Exaggerator tops pre-entries for the Delta Downs Jackpot
A total of 13 pre-entries were received for this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot (Gr. III), which will be run on Saturday, November 21 at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel. The race for 2-year-olds competing at 1 1/16 miles on a dirt surface will be the main event on a Jackpot Day program that will include eight stakes races in all and more than $2.3 million in total purse money. There is a special post time of 1:15 p.m. CT on Jackpot Day.
The most accomplished pre-entrant for this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, which carries a first place prize of $600,000, is Big Chief Racing LLC’s Exaggerator, who won the Saratoga Special (Gr. II) in August before his runner-up effort to Brody’s Cause in the Breeders’ Futurity (Gr. I) at Keeneland. The J. Keith Desormeaux trainee most recently finished fourth to likely 2-year-old Eclipse Award winner Nyquist in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Gr. I), also run at Keeneland.
Other horses of note that were pre-entered on Tuesday were the Al Stall, Jr.-trained Forevamo, who took the Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs on October 24; Sunny Ridge, who finished second to Greenpointcrusader in the Champagne Stakes (Gr. I) at Belmont Park on October 3 for trainer Jason Servis; and Found Money, who won the Santa Anita Juvenile back in June prior to a couple of runner-up performances in state-bred stakes company at Del Mar. Found Money is trained by Doug O’Neill, who won the Jackpot in 2012 with Goldencents.
Listed below are this year’s pre-entrants to the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot in order of career earnings.
Exaggerator J. Keith Desormeaux Big Chief Racing LLC $383,120
Sunny Ridge Jason Servis Dennis A. Drazin $194,752
Found Money Doug O’Neill Reddam Racing LLC $179,100
Forevamo Al Stall, Jr. Brittlyn Stables Inc. $130,550
Siding Spring Mark Casse Gabe Grossberg $97,000
Rare Candy David Hofmans Tarabilla Farms, Inc. $81,000
Harlan Punch Tom Amoss Rosemont Farm, LLC $55,400
Memories of Winter Anthony Margotta Jr. Thoroughbred Investment Fund, LLC $44,460
Texas Jambalaya Terry Eoff Terry Eoff $33,096
Whitmore Ron Moquett Southern Springs Stables $33,000
Roman’s Chance Gennadi Dorochenko Gennadi Dorachenko $24,998
Iron Dome Kenneth Marshall Dr. Michael H. Rotstein $16,250
Cowboy Classic David B. Anderson Heidi Crane $14,910
Final entries and post positions will be drawn for this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot on Monday, November 16. First preference for the race will be given to Forevamo, by virtue of his win in the Jean Lafitte Stakes. After that, preference will be given to those horses that have finished first, second or third in a grade I or grade II race, then preference goes to those horses that have finished in the money in any graded stakes. The final determinant to get into the field will be lifetime earnings at the time of pre-entries closing. The $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot field is limited to a maximum of 10 starters. There will be up to two also eligible horses drawn on entry day.
For the fourth consecutive year, the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot is part of the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ series, which this year includes 35 stakes leading up to next year’s big race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 7. 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 2015 Triple Crown.
Delta Downs also accepted pre-entries for the $400,000 Delta Downs Princess (Gr. III) on Tuesday morning with 10 2-year-old fillies making the list. Steve Asmussen’s La Appassionata, who won the My Trusty Cat Stakes at Delta Downs on October 23, is one of the top talents expected to vie for the $240,000 first place prize and 10 qualifying points toward a possible start in next year’s Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
For more information about the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, including the special $200,000 guaranteed all stakes Pick 4 wager that will take place during the program, visit www.deltadownsjackpot.com. Additional information about the race can also be found on the ‘Delta Downs Racing’ page on Facebook, and by following Delta Downs on Twitter with the account @deltaracing.
Source: Delta Downs