A new face to Delaware Park this year will be trainer Dennis Ward, the father of trainer Wesley Ward, who will be relocating his operation from the Southwest to the East Coast. The 74^th season of live racing will open on Saturday, April 30. Daily post time for the first race is 1:15 p.m.

“I have been allotted 28 stalls, and I am going to fill them all,” said trainer Dennis Ward. “I hope I am going to have more once we get up and going. As soon as Gulfstream and Keeneland end, between myself and Wesley we are going to have over 100 horses to figure out where they should go. We are going to see which ones fit and what kind of races we are going to be having at Delaware. After that we will be shipping them and filling up the stalls. We are going to have 40 at Aqueduct and some at Monmouth. We are going to have plenty of horses.”

The 64-year-old native of Saleh, Washington, has been to Delaware Park before, but it was as a jockey more than 40 years ago. Ward said part of the reason he decided to relocate is because of his fond memories of the track. Another motivator is business.

“We normally would have gone to Prairie Meadows,” Ward said. “I have not been to Delaware since I rode there in the mid 1960s. I actually lived in the Ross house near the Brandywine Stable indoor training track. I flew back the other day, and it really surprised because that part of the track has not really changed. It has changed, but I drove by a couple of houses and saw some people I knew, and they are still there. We needed a place to run our horses, and we wanted to have all of them close together – Aqueduct, Monmouth and Delaware. I wanted to come to Delaware because I have always liked the track, and Delaware offers some good money. We also breed a lot of horses, so we are planning on getting some of them Delaware Certified. I am actually thinking about buying a place in Delaware. I would like to have a place there to keep them.” 

Ward is currently on the New Mexico/Arizona circuit.

“New Mexico has good racing with lots of money, but they race quarter horses and thoroughbreds together, and they do not split them up,” he said. “You really only have 14 races a week to run in, and I could not handle that, so that is why I am heading to the East Coast. I am leaving Thursday morning, it will take me three days to get there, and I am not leaving. Delaware has a pretty long season, so I am going to like that as well. Every other place I have been, the meets are only a couple of months.”

Other new outfits targeting Delaware Park are Juan Carlos Guerrero, John Rigattieri, and Shannon Ritter.

Other top conditioners returning to the Stanton oval include defending champion Juan Vasquez, Scott Lake, J. Larry Jones, Randy Nunley, Michael Matz, H. Graham Motion, Ron Moquett, Todd Pletcher, Tim Ritchey, Michael Gorham, Anthony Dutrow, Steve Hobby, Mac Robertson, Steve Klesaris and Michael Sidham.