Crowds and horses show up for Del Mar meeting

Lucrative purses, large fields, good crowds, new standouts — it made for a memorable 37-day race meeting that ended Wednesday at Del Mar.

From the emergence of Acclamation as a horse-of-the-year candidate to the unveiling of promising 2-year-olds, Del Mar produced quality races and quality entertainment.

It started with a record crowd of 46,588 on opening day, and the fans kept coming, averaging 17,844 in daily on-track attendance. The highest overnight purses of any meeting this summer, plus incentives for owners to ship in horses from out of state, created rare full fields in Southern California racing, something that Hollywood Park and Santa Anita have struggled to accomplish.

“I think they realized these owners want to run for money,” trainer Mike Machowsky said. “The purses were so big. As an owner or trainer, you have to put your horses where they can win races and cover your expenses each month, and you’re going to pick and choose if the purses aren’t strong.”

Claims were up, with owners scrambling to get their barns in position to compete for purse money. The average daily handle was $11.6 million, down 4.2% from last year’s $12.1 million.

From a safety perspective, there was encouraging news regarding Del Mar’s Polytrack. Only two horses suffered catastrophic injuries on the surface during races.

“I thought the track was very consistent,” trainer Mike Mitchell said.

There were four horses euthanized as the result of injuries racing on the turf course, including Burns, who won the La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 13, then fractured a foreleg during Sunday’s Del Mar Derby.

Trainers began to unveil their most promising young horses during the Del Mar meeting, and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert worked his magic again Wednesday when Drill won the Grade I $250,000 Del Mar Futurity by a neck over Majestic City under jockey Martin Garcia. Creative Cause, the odds-on favorite, finished third but was moved up to second after Majestic City was disqualified for impeding the path of Creative Cause near the finish of the seven-furlong race.

It’s the 10th time a Baffert-trained horse has won the Del Mar Futurity. Drill is owned by Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman, the same group that won the 2009 race with Lookin At Lucky.

Another top 2-year-old at Del Mar was the filly Egg Drop, whom Mitchell had been raving about for weeks. She won last week in her debut, a 51/2-furlong maiden race, and now will be pointed toward the Grade I Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 2.

“Egg Drop is a very special filly,” Mitchell said. “I have high hopes for her.”

The horse of the meeting was Acclamation, who won the Grade I Eddie Read on the turf and the $1-million Pacific Classic on the Polytrack.

Mitchell became Del Mar’s all-time leading trainer and won his seventh training title and first since 1996, edging John Sadler, 25-24. Joel Rosario won his third consecutive jockey crown.

Next up is 13 days of racing at Fairplex Park in Pomona starting Friday, followed by the 24-day autumn race meeting at Santa Anita that begins Sept. 30.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com