14TH RUNNING OF AMERICA’S SECOND RICHEST RACE FOR 2-YEAR-OLDS
CARRIES $600,000 FIRST PLACE PRIZE ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19
VINTON, LA. – Nominations to this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot close on Saturday, October 22. The race offers a $600,000 first place prize as well as qualifying points in the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ series.
Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel will host the 14th running of the grade III race for 2-year-olds competing at 1-1/16 miles over a dirt surface on Saturday, November 19, along with seven other stakes races. The entire program will feature more than $2.3 million in total purse money. There will be a special first race post time on Jackpot Day of 1:15 pm CT.
There were 191 horses nominated to the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot last year including that of Exaggerator, who won the race under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux. Exaggerator would go on to win three grade I races after his trip to Vinton including the Santa Anita Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Haskell Invitational while becoming the highest earning winner of Delta Downs’ richest annual offering at more than $3.5 million. It was announced last week that the son of Curlin has been retired and will now stand at WinStar Farm in Kentucky. This year’s race is once again expected to attract another high number of quality nominations from horsemen throughout the country.
In addition to Exaggerator, the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot has launched the careers for several other top horses. Goldencents, who took the race in 2012, tallied over $3 million in career earnings while winning three grade I races before his retirement a couple of years ago. The 2008 Jackpot winner, Big Drama, went on to take the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2010 and earned over $2.7 million during his time on the racetrack.
The $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot has also been a proven path to the Kentucky Derby. Last year’s race produced two starters for ‘Run for the Roses’ at Churchill Downs in May. There have been eight Kentucky Derby starters come out of the Jackpot in the past four years, and since its inception in 2002 the race has seen 14 of its participants make it to the big dance in Louisville.
This year the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ series will include 35 stakes leading up to the big race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 6. The top four finishers in this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot will be awarded points on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward a possible starting position in the first leg of the 2017 Triple Crown.
To nominate a horse to this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, contact the track’s racing office at 888-589-7223. For more information about the big race, as well as Delta Downs’ upcoming 86-day season which begins on October 19, visit www.deltadownsjackpot.com or www.deltadownsracing.com.
Horsemen and fans can also follow developments for this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot and the new Delta Downs season through social media. The track’s Facebook page is ‘Delta Downs Racing’, and the Twitter account to follow is @deltaracing.
Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features exciting casino action, live horse racing and fun dining experiences. Delta Downs is located in Vinton, Louisiana, on Delta Downs Drive. From Lake Charles, take Exit 7 and from Texas, take Exit 4.
