Del Mar Racing Opens Fall Season With $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes
The 13-day Bing Crosby Meet begins Friday, featuring a return of Thanksgiving racing and a lineup that includes Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
Del Mar racetrack opens its 13-day fall program on Friday, headlined by the $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes for 3-year-olds. The eight-race card begins at 12:30 p.m. and marks the start of the monthlong Bing Crosby Meet, named for the track's celebrity founder. The schedule runs Friday through Sunday each week, with one exception.
The season concludes with the annual Turf Festival, a three-day series of nine stakes races. This final weekend begins on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. The holiday card features an early 11 a.m. first post, with the final race scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m. to allow bettors to travel home for dinner. The festival includes two Grade I stakes: the Hollywood Derby on Nov. 28 and the Matriarch Stakes on Nov. 29. It also features two Grade II and three Grade III races.
Eastern trainers often send top horses to the Turf Festival because late-season turf options are limited on the East Coast. Past participants have included trainers Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Graham Motion, Wesley Ward, Todd Pletcher, and Saffie Joseph. Jockey Flavien Prat has also flown west for key races during this period.
Joel Rosario returns to the track after winning the jockey championship during the summer meeting. His title ended a streak of six consecutive riding titles held by Juan Hernandez. The local riding colony also includes Umberto Rispoli, the 2025 fall champion, along with Emisael Jaramillo, Hector Berrios, Julien Leparoux, Kazushi Kimura, and Armando Ayuso. Hall of Fame veteran Mike Smith is also on the roster. Antonio Fresu has left to ride back east, while Jamie Spencer joins the group following an overseas career.
Trainer Doug O'Neill won the summer championship at Del Mar and recently claimed his seventh title at the Santa Anita autumn meeting. George Papaprodromou returns after winning the 2025 fall training title. The trainer roster includes Bob Baffert, Philip D'Amato, John Sadler, Michael McCarthy, Mark Glatt, Peter Miller, and Leonard Powell. Jonathan Thomas, a Kentucky trainer, is a key addition to the fall lineup, having captured stakes races in past festivals.
The Let It Ride Stakes features a field of 10 three-year-olds. The field is led by Jordi Bear, trained by Philip D'Amato and ridden by Joel Rosario.
