Delaware Park is easing into its 2025 schedule with an eight-race card on dirt Wednesday. All but two of the races are sprints. In time, the track will open its turf course, switch to a three- or four-day weekly schedule, and host several graded stakes races, but opening day will be a calmer start to the 75-day meet. While most eyes in the Mid-Atlantic region will be fixed on Pimlico this week, Delaware will run races on Wednesday and Saturday. Next week, the track will add a Thursday card and turf racing will begin on Wednesday, May 21. “Every year, we try to open the turf course a little later in the season,” Delaware Park spokesman Chris Sobocinski said. “Since our meet goes through October, we try to schedule it so it can make it through the summer.” The following week, the track will add a Friday card and operate four days per week throughout most of the summer. The meets ends Oct. 11. Trainer Jamie Ness, one of the winningest trainers in the United States in recent years, considers Delaware home. He has won 12 training titles at the track since starting his operation there in 2011. After surpassing the record set by Hall of Fame trainer Bud Delp last year, Ness will try to secure his 11th straight title in 2025. He has six horses entered on opening day, more than any other trainer. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “Super excited for the meet to start,” Ness said. “We’ve got a full barn with a mixture of Delaware horses, and we’re trying to defend our title.” Ness’s barn is full of well-intentioned runners and he’s not wasting any time at his home track. The trainer has solid contenders in both 5 1/2-furlong allowances on Wednesday. Jockey Jaime Rodriguez, a four-time defending riding champion at Delaware, will ride for Ness in both races. In the sixth, a $26,000 starter allowance, the trainer entered Augustine Red, a 4-year-old colt who just arrived in his barn after three starts for trainer Ilkay Kantarmaci at Aqueduct. He is the 8-5 morning-line favorite. In the seventh, a $47,000 allowance, Ness entered two horses in a six-horse field. Chickieness, a 5-year-old mare, is listed as the 5-2 second choice while 8-1 outsider Fuhgeddaboudit, a 6-year-old mare, is trying to regain her better form of last year. Other notable trainers at Delaware this meet will include Greg Compton, who is shipping horses up from Oaklawn Park, and Ned Allard, a Delaware veteran who has been training 4-year-old star Quint’s Brew at the track for nearly a year. On June 14, Delaware will host its first four stakes races of the meet, including the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks and the first running of the $200,000 Delaware Derby. The latter race is intended to bring more high-profile 3-year-olds to the track. The new race could serve as a prep for events in New York and at Monmouth Park later in the summer. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.