The $1 million, Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park isn’t part of the Triple Crown, but it often seems like a summer extension of the spring classics.
It’s summer in Southern California, and for horseplayers that can only mean one thing: Del Mar is here! The annual Del Mar summer Thoroughbred meet opens on Friday, July 21 and will usher in California’s most looked-forward-to season of horse racing. The 2023 Del Mar summer meet will be conducted mostly on a four-days-a-week basis, Thursdays through Sundays plus Labor Day for eight weeks ending on Sunday, Sept. 10.
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The $175,000, Grade 3 Sanford Stakes is the start of the 2-year-old stakes season at historic Saratoga Race Course and features a field of 10, of which nine won their most recent races. None in the field has run this six-furlong distance to date and only one has won a stakes race.
For the first time, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will present a $1-million guarantee to any single-ticket holder who hits the track’s popular Pick Six on its Opening Day, Friday, July 21.
It is likely that the seaside track will be conducting 10 races on its first program, meaning the Pick Six will be offered on races five to 10. The Pick Six wager can cost as little as 20 cents.
