Mixing humor and history, new mural celebrates 70 seasons of races

Pierre Bellocq created a mural for the 70th season of the Del Mar Racetrack depicting more than 100 celebrities and famour horses from the race's storied history. (Photo courtesy of the Del Mar Village Voice.)

On July 10, the Del Mar Racetrack commemorated its 70th racing season with the permanent installation of a mural by renowned racing artist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq.

Painted in his Princeton, New Jersey studio over 18 months, Bellocq’s 30-foot long, six-foot tall work, hanging in the entrance of the Thoroughbred Club, depicts 107 people and six horses, all of whom have been integral in the successful and storied history of the Del Mar Racetrack.

Celebrity caricatures gracing the mural include Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Bing Crosby, Ava Gardner, Laurel and Hardy, Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton, and Bob Hope; horses trotting across the canvass include Native Driver and Ligorati and Seabiscuit, whose famous 1938 race — “It put Del Mar on the map,” said Dan Smith of the Thoroughbred Club — Bellocq depicted in astonishing detail.

Another scene on the mural’s far right shows horse Dare and Go relaxing with his hoofs comfortably behind his head, smoking a cigar; the image is a humorous reference to the horse’s shocking upset of odds-on favorite Cigar at the $100 million 1996 Pacific Classic.

Bellocq used humor, as well as a history spent drawing celebrities and horses, to create the colorful, expressive mural.

The grandson of a breeder of Anglo-Arabian horses in the Pyrenees, and the son of a top jockey in Bordeaux, France, Bellocq, who himself was an amateur jockey, said, “At 1-years-old I was in the stall with horses.”

Bellocq came to the United States in 1955 to work creating posters for an ad agency in Baltimore. (He humorously recalled his first gig, promoting a wine, in which he drew a poster of lavish grapes only to find out-he spoke no English at the time-that the wine he was creating a beautiful campaign for was Manischewitz).

A longtime political and sports cartoonist-he worked for the Philadelphia Enquirer and the Daily Racing For, Bellocq has been commissioned to create five murals: in addition to the newest piece at Del Mar, one of his murals is at Belmont Park, two hang at Churchill Downs, and one graces a wall at Gallagher’s Steak House in Manhattan.

Pierre Bellocq creates a mural for the 70th season of the Del Mar Racetrack. (Photo courtesy of the Del Mar Village Voice.)

To maintain the integrity and accuracy of the mural, Bellocq chose to depict each celebrity at the age at which he originally sketched them; for example, a young Lucille Ball stands next to an older Desi Arnaz, who Bellocq sketched later in the actor’s life at Saratoga Race Course.

“I sketched people the way I saw them,” said Bellocq.

“The good thing about knowing Peb for 40 years is that he draws you the way he saw you 40 years ago,” said Joe Harper, Thoroughbred president and CEO, who is depicted in the center of the mural.

About Bellocq’s work, Harper said, “It just says Del Mar. It gives the whole history of us and why we’ve been so successful.”

Del Mar also has a special place in the artist’s heart. He said the track is his favorite in the country, as it reminds him of a race course in Deauville, France. Bellocq’s mural will be unveiled at a public ceremony on July 25, at which the artist will sign posters of his work. For more information on the Del Mar Racetrack, visit www.delmarscene.com.

Tags: Dan Smith, Del Mar races, Del Mar Racetrack, horse races, Pierre Bellocq, SDNN, Thoroughbred Club

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