The gates weren't yet open at Del Mar when the day's first boater hats and dresses showed up to chase the past.
Already, the sun burned bright above the racetrack. It has never rained on opening day at Del Mar, not once, so on Thursday, the start of this year's 40-day summer meet, the weather was pretty much the same as it was last year, the year before and in 1937, when Bing Crosby personally welcomed the first fans through the turnstiles.
That, and the Gatsbyesque attire, gives Del Mar a timeless feel, and well before dawn, the staff had been preparing for the crush of revelers hoping to recapture the glory days of a dying sport.