the top prizes for older horses racing in the United States each year.

First run in 1991, the Pacific Classic offers a purse of $1-million and is the premier event of the season at one of the nation's premier race meetings conducted for seven weeks each year at the seaside racing plant just north of San Diego.

Notable among the runnings of the race was the 1996 renewal that saw champion Cigar attempt to best Citation's mark of 16 straight victories, but fall to a shocking upset ($81.20) by the unheralded Dare And Go and jockey Alex Solis. Another exciting running saw Hall of Fame Jockey Julie Krone become the first female rider to win a million-dollar race when she guided Sid and Jenny Craig's Candy Ride to victory in track record time of 1:59:11.