8 things to know - plus a couple of gambling tips - as Delaware Park's racing season opens
It’s go time at Delaware Park.
Seven horses are scheduled to enter the gate for the first race at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to kick off 75 days of live thoroughbred racing.
It will be the 87th season at the Stanton oval, which has been racing since 1937. There are some familiar things and some new twists this season, including a change in the schedule of the track’s biggest races.
So before track announcer Joshua Brown says, “Away and running” for the first time, here are seven things to know about the 2023 racing meet at Delaware Park:
You get a hat with that
Fans in attendance for Wednesday’s opening day will receive a free cap (while supplies last) with the purchase of the Delaware Park official past performance program ($3.50).
The highlight of the eight-race card is the seventh, an allowance-optional claiming race with a $43,000 purse that will include a graded-stakes winner.
LOOKING BACK Historic horses: 32 who have raced in the Kentucky Derby - and at Delaware Park
Five of Instant Coffee’s seven lifetime starts have come in graded events, and the 4-year-old won the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in 2022 and Grade III Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in 2023.
Instant Coffee was sidelined for almost a year, and his most recent start was a ninth-place finish in the Grade II Oaklawn Handicap on April 20 at Oaklawn Park. He will make his Delaware Park debut for trainer Jose D’Angelo.
The schedule
Live racing will be held weekly on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday for most of the season, through Oct. 12.
Nine Friday cards will also be run, on June 7 and 14, Aug. 2 and 9, Sept. 13, 20 and 27 and Oct. 4 and 11. There will be no live racing on Thursday, July 11.
First post time will be 12:30 p.m. each day.
The Preakness
The second leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown will be run Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, and you can watch and bet on it at Delaware Park.
The 14-race card is set to begin at 10:30 a.m., with approximate post time for the Preakness set for 7:01 p.m.
Big weekend
For the first time since 2009, Delaware Park’s biggest race will be run on a Sunday.
The $500,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap, for fillies and mares ages 3 and up, will highlight a weekend featuring many of the track’s stakes races on July 6-7.
The $300,000 Grade III Delaware Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies, will top the card on Saturday, July 6. The $150,000 Kent Stakes and $150,000 Christiana Stakes, both on the turf, and the $125,000 Alapocas Run will also be held that day.
The 87th Delaware Handicap will test the country’s top female horses over 1 3/16 miles the following day. The $250,000 Grade III Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes, $175,000 Battery Park Stakes and $125,000 Dashing Beauty Stakes will also be part of the special Sunday card.
On-track fans will have a chance to win several prices during the big weekend, including a $500 wagering ticket.
Leading trainers
Jamie Ness has about 65 horses stabled at Delaware Park and is ready to shoot for a record 12th training title.
Ness is currently tied with Grover “Buddy” Delp, who earned 11 titles over two decades beginning in 1963.
“I consider it my home track and my base,” Ness told Delaware Park racing information coordinator Chris Sobocinski. “Everyone in our operation gets excited for the Delaware season. Since we have horses all over, we have to worry about putting together the Delaware staff and every year I have the same problem – everyone wants to go to Delaware.”
McLean Robertson expects to have at least 40 horses on the grounds. The trainer, who had 17 winners at Delaware Park last year, has been coming to Stanton for almost 20 years.
“Good horse people bring good horses to Delaware Park to develop really nice race horses,” he told Sobocinski. “… The open areas with grass and trees and the pride the people bring to maintaining the racing program makes it a great place to develop horses.”
If you’re looking for long shots – and who isn’t? – Chelsey Moysey finished fourth in the training standings last season, with an average payoff of $13.80 for her 19 winners.
D’Angelo is among the new trainers stabling horses locally this year, along with Bonnie Lucas and Darian Rodriguez.
Other familiar trainers planning on returning include Edward Allard, Juan Arriagada, Lynn Ashby, Victor Barboza Jr., Brett Brinkman, Keri Brion, Gary Capuano, Victor Carrasco Jr., Greg Compton, Michael Gorham, Steve Klesaris, James Lawrence, Cathal Lynch, Graham Motion, Anthony Pecoraro, Tim Ritchey, Brittany Russell and Michael Stidham.
Leading jockeys
Jaime Rodriguez, who has won the track’s last three riding titles, is back but may not be part of every card.
Other returning jockeys who finished in the top 10 in wins last year include Kevin Gomez, Daniel Centeno, Carol Cedeno, Alexander Crispin, John Hiraldo, Raul Mena and Mychel Sanchez.
A name to remember when he makes an occasional appearance is 10-time Monmouth Park riding champion Paco Lopez, who won on 14 of his 33 mounts – a 42 percent success rate – at Delaware Park last year.
A couple of intriguing new riders are Julio Hernandez, who is currently second in the standings at Penn National, and Ben Curtis, who finished fourth among jockeys at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans over the winter and finished eighth aboard Honor Marie in his first Kentucky Derby two weeks ago.
Trending up
Delaware Park will seek to build on last year’s meet, which saw total live racing handle increase 7 percent to $152.3 million over 85 days, compared to $142.3 million over 87 days in 2022.
The average daily handle increased 9.6 percent, to $1.8 million.
Average starters per race were nearly the same – 6.82 in 2023 and 6.83 in 2022.
Test your skills
Two major handicapping contests – on June 22 and Sept. 28 – will offer the top two finishers in each a seat in the National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas.
Smaller handicapping contests will be held on June 8, Sept. 14, Oct. 12 and Nov. 2.
For more information, go to www.delawarepark.com.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on X (aka Twitter): @BradMyersTNJ
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Park horse racing: 8 things to know as 2024 season opens
