John Mooney stated you may anticipate the racing product at Delaware Park to stay the identical beneath new possession, however once you devour it would change.
The Stanton monitor opens its eighty fifth season of stay racing Wednesday with an 8-race card beneath the wing of recent house owners Clairvest Group and Rubico Gaming LLC, a Canadian personal fairness agency that purchased the monitor from the Rickman household after 34 years final fall.
Mooney, Delaware Park’s Govt Director of Racing, stated the teams have largely centered on the opposite finish of the complicated.
“Many of the focus to date has been on enhancements they’re making within the on line casino space. I imagine the racing will in all probability resemble what’s has previously for this yr. There aren’t any instant plans for main capital funding presently.”
That is not to say there will not be adjustments, to begin with, the monitor will transfer from a 1:15 begin time to 12:30 this yr, which is usually the earliest first publish for a thoroughbred racetrack within the nation.
That’s by design, as Mooney stated that begin time, in addition to a transfer to a construction of primarily Wednesday-Saturday racing versus competing earlier within the week may open up Delaware Park to new gamblers.
“We rely vastly on simulcast wagering coming into the state of Delaware from elsewhere, and we wish our market to be coast-to-coast.”
Delaware Park faces loads of native competitors, together with Pennsylvania’s Parx Racing, New Jersey’s Monmouth Park, and Maryland’s mixture of Laurel and Pimlico.
Monmouth primarily runs Friday-Sunday, with Friday’s publish instances a extra matinee-friendly 2 p.m., Parx competes Monday-Wednesday, whereas Maryland additionally goes Friday-Sunday.
The 88 scheduled racing playing cards in Delaware will likely be carried out by way of Breeders’ Cup Weekend on November fifth, with the showcase races happening in July.
The Grade III Delaware Oaks for three-year-old fillies takes place on Saturday, July 2, with an elevated purse of $300,000 after taking COVID-related hits in earlier years.
The Grade II Delaware Handicap encompasses a $500,000 purse, and can lead its personal four-stakes card on Saturday, July 9.
Jamie Ness is scheduled to return in search of his tenth straight coaching title, whereas former six-time champion jockey Carol Cedano will look to dethrone 2021 champ Jaime Rodriguez, who often rides for Ness.