Every summer there comes a morning when Del Mar ceases to be merely a racetrack and resumes its older occupation as a temporary capital of optimism. Horses arrive with spotless records and impossible ambitions. Trainers speak with measured confidence. Bettors discover systems that have somehow eluded them for years. Before the first gate opens, everybody is undefeated. That annual migration begins again Friday when Del…
Willie Gillante took the mound to pitch the game that would decide if the dream gets dashed or faith is rewarded. If Willie and his precious Red Sox lost tonight, their exhausting season-long march to the world championship of baseball would be over, and the hope gone that the crown would finally come to Boston for the first time in a long eighty-six years. The…
The Padres checked the first box on their offseason to-do list when they hired Craig Stammen as their next manager. The second box is larger, louder and unavoidable: finding enough starting pitching for Stammen to employ. Every club at the Las Vegas General Managers’ Meetings this week claimed pitching as priority No. 1. A.J. Preller has said the same before. But this autumn the need…
If you’re the type who likes the smell of hay, the sound of hooves, and the faint taste of risk on the ocean breeze, you’ll find Del Mar’s gates wide open for the next 30 days. The sunshine is plentiful, the odds are long, and the stories are worth retelling. Because, as one old tout by the paddock rail tells me between drags on his…
Legendary Race Caller Trevor Denman Announces Retirement; Larry Collmus to Take Mic at Del Mar Iconic race caller Trevor Denman has announced his retirement after 40 years on the job at Del Mar. Denman will be succeeded at the seaside track by veteran track announcer Larry Collmus, the voice of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup for NBC Sports. Denman, 72, who first…
Now, I am standing on the sunny side of life when I tell you that the high-class citizens who dish out the cabbage at Del Mar are planning to spread a little extra sugar this summer This is very good news indeed for the horsemen who like to see a little more weight in their pockets when they turn for home. The season, which breaks…
Out of the East, where the sun meets the sea and legends are born, comes a figure poised to captivate the baseball world. Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese phenom whose name already echoes in the halls of destiny, now stands at the threshold of a new chapter. On a crisp Tuesday at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, his agent, Joel Wolfe, met with reporters and…
At 23 years old, Roki Sasaki finds himself shackled by the red tape of MLB’s international bonus pool rules. Here’s the skinny, folks: Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old flamethrower from Japan, is the talk of baseball’s hot stove. But let’s not kid ourselves—landing Sasaki is no cakewalk, thanks to MLB’s international bonus pool rules. Unless you’re 25 and a grizzled pro with six years in a…
Hats, or no hats, what first started in 2014 continues forward this year when Del Mar’s ninth fall racing meet – the “Bing Crosby Season” in honor of the track’s iconic founder – begins its four-week run Friday and goes through to Sunday, December 4. Racing will be conducted over 13 days primarily on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday basis each week with a first post…
They may class it up as “disc golf,” but it always be frisbees away for many of us. With that caveat, JC Golf has launched San Diego County’s newest disc golf course with the grand opening at The Welk in Escondido set for this week. The new course is located on The Oaks course, one of two executive golf courses on the resort property. In…