Del Mar's Fall Meet Runs on the Turf Course, and Thanksgiving Starts at the Starting Gate

"We've got one of the best turf courses in the country, and we put a real emphasis on it for our fall meet," David Jerkens, Del Mar's senior vice president for racing and racing secretary, told BloodHorse when the schedule came out. The schedule backs him up. Nine of the 15 stakes in the 13th Bing Crosby Season are turf races, and the meet runs from Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 29.

Summer racing takes over the town for weeks. The fall meet is built on a much shorter calendar. Racing runs only Friday through Sunday, with Thanksgiving Day as the one extra card. That adds up to 13 race days across four weekends, and the best racing is saved for the grass at the very end.

The Calendar Climbs Toward the Jimmy Durante Turf Course

Del Mar is putting up $2.1 million in stakes money this fall. The schedule isn't spread evenly. Opening weekend has three stakes, and the biggest purses are held back for the turf course at the end of the month:

1. Nov. 6, opening day: The $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.
2. Nov. 7: The Chosen Vron Stakes, a $100,000 California-bred race at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds and up.
3. Nov. 8: The Betty Grable Stakes, also seven furlongs and $100,000, for California-bred fillies and mares 3 and up.
4. Nov. 26, Thanksgiving: The $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on the turf.
5. Nov. 27: The $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, a Grade 2 at 1 1/2 miles on the grass.
6. Nov. 28: The $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap, a Grade 2 at 1 1/16 miles on turf, followed the same afternoon by the $300,000 Hollywood Derby, a Grade 1 for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
7. Nov. 29, closing day: The $300,000 Matriarch Stakes, a Grade 1 for fillies and mares at a flat mile on the same course.

The stretch from Thanksgiving to closing day carries both Grade 1 races, both Grade 2 races and the Thanksgiving headliner. All five are on the grass. Last year, owner Juddmonte and trainer Chad Brown won both Grade 1s with half siblings: Salamis took the Hollywood Derby and Segesta took the Matriarch. Both horses have won again in 2026.

The stakes names point back to the track's founding. Most of the meet's stakes carry a Hollywood theme in honor of Bing Crosby, with races named for Betty Grable, Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Cecil B. DeMille, all part of the track's early years.

A Shorter Meet With Most of Summer's Betting Per Day

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club reported that the 2025 Bing Crosby Season handled $183.4 million over 13 race days, about $14.1 million a day. That was up from $167.6 million in the fall of 2024, and the 2025 total leaves out the two Breeders' Cup cards.

The 2025 summer meet handled $535.15 million over 31 days, an average of $17.26 million a day. So the fall meet took in roughly a third of summer's total but about four-fifths of summer's daily average. Those are wagering figures, not attendance counts. On a per-day basis, the fall meet wagered close to what summer did, over fewer than half as many days.

Each day keeps the usual shape. First post is 12:30 p.m. Friday cards normally have eight races and weekend cards nine. Racing is over by late afternoon, and nothing runs Monday through Thursday except on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Morning, Hour by Hour

Thanksgiving Day shows the compressed schedule most clearly. The track opens early for a family run, races in the middle of the day, and finishes in time for dinner.

Fun Run details come from the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club event page. Runners make one full lap of the track and finish in the Winners' Circle. Everyone gets a photo and a souvenir medallion, and Del Mar jockeys run, jog and walk the course with the field. Costumes are encouraged. Entry is $24 for ages 16 and up and $16 for ages 4 to 15, and both include racetrack admission. Children 3 and under enter free. Anyone 17 or younger has to stay with a parent or legal guardian, and tickets are non-refundable. Proceeds benefit the Helen Woodward Animal Center's equestrian therapy program for children and adults with special needs. According to the track's FAQ, strollers are allowed, people who aren't running can come watch, and Fun Run parking is free.

The 11 a.m. post time is an hour and a half earlier than the usual 12:30 p.m. Together with the roughly 2 p.m. finish, BloodHorse says this is meant to give people "plenty of time to get home to that turkey and all the fixings." For anyone who would rather eat at the track, the Thanksgiving Turf Club Brunch includes a three-course Thanksgiving meal, a reserved Turf Club table and bottomless mimosas.

What a Fall Afternoon Costs

Because the meet is short, its prices are worth knowing ahead of time. The 2026 fall rates on the track's ticket pages:

• General admission: $8 a day, with grandstand and box seats from $9 to $16.
• Parking: $15 per car per day for general parking and $30 for valet. A book of five general parking passes costs $29.
• Kids: Children 17 and under get in free with a parent or legal guardian.
• Sundays: Free & Fun Sundays give free Diamond Club members free admission, a program and a seat, plus 25% off specified beer, hot dogs and sodas. It's one admission per member per race day, and members scan their card at the gate.
• Opening day: Diamond Club members also get free general admission on Friday, Nov. 6.
• Fridays: Signature drinks and Oggi's Pizza are 25% off at the Jockey Box.

Five days of parking cost $29, less than two single days at the gate rate, and with only 13 race days five visits is a real share of the meet.

Two Days at the Seaside Cabana

The track's two big extra events are both held at the Seaside Cabana, on race days. On Saturday, Nov. 14, Uncorked: Derby Days Wine Festival offers wines and bubblies, local food trucks and music alongside live racing. Tickets are $84 or $100, and both include racetrack admission.

Family Fun Day returns on Friday, Nov. 27, from noon to 4 p.m., with climbing walls, mini golf, a meet-and-greet with miniature horses, and face painting. That is also the day of the Hollywood Turf Cup, so the youngest visitors and the longest turf race of the meet share the same afternoon.

The fairgrounds side gets busy over the same weeks. The Del Mar Fairgrounds calendar lists Lyle Lovett and his Small Large Band on Nov. 4, two days before opening day. It also lists the Susan G. Komen 3-Day on Nov. 13, SnowJam and Purdy Tree Farms starting Nov. 20, and Houndmouth on Nov. 21. Purdy Tree Farms opens on the third weekend of racing, so by the end of November, Christmas trees will be for sale on the same grounds where the Grade 1 turf races are run.

If you're thinking about how the racing calendar affects owning a home within walking distance of the track, Polly Rogers & Associates has followed Del Mar's seasons for more than four decades and is glad to share what we've seen. Request a Complimentary Market Consultation, and we can talk it over well before the Matriarch runs on Nov. 29.