Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

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Bing Crosby, Seabiscuit, and the Horse Racing Legend of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

In 1937, legendary crooner Bing Crosby along with Hollywood cronies like Jimmy Durante and Pat O'Brien set out to follow a horse racing dream. They had built a nice little race track where they could go crazy horse betting all day and get crazier partying and hobknobbing all night, amidst the refreshing climate and cool ocean breezes of California. In the seaside city of Del Mar, just north of San Diego, the Del Mar Racetrack was opened for the first time to inspire awe from the horsemen and horse racing fans of America.

Hollywood luminaries the likes of Ava Gardner, Dorothy Lamour, and Lucille Ball came to grace the then-fast-rising Del Mar fairgrounds with their presence. Horse racing greats no less than William Lee "Bill" Shoemaker, Johnny Longden, Laffit Pincay, Jr., and more followed suit to grace the turf. In 1938, legendary horse Seabiscuit arrived to help immortalize the Del Mar Racetrack when it won in an epic race against Ligaroti.

Today, nearly 7 decades later, after $55 million worth of rebuilding the grandstands and $3.4 million worth of recent race track innovations, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club "where the turf meets the surf" is out to prove once again that it is no stranger to fame and legend. From July 21 through September 8, Racing Season 2009 of the world-famous Del Mar horse races will take place and make another bid for horse racing history.

The 65th racing season of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club horse races parades to the post beginning July 21, Wednesday, through September 8, Wednesday. Read the Del Mar Season 2009 full details, join the yearly contest, and have a blast of authentic San Diego summer.

Horse racing by the seaside under the California sun—the Hollywood insiders led by Bing Crosby could not have picked a better setting for their race track than coastal Del Mar. Browse the 27 major stakes races worth over $6 million at Del Mar Season 2009.

Bing Crosby...Ava Gardner, Dorothy Lamour, Lucille Ball.William Lee Shoemaker, Johnny Longden, Laffit Pincay.and Seabiscuit.Find out why the biggest names in horse racing and Hollywood, along with some 37,000 daily attendees, are drawn to world-famous Del Mar.

$55 million worth of renovations to the fairground grandstands and $3.4 million worth of recent enhancements to the race track and its facilities make Del Mar, North America's #1 race track, the consistently no-fail huge crowd drawer to California as Saratoga is to New York.

Are you raring to get a box and throw a party next to the all-dressed-up San Diego lot? Or would you rather bring your own lawn chairs and a cooler full of beer? Check out places to eat, concerts to watch, and the best vantage point to see the Del Mar horse races.

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Del Mar Horse Racing Tips