Entries were fast and furious for the first card of the Delta Downs meet on Tuesday, with the featured $60,000 B-Connected Stakes drawing an overflow field led by Scarlettsblackjack, Social Afleet, and Jus Lively. “We had 15 enter in the race, and we can only let 10 run,” said Chris Warren, director of racing for Delta. Delta is limited to 10-horse fields due to its six-furlong configuration. Overall, the track drew 96 horses for its nine-race opener Tuesday. The meet is getting under way seven weeks later than scheduled because of damage inflicted by Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm that hit Aug. 24. Delta, which was supposed to have run from Oct. 6-Feb. 27, will now race 84 dates through April 16. :: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program. The B-Connected is the first of four stakes to be run over the opening week of the meet. The seven-furlong race run around two turns is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Louisiana. It is restricted to nonwinners of a stakes. Scarlettsblackjack must overcome post 10, but is as close to a stakes winner as one can be as the runner-up in the Louisiana Legends Sprint in July at Evangeline Downs. Diego Saenz has the mount for Leadem Farm and trainer Tom Amoss. Social Afleet last raced at Keeneland. He won a $20,000 claiming route with a Beyer Speed Figure of 85, which is the best last-race number in the B-Connected. Ry Eikleberry, who is new to Delta after winning the recent title at Canterbury, has the mount for trainer Sarah Delany. Jus Lively returns to dirt, where he was an allowance winner against statebreds in February at Fair Grounds. Joel Dominguez has the mount for trainer Steve Asmussen. Warren said Delta will be open to the public, with masks and social distancing required. Those returning for the meet will find a number of new amenities. The most striking will be a new toteboard. The old one was taken out by Hurricane Laura. The meet also will feature day racing after the track lighting system became a casualty of the storm. There is a uniform first post of 12:55 p.m. Central this meet, and racing will be conducted mostly on a Monday-through-Thursday basis. There are, however, Friday and Saturday cards this week as Delta will be dark Thursday for Thanksgiving. Warren said Delta has had a litany of projects to complete since the storm. The track has had to replace a large amount of fencing, as well as camera towers. Delta also has purchased a new starting gate after one of its gates was flipped over in the storm. There also has been extensive work done to the building that houses the track kitchen and tack shop, while there is new rubber matting in the paddock area. “The barns basically were not hurt that much,” Warren said. “There has been cosmetic work done to the barns.” Purses are projected to average about $200,000 a program, Warren said. The track’s stable area is at capacity heading into the opener Tuesday. “We could have filled up 1,500 stalls easy,” Warren said. “We only have 1,200.” The new barns on hand include trainers Tim Martin and Greg Tracy. The returning barns include perennial leading trainer Karl Broberg, as well as Robertino Diodoro and Joel Berndt, who is coming off the training title at Canterbury.