A Day In Del Mar

Kudos to Joe Harper for finally getting the Breeders Cup to Del Mar.  It's been years in the works, but he finally made it happen.  To make it extra special, the city of Del Mar commissioned 20 artists to decorate 20 life size fiberglass horses, and display them around San Diego.  Friday I took a group of 35 women on a driving/walking tour of the horses.  We had a beautiful day, weather wise, and a wonderful time.

The undecorated horses were for sale for $15,000, and were bought by local businessmen and philanthropists.  Each horse was decorated by a local artist and displayed around town.  After the Breeders Cup is over, the horses will be auctioned off to various charities.  The one in front of Americana Restaurant in Del Mar is already spoken for.  It will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Solana Beach.  You can go to the website and get a map of the location of all the horses, and pictures of each.  It's interesting to see how each artist interpreted the racetrack and it's surroundings.

We began our tour at Seaside Market, and did the first part by car.  We saw one horse on Coast Highway, one on Cedros, three on Via de la Valle, and finally arrived in Del Mar.  Here we took a short walk, starting at L'Auberge, going down to the little park, then back near the plaza, where we saw five horses in all.  Lunch was next, with some of our group staying in Del Mar and going to Sbicca, other went to Flower Hill Mall to see one final horse and eat at one of my favorite lunch spots, Flower Child.

If you have an hour or two with nothing do, try to see the horses, before they are taken somewhere else.  I have a few favorites.  I loved the one in front of Pamplemousse, the one in front of Red Tractons, and the one on Coast Highway in Solana Beach.  I'm sure everyone will have different favorites, but one thing is for sure.  Commissioning the painting of these fiberglass horses was a great addition to the Breeder's Cup.  Enjoy.