Thanksgiving Racing Returns to Del Mar, Timed to Finish Before the Turkey

At 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving, registration opens beside the main track at the Del Mar racetrack. There will be face painting, holiday crafts and free doughnuts. An hour later, families with kids, some pushing strollers, run one lap of the one-mile oval. The track's announcement says the first race goes off at 11 a.m. and racing wraps up at 2 p.m., "to allow folks plenty of time to get home to the turkey and all the fixings."

That timing is the key to this year's Bing Crosby Season, which opens Friday, Nov. 6. The fall meet is a short run of Friday-through-Sunday racing, and Thanksgiving is its only weekday. The track built that day around the holiday, so you can go and still be home for dinner.

The one Thursday on a Friday-to-Sunday calendar

The meet runs 13 racing days from Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 29. Racing is held Friday through Sunday, and the track's own release calls Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, the "one outlier." This is the 13th Crosby season. The fall meet started in 2014 and is named for the man who helped get the seaside track going in 1937.

Thanksgiving racing hasn't been a sure thing. In 2024, Del Mar's fall schedule left it out completely, and the Red Carpet Stakes and the start of the fall turf festival moved up to the Sunday before the holiday, as reported in the track's announcement published by the Paulick Report. Before that, the track ran a Thanksgiving card on Nov. 23, 2023, with the first race at 11 a.m. In 2019 a holiday card was on the schedule, but a major storm forecast forced the track to cancel it.

For 2026 it's back, and the Red Carpet is back on the holiday too. "We're excited to have racing back on Thanksgiving," Chris Bahr, Del Mar's director of events and promotions, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Grade III Red Carpet Stakes, listed at $120,000 in Del Mar's own release and run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf for fillies and mares, is the featured race that day.

Thanksgiving at the track, hour by hour

1. 7 a.m. Fun Run registration opens. Pre-race activities include games, face painting, holiday arts and crafts, entertainment, and free doughnuts and water.
2. 8 a.m. The one-mile Family Fun Run starts on the main track. After the run, finishers can get photos in the winner's circle and pick up a souvenir medallion.
3. 10 a.m. The free race-day shuttle starts running from the Solana Beach train station. On regular race days it starts when the gates open.
4. 11 a.m. First post, an hour and a half earlier than the usual 12:30 p.m. start.
5. About 2 p.m. Racing ends, early enough for an evening meal at home.

The Fun Run costs $24 for ages 16 and older and $16 for ages 4 to 15, and children 3 and under get in free. Each ticket includes admission and the medallion. Runners 17 and under have to stay with a parent or legal guardian, and strollers are allowed. Proceeds go to the Helen Woodward Animal Center's therapeutic riding program. Parking is free for the run, in the main lot off Jimmy Durante Boulevard.

If you'd rather have someone else cook, the Turf Club is serving a three-course holiday meal with bottomless mimosas for $184 per person, with reservations through dmtc.com.

Thanksgiving also opens the FanDuel Racing Turf Festival, which runs through Nov. 29. Eight of the meet's stakes races fall in those four days. The two biggest are both $300,000 Grade I turf races on closing weekend: the Hollywood Derby on Saturday, Nov. 28, and the Matriarch Stakes on Sunday, Nov. 29. Friday, Nov. 27, is Family Fun Day, with rock climbing walls, an inflatable game zone and mini golf, which is handy if relatives are in town over the long weekend.

The rest of November runs on the same local clock

Thanksgiving fits a local's schedule, and the rest of the meet's weekly pattern does too. The track has set up each regular day of the week a little differently, and the deals work best for people who can come on short notice.

"The fall meet has a different vibe than summer – it's more relaxed. Some locals prefer it more. It will be jam-packed with exciting events as always and promotions. … It will be a very fun meet, and it goes quick."

Bahr said that to the San Diego Union-Tribune in its fall season preview.

General admission is $8 a day, or $4 with the free Diamond Club membership you sign up for in the Del Mar mobile app. Admission is free for anyone 17 and younger and for active-duty and retired military. Here's how the regular days break down:

Opening day is free for Diamond Club members, so this Friday is the cheapest way to see the track before the holiday crowds arrive.

The Saturday that's new this year is Nov. 21, the Taco & Beer Festival, from noon to 4 p.m. on the Stretch Run Apron West. Five 7-ounce drink tickets and a souvenir cup cost $17.50 and cover beer, seltzer and cider. Tacos from area vendors are sold separately, and Patrón is pouring tequila samples. On Nov. 14, Uncorked Derby Days is for guests 21 and older at the Seaside Cabana. Tickets run $84 to $100, there's a Derby Dame & Dapper Dan Fashion Contest, and part of the proceeds goes to Urban Surf 4 Kids.

On Sunday, Nov. 22, the annual Toys for Tots Drive and Ride gets you in free if you bring a new, unwrapped toy or make a cash donation. It's a good way to get some holiday shopping done before the Thanksgiving week begins.

Getting there without the lot

The track sits at Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante Boulevard. General parking is $15 per vehicle and valet is $30 for the meet, with no re-entry. If you'd rather skip that, take the Coaster or Amtrak to Solana Beach station. A free shuttle contracted by the track meets every train on race days. Return shuttles leave 15 minutes after each race and 30 minutes after the last one, and riders are dropped off and picked up just west of Mission Towers.

On Thanksgiving there's one more option, because Fun Run parking is free in the main lot. If you run at 8 a.m. and stay for the 11 a.m. card, you've paid for the run and nothing for parking.

When the track goes quiet, the Village and the Fairgrounds take over

Racing ends Nov. 29, and the holiday season moves down the hill a week later. Del Mar Village's Winter Taste & Sip runs Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. downtown, with tastes from local restaurants, regional drinks, music, and Santa photos at Del Mar Plaza. The same evening, the Village tree lighting starts at 5 p.m. at the Jim Watkins Amphitheater at L'Auberge Del Mar. North Pole By The Sea fills that same afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m., with village carolers and characters, Santa letters, children's crafts, and a snow play area at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

Starting Dec. 11, the Fairgrounds is busy again. Coastal Christmas, produced by CBF Productions, returns on select nights from Dec. 11 through Dec. 26 with a Holiday Light Trail, Glice skating, a Holiday Market and Wine Walk, Santa photos, Frosty's Fun Zone, igloos and fire-pit tables. The Del Mar Fairgrounds event calendar also lists The String Cheese Incident on Friday, Dec. 11, and Saturday, Dec. 12, the same dates Coastal Christmas opens.

From the Fun Run on Thanksgiving morning to the tree lighting at L'Auberge on Dec. 6, there's something going on in town almost every weekend through the holidays. If family visits this season have you thinking about more room, a guest suite or a home closer to the Village, San Diego's Favorite Team would be glad to sit down with you over coffee once the race-day crowds clear. Start your San Diego home plan with a tailored consultation.