54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Del Mar Finds Less Is More, as Daily Attendance, Wagering Rise

By the time the last guest pushed through the turnstiles at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s last race Sept. 9, average daily on-track attendance edged out last year’s meet by 7.4 percent. The average daily on-track handle, the amount of money wagered, was also up.

But overall attendance was down this year, as was the total on-track handle.

As far as DMTC President and General Manager Joe Harper is concerned, however, the 70th meet was a success. This season, the ponies ran 37 days as opposed to 43. In the past, they raced six days a week , going dark only on Tuesdays, but Mondays were also dark this year. The exception was that they raced on Labor Day, which fell on Sept. 7 this year.

The way Craig Dado, DMTC’s vice president of marketing, explained it, the meet was shortened in order “to improve the product on days we were open,” meaning the quality and quantity of horses that ran. He also said that shorter meets will likely be the mode for the foreseeable future.

The meet was shortened, with approval by the California Horse Racing Board, in response to the down economy and a decline in Thoroughbred horse stock within the state. Even when the economy improves, however, the situation is not expected to brighten regarding the horse stock.

“Fewer horses have been bred in California for the last 10 years,” Dado said. Additionally, Monday’s handle was not sufficient to cover Monday’s purses , the money that goes to the winning horse owners , in past years.

“So in a sense we overpaid on Mondays, which forced us to have lower purses on other days of the week,” Dado said.

But Del Mar is known more as a tourist attraction and entertainment spot where race-goers are more apt to place bets based on a horse’s name than at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park , the other two tracks on the Southern California circuit , where you’ll find more hard-core, stogie-smoking bettors. The types with racing forms sticking out of their back pockets.

The Del Mar Racetrack, operated by the Thoroughbred Club, also attracts a high percentage of Gen Xers who show up for the last few races of the day and stay on to catch the free concerts. For example, the rock group Flaming Lips drew a crowd of 28,000, which must have pushed the average daily attendance up a notch.

Leave it to Harper, the grandson of legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, to know how to put on a show.

Additionally, the “Free & Easy Wednesday” promotion launched this year with an offer of free admission and seats as well as half-price food and beverage, generated an enthusiastic response, judging by the 20,000 fans who signed up for Diamond Club cards to access the discounts. Daily average attendance on Wednesdays rose 18 percent, according to track officials.

“When we went all out for our dates change, we were reacting to economic circumstances and trying to put some energy back into this wonderful sport of ours,” Harper said. “For too long now the idea has been that you can never have enough, a philosophy that, given the reality of the times, no longer holds true.”


Other Numbers:


Daily average on-track attendance 2009 17,181

Daily average on-track attendance 2008 16,002

Total on-track attendance 2009 (37 days) 635,679

Total on-track attendance 2008 (43 days) 688,097

Daily average on-track handle 2009 $2.3 million

Daily average on-track handle 2008 $2.2 million

Total on-track handle 2009 $84.8 million

Total on-track handle 2008 $93.2 million


Send tourism and hospitality news to Connie Lewis via e-mail: clewis@sdbj.com. She may also be reached by phone at 858-277-6359.

Previous article
Next article
-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-