Breeders Cup Comes To Del Mar

For the first time in 75 years, Del Mar will host the Breeders Cup, and Joe Harper has done everything to make it a huge success.  Of course improving the race course and adding additional seating had to be done, but they've also decorated the track and town with some beautiful horse statues.  "The Art of the Horse" program gave 20 people the opportunity to buy one of the 150 fiberglass horses for $15,000.  Then, the sponsors selected an artist, and the artist went to work.

The Breeders Cup trophy, given to the winner of each race, is a bronze reproduction of the original Torrie horse, created in Florence by Giovanni da Bologna in the late 1580's.  The statue has resided for nearly 2 centuries at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Fran and I are leading a tour of Newcomers around Del Mar to view some of the fiberglass horses, so we went to Del Mar one Saturday morning

to see the horses and map out our route.  There are about six horses in Del Mar itself, several in La Jolla, one in front of the Fairmont Grand, one at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, one on Cedros and one in front of Red Tractons.  Unfortunately there is no map showing the location of all the horses, which I think they should have available.

Most of the artwork is done by local artists, and some of them are so creative.  (remember the Cows in Chicago?) After the Breeders Cup on November 3 and 4, some of the horses will be auctioned off.  The others will remain with the sponsors who bought them originally.  After our tour of the horses in Del Mar, we'll drive to Flower Hill Mall to see one final horse, then lunch at one of my favorite spots, Flower Child.