John Mooney retiring as executive director of racing

John E. Mooney, the executive director of racing at Delaware Park, will retire as of Aug. 1 after a 40-year career as a racing official at tracks across the mid-Atlantic, the track has announced.

Mooney first came to work at Delaware as the track’s general manager in 1984 and later served stints in management at the Maryland Jockey Club and as an executive with a group that sought to establish a racetrack in Virginia, an effort that led to the opening of Colonial Downs. Mooney returned to Delaware Park in 2008 as the track’s executive director of racing.

“His career has been brilliant, and like everyone in the Delaware Park family, I am proud and thankful to have been a part of it,” said Kevin DeLucia, the chief financial officer of Delaware, in a release announcing Mooney’s retirement. “So much of what Thoroughbred racing at Delaware Park is today has come from his leadership, guidance, and experience over the last four decades.”

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The turf course at Delaware will be dedicated to Mooney, with an official naming ceremony on Oct. 1, the track said.

Jerome “Jed” Doro will assume most of Mooney’s duties as the track’s new director of racing as of Aug. 1. Doro has spent much of the past 14 years serving in various capacities in the track’s racing office, including racing secretary from 2014-2018 and again in 2021.