Del Mar's summer meet had "what can only be described as a roller coaster last week" after opening last Wednesday, according to Jeff Nahill of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The opening day attendance was 34,128, the smallest since '01. However, the "parimutuel numbers were up for the week, so Del Mar survived." Track President & CEO Joe Harper said that he was "fine" with the opening-day crowd being down 19.8% from last year. Harper: "It did surprise me, but I don’t put a lot of stock in it. It’s a social decision to come out. We sold every seat and the caterer did brisk business. I’ve always thought we’re better off being in the middle 30s (30,000) than more than 40,000. That’s why we’re limiting the Breeders’ Cup to 40,000. It’s hard to move around when it’s in the middle 40,000s. We don’t want people saying they don’t want to come back to this madhouse." Nahill notes Del Mar has "upped its ticket prices on opening day and that may have been a factor in the lower attendance." Harper said, "Do you charge less and have more people? It’s kind of a push." He added, "It was a better experience and not a sign of the industry. Overall I’m not disappointed with the first week. I hope we have six more like it" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/26).
NICE ASSIGNMENT: CBS’ Charlie Rose appeared on "The Late Show" last night, where he said he “spent the weekend working” for “60 Minutes” in Del Mar to profile Arrogate, who is “supposed to be the best horse in the world.” Rose: “Everybody has said (the horse) is close to Secretariat, he’s that good. So I hung out with the jockey and hung out with the trainer. The horse lost, but it was great fun for me.” Rose: "I bet on the horse. He didn’t win. I lost a bunch of money” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 7/25).
