Del Mar racetrack in final countdown for Breeders’ Cup

To get an idea how big a deal the Breeders’ Cup is to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, look no further than the fairgrounds’ kitchens run by executive chef Barry Schneider.

In his 41 years of cooking in kitchens worldwide, Schneider said he’s never ordered more food than did for the 13-race event, which runs Friday and Saturday at the Del Mar racetrack. The much-anticipated Breeders’ Cup, the first in Del Mar history, is known as the Super Bowl of horse racing, with $28 million in purses and awards.

To serve more than 25,000 meals each day to well-heeled racing fans, Schneider and his 250-member culinary team will be preparing 60 gallons of soup, 3,000 shrimp cocktails, 300 pounds of Brandt Beef short ribs, 2,500 portions of Faroe Island king salmon, 2,500 Jidori chicken breasts and 1,800 chilled lobster and Champagne vinaigrette salads.

The high-end menu is what Breeders’ Cup high-rollers expect at their tables, which are priced at up to $1,800 a seat. Of course, that’s if you snagged a seat. Within days of tickets going on sale in February, virtually all were sold out, and at a premium.

As of Thursday evening, there was a handful of infield-only general admission tickets still available for Friday priced at $35, but sales were set to close at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. There will be no walk-up ticket sales or drive-up parking at the fairgrounds on Friday or Saturday.

All parking is pre-reserved, both onsite and at the park-and-ride shuttle stops at Del Mar Horse Park, MiraCosta College in Cardiff and Kilroy Realty Parking Garage in Carmel Valley.

Attendance at the racetrack Friday and Saturday has been capped each day at 37,538. That’s below the usual opening-day crowd size for the summer season, which was intentional.

Del Mar has been interested in hosting the Breeders’ Cup series for decades, so turning out a more intimate, smooth-as-silk experience for visitors is the top priority, said Ann Hall, vice president of human resources and administration for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

“What’s most important for us about this weekend is getting the Breeders’ Cup back again in the future,” said Hall, who has worked at Del Mar since 1994, one year after the current grandstand opened.

To bring the aging grandstand up to first-class standards, Hall said months were spent repainting walls, upgrading bathrooms, resurfacing floors, re-landscaping the grounds and track areas, replacing the furniture in the private boxes, bringing in new chairs and china for the restaurants and raising temporary structures, like the high-end “chalet” tents near the track’s final turn.

Even the Scream Zone, the haunted house that closed Tuesday at the track’s west end, has been dressed up with a giant purple Breeders’ Cup logo, since there wasn’t time to dismantle it.

About 70 percent of those attending the Breeders’ Cup races are new to San Diego, so more than 1,300 staff members at the track have been undergoing training sessions to answer any questions that may come up.

Besides not allowing walk-ins, Breeders’ Cup has tight security that limits general admission ticket-holders to specific areas, and most of the usual rules about carry-in items have changed (leave your beach chair, cooler and backpack at home).

On Thursday, thousands of Breeders’ Cup ticket-holders, horse owners and trainers were milling around the grandstand and snapping up the series’ purple-hued souvenirs.

Inside the Breeders’ Cup merchandise tent, shoppers could choose from a $240 Waterford punch bowl, $60 sweatshirt or $175 purse emblazoned with the series logo. And at the Silks Del Mar hat shop near the paddock, purple fascinators competed with the teal-colored Del Mar variety.

“We’ve definitely stocked up on merchandise this weekend because we expect we’ll do really well,” said Michele Betti, whose mother, Arlene, is the store’s buyer.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the kitchens, Schneider has been logging six to nine miles a day racing around the grandstand kitchens coordinating his troops like a conductor with an orchestra. On Thursday he was tasting each dish, demonstrating the proper plating for shrimp cocktail and coordinating storage for the more than $200,000 in ingredients for the weekend.

To turn out all this food, he’s supplemented his 200-member kitchen team with dozens of additional chefs from all over Southern California, including a team from the Santa Anita racetrack, the University of Southern California and local restaurants, as well as culinary students and even some Marines, who volunteered to help with kitchen labor.

Among those doing prep work Thursday at the Turf Club was retired San Diego chef Larry Abrams, who now sells real estate.

“Sometimes I just miss being a part of something big like this,” he said. “It’s hard work, but it’s really rewarding.”

Breeders Cup

What: 13 races on Friday and Saturday.

When: Races 6-9 on Friday begin at 2:25 p.m. Races 4 through 12 on Saturday begin at noon. (First non-Cup race begins at 11:25 a.m. Friday and 10:10 a.m. Saturday.)

Where: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar. All parking is pre-reserved for ticket holders.

Tickets: Sold out. Some infield-only tickets for Friday are still available online until 11:59 p.m. Thursday. No tickets available onsite Friday or Saturday.

Online: breederscup.com

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com