Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) today announced that this year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot (G3) for 2-year-olds will be held at its Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel on Saturday afternoon, November 19.
This year will mark the 14th anniversary of the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, which is contested at 1-1/16 miles on a dirt surface. The race is the second richest in the country for 2-year-olds and has become a springboard to the Kentucky Derby. Since its inception the race has produced a total of 14 starters, including eight in the last four years, for America’s most historic race at Churchill Downs.
Last year’s $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, won by Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator, was part of a 34-race series that made up the fourth edition of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” point system. Exaggerator followed the footsteps of Goldencents in 2012-13 as he parlayed his win at Delta Downs into a huge score in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and eventually the Kentucky Derby starting gate. Goldencents eventually retired as the richest graduate of the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot with over $3 million in earnings.
The 2015 Delta Downs Jackpot Day program featured eight stakes races and over $2.2 million in total purse money. The undercard was highlighted by the $400,000 Delta Downs Princess (G3) for 2-year-old fillies, which produces qualifying points to horses on their way to the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the Princess in 2014 with Take Charge Brandi, who would later be honored with the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old filly that year.
“The Jackpot Day program has become one of the most important in the country each year,” said Steve Kuypers, Vice President and General Manager of Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel. “The event brings top notch horses, jockeys, trainers and horseplayers together for an afternoon of fierce competition and our team is ready to put on another great show this November.”
For the fourth year in a row Delta Downs will offer a guaranteed $200,000 Jackpot Day Pick 4 during its biggest day of the year. The wager will feature the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot, the $400,000 Delta Downs Princess, the $250,000 Delta Mile as well as five other rich stakes races on the program.