JULY 23, 2009 -- Opening Day at the Del Mar Racetrack set an all-time attendance record. There were 44,907 people that came through the turnstiles. Funny, it felt like twice as many at times.
The ladies came out in oversized-brim hats. Many decorated their headwear with outlandish accessories and competed for cash prizes. Although no cash or prizes were awarded for cleavage, such a competition would have been…sizeable.
Tragedy occurred in the third race. Jockey Rafael Bejarano lost his mount, Mi Rey. Bejarano suffered clavicle and facial injuries, and the badly injured horse was put down.
Opening Day is a spectacle. It’s, in part, a well-mannered frat party. The lines are unbearably long. Transportation in and out is annoyingly unmanaged. Opening Day is, nonetheless, a local tradition that should be experienced—sporadically. I tend to go once a decade.