News Releases

Monday, April 29, 2019Contact: Alexa Ravit (212) 521-5307
Delaware Park to Open 2019 Racing Season with HD Signal as Recipient of The Jockey Club’s Grant Fund

The Jockey Club announced today that Delaware Park is taking advantage of The Jockey Club’s HD Grant Fund and will broadcast in HD when its racing season opens on May 4. Hawthorne Race Course was the first track to use the grant fund to upgrade its signal.

Stuart S. Janney III, chairman of The Jockey Club, announced the creation of the HD Grant Fund at the 2018 Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing in response to findings from McKinsey & Company’s 2018 analysis of the Thoroughbred industry, which were presented at the conference. The McKinsey team found that less than one-third of all racetracks broadcast on TVG provided HD signals, and they recommended that racetracks upgrade to HD signals to be competitive with other sports following the legalization of sports betting.

Through the HD Grant Fund, qualifying tracks may receive up to $150,000 to purchase or lease HD production equipment.

Delaware Park President Bill Fasy said, “We expect that upgrading our signal to HD will be a welcome enhancement to our racing product, and we thank The Jockey Club for facilitating this improvement as we get set for the 2019 season.”

Additional grants to racetracks for HD conversions are expected throughout 2019.

The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club, directly or through subsidiaries, provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives, and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans and farms. It is the sole funding source for America’s Best Racing, the broad-based fan development initiative for Thoroughbred racing. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net. Additional information is available at jockeyclub.com.

Delaware Park’s 2019 live racing season will open on Saturday, May 4, and close on Saturday, October 5. For the first three weeks of the meet, racing will be conducted on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Thursdays will be added beginning on May 30 and continue through September 26. The Grade III Delaware Oaks is scheduled for Saturday, July 6, and the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap will be run on July 13.