Del Mar

A little bit of Italy Location: 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates 90274 Asking price: $10.9 million Previous sale: $8.65 million in 2007 House size: The house has five bedrooms and nine bathrooms in more than 10,000 square feet, including rooms off the pool and a mechanical/storage room. Lot size: Almost an acre Additional features: Library, media room, family room, three laundry rooms, three-car garage, spa, elevator Around the neighborhood: In the first half of the year, 141 single-family homes sold in the 90274 ZIP Code at a median price of $1,475,000, according to DataQuick.

Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego is marking the opening of the Del Mar horse-racing season with a package that includes tickets, racing forms and even two mint juleps. The deal is pricey -- it starts at $475 a night -- but it saves a bit if you're up for a splurge and love the ponies. -- The deal: The Del Mar racetrack , which dates to 1937, opened last week for its 2011 season. The Day at the Races package includes two Stretch Run reserved seats at the racetrack (worth $10)

From Del Mar — There was a traffic jam at a horse race Wednesday. It took some people hours to get in. It was real Carmageddon, not some overdone media concoction. It was wonderful. Del Mar opened and they came. The attendance was 46,588. That was the largest crowd in Del Mar history, topping last year's opening day 45,309. There is a trend here, and racing traditionalists may not like it. But racing traditionalists will be building little new tradition the way their sport is going, with weekday crowds averaging around 2,500 at places such as Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, places that used to be magnets for sports fans.

Opening day at Del Mar has become horse racing's version of the Academy Awards, producing lots of glitz, glamour and most of all, big crowds. There were 45,309 at last year's opener, and Wednesday's first day of Del Mar's 37-day summer meeting figures to offer another party-like atmosphere that includes spectators wearing lots of colorful hats during a 10-race program. A capacity field of 10 is entered, with four also-eligibles, in the featured race, the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds going one mile on the turf.

Summer at Del Mar What: 37-day thoroughbred meeting. Where: Fairgrounds at Del Mar. When: Wednesday through Sept. 7. Racing on Wednesday through Sunday except for Monday, Sept. 5. Post times: 2 p.m., except Fridays at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Aug. 28. Top races: $1-million Pacific Classic, Aug. 28; $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes, July 23; $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes, July 31; $250,000 Del Mar Oaks, Aug. 20; $250,000 Del Mar Futurity, Sept. 7. Admission: $6 for infield; $10 clubhouse.

Horse play has been added to the activities roster at the upscale Grand Del Mar resort in northern San Diego , which recently opened an equestrian center. The 20,000-square-foot facility offers kids’ programs, lessons and trail rides. Guests can get off the beaten track and ride through the 4,100-acre Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve , which borders the resort. The preserve is made up of steep slopes, streams, flat mesas and grassy hillsides. The equestrian center has eight horses and ponies, stalls, tack and feed rooms and a riding area.

This city's preferred civic image is that of a quiet village with pristine beaches, trendy shops and upscale homes on tree-lined streets. The state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds, on the city's northern edge, is another matter. The entertainment complex is mostly known for the annual San Diego County Fair and Thoroughbred racing season. But there are also the gun shows, reptile shows, boat shows, horse shows, bingo, the gay rodeo, soccer matches, concerts and, soon, the largest dog show west of the Mississippi.

There may be closer relationships in sports than jockey and agent, but you'd have to look hard. That's why the end of the business relationshipof Tyler Baze and Vic Stauffer is a story worth telling. While it lasted, it had the elements of an ongoing honeymoon. When the recent divorce came, it was sad and logical and understandable and accepted in the horse racing community as one of those things that happens frequently. Which it is. Neither Stauffer, 51, nor Baze, 28, is a household name, even in some racing households.

A gated Corona del Mar home with eight fireplaces and a 60-foot waterfall has come on the market for $19 million. Among the ocean-view house's custom features are the marble flooring design and carved ceiling in the formal dining room and wood-beam ceilings elsewhere. The 10,921-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa includes a gift-wrapping room, a beauty salon, the guest/maid's quarters, a butler's pantry, offices, a sauna, eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a full basement. The property is about a third of an acre with a saltwater pool, a spa and a six-car garage.

Here I'm thinking trainer Doug O'Neill is a great guy, friendly as anyone you might meet, a soft spot for the children's hospital I know so well, but now they're telling me he's a horse murderer and cheater. It takes a lot for me these days to write about horse racing, but really, who is he? It's the final day of racing at Del Mar on Wednesday and O'Neill finishes as the meet's leading trainer, but of course he does, as some will say, because the California Horse Racing Board is suggesting now he doctors his horses like no one else.