DEL MAR — The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club opened its 13th annual Bing Crosby Meet on Nov. 6, kicking off the fall horse racing season with three days highlighted by two stakes victories, including a 36-1 longshot and a repeat winner.
The fall meet, named in honor of the legendary crooner and one of the racetrack’s founders, was added in 2014 to replace the meet formerly held at Hollywood Park Racetrack, which closed to make way for SoFi Stadium.
The seaside oval reported opening-weekend attendance of 10,900, with a total wagering handle of $18,988,605 over the first three days.
During the 2026 summer meet at Del Mar, on-track attendance averaged 8,722 per day.
Opening-weekend highlights included an English-bred filly defeating a field of males in Friday’s Let It Ride Stakes, longshot Mr. Disrespectful pulling off an upset in Saturday’s The Chosen Vron Stakes and favorite Grand Slam Smile capturing Sunday’s $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes for the second consecutive year.
On Saturday, Mr. Disrespectful, a 6-year-old gray gelding owned by Antonio Mojarro of Riverside and trained by Craig Dollase, led from start to finish in the seven-furlong The Chosen Vron Stakes for California-bred horses.
Ridden by Tiago Pereira, the longest shot in the seven-horse field finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Lovesick Blues, returning $74.60 on a $2 win bet. The victory was Mr. Disrespectful’s eighth in 40 career starts, boosting his lifetime earnings to $414,043.
“My instructions were to be near the front, not too far back. But he wanted to go. He made the lead all on his own. I wasn’t asking him,” Pereira said. “You saw it today; he’s a nice horse. This was his own work.”
Dollase said he had targeted the race despite Mr. Disrespectful finishing fifth in a six-horse field at Santa Anita just eight days earlier.
“I told Tony (Mojarro, owner) this was my goal to win this race with him,” Dollase said. “We wanted to be close and then Tiago took the initiative and went on with him. Nobody else wanted the lead. The best thing you can do is not fight him.”
Sunday’s Betty Grable Stakes belonged to Grand Slam Smile, a 5-year-old chestnut mare bred and owned by Larry and Marianne Williams of Boise, Idaho.
With seven-time Del Mar leading jockey Juan Hernandez aboard, Grand Slam Smile dominated the six-horse field, winning by 5¼ lengths in 1:22.71. The victory marked her 14th win in 25 career starts and pushed her lifetime earnings to $1,114,120.
Trained by Sean McCarthy, Grand Slam Smile also won the Betty Grable Stakes in 2025. Hernandez, who had six wins through the meet’s first three days, recorded his 80th stakes victory at Del Mar.
“No, no special instructions to me. Sean (trainer McCarthy) just told me to ‘go do your thing,’” Hernandez said. “She came away from there just a bit slow, so I had to ask her some to get position. But once we got up front, she was on the muscle all the way. She was strong. She’s some filly.”
Grand Slam Smile returned $4.20 on a $2 win bet, with Big Hug finishing second and She’s No Quant taking third.
The Bing Crosby Meet continues Friday, Nov. 13, with first post at 12:30 p.m.
