Join now & win money today! Get Started

Delaware Park Increases Dates, Alters Schedule: Plans To Run 88 Days In 2022

---

The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission Jan. 18 approved a new-look racing schedule in 2022 for Delaware Park, which will race 88 programs from May 25-Nov. 5.

Kevin DeLucia, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Delaware Park, said the racing association has an agreement with the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association on the number of days and the revised calendar. The track will race mostly four days a week on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule, with select Fridays dark when the track races three days a week.

Delaware Park in recent years has raced Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

In 2021, Delaware Park raced 77 days and concluded the meet Oct. 30. According to the DTRC annual report for last year, purses paid totaled $17.57 million. Total pari-mutuel handle on the live product was roughly $118 million, and export handle of $114 million was the highest in at least four years.

A 2022 business plan for the track, which late last year was sold to Clairvest Group Inc. and Rubico Gaming LLC, includes an investment of $60,000 in a new inner rail for the turf course and a commitment to help fund at the very least a renovation of the DTRC licensing office located just outside the stable gate adjacent the DTHA office.

In other business, DTHA Executive Director Bessie Gruwell said the number of applications for the Delaware Certified Thoroughbred Program at the conclusion of 2021 was 366, a number expected to grow to perhaps 375 pending outstanding applications. The number is up 35-40 from the final 2020 number, she said.

“The program is still going strong,” Gruwell said.

The DCTP awards purse bonuses in overnight races as well as some Certified-restricted or “waiver” maiden events. Last year four new Certified-restricted stakes were added for a total of eight during the racing season.

Tom LaMarra is managing editor of THA Racing

The post Delaware Park Increases Dates, Alters Schedule: Plans To Run 88 Days In 2022 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Report: Manny Franco, Angel Cordero Part Ways

---

Jockey Manny Franco and agent Angel Cordero, Jr. have parted ways, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

“There’s no problem,” Cordero, 79, told the TDN. “He just wants to do better. I don’t blame him. Everybody wants to be No. 1.”

The New York-based Franco won 252 and 221 races in 2018 and 2019, respectively, but his numbers dropped to 140 in 2020 (when New York racing was shut down for several months due to the pandemic) and 184 in 2021.

Cordero, himself a Hall of Fame rider, still represents apprentice rider Jose Gomez. The agent split with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in 2020.

Read more at the TDN.

The post Report: Manny Franco, Angel Cordero Part Ways appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy Race for Grace to Be Held May 2

---

The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy’s 20th annual Race For Grace, a dinner event raising financial support for the chaplaincy, will be held May 2 on Millionaires’ Row in the clubhouse at historic Churchill Downs, five days before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby. Hall of Fame Jockey and Derby winner Pat Day, who has been the President of the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy the past six years, will be the Master of Ceremonies.

The keynote speaker will be nationally-recognized Pastor Bob Russell. At the age of 22, Bob became the pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. That small congregation of 120 members became one of the largest churches in America, with 18,000 people attending the three worship services every weekend in 2006 when Russell retired.

The event will have a live auction featuring a box for the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Oaks and a silent auction featuring leather halters from 2022 Kentucky Derby participants, horse racing art and memorabilia.

For more information, click here. Race For Grace tickets are limited and sponsorships are welcome. For an invitation to Race For Grace and more information about sponsorships, contact Sharilyn Unthank at sharilyn@kychaplaincy.org or 502-297-3508.

The post Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy Race for Grace to Be Held May 2 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Special Reserve Named HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year

---

Special Reserve (Midshipman) started last season being claimed for $40,000 and ended 2021 as the National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. In between, the 5-year-old gelding won two graded stakes and three stakes overall, finished second by a half-length in Saratoga’s GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H.and concluded the season with a fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“It’s been such a great experience, and he’s such a great horse,” said David Staudacher, who co-owns the Mike Maker-trained Special Reserve with Peter Proscia’s Paradise Farms Corp. “This award means a lot. I’ve been in the business over 40 years, and I had my first stakes win with Mike four or five years ago. I’ve been claiming horses a long time–claimed some good ones, claimed some not-so-good ones. Love the sport, love the people involved. It’s just so much fun.”

Echoed Proscia: “He’s been a great horse to watch. He tries all the time, and Mike did a great job with him. [The award] was a pleasant surprise. This horse has brought us a lot of fun and success. We’re looking forward to his 2022 campaign.”

Each year the National HBPA Industry Awards Committee, chaired by Pennsylvania HBPA Executive Director Todd Mostoller, reviews nominated horses to choose the one most exemplifying the spirit of a National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year.

The post Special Reserve Named HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.