Del Mar features record stakes schedule

Del Mar will offer the richest and most expansive stakes schedule in its

66-year history when racing returns to the popular seashore oval on July 20.

The stakes program, which consists of 29 major events worth a record

$6,775,000, will highlight the 43-day summer meet "where the turf meets the

surf." The schedule features an additional $450,000 in stakes purses and two new

races.

The roster is topped by the track's premier event, the $1 million Pacific

Classic (G1) on August 21. The Pacific Classic, for three-year-olds and up, will be

presented for the 15th time at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles.

The Del Mar Breeders' Cup H. (G2), which previously carried a purse of

$250,000, will now be worth $350,000 and is set for September 4. The one-mile

event, which was previously contested on the main track, will be run on Del

Mar's newly sodded Jimmy Durante Turf Course for the first time in its 19-year

history.

Another change on the seven-stakes Labor Day weekend concern the Torrey Pines

S. for three-year-old fillies on September 2 and the El Cajon S. for all

second-year runners on September 3. Both one-mile races on the main track will

have all their restrictions removed and their purses increased to $100,000.

The final notable adjustments are purse increases for Del Mar's two marquee

sprint stakes. The Bing Crosby H. (G1) on July 31 will increase from $250,000 to

$300,000 while the Pat O'Brien Breeders' Cup H. (G2) on August 21 will rise from

$200,000 to $300,000. The Bing Crosby, which for the last nine years has been

designated a Breeders' Cup race, will have that title removed for the 2005

renewal.

"This is probably the most exciting stakes schedule we've ever presented at

Del Mar," Del Mar Thoroughbred Club President and General Manager Joe Harper

said. "We've made it richer, bigger and better -- and you can't do much more

than that."

All told, 19 of the track's 29 major stakes are graded -- six Grade 1s, 11

Grade 2s and two Grade 3s.

Besides the Pacific Classic and Bing Crosby, the other Grade 1 tests are the

$400,000 John C. Mabee H. on July 23; the $400,000 Eddie Read H. on July 24; the

$300,000 Del Mar Oaks on August 20; and the $250,000 Del Mar Debutante on August

27.

As usual, the $100,000 Oceanside S. for three-year-olds at one-mile on the

grass, which has been split into two divisions for the last 16 editions, will

open the meet.

The traditional finale, the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (G2) for two-year-olds at

seven furlongs, closes the season on September 7.