EAST BOSTON, MASS. - A large and celebratory crowd of 10,356 turned out at Suffolk Downs on Saturday for the first of three racing and food truck festivals days this fall, proving that there is still a healthy appetite for live Thoroughbred racing in New England. "I could not be happier in every respect. The participation from the horsemen was outstanding, and when I was out on the apron the fans told me they can't wait to come back in four weeks," said Lou Raffetto, the consultant to the New England Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association who put together the 13-race card with racing secretary Tom Creel. "The horsemen are ecstatic with the treatment they received here. To lay out a blueprint and have it and come together like it has shows that we can only get better and grow from here." The card, which included two steeplechase races and three Massachusetts-bred stakes races offering a purse of $50,000 each, attracted 111 horses running for total purses of $507,500. It marked the return of racing for the first time since the track ended the 2014 meet on Oct. 4 in the wake of the announcement that the meet would be its last. Over the ensuing months, track management at the NEHBPA hammered out a deal for three days of racing, with the remaining two on Oct. 3 and Oct. 31. "Today is absolutely wonderful," said trainer M.C. Reardon, who relocated her 15-horse stable to Delaware and Maryland after Suffolk shut down last year and ran seven here on Saturday and one at Delaware Park. "I am very excited. The reason I shipped up here is that I have all New England owners, who are breeders, and they haven't been able to feed carrots to their horses and see them run in almost a year." Jay Bernardini, Suffolk's leading trainer in 2014 who moved his 47 horses to Maryland but still makes his permanent home in a Boston suburb, also supported the day with seven entries. "After saying last year that there would never again be racing here, we jumped over the first hurdle of bringing it back with today's success," he said. "I will come back for the next two days this year, as long as I have horses that fit." In addition to the locals, out-of-state trainers from other East Coast tracks supported the entries. They include nationally prominent Steve Asmussen, who won a five-furlong turf race for $16,000 claimers offering a $37,500 purse with Mish Mosh; Christophe Clement, Gary Contessa, David Jacobson, Gregg Sacco, and Derek Ryan. "The money is good, so we took a shot shipping from New Jersey," Ryan said after kicking off the day by winning the first race, a $25,000 maiden claiming affair, with 6-1 shot Post a Joke and taking the last race with 9-2 shot Dubai Time."I sent the two up here and the trip paid for itself with the first win. You can't beat this deal. We'll be back for the next two days if we can get in." The lucrative purses, which were the highest in the 80-year history of the track, were paid back to fifth, with owners of horses finishing sixth and back receiving a "runner's reward" of $800. Trainers of every horse got a $200 bonus, plus shipping was subsidized. "We hope the horsemen will come back and fill the card even better next time. We'll have a stakes, and it will be for fillies and mares on the grass, and I think we'll get even better participation from New York," Raffetto said. Meanwhile, the day proved to be a showcase for the state's breeding program, which faced extinction without the new Race Horse Development, which is fueled by a percentage of revenue generated by the burgeoning Massachusetts casino industry. Of the Thoroughbred industry's 75 percent share, 16 percent goes to the breeders and 80 percent to purses. In the $50,000 African Prince, the first of the three statebred stakes on the card, 1-9 favorite Miss Wilby, who is trained by former New Englander Marcus Vitali and has won four times in open company, beat the boys under Tammi Piermarini to draw off by four lengths, covering the six furlongs in 1:12.47. Piermarini, the third all-time leading female rider in history by wins who is now based at Parx, also took the $50,000 Isadorable with 2-1 favorite Navy Nurse for owner/breeder Patricia Moseley and Bernardini. The 2013 Isadorable winner rallied late to cross under the wire in 1:12.04 for six furlongs and prevail by a half- length. Finger Lakes shipper Worth the Worry, dispatched at 1-2 in the field of eight, ran away with the  six-furlong $50,000 Rise Jim by 12 1/4 lengths in a sprite 1:10.74 with Jose Baez in the irons for owner Theresa Horkey and trainer Jonathan Buckley. "This is a great day for New England racing and for our program," said Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association chairman George Brown, whose Sociano's Phantom and Lucky Sociano were second and third, respectively, in the African Prince. "It goes to show you that all we have to do is put on a wonderful program like this and people will come out and support live racing." Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, who noted the turf course has never been in better condition, was equally pleased. "This was a spectacular reception for the return of racing. It was about as good as we could expect," he said. "Obviously, the mood on Oct. 4 last year was funereal given the circumstances. This was a much more celebratory mood. The horsemen who have returned are having a wonderful homecoming. The point of today was to throw a party and welcome back racing." Nonetheless, the track's ownership group continues to move forward with development plans for the property. While Tuttle and the NEHBPA are already talking about another short meet in 2016, the horsemen are moving forward with plans of their own to form a non-profit corporation to construct and own an equine center and racetrack elsewhere in the state. "This sets the stage for what we want to do in the future," Raffetto said. "Hopefully, the state legislature and the [Massachusetts] gaming commission take note of what was done here today and will be receptive to the ideas the NEHBPA has put forth."