(from Del Mar release)
Del Mar plans to fine tune its entry procedure this summer but maintain the same routine for scratches during its 43-day shore racing season that is off and running on July 18.
The new entry schedule – which will allow for earlier dissemination of race cards to fans, media, and horsemen – will have two "double draw" days during the week for the first time with entries taken for Wednesdays and Thursdays on Sunday mornings, then Saturdays' and Sundays’ cards drawn each Wednesday. The remaining two draws will be conducted on a Monday-for-Friday and Thursday-for-Monday basis. The track races six days a week with all Tuesdays "dark." In recent years the lone "double draw" of entries took place on Thursdays.
The new arrangement means the track will have two 72-hour (ahead) draws and four 96-hour draws for this season, as opposed to the three 48-hour and three 72-hour draws it conducted previously. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s vice president for racing and racing secretary Tom Robbins worked with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers in establishing the new schedule.
The track’s first sets of entries will be drawn on July 15.
As in previous years, scratch time for Wednesdays remains at 10 a.m. on Monday mornings with the lone exception of opening day, when scratches are taken Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Scratches for all other days are taken at 10 a.m. on the day before those races are run.