Funny California

Race fans today will hear Bing Crosby croon. They’ll feel an ocean breeze over Highway 101, hear the train roll through and see silly hats. Folks in various stages of undress will belly up to the stretch-run rail and bet on horses based on weird names, a jockey’s silk colors or because it’s a big gray horse with a military or nautical name. You can bet those things will happen at today’s Opening Day at the Del Mar Racetrack.

But as far as horses for courses go, which ones will run on the new Polytrack and and which ones won’t, that figures to challenge serious and casual shooters alike. The learning curve is expected to be steep for bettors, the trips to the ATM machine perhaps earlier in the card.

Early last Sunday morning, Toby Turrell was watching the throroughbreds workout on Del Mar’s new Polytrack.  It was his fourth day observing horses on Del Mar’s new Beach Carpet, and Turrell – a clocker, handicapper and horse owner – noticed an early trend.

“The horses either are comfortable and relish it and bounce over it, or they tend to struggle down the stretch,” said Turrell, who hasn’t missed a summer at Del Mar since he was 5, clocking workouts and handicapping for the last 20 years.

“I don’t think there’s a big gap, which is different than you’re used to with the old tracks. But it’s really apparent now when a horse isn’t taking to Polytrack. They struggle finding their rhythm. I’m seeing horses work good at short distances, but when they try and go five and six furlongs, they really have to be fit to go a nice work.”

 

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club invested more than $8.5 million to install the Polytrack. But it will ease onto its new surface by starting five races on today’s nine-race card, beginning with the second race. The opening race and three others are on turf.

Tips for the track Consensus betting tips for races on Del Mar’s new Polytrack surface, from handicappers and those in the racing business:

• Look for horses that show improvement in workouts, particularly at Del Mar.
• Look for a closing style of running. Polytrack favors fit horses with stamina and energy for the finish line.
• Speed, particularly “cheap” speed (in low-level claiming races and all maiden races) likely won’t hold. Forget Beyer Speed Figures for now. 
• Look for jockeys who have a reputation for rating horses and adjusting their timing to different track rhythms.
• Old-school jockeys might have a tougher time adapting. Young jockeys Michael Baze and Joe Talamo finished 1-2 for the season on Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track.
• Turf horses have done well switching to Polytrack.

That Del Mar isn’t busting out of the gate on its Polytrack matches the attitude of many handicappers and bettors, most of whom will see the striking off-white oval for the first time today.“I’m taking a wait-and-see approach,” said Bob Ike, whose picks run in the Union-Tribune and on bobikepicks.com. “It’s a whole new ballgame. I’m going to tread lightly and watch some races. I’ll bet the turf races at first.”

Bruno De Julio who, like Turrell, clocks and owns horses, said: “Take everything you know or thought you knew about handicapping and throw it out the window and start fresh. Go to school, watch these races, look at the works. You need to completely reverse your thinking from speed-oriented to stamina-oriented. Look at the closers.”

Natale De Thomas has had a private box at Del Mar for the last 18 years. He visited Del Mar on Sunday morning to see the new track.

“I want to see how the speed holds up compared to the dirt track,” De Thomas said. “The first two weeks or so I’ll really watch the toteboard and the betting more than anything else.”

Polytrack not only is different for horses than dirt tracks in that it’s composed of silica sand, carpet fibers, recycled rubber and wax, but it looks different, too.

De Julio said, “It looks like oatmeal here. At other tracks they said it looked like grits.”De Bruno and Ike both think the early going on Polytrack could be wild for Del Mar’s horseplayers.

“Chaos,” Ike said. “There could be some big exactas, trifectas and superfectas. Might see some amazing payoffs.”

Said De Julio: “Opening Day, it’s going to be a free-for-all. You’re going to have horses running three, four wide, sweeping around the turn, blowing by the speed, and there could be some big upsets. This is true racing. Horses are back to running on their class, their speed, their fitness and stamina. It’s not just a speed-oriented game anymore.”

Traditionalists such as Andrew Beyer, whose Beyer Speed Figures revolutionized handicapping in the early 1990s, don’t like the synthetic tracks. Beyer called it a “mutant version of horse racing that penalizes thoroughbreds for being fast.”

Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, now retired and a mom, sees Polytrack producing exciting finishes. She won Del Mar’s Pacific Classic aboard Candy Ride in 2003.

“Del Mar used to be more partial to speed horses, and for me, as a jockey, riding horses that last 1/16th of a mile used to seem like forever,” Krone said. “With this new track, horses are going to be able to come from the pack and run up on the speed. Fans are going to have a more thrilling and exciting summer because it’s going to play more true. There will be more horsemanship from the jockeys, healthier horses and bigger fields.”

That may not be as apparent today with the five races on Polytrack all being sprints of 5½ to 6½ furlongs.

Joe Harper, CEO and general manager of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, believes bettors will adapt. He’s not as concerned about the handle being down if the Whales – heavy bettors – don’t go deep into their pockets early. He said he’ll take the trade-off if jockey and horse injuries stay way down.

“If that’s the price we pay for safety, I’ll accept it,” Harper said. “There are enough synthetic tracks around the country now – Woodbine, Keeneland, Arlington, Turfway, Hollywood Park – that these guys have been betting them and have a handle on it. It’s not a big concern. I think we’ll see some big prices and carryovers the first couple of weeks as horses adapt.”

De Julio said, “It looks like oatmeal here. At other tracks they said it looked like grits.”

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For the first time in its 38-year history, Comic-Con International has sold out. Kind of… Yesterday, the Con stopped selling four-day passes to its July 26-29 event. The official Web site contained this ominous warning: “We’re NOT completely sold out yet . . . but it COULD happen!”

Although that’s possible, Con spokesman David Glanzer issued a less-alarming explanation.

Last year, the Con closed its box office during the event’s Saturday afternoon, when a crush of walk-up ticket buyers threatened to overcrowd the San Diego Convention Center. To avoid similar problems, this year the Con is encouraging online purchases in advance.

The strategy worked – perhaps too well. “We established artificial caps for the number of four-day passes we would sell,” Glanzer said, “and that artificial cap was reached yesterday.”

Advance three-day memberships, good for the event on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, are still available online, as are one-day passes for each of the four days. Single-day passes will be sold at the convention center during the event.

Yesterday, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opened the track for training leading up to the start of its summer meeting Wednesday.  And the biggest change?  The surface of the track itself.

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In a 5½-hour period starting at 4:30 a.m., track officials estimated 400 of the approximately 600 horses already on site were exercised over the surface – a mixture of silicon sand, fibers, rubber and wax – installed early this year at a cost of $9 million. It was the first thoroughbred contingent over the surface since a dozen horses were sent out as a test group over a two-day period in late April upon completion of the project.Reviews yesterday were heavily positive, none more so than the one issued by retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.

“It’s as good a track as I’ve ever been on,” Stevens said. “I galloped two horses for (trainer) Wesley Ward and I loved the way they were getting over it.

“To me, it felt identical to Keeneland.”

The historic Keeneland track in Lexington, Ky., installed Polytrack before its fall meeting in 2006 and conducted another meeting over the surface this spring. Polytrack is reputedly more consistent, safer and has had reduced instances of fatal injuries than the traditional dirt surfaces it has replaced at a handful of North American tracks.

Stevens, whose primary employment these days is as a TV commentator on racing, said his presence in the saddle yesterday should not be interpreted as a sign of an impending comeback.

“I’m like a (basketball) gym rat. I can’t stay away from it,” Stevens said. “This just gives me some exercise. Unless they raise the scale of (riding) weights to 135 pounds, I’m not making any more comebacks.”

Del Mar clocker Dane Nelson recorded only two timed workouts, both at the half-mile distance, one at 50 seconds flat and the other at :50 3/5. Most horses were taken at a more leisurely gallop pace and kept several paths out from the rail.

Trainers, many of them with horses now stabled at Hollywood Park, where the Cushion Track brand of engineered surface is in place, expressed satisfaction with the day of introduction.

“It’s brand new, and it seemed to me to be a lot like Keeneland when they first installed Polytrack, or the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park before it got a lot of traffic on it,” said Eric Guillot, who had Hollywood Juvenile winner Salute the Sarge among his contingent of exercisers.

“It seemed to have a lot of cushion to it, but firm, a little different than Cushion Track,” said trainer David Hofmans.

“So far, so good,” said Jim Barnes, assistant to seven-time Del Mar training champion Bob Baffert. “We don’t know yet what changes might take place as the day goes on (or) days get warmer. . . . We’re very happy with it right now.”

Anthony’s Star of the Sea Room, a San Diego bayfront dining institution since the 1960s, which has been shuttered for more than a year, will reopen in a few months under the same owner, but on a limited basis as a special-event venue.

In early September, the Star of the Sea Room is scheduled to be available for special-event occasions such as wedding receptions, large parties and convention group gatherings. Otherwise, it will be closed.

“We did extensive research and learned that San Diego, because it’s a popular convention destination, has a pressing need for this kind of venue,” said Beverly Nascari, a co-owner who serves as director of guest relations. “It’s an untapped market that’s perfect for the level of dining experience we provide our guests.”

Several months ago, the restaurant was set to reopen under the name of Ghio’s, paying homage to the Italian fishing family that has owned and operated the popular seafood chain since the 1940s. Those plans, however, were put on hold after it was determined that San Diego has a surfeit of high-end seafood and steak eateries.

The restaurant has remained dark since late last year, in contrast to its always lively dining neighbors, the family style Anthony’s Fish Grotto and Anthony’s Fishette take-out venue.

The Ghios recently refurbished the 60-ft. dock alongside the Fish Grotto, which can accommodate up to four boats.

The upscale Star of the Sea Room was once regarded as one of San Diego’s most exclusive restaurants, along with the long-ago defunct Lubach’s a few blocks away.

“San Diego has changed a lot since we first opened (in 1966) and competition is fierce,” Nascari said. “We learned that even the good ones aren’t always that busy these days.”

The Star’s overall decor and high-end cuisine will remain the same. “The only difference is, we’ll only be open when we have a group event scheduled,” Nascari said.

Contestants hoping to audition for “American Idol” this month could be singing the blues when it comes to finding a place to bed down in San Diego. 

For the first time, the popular televised singing contest will be holding auditions in San Diego. They are July 30, right on the heels of Comic-Con International, the city’s biggest convention, which will attract more than 120,000 fans from July 25 to 29.

In recent years, about 98 percent of the county’s hotel rooms have been rented during Comic-Con weekend, making it the highest-occupancy weekend of the busy San Diego summer season, said Steven Johnson, spokesman for the San Diego Convention Center, which is hosting Comic-Con.

Add potentially tens of thousands of “American Idol” contestants showing up early for admission tickets and mix in the Del Mar racing season – which will be in its second weekend when the two pop culture events converge – and there could be a perfect storm of a lodging crunch, local experts say.

“I think a ‘no room at the inn’ will occur on Saturday the 28th,” said Robert Rauch, chairman of the San Diego County Hotel Motel Association and general manager of the Homewood Suites By Hilton in Carmel Valley. “If someone doesn’t currently have a room for that night, they are going to have a tough time finding one.”

While technically there shouldn’t be a lodging crunch – “American Idol” auditions are July 30 at Qualcomm Stadium, while Comic-Con ends July 29 at the downtown convention center – the unknown is how many people will be traveling to San Diego and from how far.

San Diego will be the only West Coast stop for auditions for the Fox show’s seventh season, making it more likely that some singing hopefuls will travel here from other regions and plan on a long weekend stay. On July 28, officials with the show will begin handing out wristbands to gain entry to Qualcomm two days later.

Cathy Anderson, chief executive officer of the San Diego Film Commission, which negotiated with “American Idol” to bring the often top-rated show here, speculates that 10,000 to 40,000 people could attend the auditions. Those numbers are based on Anderson’s polling of other cities’ film commissions that have handled “Idol” events.

In 2006, “Idol” had two West Coast audition locations instead of the one that will be held this summer; the closest to San Diego last year, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, drew an estimated 20,000 people and the other in Seattle was also well attended.

But when “Idol” went to Tampa, Fla., more than 40,000 people used hotel rooms over two days, Anderson said. In Houston, more than 25,000 people attended over two days.

“We are the only West Coast audition city, so we could really be hit hard by this,” she said.

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