While the track has reduced the number of days it races each week from six to five, Del Mar reports double-digit percentage increases in on-track handle and attendance.
All-sources handle for the meet is steady, up 0.2% for the first 20 days of the 37-day meeting compared with last year.
On-track attendance is up 11.8% to 18,607 and average on-track handle is up 12.8% to $2,389,811.
“We're tickled with the response our fans have given us so far at the meet," Del Mar President Joe Harper said.
Del Mar had raced on a six-days-per-week basis since 1946. Because of a horse shortage in California and the general economy’s downturn, however, it received approval from the California Horse Racing Board to drop its Monday programs (with the exception of Labor Day) and cut back to a five-day week.
