Familiar faces should be dominant at Delaware Park meet

After losing 20 racing days last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delaware Park kicks off a 77-day meet Wednesday with a 10-race card. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

The 84th season at the Stanton, Del., oval features mostly Thoroughbreds with a few Arabian contests and runs through Saturday, Oct. 16. Live racing will be conducted on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Thursday racing will be added on June 24 and continues through Sept. 30.

Horseplayers looking for a true return to normalcy will be relieved to find both jockey Carol Cedeno and trainer Jamie Ness back for another season.

Cedeno, the three-time defending leading rider, has won the jockey race six of the past seven years. A seventh title for Cedeno would eclipse the record set by Michael McCarthy, who led the jockey standings here from 1996 through 2000 as well as in 2002.

In 2020, Cedeno won 84 races at Delaware, 24 more than both Angel Suarez and Alexander Crispin. The latter earned the 2020 Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey.

Cedeno returns home in fine form. She wintered in Maryland, earned her 1,000th career victory at Laurel Park on Jan. 2, and notched 14 wins from 66 mounts at the current Pimlico meet. Cedeno is listed to ride in nine of the 10 races on opening day.

Ness shoots for his seventh consecutive training title at Delaware after winning 52 races here a year ago, 30 more than runner-up Mac Robertson. Hall of Fame trainer Buddy Delp, an 11-time Delaware training champion, won seven straight titles from 1963 through 1969. Eight-time leading trainer Scott Lake also was best in seven straight years, 2002 through 2008.

Delaware field sizes might benefit from the ongoing track renovations at Laurel Park. Several Maryland-based trainers have stalls here, including Lacey Gaudet, Jeremiah O’Dwyer, and Cal Lynch. John Robb, Michael Trombetta, Kieron Magee, and Hugh McMahon have shuttled between Maryland and Delaware in the past.

The first stakes race is the $100,000 Obeah for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on June 9. Both the Grade 3, $150,000 Kent Stakes for 3-year-old turf horses at 1 1/8 miles and the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks for 3-year-old fillies will be contested on July 3.

There will be four stakes on the signature July 10 card including the Grade 2, $400,000 Delaware Handicap for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles and the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares traveling 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

Purses are expected to remain steady as Delaware Park also hosts a casino with live table games, slot machines, and a card room. Sports betting is also offered.

Patrons will be allowed to attend the races provided they do not show symptoms related to COVID-19 and have not been in close contact with a person testing positive for COVID-19 during the previous two-week period. Track management strongly recommends patrons wear face masks while inside the clubhouse.