Summertime ushers in California’s most highly anticipated season of horse racing with the opening of Del Mar’s summer meet starting Friday, July 17. The 89th Del Mar summer season will encompass 32 race days conducted mostly on a Thursday-through-Sunday basis and ending on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

The Del Mar meet will host six Grade 1 stakes races and six Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” races, topped by the meet’s signature race, the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes on Aug. 22.

Great Racing and Wagering at Del Mar

For horseplayers, Del Mar is about much more than just important stakes. The season will offer handicappers day-to-day top-notch racing and wagering with large fields, promising 2-year-olds, and the return of great turf racing that has been absent in Southern California since the end of Santa Anita’s meet in mid-June.

A wide array of value betting opportunities will be offered at the Del Mar summer meet. The wagering menu that includes rolling daily doubles and Pick 3s will be bolstered by six different daily multi-race exotics, including the Early and Late Pick 4, the Early and Late Pick 5, and a traditional $2 Pick 6 on the last six races on the card.

There will also be a daily $3 All-Turf Pick 3 with a low 15% takeout. Other Del Mar wagers featuring player-friendly takeouts this season will include a 15% takeout for both the late daily double and Pick 3, and a low 14% takeout on the 50-cent Early Pick 5 to start the day.

Read on for some handicapping advice and tips to help you win “Where the Turf Meets the Surf” at old Del Mar.

Leading Del Mar Jockeys

Jockey Juan Hernandez (BENOIT photo)

The Del Mar jockey colony is strong at the top and is led by Juan Hernandez, who is the defending Del Mar summer meet leading rider from 2025 when he won 45 races from 169 mounts for a 27% win percentage in a season similar to his Del Mar-leading season in 2024, when he won the jockey title with 46 wins from 165 mounts (28%). Hernandez usually rides first call for trainer Bob Baffert and will get many of his best mounts for that high-percentage barn.

This summer’s jockey leaderboard could end up again looking similar to last year’s standings. Second in wins at the 2025 Del Mar summer meet, for the third straight year, was Antonio Fresu, who had 37 wins from 212 mounts for 17%. That production for Fresu was similar to his 2024 stats when won 38 races from 214 mounts (18%). The rest of last year’s top 6 was made up of Hectos Isaac Berrios (26 wins, 19%), Umberto Rispoli (24 wins, 19%), and Kazushi Kimura (23 wins, 11%), and Armando Ayuso (16 wins, 10%).

A big new addition to the Del Mar jock’s room at the 2026 summer meet will be Joel Rosario, who has been back riding regularly in SoCal since May when he was able to finish fourth in the Santa Anita spring meet standings with 25 wins from 108 mounts (23%).

Kyle Frey, who had a good season in 2024 with 20 wins, suffered from second- and third-itis last year and had 8 wins (6%) to go along with 17 seconds and 21 thirds. Relatively new in the SoCal jockey colony is Emisael Jaramillo, who finished sixth in the Santa Anita spring meet standings with 20 wins (11%). That should translate to a top 10 finish for him at Del Mar this season. Also, there is annually an apprentice or two capable of racking up some wins at Del Mar. This season that bug boy may turn out to be Warren Ebow III, who is moving his tack from the mid-Atlantic region after riding most recently at Charles Town. Finally, veteran Mike Smith has ridden selectively at Del Mar in recent years, but he went just 4-for-58 (7%) at last year’s meet. Fellow Hall of Famer Gary Stevens picked up the book as Smith’s jockey agent and the duo is expected to be more aggressive this summer.

Del Mar Leading Trainers

Trainer Phil D’Amato (Eclipse Sportswire)

Bob Baffert added to his long list of Del Mar training titles at last year’s summer meet when he led the way with 24 winners from 80 starters for a big 30% win percentage. Two years ago, Baffert won the 2024 Del Mar summer title with 23 wins, which was narrowly ahead of that season’s second-leading trainer Phil D’Amato with 21 wins. D’Amato had edged Baffert by one winner to take the summer training title in 2023. D’Amato was down to fourth in the standings last year with 17 winners from 135 starters for a 13% win percentage.

The second- and third-leading trainers at last year’s Del Mar summer meet were Peter Miller, who had 19 wins (16%), and Mark Glatt, who had 18 wins (19%). Glatt is increasingly prominent on the SoCal circuit with a Santa Anita winter training title at the 2024-’25 meet followed by a second at that meet this year. Doug O’Neill will be looking for a big positive rebound this season at Del Mar after a tough-luck summer meet in 2025 when his win total dipped to just 8 wins from 119 starters (7%) to go along with 16 seconds and 18 thirds. Don’t count out O’Neill at Del Mar. He missed winning the 2024 summer training title by just three wins and missed winning the title by just two wins in 2023. O’Neill was leading trainer at this year’s Santa Anita winter meet.

In terms of win percentage, no trainer will be able to compete with Baffert who typically wins at about a 30% clip. For bettors, however, Baffert’s winners usually pay low prices. Some other trainers you may want to rely on for better profits, based on their performances at Del Mar in the summer of 2025, will include John Sadler (16-for-79, 20% in 2025 and 17-for-69, 25% in 2024), Peter Eurton (11-for-41, 27%), and Librado Barocio (7-for-25, 28%). Also, you can never overlook Michael McCarthy, who went 14-for-88, 16% in 2025 after a 13-for-70, 19% season in 2024.

Del Mar main track trends

Del Mar’s main track winning profile can be speed favoring at times, but the real trend from the most recent Del Mar summer meet in 2025 could more accurately be termed as being more anti-closer than pro speed.

Speed is potent on the Del Mar main track (Eclipse Sportswire)

In dirt sprints at the 2025 summer meet, speed horses, as defined for this article as racing on the pace or within a length of the lead, accounted for wins in 48% of the 112 dirt sprints (54 wins). Stalkers coming from 1-4 lengths off the pace won 42% of the dirt sprints (47 wins) and closers from four or more lengths off the pace won only a very chilly 10% of the 112 dirt sprints (11 wins). The 2025 bias against closers existed at all of the various dirt sprint distances and was fairly consistent with the stats from both the 2023 and 2024 summer meets. Dirt sprint post positions played fairly in 2025 with an average field size of 8.54 runners per race.

The vast majority dirt route races run at Del Mar are run at the distance of one mile and it is very rare to find a non-stakes race carded at a longer dirt route distance than a mile. Del Mar ran a total of 41 dirt routes in 2025 and 37 of those races were at one mile. The few stats for the longer routes were all very similar to the races at one mile so let’s lump them all together for this analysis.

In Del Mar dirt routes in 2025, the running style advantage improved depending on how close a horse raced to the pace. Speed horses won 20 of the 41 routes to account for 49% wins, stalkers won 16 times (39%), and closers won only 5 of the 41 races for 12%. Del Mar jockeys realize it’s tough to come from too far off the pace, so you tend to see as many of them as possible trying to stay close to the leaders. The stats from 2024 were similar.

Post positions also played a major role in Del Mar dirt routes in 2024 but were less important at the most recent summer meet in 2025. Dirt route posts played fair for inside, middle, and outside horses in 2025 with an average field size of 7.57 runners per route race. This was a big change from the calendar year 2024, when horses breaking from the three inside posts at Del Mar did best with 42 wins in 77 dirt routes (55%), and the combination of early speed breaking from one of the three inside posts was lethal with wins in 30% of the dirt routes. In summer 2025, however, that statistical advantage was gone.

Del Mar Turf Route Tips

Elite turf racing at Del Mar (Eclipse Sportswire)

On the turf, Del Mar runs some of the country’s best summer grass racing. The vast majority of Del Mar’s turf routes have been run at one mile or 1 1/16 miles. A handful of races each summer also are run at 1 1/8 miles and 1 3/8 miles on the turf. Turf routes at the Del Mar meet in 2025 had a terrific average field size of 9.28 runners per race.

In terms of running style preferences in turf routes, to the delight of horseplayers, the Del Mar course played remarkably fair in 2025 just as it had in 2024. Horses racing on or close to the pace won 28 of the 90 total turf routes to account for 31% of the winners. Stalkers won 34 times (38% of the races) and closers won 28 times (31% of the races). Speed horses tend to do worse as the distances get longer.

Del Mar’s turf course tends to play fair in terms of post positions in one-mile races, which is the most common turf route distance with 60 races being run at the distance on the grass in the summer of 2025. There was, however, a slight advantage for horses from posts 1-2-3 with starters from those gates winning 44% of the turf miles. Horses grouped from middle posts and outside posts each accounted for 28% of the wins at a mile. There is a smaller sample size at the 1 1/16-mile distance with only 20 such races st the 2025 summer meet. Outside posts at that distance did poorly in 2024 but actually did best in summer 2025 with 8 wins in the 20 races for 40%.

Del Mar Turf Sprint Trends

Del Mar’s turf sprint races are run at the distance of five furlongs and Del Mar ran 49 turf sprints at the 2025 summer meet, which is the most the track has ever run.

Expect plenty of upsets in these races. Turf sprint form from Santa Anita, which includes races on the downhill course and mostly consists of longer turf sprint distances, may not translate well to Del Mar.

For Del Mar turf sprint handicappers, running style trends are more important than post position trends in terms of being able to sort out the best bets. Del Mar’s turf sprints in 2025 had an average field size of 8.8 runners and horses from inside, middle, and outside posts all won at similar percentages. This was also true in 2024.

With Del Mar turf sprints all run at five furlongs, it shouldn’t be a surprise that early speed has a big advantage in these races. At the 2025 summer meet, speed horses on or close to the lead won 53% of the races, while stalkers won 35% and closers won only 12%.

Enjoy the 2026 SoCal summer racing season where the turf meets the surf at ole Del Mar. Best of luck!