There was a time back in the late 1960s when Del Mar actually hosted two race meetings in a year. First came its traditional summer stand, which was followed by a sojourn back to the seaside in the autumn of 1967. However, that meet was short lived, and Del Mar reverted back to just summertime racing the following year before fall racing returned to Southern California courtesy of the Oak Tree Racing Association hosting a meet at Santa Anita in 1969.

Hollywood Park would follow suit in 1981. And for the next thirty-three years, live racing remained a staple at the Track of the Lakes and Flowers with events like the Matriarch, Native Diver Handicap, and the Hollywood Futurity and Starlet being part of the annual session.

Then came 2013.

It was a cold winter night in December of that year when Hollywood Park signed off from the racing landscape. This was announced months in advance, but it was not until the last few days of the autumn meet that it really settled in. As a result of the closure, Santa Anita, Del Mar and Los Alamitos divided up the stakes races previously contested along Prairie Avenue. What's more, the three tracks also acquired more racing dates. Santa Anita would now race towards the start of summer, while Los Alamitos would host some short daytime meets throughout the year.

And how about Del Mar?

The summer season of course remained intact, but a significant change was in store for the legendary track's schedule. More than four decades after running live programs during the fall, Del Mar once again prepared to host autumn racing. And that endeavor came to fruition in 2014.

As a tribute to its founder, the track called the meet the Bing Crosby Season. Consisting of fifteen days of live action, the Bing Crosby Season also functioned as a salute to multiple entertainers of yesteryear. Some of them were notable racing fans like Desi Arnaz, Jimmy Durante and Betty Grable. The Hollywood Derby, Hollywood Turf Cup, Matriarch and Native Diver were part of the stakes schedule, which gave the festivities a Hollywood Park feel. And Del Mar also honored the horse instrumental in giving it national exposure, as the Seabiscuit Handicap was run on Thanksgiving Day.

The Bing Crosby Season opened on November 7, 2014. On tap that day was not just a nine-race card, but a dawning of a new chapter in California Thoroughbred racing. What followed over the next few hours was a little something for everybody.

Wild Caroline kicked off the proceedings by staying near the pacesetter and justifying her status as post time favorite by getting the win with Tyler Baze aboard. That would be the start of a good day for Baze, who was one of three jockeys to win twice on the card after becoming the first winning rider of the Bing Crosby Season.

Wild Caroline was not the only favorite to go to the winners' circle that day (Oscillator, but there were some horses who sprang upsets. The Cal-bred Unusual Taste surprised everyone in the second race at 22-1 for Barry Abrams. Rock Shanty would win at a price a little later on at 8-1, fighting back in the stretch after leading for much of the way to claim victory in the fifth.

The on-track crowd witnessed horses taking the early lead and winning, while others stayed near the pace like Wild Caroline in the opener and Oscillator in the fourth race. And there were others who rallied from behind. Unusual Taste made up ground on the backstretch to win the second race from off the pace, while Warren's Gussie went from last to first to get up in time in the third race while traveling on the outside. There was also a thrilling finish as Cal-bred Ashleyluvssugar got up in time to take the seventh, and while Up the Alley and Heat the Rocks left their opponents to sort out the minor awards en route to daylight scores in the sixth and ninth races, respectively.

And then there was the feature, the Kathryn Crosby Stakes. As Bing has a race named after him at the summer meeting, his second wife Kathryn was given a race for the fall session. The victor turned out to be Queen of the Sand, who rallied from off the pace and pulled away from her rivals in the stretch to go down in history as the first stakes winner of the Bing Crosby Season. And it was fitting that a race named for another member of the Crosby family was part of the opening day festivities.

Of the nine races that comprised the first day of the meet, no trainer won more than once. But each of their wins was equally special as it was the first day of fall racing at Del Mar. Among the conditioners getting in the win column were high-profile names like Jerry Hollendorfer and Peter Miller, as well as Jorge Guiterrez and Jorge Periban. The jockeys division was a different story. Along with Tyler Baze, Mike Smith and Elvis Trujillo each took home two races, and Smith became the season's first stakes-winning jockey by riding Queen of the Sand. He also was the lone rider to win two in a row as he captured the next contest with Ashleyluvssugar.

Day one of the Bing Crosby Season started off what was a hit racing season. While it did not (and was not expected to) reach numbers on the level of the summer season, it was nevertheless a popular meet. The relaxed vibe at the seaside combined with the connection to its founder and the Hollywood stars of a bygone era proved to be something unique. And with some races from Hollywood Park moving down to San Diego County, it made it seem like the Track of the Lakes and Flowers was still part of the racing landscape although a new day had dawned for Southern California racing. It was one of the most significant moments not just of the twenty-first century, but in the state's Thoroughbred racing timeline.

And that new day started an autumn tradition at Del Mar that has continued well into the 2020s.