By Joe Naiman
For The Alpine Sun
This year the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club fall meet started on Veterans’ Day, so in addition to the celebrity costume contest which is traditional for Opening Day of the Bing Crosby Season meet an Opening Day Stars and Stripes Fashion Contest was also held and the winners of the two contests then vied for the grand prize which was won by Boulevard resident Wendy Venable.
“It’s great. I didn’t expect it,” Venable said.
By Joe Naiman
For The Alpine Sun
This year the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club fall meet started on Veterans’ Day, so in addition to the celebrity costume contest which is traditional for Opening Day of the Bing Crosby Season meet an Opening Day Stars and Stripes Fashion Contest was also held and the winners of the two contests then vied for the grand prize which was won by Boulevard resident Wendy Venable.
“It’s great. I didn’t expect it,” Venable said.
Venable is a member of the Grand Old Ladies of the Old West, which participates in parades and other events with costumes from the 1850-1900 era. She wore a camouflage-colored dress typical of 1866 style to the costume contest.
“The style is correct,” Venable said. “They didn’t have camo back then.”
Venable’s husband spent 35 years in the Navy before retiring as a Commander, and she also used her husband’s medals for her costume. She purchased the dress five or six years ago and modified it. Venable wore a hat she made which utilized United States Marine Corps mosquito netting.
“I was not expecting to win, but this dress is unique,” she said.
Venable has been attending Del Mar Thoroughbred Club races for approximately six years. “We love Del Mar,” she said. “We always meet great people when we’re here.”
The California Horse Racing Board gave the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club a fall meet in 2014 after Hollywood Park closed. The meet is for either four or five weeks, depending on the location of the Breeders’ Cup. Bing Crosby was one of the founders of the track in 1937, and the fall meet was named to honor him while also paying tribute to other Hollywood celebrities who frequented the track.
The patriotic-themed fashion contest enticed Venable to enter this year. “I love this dress,” she said. “We love showing support for any of the military branches.”
Venable’s husband is now a civilian employee of the Navy and still makes the commute from Boulevard. Venable’s father was a Navy helicopter pilot, her son is in the Navy, and she volunteers in a support role at North Island Naval Air Station.
Venable was born in Philadelphia but has lived in San Diego County since she was one. She was raised in Fletcher Hills and graduated from El Cajon Valley High School. Venable and her family moved to Boulevard twelve years ago. She has twelve horses, most of whom had been wild mustangs adopted from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, along with a donkey and other animals. Venable engages in Western riding while on one of her horses.
