Delaware Park getting earlier start to meet; simulcast now in HD

Delaware Park will begin its 82nd season on Saturday with its earliest opener since 2011 and the first that corresponds with the Kentucky Derby since 2010. The meet is slightly longer than in recent years, while the purse structure remains basically the same.

Delaware Horse Racing and Slots in January signed a three-year agreement with the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association that assures 85 race cards per season, an increase of four days. The past two years, the Delaware meet has opened in late May or early June. From 2013-16, the meet began Preakness Day.

On Saturday, the betting windows will be open for the first race at Churchill Downs at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. The first live race will be 1:15 p.m. There will be an opening-day cap giveaway.

The meet will start out with racing on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays, with Thursdays added beginning May 30. To start the meet, racing will be on the main track only. The first turf race in the condition book is May 27.

Delaware has upgraded its simulcast signal to high definition this year with help from The Jockey Club. Delaware is the second track, joining Hawthorne, to take advantage of The Jockey Club’s HD Grant Fund, through which qualifying tracks can receive grants of up to $150,000 to purchase or lease HD equipment.

There will be 20 stakes at the meet – two fewer than last year – worth more than $2.77 million in total, $50,000 more than in 2018.

The highlight of the meet will be July 13, when the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap will be held. The Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks will be run a week earlier. There will be five stakes on each of those cards, one more than in past years.

The Del Cap undercard will include four $100,000 stakes that are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships. The purses of the Hockessin and Dashing Beauty have each been increased by $25,000, and two new MATCH series stakes, the Just a Kiss and Glasgow, have been added.

The Delaware Oaks card will include a pair of Grade 3, $200,000 stakes, the Kent and the Robert G. Dick Memorial.

Jamie Ness, the leading Delaware trainer the past four years and six of the past seven seasons, will have 50 horses on the grounds, plus divisions at Laurel Park and Parx Racing. Scott Lake, who tied with Ness for leading trainer in 2017 and has won eight Delaware titles, will have 30 horses on the grounds, plus a division at Parx.

Carol Cedeno, the leading rider at Delaware in four of the past five years, will be back to defend her 2018 title. Last year, Cedeno became the first rider to win seven races on a Delaware card when she won six Thoroughbred races and an Arabian race from nine mounts.

Tom Creel, the assistant racing secretary at Parx the past three years, is the new Delaware Park racing secretary. Creel also is the racing secretary at Suffolk Downs.

The Delaware casino includes 2,300 slot machines, table games, keno, and a poker room. Last summer, Delaware broadened the offerings in its sportsbook, which was restricted to parlay cards, to a complete wagering menu.