If it’s July, it’s time for horse racing at Del Mar Race Track. Beginning this year, extend that seasonal reminder to November. For the first time, Del Mar, Calif.—“Where The Turf Meets The Surf”—will be running a fall season, Nov. 7–30, at the historic track, just a few months after its famous July through September summer schedule, which annually attracts equestrian fans worldwide to this super-cool seaside village just 20 miles from San Diego International.
Welcoming them will be the area’s fine hotels, in particular, L’Auberge Del Mar and the different but also highly regarded Hotel Indigo Del Mar. Both properties are about a quarter-mile walking distance west to the beach and steps away from the designer shopping and dining that has made Del Mar so attractive to those seeking a quiet upscale getaway.
Reopened in November 2008 after a luxurious renovation, the 120-room/suite L’Auberge Del Mar offers dining options like the casual oceanview Waterfall Terrace. And, just across from that restaurant’s optional cabana and waterfall outdoor dining setting, Spa L’Auberge, guided by its inspired director, Leah Strohecker, is creating a menu of ocean-inspired and other treatments to refresh those fortunate enough to book some well-deserved pampering.
More vibey and trendy, a hip boutique hotel than luxury destination resort, the nearby 94-room Hotel Indigo Del Mar is unabashedly young-people and family-focused, with its California-cuisine Oceanview Bar & Grill, opening out to the lobby and to an beachview balcony, and the European style day spa, overseen by Kara Willingham.
Fall Racing at the Gates
When the fall season runs for the first time at the track, it will continue an almost 80-year-old legacy of Del Mar hospitality. At the same time, it meets a need following the recent closing of Hollywood Park in Los Angeles.
Opened in 1937, the Del Mar Race Track was built by a partnership of actors Bing Crosby, who greeted everyone at the gates opening day, Pat O’Brien, Gary Cooper, Joe E. Brown, Oliver Hardy and businessman Charles S. Howard. A year later, one of the great match races took place Aug. 12, 1938, when the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race between Howard’s immortal Seabiscuit and the Binglin Stable’s colt, Ligaroti, with Seabiscuit taking honors.
The track will showcase its Hollywood past by naming the new fall season Del Mar Bing Crosby Season. In addition to the weekday and weekend racing (see www.dmtc.com for schedules), guests can also attend a Gatsbyesque Opening Day red carpet party, Nov. 7, and enjoy free concerts throughout the month.
“Most may not realize but one of San Diego’s nicest months is actually November, and we’re excited to make Del Mar a destination in the fall when temperatures average mid-70’s and the rest of the country is starting to get that winter chill,” says Craig Dado, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Del Mar Racetrack. Because of this second season, he notes, the track will host the prestigious Breeders’ Cup World Championship in 2017.
