It’s time to pull back the curtain on the 88^th season of live thoroughbred racing at Delaware Park.

A nine-horse field is scheduled to go to the post at 12:35 p.m. on May 14, the first of eight races scheduled on the opener of 75 live racing days through Oct. 11.

A lot of familiar faces will be returning among the jockeys and trainers scheduled to compete, but there are some schedule changes and a new stakes race that should add some excitement at the Stanton oval.

Racing schedule

Racing will be held weekly on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday for most of the meet, although there will be no racing on May 15.

Friday racing will be added on May 30, June 6 and 13, and each Friday from July 4 through Aug. 15. Two Sunday cards – on Sept. 14 and Sept. 28 – will also be held.

First post time will be 12:35 on each racing day.

Big new race: The Delaware Derby

It won’t rival the big one in Kentucky, but Delaware Park is finally throwing its hat – in this case a derby – into the ring with a new race that could attract some of the horses who ran in America’s most famous race on May 3.

The inaugural $200,000 Delaware Derby will be held on Saturday, June 14 as part of a card including the Grade III, $300,000 Delaware Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile test for 3-year-old fillies that is traditionally the track’s second-biggest race.

The 1 1/16-mile Delaware Derby could potentially attract some colts who ran in the Kentucky Derby and/or Preakness who could see a win in Delaware as a springboard to bigger 3-year-old summer targets, like the Haskell Stakes in July at Monmouth Park or the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in August.

The track will have several promotions on Delaware Derby Day, including T-shirt and hat giveaways while supplies last, a Delaware-themed derby and bonnet hat contest, special Delaware-themed cocktails served in commemorative cups, and kids activities including pony rides, balloon sculptures and face painting in the grove.

Delaware Handicap moves to fall

The Grade III Delaware Handicap, which has traditionally been run in early July, will be contested on Sunday, Sept. 28. The track’s biggest race will have a purse of $400,000.

The DelCap has also been shortened to 1 ⅛ miles for only the second time in its 88-year history. The race was contested at 1¼ miles – known as a rarely long distance for fillies and mares – in every year but one from 1951-2022.

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Delaware Park officials shortened the race to 1 3/16 miles two years ago, and cut another 16^th of a mile this year.

The new date and distance could position the Delaware Handicap as a prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which is also 1 ⅛ miles and will be run five weeks later, on Nov. 1, at Del Mar in southern California.

Leading trainer returns

The race for leading trainer may end on the opening day of the meet.

Jamie Ness has led in wins in each of the last 10 years, and 12 times overall. He has horses entered in five of the eight races on the May 14 card, while no other trainer has more than three entered.

“We have been doing this for 25 years and we have slowly built this up,” Ness told Delaware Park racing information coordinator Chris Sobocinski. “We are in a region that allows me to have strings at multiple tracks and still be able to manage it right. Delaware Park is the central spot, which is why it’s pretty much our home base.”

Ness has won at nearly a 25 percent clip over the last five years at Delaware Park, with an average payoff of $5.50. Last year, his entries won at a 30 percent rate on both the dirt and turf courses. He won 49 percent of the time with favorites, 23 percent with 2-year-olds, 31% with 3-year-olds and 28% with maidens and claimers.

In other words, every time he sends one out, pay attention.

Don’t sleep on this trainer

Greg Compton doesn’t have the sheer number of horses to compete with Ness, but he finished a career-high sixth in the Delaware Park trainer standings last year and is returning to Stanton after finishing fifth at the ultra-competitive meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, this spring.

“We should be coming to Delaware with between 40 to 50 horses that we think will help the program from top to bottom pretty well,” Compton told Sobocinski.

Compton has the potential to have two strong entries – Kinzie Queen and G W’s Girl – in the Delaware Oaks. He also trains Auto Glide, who won the $175,000 Battery Park Stakes at Delaware Park last year.

Other prominent trainers expected to compete in Stanton this year include Edward Allard, Lynn Ashby, Brett Brinkman, Keri Brion, Gary Capuano, Gary Contessa, Cathal Lynch, Graham Motion, Kerri Raven, McLean Robertson, Andrew Simoff, Michael Stidham and Karin Wagner.

Jockeys to watch

Five of the top seven finishers in last year’s jockey standings – Jaime Rodriguez, Julio Hernandez, Carol Cedeno, Jose Batista and Daniel Centeno – are scheduled to ride at least once on the opening day card.

A new rider to watch is Martin Chuan, who finished 14^th with 13 winners at Oaklawn Park this spring and has been riding recently at Laurel and Penn National.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on X: @BradMyersTNJ. Follow us on Instagram: @DEGameDay