Delaware Park gets OK for 85-day season
The Delaware Racing Commission on Wednesday approved an 85-day season at Delaware Park in 2019.
The season will be four days longer than in recent years. In 2013, the track trimmed its race dates from 94 to 81.
Under a new three-year agreement between Delaware management and the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the track will also race 85 days in 2020 and 2021.
Kevin DeLucia, the senior vice president of racing/finance at Delaware, said the agreement will help strengthen the racing program.
“Having stability and certainty for the next three seasons will help us to continue to build an attractive product,” he said.
The 2019 live racing season will open on Kentucky Derby Day, May 4, and continue through Oct. 5. The season will start with racing on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Thursdays will be added from May 30 to Sept. 26.
Opening day will be the earliest since 2011, when Delaware also opened on Kentucky Derby Day. Last year, the meet began May 30. In 2017, opening day was June 3.
The Grade 3 Delaware Oaks is scheduled for July 6. The Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, the centerpiece of the meet, will be run July 13.
D. Scott Peck, president of the horsemen’s association, is pleased with the new agreement.
“We will have live racing on the first Saturday of May to coincide with Kentucky Derby, four additional days of racing, and the stability of a three-year contract,” he said.
Esquivel out 6-8 weeks
Jockey Manny Esquivel broke his collarbone on the left side during a Thursday training accident at Parx Racing and is likely to be sidelined six to eight weeks, according to his agent, Al Dellape.
Esquivel, fifth in the Parx rider standings in 2018, had just finished breezing a horse for trainer Danny Velazquez when “the ground appeared to break out from under the horse, who fell,” according to Dellape, who added that the horse was not injured.
Esquivel was taken to the hospital and released. He is scheduled to see an orthopedic doctor Friday.
Since beginning his career in 2013, Esquivel has won 705 races.
