Del Mar’s ‘Bing Crosby’ meet opens Friday

For the first time in more than 40 years, Del Mar is hosting a fall 15-day thoroughbred meeting that begins Friday and runs through Nov. 30. Del Mar took over the dates from Hollywood Park.

There’s lots of speculation about how popular this meet will be with fans and horsemen. This isn’t the summer, when pleasant weather and school vacations help motivate college students and casual fans to make a visit and enjoy a party-like atmosphere.

“I think curiosity is the main thing on my mind,” track President Joe Harper said. “We’ve said all along if we can get half the averages we had during the summer, we’d be happy.”

Del Mar’s attendance averaged 16,553 for its 37-day summer meeting. Wagering averaged slightly more than $12 million.

Del Mar is marketing its fall meeting as the “Bing Crosby Season,” named after its founder, the late singer and actor. There will be 14 types of wagers offered during racing Thursday through Sunday.

The meeting marks the end of Southern California’s experiment using synthetic track surfaces. Del Mar’s Polytrack will be removed at the conclusion of the meeting, replaced by the same dirt surface used at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.

“It’s weird that we’re taking it out for the same reason we put it in, a safe track,” Harper said.

Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley will be the last California track with a synthetic surface. The California Horse Racing Board mandated the change to synthetic in 2006. Santa Anita switched back to dirt in 2010.

“The grand experiment failed for a variety of reasons,” Harper said.

The switch will enable all three of Southern California’s thoroughbred facilities to have the same surface in 2015.

The featured races during the Del Mar meeting are the Grade I Hollywood Derby on Nov. 29 and the Grade I Matriarch Stakes on closing day.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com