David Cohen is set to defend his leading jockey title as the 73rd season of live racing at Delaware Park kicks off on Saturday, May 1. The 116-day meeting will feature live racing on Saturdays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with Thursday live cards scheduled from July 15 through August 26. First race post time is 1:15 p.m.

In 2009, his first full year riding on a regular basis at Delaware Park, Cohen finished on top of the standings with a record of 152 wins, 89 seconds and 78 thirds from 558 mounts. He completed his 2009 campaign ranked fifth in the national jockey standings with 288 victories.

The 25-year-old native of Torsen, California followed his Delaware Park success with a solid winter at Aqueduct where he is currently second (through April 12) in the jockey standings behind former five-time leading Delaware Park great jockey Ramon Dominguez. From January 1 through April 12, Cohen sported an Aqueduct record of 80 wins from 346 mounts. He has also gained national attention on the road to the Triple Crown. On March 27, he rode A Little Warm to a second-place finish in the Grade II Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds. The following day he rode Tempted to Tapit to a third-place finish in the Grade III Sunland Derby.

“Delaware Park is a tough and competitive meet, and to be the leading rider at the meet is a significant milestone in my career and I hope to build upon that success,” David Cohen said. “I was very fortunate to keep that positive momentum going forward from Delaware Park to Aqueduct. Delaware Park is a great spot to move from, especially to Aqueduct. I was riding for Todd Pletcher even before I came to the east coast and he was big supporter for me at Delaware Park last year. I basically rode everything for him this winter at Aqueduct. But riding at Delaware Park really helped me at Aqueduct because I developed a lot of important relationships with other notable trainers at Delaware Park like Tony Dutrow (A Little Warm), Steve Klesaris (Tempted to Tapit) and many Delaware trainers.”

Because of the success he enjoyed over the winter, some people wondered whether or not he would come back to Delaware Park or stay in New York this spring. But he had many reasons to comeback to Stanton.

“One of the important reasons is because I really like Delaware,” he said. “Obviously, no matter how much you like one place, you have to make the right career and business choices, but I think Delaware is a really good spot for me at this time in my career. We did well enough to stick it out and stay in New York, but I just really like Delaware and I am excited to be back. I look forward to the season and hopefully we will get the same support as last year.”

While winning the leading jockey title a second straight time is important to Cohen, it is not his top priority. Cohen prefers to take things race-to-race and day-by-day and worry about year-end awards at the end of the year. For now, he is focusing on winning races whether it is at the maiden claiming level or a Grade I event.

“Going into this meet, we are not really thinking about leading rider,” he said. “If that happens, great, but that is not the primary objective. We want to take things race-by-race and day-to-day to be as successful as possible. I have been fortunate. We have been riding a lot of nice horses and I want to continue to move forward in that direction. Delaware Park has helped me move in that direction and I believe will continue to help me this season because of the nationally prominent trainers that have horses in this area. Todd Pletcher has been giving me the opportunities to ride in some pretty big races. I may have a mount in the Derby, and it looks like I may have two horses converging on the Preakness, so I feel good about where I am at in my career right now and riding at Delaware Park has played an important part in getting me there.”

Cohen knows the campaign to defend his leading jockey title will not be easy.

“We know this is going to be a tough meet,” he said. “There are a lot of new trainers who will bring different supporters and we know it is not going to be easy. Every meet is different. Every meet has a different mix of trainers and jockeys. Because of that, every meet presents a new set of challenges. But, we feel very confident that we will have a very successful season.”