π 2025 Preakness Stakes: The Race for Glory! π
Get ready for an unforgettable day at the 2025 Preakness Stakes! With thrilling horse racing, high-energy crowds, and the chance to see future champions in action, this legendary event is a must-attend for racing fans and thrill-seekers alike.
π₯ What to Expect:
Heart-pounding races featuring top-tier horses. VIP experiences and high-class entertainment. The excitement and prestige of one of horse racingβs most iconic events. Donβt miss the chance to be part of the action at the 2025 Preakness Stakes!
Jul 25, 2026
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar, β¦
The Bing Crosby Stakes on July 25 is one of the oldest Grade I sprint races on the West Coast β named for the man who co-founded Del Mar in 1937, run at six furlongs on the main track, and contested by the top sprint horses in North America. A Grade I race at Del Mar on a July Saturday draws both the serious racing public and the event crowd who wouldn't mark a racing day otherwise. The Bing Crosby carries $500,000 in purse and the winner's connections have reliably used it as a launching point for the Breeders' Cup Sprint in October. See these horses two weeks before they become national news. Del Mar's grandstand on Bing Crosby day is at capacity by the second race β arrive early enough to claim your spot at the rail.
Del Mar, August 1st, 2026. The Clement L. Hirsch Stakes β a Grade I race for older fillies and mares with a $400,000 purse β anchors a Saturday card at the track where the Pacific Coast meets thoroughbred racing at its finest. The race has been run at Del Mar since 1950. The names on its past performers list are names that matter in racing.
Grade I day at Del Mar has a different register than the regular Saturday card. The crowd dresses differently. The paddock has a different atmosphere when the horses that walk through it have traveled specifically for this field, selected by connections who believe they have a legitimate shot at a graded stakes on one of the best tracks in the country. The race itself β a mile and a sixteenth on dirt, fit mares going into the stretch β is the resolution of a summer-long argument about which horse is the best of this division.
Gates open at 12:30 PM via Jimmy Durante Blvd. The Hirsch runs mid-afternoon. Grandstand, turf club, and infield options β pick your vantage point before the day of. dmtc.com for tickets and the full card. Del Mar on Grade I day is Del Mar performing at its best. The rest of the summer meet builds toward this kind of day. Be there for it.
Aug 29, 2026
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar, β¦
The Pat O'Brien Stakes runs on August 29 at Del Mar β a Grade II sprint named for the actor who co-founded the track with Bing Crosby in 1937. The Pat O'Brien is the major sprint prep race of the Del Mar summer meet, a Grade II event at seven furlongs that regularly attracts the sprint champions targeting the Breeders' Cup Sprint in October. August 29 is the final Saturday of the regular summer meet before the Labor Day stretch, and the card reflects it β full fields, competitive racing across multiple distances, and a crowd that understands these last weekends have a finite quality. Del Mar in late August has a specific beauty: the summer meet entering its final chapter, the horses at their meet-best conditioning, the grandstand carrying the warmth of a season still running but beginning to close.
The Del Mar Debutante Stakes and Del Mar Futurity run in the first weekend of September β the two major juvenile stakes races of the summer meet, crowning the best two-year-old filly and colt on the West Coast ahead of the fall championship season. September at Del Mar carries Labor Day weekend energy: the summer's largest crowds, the meet approaching its conclusion, and the juvenile races providing the forward-looking narrative that connects the summer to the Breeders' Cup in October. The Debutante and Futurity historically identify the championship-caliber two-year-olds β every winner in recent years has continued competing at the highest levels through the winter. For racing fans, this is the weekend to mark: the juvenile championships at one of North America's most beautiful racetracks, in perfect September weather, before the summer is entirely over.